I mentioned I was bad at updating right? I'm not completely happy with the ending of this but I wanted to get it out. I'm still figuring out what I want to do with Vivien. I know I want to bring Laura and William but I don't know how yet. Hopefully next chapter will be out quicker. We'll see. Read and Review.

"Ulrich, what are you doing?"

Ulrich looked and gasped. "William, what are you doing here?"

"You know why. You couldn't save them. You never can." The boy in the black jumpsuit with the sign of XANA on his chest walked towards him. "They're all dead because of you."

"No." Ulrich shook his head and closed his eyes. "No, you're not real. Go away."

"I am real, Ulrich. I'm you." William changed himself to look like Ulrich but with XANA's sign in his eyes. "You failed."

"NO!"

"Ulrich?"

Ulrich squeezed his eyes shut, praying it was the real Yumi that just said his name. He opened his eyes and sighed in relief. "Yumi."

"Are you okay? I heard you screaming from downstairs," Yumi worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He sat down on his bed, placing his head in his hands.

Yumi looked at him, concerned then sat down beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Don't start this."

Ulrich looked up, confused. "Start what?"

"Blocking me out. Acting like nothing fazes you because it does, Ulrich. I know it does because the same thing affects me and I know it affects Aelita," Yumi warned. "Please just talk to me."

Ulrich sighed. "I don't just have nightmares. It's more than that but Yumi, I can't tell you."

"And why not?"

"Because you won't see me the same again," Ulrich confessed, putting his head back in his hands. "I can't do that to you."

"Ulrich, that would never happen. I'm here for you. We all are. We went through Lyoko together and we will deal with all of this together," Yumi promised, squeezing his shoulder.

Ulrich looked up and gave her a small smile. "Thanks, Yumi."

Yumi bumped her shoulder against his. "Come on, Aelita made a huge dinner for the first day tomorrow."

Ulrich stood up and followed Yumi downstairs. "Don't you feel a little bad that Aelita is spending all this money on us?"

"Yeah and I plan on getting a job once classes start to start helping out. I don't want her to use her inheritance on us," she told him. "I mean, I get why she's doing it but it still makes me feel awful."

"A job sounds like a good idea. Where do you plan on applying?"

Yumi shrugged as they rounded the last set of stairs. "Maybe at the mall, I don't know."

"You could work at Uni."

"That's not a bad idea," She replied as the two made it into the kitchen.

"Finally we can eat," Odd exclaimed when they walked in. He grabbed his plate and started filling it up with food.

Aelita shook her head as she took the last thing out of the oven. "You are so impatient, Odd."

Jeremy snorted from his seat at the island. "Did you expect anything else?"

Odd looked at his two friends insulted but continued filling up his plate.

Yumi looked at Ulrich, smirking. Aelita waved them over to fix to their plates, grabbing a plate herself.

"Can you believe we start university tomorrow?" Odd stated as they all sat down to eat. "Well, all except Yumi. Tell us what it's like, Yumi?"

"Stressful," Yumi responded. "That's the only way I can describe it. If you thought high school was hard, university is ten times harder."

"Great, I'm going to fail out," Ulrich mumbled.

"What's everyone majoring in?" Yumi wondered. "Right now I'm creative writing."

"Film," Odd replied.

"Computer science and quantum physics," Jeremy grunted as he ate.

"Math and computer science with a minor in music," Aelita smiled.

"I'm undeclared. I can't decide," Ulrich sighed.

"Don't worry about it, Ulrich, I already changed my major twice in the past year," Yumi assured him. "You'll figure it out. It takes time."

"We should all try to eat lunch together," Aelita suggested. "It would be like old times."

"All my classes are from 8:00 to 2:00 with only a thirty minute break," Jeremy quipped, glancing at his notebook that he had in his lap.

"I don't start classes until 1:00 in the afternoon. Sorry, Aelita," Ulrich apologized.

"I could after my literature and film class. It ends around 1:30," Odd

"I can join, too, Aelita," Yumi nodded at her. "It will be fun."

"Great! Sounds like a plan," Aelita beamed then turned to Jeremy and Ulrich. "As for you two, make sure you are here for dinner tomorrow at 7:00."

"Yes, ma'am," Ulrich smirked, saluting her.

"I actually have a meeting tomorrow night and I won't be home until late," Jeremey looked up.

Aelita sighed and forced a smile. "Okay. Just don't forget about us, Jeremy."

