Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko or Brooke, Cassie, and Zoey. They belong to HoboLover. I also don't own the song following. I do own Musa, Cascada, this story's plot and any character that wasn't in the original show.

To Jump and Fly is Good, but to Jump and Fall is Even Better- Part 1

Years Ago…

Memories are always beautiful
In the eyes of everyone
In the same way

Swinging. Swinging. Swinging. That's all she did.

While the other kids played ball with each other, or hide-n-seek, she swung, the only enjoyable thing to do at the park when one had no friends, no family, no past…

The other children's laughter seemed to cut her like a knife. They weren't alone. She was. They weren't afraid. She was. They…didn't want to die. She did.

"Oi, why are you swinging by yourself, Shorty?" a voice asked

She bowed her head further down. They always did this. They always teased her, especially when she wouldn't talk.

"Are you okay?" another voice asked concerned.

"They don't care," she thought holding back tears.

Her swing was pushed gently, surprising her. As it swung back, she looked behind her to see a girl with coral pink color hair smiling at her. "Nothing's wrong with Tara. She was just sad that we took too long to finally come here and play with her. Right?" the pink hair girl asked grinning at the confused girl on the swing.

"Why is this girl talking like she knows me? Like we're friends?" the girl thought to herself.

But, yes
We actually know
That there is more

"Oh, is that it?" the first voice said coming from a girl brownish red hair girl twirling a sucker between her fingers. "Sorry. Zoey couldn't decide on what to wear."

"Yeah," the pink hair girl nodded frowning. "Brooke clothe raped me and Cassie didn't help."

"It got ya dressed didn't it?" the reddish brown hair girl, Brooke, scoffed.

"I try not to get in fights that don't involve me," a brunette hair girl, Cassie, said.

"Why are they acting so casual? Like we're old friends?"

"Hey, Sitara, is your butt glue to that thing?" Brooke asked pointing to the swing.

"My name isn't Sitara…" but nonetheless she shook her head.

"Great!" Zoey said happily. "We can go get some ice-cream! Let's go Tara!" she yelled excitedly dragging the girl to the neatest ice-cream shop, Cassie and Brooke following.

"Maybe…maybe I won't be alone anymore…Sitara…starlight…I like it…"

Please don't forget
Me, that girl and you

Unknown to the girl, a boy was observing from the distance, wanting to join in on their fun, but knowing he couldn't. It just…wasn't possible. But at least he could give her some happiness with friends that could be there for her.

We were not born to live
Just putting on a front
And hiding a face
Like the dead

Present…

The guest danced gracefully across the ballroom. The women wore beautiful dresses and the men were dressed in sharp tuxedoes, both wearing elegant masks. The room was wonderfully decorated with red and gold.

The singer on stage wore a beautiful blue dress with a matching simple, but beautifully crafted, silver mask that covered the top part of her face. Her raven hair was curled and put into a side ponytail that hung over her shoulder, swishing slightly as she continued to sing in her favorite language, Japanese, but even that couldn't get rid of her depressing mood.

We can look back on the past
Because we passed there
We stopped and stepped forward again

A male wearing a purple mask and dark purple tuxedo, absentmindedly played his guitar, letting the hours of repetitive rehearsals take over as he discreetly stared at the singer. His heart clenched in his chest forcing him to turn away and look, instead, at the girl sitting off in the audience. Her black hair was swept back and she wore a pale colored dress. She could never compare at all to the enchanting singer that had broken his heart.

Please remember
Me, that girl and you

It was…simply unimaginable. The rest of the gang, including the recently aloof William, couldn't believe it.

They had broken up. The match that was supposedly made in heaven, had broken up. It just seemed…so surreal.

"What caused you to break up with him?" Cascada wondered, fingers moving across her violin.

We got hurt
Even lost sight of light
And gave up more than once
But still we are here

"You can hear it in her voice," Cassie murmured, absentmindedly playing with the three earrings on her ear. She wore a sleeveless red dress that stopped under her knees.

"The sorrow," Brooke agreed leaning against the wall in her ice blue dress.

"So sad," Zoey commented rocking back in forth on her heels, her green dress her sea-foam green dress swaying back and forth.

