Chapter 6: What Happened After

Less than a mile from the factory there was a group of children in the park alongside a stream. Suddenly Aelita, Jeremy, Yumi and Ulrich stopped running and looked at each other in shock.

"I think we were just…" Jeremy began confusedly.

"At the factory, right?" Ulrich asked. "Weren't we on Lyoko?"

"Yeah," his 'girlfriend' agreed, "but something happened… I think we were caught in a trap by the…"

"Scyphozoas!"

At the name, everyone suddenly remembered with utmost clarity what happened on Lyoko and afterward. They knew their actions had been dictated by the monsters, but they couldn't help feeling embarrassed. Janika and William had tried to talk to them and they did nothing but laugh.

"What about my father?" Aelita began running again and the others hurried after her.

They were nearly to the factory when they came in sight of their friends. They faced each other, some appearing more sheepish than others.

William was kind enough to break the silence gently. "Hey, your program worked perfectly, Jeremy."

"My father!" Aelita took a step forward anxiously, biting her lip and almost begging for good news. "What—what about him?"

Janika gave a little smile. "Relax. With XANA gone, it's only a matter of time before we're able to materialize him too. He's looking forward to seeing you again, Aelita."

The whole group seemed to let out its breath together and the collective sound made them glance at each other, then start laughing. The atmosphere lightened and they began sharing their separate stories about the Scyphozoa capture on Lyoko, the attack on the school, suddenly waking up with no memories, then all the events that followed. Ulrich didn't even seem bothered by the fact that William used his Overbike.

"Looks like we owe you big time," Ulrich said to William.

He grinned back. "Yeah, you do. But then again if you guys hadn't been so dead set against my involvement I would have been caught in the trap with you."

"That isn't really an excuse for our conduct," Aelita pointed out. "But at least the circumstances worked out favorably in spite of our mistake."

"And if Odd hadn't been there we would have been toast," Janika added.

Jeremy was still preoccupied with something. "What I don't understand is how Odd was able to push through the Scyphozoa's influence and go to the factory. I don't know about the rest of you, but whenever I thought about the factory I felt—well, not scared, but I really, really, really didn't want to go anywhere near it."

Aelita, Ulrich and Yumi nodded, and strangely so did Odd.

"But," the Japanese girl started, "if you felt the same way we did, how did you manage to go anyway? No matter what happened, I wouldn't have gone there."

There was a hint of embarrassment about their friend now and the whole group leaned forward expectantly.

"I just…it wasn't the factory I was thinking about," he said shortly without meeting anyone's eyes.

A flicker of confusion passed over everyone's face—except for Janika's. She looked away but couldn't hide the pink beginning to color her cheeks.

Odd shrugged and gave the group a half-smile. "It doesn't really matter that much anyway. XANA's dead and we can go back to our normal lives. And…" he tried to sound upbeat, "…William can have Janika. No hard feelings."

The silence that followed his statement was long enough for Odd to realize he'd said something wrong.

"Did it occur to you," William began after a minute, "that I might not want her?"

"But I thought she and you were—"

"In cahoots? We had to be since the rest of you were brainwashed. I hardly know her so how could I be interested in more than friendship? I'm not the one she likes."

Odd glanced sidelong at her and stammered, "But you never said anything to me. I thought you wanted to end our relationship."

"Why do you think she emailed you all the time?" Yumi broke in.

"And sent you a box of Belgian chocolates on your birthday," Aelita said.

"And sat next to you in the cafeteria," Ulrich said.

"And is blushing right now instead of socking you in the jaw," Jeremy added.

He looked at each one of them in turn, wondering how they could see all these near-invisible clues. Finally he focused on Janika. "Are they right? Am I really that dense?"

Smiling green eyes met his. "As a brick."

"Hey, why don't we skip school to celebrate XANA's destruction?" Ulrich suggested. "We can do a little time traveling to make up for it later."

"I second that idea!"

"Me too."

Odd looked at them. "You know, I think Janika and I will catch up with you guys later. It's been forever since we had time to talk to each other."

The others exchanged loaded glances. "Ooooookaaay," William said slowly. "See you later then."

They peeled away from the rest of the gang and Janika couldn't help asking what he had planned.

"You pick whatever restaurant you like and we'll go there. Money is no object."

"Really? You're willing to spend that much on me?" she couldn't keep the skepticism off her face.

"Hey, we'll be going back in time, remember? Free food!"

She laughed and flushed a little as he took her hand. Long-distance relationship or not, they would find a way to work things out…even if she had to use her wings to meet him instead of taking the bus.

THE END

At last the story is complete! Really. This is the end. I won't add anything else. Probably.