"I would never," Jeremy forced a grin. "Maybe we can do a big dinner this weekend."

"Sounds like a plan."

The next morning was hectic. Everyone was trying to gather everything up and make it to campus on time. Ulrich, whose classes didn't start until 1:00, had gotten up to help Aelita with breakfast but the rest were late getting downstairs so they choked down their food. After a rushed breakfast, Odd kept running up and down the stairs, each time forgetting something. One time he came down in nothing but his boxers and as soon as Aelita and Yumi screamed, he ran as fast as he could back upstairs. Jeremy was trying to stuff all his computer junk in two bags but he kept packing and repacking. By the time, everyone had everything together; they had ten minutes to get to campus and their classes.

Ulrich waved them off, closing the door behind them. He sighed in relief and went into the living room, hoping to catch a nap before class. He lay down on the couch, throwing his arm over his eyes.

"Ulrich."

Ulrich moved his arm and groaned. "William, leave me alone."

"Now why would I do that?" The XANAified William answered. "You're going to fail, Ulrich. Then your daddy will drag you back home and never let you leave again."

"That's not true!"

"But it is because you always fail, Ulrich. You failed Odd. You failed Aelita. You failed Jeremy. And you failed Yumi countless times. You will always fail."

"Leave. Me. Alone."

"You are nothing, Ulrich Stern. You will never be anything."

"GO AWAY!" He closed his eyes, trying to force the vision out of his head. When he opened his eyes, the William was finally gone. He sighed in relief and turned over to nap.

"Is there something wrong with me, Yumi?" Aelita asked her friend.

The two sat in the coffee shop on campus in between their two classes. Each had a latte and a croissant. Aelita was absentmindedly stirring her latte as Yumi watched her.

"No, there's nothing wrong with you, Aelita," Yumi assured, reaching over and squeezing Aelita's hand.

"Then why does Jeremy treat me like I don't exist? Why does he ignore me?" Aelita exclaimed, throwing her spoon down.

"He's just mad that you left for four years. He'll get over it."

"But he said he understood why I left at the time. Now he's acting like he doesn't!"

"Maybe it's because you didn't contact us."

"Yumi, I thought you were on my side!" Aelita cried.

"I am on your side, Aelita, but I'm just trying to see it from Jeremy's point of view. You left us four years ago without so much as an email telling us you were okay," Yumi reminded.

"You're not mad at me, are you?"

"No, I'm not. I forgave you. I get why you did what you did and I feel like Jeremy will come around soon."

Aelita sighed and went back to stirring her latte. "Maybe I should talk to him."

Yumi nodded in agreement, picking at her croissant.

"Why are guys so complicated, Yumi?"

"You're asking the wrong girl," Yumi laughed. "At least Ulrich has gotten better since high school."

"Wait, does that mean what I think it means?" Aelita gasped, trying not to smile.

"No, not at all. Ulrich and I have too much history and it's never worked out. It's probably best if we don't try it again," Yumi admitted.

"I don't think that's true. I think you're good for each other."

Yumi shook her head. "I don't want to hurt our friendship. We're in a good place right now and I don't want to ruin it."

Aelita nodded in understanding. The two sat in silence for awhile, sipping their lattes when a curly auburn hair girl walked up.

"Aelita and Yumi, right?" She said.

The girls looked at her in surprise.

"Yes?" Aelita asked, confused.

"I'm Vivien, Jeremy's friend. I'm in your computer science class," Vivien introduced, nodding to Aelita. "And I'm in your writing class, Yumi."

"Oh, hi," Aelita perked up, smiling at the girl. "How do you know Jeremy?"

"We met at a computer science camp last summer. We've been working on a program together since then. He's told me a lot about you," Vivien explained. "I just saw you two and wanted to introduce myself. I hope to see you around." She smiled at the girls one last time then left, waving as she went.

"She seemed nice," Yumi commented as soon as she left.

"She did but why hasn't Jeremy mentioned her?"

"Did you really just ask that after how distant he has been?"

"That's true," Aelita sighed.

"Aelita, you have got to get over this. You need to let this Jeremy thing go," Yumi told her.

"I know but I can't."

"Well, I'm going to help you. We're going to have a girl day Saturday. Just you and me. We're going to get you over Jeremy's attitude."

"Thanks, Yumi, you're a good friend." Aelita looked down at her phone and gasped. "Look at the time. I have to get to class. I'll text you when I get out, okay?"