Cassie sighed sadly though a determined look was on her face. "All the easier it'll be for us in the end."

"I hate doing this," Zoey muttered, fist clenching at her side.

"It'll be over soon, and then we can have what we worked so hard to protect," Brooke said looking up to see Sitara, wearing a orange dress that blended to yellow, coming towards them, holding four cups in her hands.

"Wow! Thanks Tara!" Zoey grinned, putting on a happy face for their friend as she took onw of the cups from her.

"We'll protect you…always…"

CODE TWILIGHT

To anyone else, the guitarist's solo accompanied by the singer's hauntingly beautiful voice showed the perfect union, but the person observing wasn't anyone else. They knew that this was wrong. That what happened shouldn't have, but it did. Even though he hadn't totally approved of it at first (not like he had any say in it at all to begin with) but what she had was better than what was going to happen. He needed to do something.

"Is something wrong, Terran?" the crimson dressed Nyx asked. The boy continued to keep his head down, appearing to stare at the drink in his hand from behind his dark glasses.

"No," he said pushing himself away from the wall and beginning to walk away.

"Wait!" Nyx said suddenly grabbing the boy's hand. He didn't turn around as she tried to catch her breath. "Will you- will you save a dance for me?" she asked.

The boy slipped his hand from her grasp, tilting his head slightly to face in another direction. Nyx looked in that direction, a slight scowl appearing on her face when she saw that his attention was directed towards Sitara who was being swung around by Zoey in a petty attempt at a dance.

"Why don't you just ask her to dance?" Nyx bitterly asked softly looking away from Terran as he returned his attention back to her.

"Dance?" he sighed extending out a hand to her.

The slightly older female blushed before taking his hand as he led her onto the dance floor.

Now, let's stand up without fear
For the sake of no one else

The singer raised her hands up to her mask, loosening the ties of the item, letting it fall into her hands.

And rip off the masks
With our own hands

She walked over towards the guitarist, as the soft sound, similar to a music box played. She raised her hands up to his mask, his guarded violet eyes watching her warily as she untied the ties. She felt his hands on hers as he guided her hands on hers, taking off his mask, his touch light and the feeling and sensations lingering on her skin. The mask slipped off from his face and from her hands.

His eyes continued to stare at her as she leaned in towards him, their faces close to each other. So close…

They pulled away quickly as the beat picked up again. The spell broken.

We were not born to live
Just putting on a front
And hiding a face
Like the dead

Another quick guitar solo before the song returned to the haunting sound of a music box, followed by applause.

The band filed off the stage where Jeremy, Ken and Chris waited for them.

"That was great guys," Ken grinned. "You guys left a good impression on these stuck up rich folks."

"Yeah," Chris agreed. "You could hardly tell that Musa and Odd weren't together anymore with that one part." The group got silent and the white hair drummer realized his mistake. "Oh, uh, sorry. I didn't mean-"

"William nii-san! The orchestra is playing! Come dance with me!" the wolf A.I. said suddenly, grinning as she took the unsuspecting shaggy hair teen by his hand and dragged him into the thick crowd till they were out of sight.

Odd stuffed his hands in his pocket, heading off. "I'm going to see if my date wants something to drink," he said over his shoulder.

"Too weird," Yumi murmured.

"You're telling me," Ulrich grunted removing his brown and green mask. He turned to face the geisha warrior, dressed in an Asian style short sleeve black dress with gold and red stitching of a dragon on it and a gold mask resting on the top of her head. "You wanna dance?"

"Sure," she shrugged about to take his offered hand when someone stepped in the way.

"Do you mind if I ask her for a dance?" Evan asked his son. The boy grew tense but Yumi gave him a reassuring smile.

"Fine," he grumbled. His father nodded before leading Yumi to the dance floor. Ulrich soon after followed.

"Where are you going?" Jeremy called after him.

"To make sure he doesn't criticize her," the samurai warrior called over his shoulder before he too disappeared.

"Well, we'll leave you three to enjoy the rest of the ball. Don't forget to meet back here in thirty minutes," Ken directed before walking off with Chris.

"I guess I'll go hang out by the terrace," Cascada sighed shaking her hair free from the forest green mask that matched her one sleeve dress.

"Do you want us to come?" Aelita asked readjusting her hot pink mask that also matched her knee length pink dress.

"No," the plant A.I. said. "Go have fun with Jer. Dance a little, live a lot," she said walking off. "Just don't do anything that I would do," she called over her shoulder.

Both teens blushed.

CODE TWILIGHT

"Wow, Will. I didn't know you were such a horrible dancer!"

The shaggy hair teen frowned as he gave a muffled response.

"You're stepping on my toes. Was Cascada leading when you two danced together at the dance where we first performed together?"

"If we're going to talk, can we talk about something else?" William asked.

"Sure," Musa shrugged, "but I'm leading."

The two danced in silence, the large sword wielding warrior letting the wolf A.I. lead. "So," William began in an inquiring tone, "you and Odd are no longer a couple?"

"So," Musa said, matching his tone, "you've been distant lately, huh?"

"Musa," the boy sighed.

"How about this," the girl said. "We play 20 questions, ball room dance style. We each ask each other a question until this song is over. Agree?"

"Fine. Odd broke up with you?"

"No. Did you and Cascada break up?"

"No!" the boy said startled by her question. "Why would you think that?" he said forgetting the initial goal.

Musa shrugged. "Spin me," she directed. "It just seems that way. You two were always discreet about your relationship but it was like under the table hand holding. Now, it seems, you can barely stand to be in the same room with her. Did she do something wrong?"

"Of course not!" Leon shouted in the recesses of William's mind only for the boy to hear.

"No," the boy said simply an irritating look coming on his face. "Why did Odd break up with you?"

Musa sighed sadly, turning her head away slightly, "Dip me," she said. The boy gently did as he was told before straightening her back up. "He didn't break up with me," she said as they continued to move across the dance floor neither aware that William had began to lead again without any mistakes; "I broke up with him."

"Why?" William asked confused.

"Ah, ah, ah," the girl said tsking. "It's my turn to ask. If you and Cascada are still together then why the whole distant thing? Cas is really worried about you."

"She is?"

Musa nodded before pulling away, the song ending. "Well, thanks for the dance Big Bro!" she grinned cheekily though they both knew it was fake.

"No problem," the boy shrugged. Musa was about to walk away when he suddenly grabbed her arm.

"A heart isn't something to full with and it can't be deceived," he said in a strange tone. He stared deeply into her eyes before releasing her.

Slightly spooked the girl nodded before hurrying away. The boy watched her go before bringing a hand up to his head and shaking it angrily.

"Don't ever do that again," he growled lowly to himself causing a few partiers to draw their attention to him.

"You weren't of much help to her. She needed guidance, not someone who can't even see their own relationship deteriorating in front of them!" Leon snapped.

"Shut the hell up," he said angrily pushing through the small crowd of guest whom looked nervous at his seemingly one way conversation. "I need air," he sighed to himself as he made his way to the balcony.

CODE TWILIGHT

Yumi wondered if he could feel her shaking. How could she not be? She was after all dancing with the father of the guy she loved; the same father who never hesitated to say how unworthy she was to be friends with, let alone dating, his son.

She dared a glance at the man before realizing that he was looking scrutinizing at her. She quickly turned her head away to look at the other dancers at on the dance floor only to see Ulrich…dancing with Mrs. Dunbar.

"Kami help me," she thought as Evan Stern cleared his throat to catch her attention. She looked up at him with hesitative eyes.

"You're very graceful, Ms. Ishiyumi," he said, saying her name incorrectly though she wasn't even sure if his compliment was genuine.

"It's Ishiyama. Yumi Ishiyama," she corrected, "and I've taken martial arts lessons so that may have helped."

"Have you ever seen my son fight?" the man asked.

"Well, I've fought him a couple of times," she said.

"Really?" he asked, his tone, nor expression, giving away what he really thought. "You must have felt disheartened when you were defeated."

"Actually, sir, I've beat him on most of our fights," the geisha warrior said sounding unsure as his face slightly darkened.

"Well," he said after a while, "I'm sure Ulrich went easy on you and I guess that's only to be expected from the Chinese."