"Okay, see you later."

Vivien walked into her and Jeremy's usually study room that afternoon and saw Jeremy already there. "Hey."

Jeremy looked up and smiled. "Hey, you're early."

"Yeah, the professor didn't keep us the whole time," Vivien replied, sitting down and pulling out her laptop. "So I met Aelita and Yumi today."

Jeremy sighed, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "I didn't want that to happen."

"Why not, Jer? They were both really nice."

"No, they're not, damnit!" Jeremy slammed his fist on the table. "Why can't you understand what they did to me? They abandoned me!"

"Jer, calm down." Vivien walked behind him and started rubbing his shoulders. "I do understand what they did but that doesn't change the fact that they are both nice people. You're living with them, aren't you?"

"You know why."

"Yes, I do but you can't hate them that much if you live with them. Maybe deep down, you want to forgive them."

Jeremy chuckled at her suggestion and squeezed her hand. "Good one, Viv. Come on, let's get to work."

Odd sighed as he walked into the restaurant, shifting his bag then spotted Aelita and Yumi. He walked over, dumping his bag on the floor. "Hey, ladies."

"Hey, we ordered your food for you," Aelita greeted, pushing Odd his plate that consisted of a double stack burger and fries.

"You two are the best," Odd grabbed his burger and took a bite.

"Long day?" Yumi scrunched up her nose in disgust as Odd stuffed his food down as fast as he could.

"Yeah, I already have a short film assigned and a five page script due in a week."

"Already? All my professors did was go over the syllabus," Aelita responded.

"Hmm, lucky."

"Do you have anymore classes?" Yumi asked, finishing off her fries.

"No, I'm done. You guys done?" The girls nodded. "Great. What's the plan for tonight?"

"I have an interview with the one of the restaurants on campus," Yumi answered. "Then Aelita and I are making supper."

"What about Einstein? Is he ditching us tonight?"

"Haven't heard from him today," Aelita sighed.

"Remember what we talked about early today?" Yumi looked at her. "We are trying to forget about him."

"Right. So, Odd, what are you going to do your short film on?" Aelita changed the subject.

"Don't know yet but I'll have to come up with something soon. When I do, you guys want to be in it?"

"Seriously?" The girls said simultaneously.

"Well yeah. I can't forget about my best girls, can I?"

Aelita giggled as Yumi shook her head at Odd's comment.

The first week of school flew by and before they knew it, it was the weekend. That Saturday morning, Aelita and Yumi woke up earlier than the boys. They fixed breakfast, ate their share, and got ready for their girl day.

Aelita put on a navy blue flared skirt with a white short sleeve t-shirt. To finish the look, she put a brown belt around her waist and brown flats. Yumi wore black skinny jeans, a black and white plaid top with black converses. The girls grabbed their purses and headed out in Aelita's car.

The first stop for girls' day was the mall where Aelita and Yumi went through every store even the video game store where Aelita picked up a few games for the boys. After the mall, they went to eat lunch at small café.

"So, do you feel better about You-Know-Who?" Yumi asked after the waitress set their food down.

"Much, thanks, Yumi. You're the best," Aelita smiled. "What are we doing after lunch?"

"I was thinking maybe we could go get our nails done."

"Oh, last time I did that was when I went to Rome. The lady painted little designs on my nails," Aelita exclaimed, wiggling her nails.

"Rome? Is that where you picked up cooking?" Yumi put her hand on her chin and leaned forward. Aelita didn't talk about her travels much so this was a rare opportunity.

"No, I actually picked up on cooking in Spain. You won't believe the food in Madrid. It's fantastic!"

"I am so jealous. I would love to travel."

"We should go one day, just me and you," Aelita suggested.

"Now that would be an ultimate girls' day," Yumi giggled. "But we should. Let's ditch the boys and go."

"Maybe for Christmas or summer."

As the girls were enjoying the day forgetting about the boys, those said boys were lounging around the Hermitage. For the first time since they moved in, Jeremy had not run off to campus. Odd knew something was up but refused to say anything. Instead, he continued to work on his script and ideas for his short film. Ulrich, on the other hand, had no homework and was currently playing Odd's X-Box as Jeremy sat besides him on his laptop. He hasn't spoken to the other two since breakfast.

Odd continued typing, looking occasionally at Jeremy. "So, Jer, how's your classes going?"

"Fine," Jeremy relied.