"I'm Japanese and he didn't go easy," she said irritated. She hated when people confused her nationality. Her culture was something she took great pride out of though it may not always appear that. Also, she didn't like to be thought of as weak.

"Oh, excuse me," he apologized.

They continued to dance, Yumi hoping that the song would end. On a few occasions, she would catch sight of Ulrich who seemed to be talking to Emma while they dance. Sometimes they would look over towards them, Ulrich gazing at her, scowling at his father before returning his attention back to Mrs. Dunbar and shaking his head at something she had said.

"My son seems to be infatuated with you," the graying brunette suddenly said.

"We are dating each other, sir," Yumi said, already having an idea as to where this was going.

"Yes, I'm well aware of that, but you should know that infatuation is only good while it's new. Sooner or later you two will eventual breakup."

"I'm sorry, sir," the Japanese girl said, "but you're wrong. Ulrich and I love each other!" she said with a faint hint of a blush but she still held strong.

"Someone as young as you wouldn't know the meaning of such a complex subject such as love," Evan frowned.

"And someone as cold hearted as you wouldn't know the meaning either," the girl said bitterly. The man was about to respond back angrily when he felt a hand placed on his shoulder.

He stopped to look over his shoulder to see Emma smiling at him with Ulrich frowning behind her. "You wouldn't mind if we switched partners, would you? I'm afraid that if I keep dancing with this handsome and respectful young man here people will think of me as a crib stealer."

"No," Mr. Stern said after taking a deep breath. "Of course not," he said handing over Yumi to his son before taking Emma's hand.

"You okay?" Ulrich asked as they danced a safe distance away from his father.

"Ulrich," Yumi whispered looking into his brown eyes, "promise not to turn out like him."

The boy smiled softly, bringing her closer. "I promise."

Emma and Evan were having their own discussion.

"Your son is a really charming boy," Emma said, "and Yumi is a very intelligent and beautiful young woman. I can understand why they're so attracted to each other."

"It's only puppy love," Evan proclaimed. "I give them another month before they get tired of each other."

The woman sighed. "You're so pessimistic. You were never this way when we were younger."

"Things change."

"There are plenty of other people who are in your position and they still are optimistic," Emma said.

The man stopped. "If you excuse me, I'm getting tired," he said walking off.

"You need to tell him sometime. Your son deserves to know before it's too late," Emma said after his retreating figure. She sighed before turning towards the direction where Yumi and Ulrich were. "If anyone can convince him to stop being so thick," she murmured, "it'll have to be you two."

CODE TWILIGHT

Once he was out in the cool crisp air, he took a deep breath, expecting to breathe in refreshing crisp mountain air; instead, all he got was mouth full of cigarette smoke that sent him into a slight coughing spree. He cleared his throat, turning his head to look for the source of the smoke. He saw a puff of smoke being blown from around the corner and went to investigate it, out of annoyance more than anything else.

When he turned the corner, he was surprised at what he saw.

"Cascada!"

"William!" the girl said, startled, dropping the cigarette on the ground. She stumped on it, making it go out before turning towards her questionable boyfriend. "What are you doing here?" she asked straightening her back out and trying to stand taller then she felt.

"I could ask you the same thing," Dunbar said narrowing his eyes at her.

"Don't give me that look," she said annoyed, kicking the stumped cigarette butt. "I was only trying it to see if it would help me relax," she said leaning against the wall. She closed her eyes before reopening them, looking at him. "Maybe you could use one. You seem tense."

"So what am I supposed to do? Just forget about it?" he asked trying to keep his anger under control.

"Yes," she replied coolly. "Now if you excuse me," she began about to step around him.

"You're so selfish."

"Excuse me?" she asked incredulously.

"You heard me."

"I did," she said facing him with her hands on her hips, "and I'm hoping you were talking to yourself."

"So what? Are you saying I'm the one who is being selfish?"

"Yes."

Within the time span of two seconds, Cascada found herself pushed against the wall, William's iron grip holding her arms down. She stared heatedly into the boy's dark eyes. "Don't talk about me being selfish," he hissed angrily at her. "All it's ever been is you, you, you!"

"Watch yourself. You're stepping into dangerous waters," Leon warned.

Cascada growled angrily, green sparks beginning to spark angrily at her fingertips. "Me? Even if I am selfish I deserve to be! I've given up everything for everyone else without asking for anything! Also, you shouldn't be trying to degrade someone, Willy"she said in a mocking tone.

"Me?"

"Yes, but I guess you're too selfish to notice!" the plant A.I. said angrily trying to pull away from his grip. "I'm supposed to be your girlfriend and yet you barely pay any attention to me! Whenever you aren't hiding yourself away from everyone else you're always focusing on Musa and sister or not, I'm tired of that she's always the one you're looking at," she said.

Her words caused him to slacken his grip just enough for her to push him away. She rubbed her arms where his hands had been her down. She could have walked away to leave him in his thoughts but she wasn't done letting her frustrations out yet.

"From the beginning," she said poking him in the chest, "It's always been 'Musa' this, 'Musa' that. Is it so wrong for me to ask for attention? For me to be in the spotlight? For you to only look at me with the same look of pride you look at towards Musa with?"

The boy didn't reply.

"Ugh!" the girl cried angrily shoving him so hard that he fell on his butt before she ran back into the room.

William sat there, contemplating her words. "See," the other identity said from within him, "your selfishness, your desire to not be me, has pushed her away! What are you going to do about that?"

"Nothing," the boy muttered shamefully.

"You deserve to die."

CODE TWILIGHT

Sissi sighed, placing her chin in her hand as she watched the beautifully dressed men and women dance. Most had removed their masks that to a certain point became irritating to wear and were scattered across the floor.

"Something wrong?" Odd asked reaching to tuck a strand of hair out of her face but she slapped his hand away.

"Cut the act, Della Robbia," she said crossing her arms and pinning him down with a stare. "We both know we're just using each other. Me, because I needed a way to get into this party and you, because you wanted to make Utada jealous."

"That's not-" the boy said about to protest before Sissi held up a hand.

"Don't lie. I really don't care but it's obvious you still have feelings for her and vise versa. I mean, on stage it looked like you two were nearly about to kiss."

"We were acting," the cat warrior defended. "It was part of the song."

"It was supposed to be acting but it was obvious that both you and Musa both wanted it to happen. Call it a woman's intuition."

"Is this the same woman's intuition that told you that Ulrich loved you when it was obvious he didn't?" Odd asked trying to get her off the subject.

"No," she said frowning, her eye twitching in annoyance, "and don't try to change the subject."

"Whatever," the boy sighed. "Either way, she broke up with me. It's over with. Done."

"Idiot," Sissi sighed rubbing her temples. "That's what all boys are. Idiots."

"Well you're definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed," Odd retorted before getting up.

"Where are you going?" Sissi asked.

"Doesn't matter to you," the boy said over his shoulder.

"What did Utada see in him?" she asked before taking out her cell phone. The party wasn't as exciting as she had expected especially since she hadn't seen her idol, Maria, at all. "I guess I'll see what my idiots are doing," she sighed, texting Nicolas and Herve.

CODE TWILIGHT

Aelita and Jeremy were enjoying each other company. They had danced a little and had a little flirty banter with each other. Everything seemed great and Aelita was happy that her prince was enjoying himself and not worrying about things related to the super computer. That was until his cell phone vibrated.

"Who is it?" Aelita asked.

"I programmed the supercomputer to my cell phone. There's an attack on Lyoko," he said unbelieving.

"Do you think it may be the artificial intelligences from the club?" the pink hair girl asked.

"No way of knowing till we get there," the boy said pulling himself and Aelita up to his feet. That was until Ken walked up towards them.

"Aelita, it's time to get up on stage with the others," he said nodding towards the rest of the gang who were waiting by the stage, minus Odd and Cascada.

"Oh," the girl said nervously. Someone had to go with Jeremy to the lab.

"Hey," Musa said as they walked towards the others. "Have any of you seen Cas or Odd? We're about to play."

"No," Jeremy said shaking his head, "but I have something important to tell you all," he said gaining the groups attention. "A tower on Lyoko is activated."

"What should we do?" Yumi asked. "We can't all just leave."