Odd nodded, making a face. Ulrich choked back laughter before focusing back on his game. "When were you going to tell us about your girlfriend, Jer?" Odd tried again.

Jeremy stopped working and looked up at Odd. "W-What?"

Ulrich paused his game, turning towards Jeremy. "Wait, you have a girlfriend?"

Jeremy closed his laptop and sighed. "How did you find out?"

"Aelita told me. Just because you don't talk to her doesn't mean I don't," Odd told him.

"Hey, let's not get into that," Ulrich butted in.

"Yeah, I do," Jeremy finally answered. "We met a summer camp last summer. We started going out a few months later."

"What's her name?" Ulrich asked before Odd could say something stupid.

"Vivien Levet."

"When can we meet her?"

"Um…" Jeremy started.

"Come on, Jer," Odd interrupted. "The girls already met her. Why can't we? Why don't you invite her to dinner since the girls are gone?"

"I don't know. She's kinda busy working on her part of the project we've been working on."

"She can work on it here," Odd suggested. "Come on, we want to meet her."

"He isn't going to stop, you know," Ulrich nodded towards Odd.

"Fine, I'll invite her over."

Odd pumped his fists in the air as Jeremy texted Vivien. Ulrich rolled his eyes then went back to his game.

An hour later, the doorbell rang. Jeremy put his laptop on the coffee and went to the door. Vivien stood outside the Hermitage wearing a mint green flared skirt and a black tank top.

"Hi, Jer," She smiled, kissing him on the cheek.

"Hey, Viv," Jeremy led her in, closing the door behind him. "Hope you don't mind pizza. None of us felt like cooking."

"That sounds good."

"Come meet the guys," Jeremy put his hand on the small of her back and led her into the living room. "Odd, Ulrich, this is Vivien."

"Wow," Odd looked at her, grinning. "You're dating Jeremy?"

"Odd," Ulrich warned. "Nice to meet you, Vivien. Pizza's on its way."

"Great. Where's Yumi and Aelita?" Vivien looked around, not seeing the girls.

"They had a girl day. They might be here later," Jeremy replied.

"Oh. What are you playing, Ulrich?" She pointed to the screen.

"Call of Duty."

"Sweet, can I play?"

Ulrich and Odd looked at her surprised then handed her a remote.

"Thanks for this, Yumi. This has been great." Aelita giggled as she and Yumi walked back to the Hermitage, arms linked. "I needed this."

"I'm glad. Now, let's go see how big of a mess the boys made."

Aelita giggled and unlocked the door. A loud crash went through the house as soon as they opened the door. Screaming soon followed. Aelita and Yumi looked at each other, eyes going wide and ran into the living room. The scene they found was quite unexpected. Ulrich, Odd, and Vivien were racing each other in Mario Kart as Jeremy watched, laughing. Pizza boxes were all over the floor with several opened soda cans.

"Um, guys?" Aelita coughed, getting their attention.

"Hey, princess! Yumi!" Odd greeted. "Want to play?"

"No," Yumi crossed her arms.

Vivien stood up awkwardly. "Yumi, Aelita, hi!"

"Vivien," Aelita nodded. "What's going on?"

"We didn't feel like cooking," Ulrich answered, still playing Mario Kart.

"We can tell," Yumi hummed, kicking an empty can out of her way.

"Let me help clean this up and I'll be on my way," Vivien offered, going to pick up an empty box.

"No, it's okay. We can do it," Aelita took the box and folded it under her arms. "It's late, you should get going."

"Oh." Vivien smiled, grabbed her purse, and headed to the door, Jeremy right behind her.

"Wow, little harsh there, princess," Odd whistled.

"Clean this up, now." Aelita handed Odd the pizza box then stalked out before she started yelling, Yumi right behind.

"Maybe we shouldn't have invited Vivien over," Ulrich told Odd.

"You think?"

The sky and ground were white. She was colder than she's ever been. A small cabin was up the way. She walked to it, knowing she had to go in. The closer she got, the farther the cabin seemed to get. She stopped, not making an progress. A woman came out in winter gear, her pink hair down.

"Mom!" She yelled, trying to run towards her.

Suddenly, wolves jumped out and started running towards her. She ran away, trying to run towards her mother but the wolves kept getting closer and closer.

"Mom!" She yelled again, reaching her hand out towards her mother. She tripped, rolling in the snow, the wolves hovering over her. "NO!"