"I'll go with Jeremy," William said. "The rest of you stay here."

"But wont you need Aelita, Cascada, or Musa to deactivate the tower?" Ulrich asked.

"I figured out how to deactivate the tower without them," Jeremy said. "It's a little tricky and I would rather prefer just deactivating the tower the usual way but it would look too suspicious if any more of us leave, especially since Odd and Cascada aren't here. Besides, the drums are the only instrument we have a back up on."

"I'll go ask, Chris," Musa said, "but Ulrich has to sing."

The boy looked like he was about to protest before thinking about it. "Can I change the song we're playing?" he asked.

"Sure," Musa shrugged before walking off to find their substitute drummer.

"Okay, William and I are going to go, keep an eye out for anything suspicious," William warned.

"Okay," the others agreed.

The computer whiz turned to Aelita and kissed her cheek before he and the sword wielding warrior ran off. "Be safe," the winged warrior whispered.

CODE TWILIGHT

"Kuso," Musa cursed. "Is it rally that hard to find a white hair young guy around here?" Yes, yes it was since most of the guests were quite old, their hair naturally losing its color. Something caught her eye on its way to the balcony. "Odd?" Musa wondered before following the figure. She stepped out into the night air looking for her blonde ex. When she saw a shadowy figure lurking by the corner. "Odd?" she called out towards the shadow before gasping.

That was all she could do before the shadowy figure lashed out and struck, her world going dark.

CODE TWILIGHT

Odd stood on the roof of the hotel. The boy had come here to think, to be away from all the commotion of the party, to try and forget Sissi's words, and the girl who had broken his heart. It wasn't really helping.

He leaned over the side, hands in his pocket. "That's a long way down," he muttered.

"Quite," a voice agreed. Odd spun around, startled as he stared at the man on the roof with him. "Oh, forgive me. I didn't mean to frighten you."

"I wasn't scared," the boy mumbled stuffing his hands in his pockets again.

The man walked around the boy so he was standing at the edge. "To be able to jump and fly off would be great," he said before turning to the boy. "Don't you think?"

"I guess," Odd shrugged. He felt as if he should leave and get away from this man but he found his feet unable to move.

"But," the man said turning back to the view below him, "to jump and fall is even better."

"I got to go," the cat warrior said about to turn around before the man gripped him tightly by the shoulders.

"Wouldn't you like to test my theory?" the man questioned as a shadow zipped its way towards the boy.

So yeah. A new chapter! And I'm still alive! Anyway, this is all leading up to something big that's going to happen next chapter. I gave some hints though I'm not sure if they're that prominent, but don't worry! Some things will be revealed and the story will really begin to pick up pace. Also, we'll learn more about the characters and their stroies from the next chapter on. Everything has a reason. Also...something that you guys have been waiting for dealing with Jeremy will probably happen next chapter. Aren't you ecited?

(Random reader) "No!"

(Me) "Well who asked you?"

Anywho, the song above is called "Marionette" by Ayumi Hamasaki. It took me forever to find the english lyrics to this song since it just recently came out, but even before I knew what was really being said I always knew this song would be perfect, not only for Odd and Musa but for Sitara too! But that's something you'll find out about later.

Um...who wants to play a game? I'll give a special sneek peak to anyone who can figure out what song Ulrich will sing next chapter. Here's some clue:

1.) It relates perfectly to the relationship with Ulrich and his father.

2.) This song was made into a collaboration with another song by another well known artisit.

3.) The C.D. this song was on debuted on March 25, 2003.

4.) The original song was performed at the Live Earth concert in Tokyo Japan in July 2007.

5.) The actress in the music video of this song played as the main character in Step Up 2 The Streets with Robert Hoffman, Cassie Ventura, Adam G. Sevani, and Telisha Shaw.

LOL! I hope that wasn't too hard. Anyway, I'll be accepting answers till the weekend, June 28th, so hurry if you want a sneak peek! Also, I might give extra hints if the answer you give is wrong but on the right direction. You have up to three chances. Sorry, but this is only open to people who have an account for obvious responding reasons.

Anyway, nothing more to say so...PLEASE REVIEW!