Mid April

Differing Parties

Aelita sat in the waiting room with Yumi and Sissi in anxious excitement. While Yumi assured her that she was in for the time of her life, the full day treatment package that her and Aelita agreed upon for Sissi's day out was a significant expense on a research assistant's salary. She also felt bad knowing that Jeremy was likely going to be returning from his outing with Ulrich and Odd tired and sore, whereas she was supposed to be relaxed and rejuvenated. Still, they had budgeted accordingly, and Jeremy had insisted that he would be fine.

"Hello, you must be the party for Yumi Stern," greeted a small woman wearing an outfit similar to Yumi's original Lyoko attire. The three friends all stood up.

"Yes, that's us," replied Yumi and the woman smiled.

"Follow me please."

"Stop worrying Jeremy, you're gonna have fun, I promise," assured Ulrich while the three guys were on the way to the paintball arena.

"I'm not worrying!" The tall blond retorted.

"Of course you're not, you've only been fidgeting since we sat down in the car from excitement, right Einstein?" Teased Odd from the back seat, causing Jeremy to growl slightly. "Besides, you've got a full day to recover before you get to wear yourself out again on the dance floor!" While it wasn't one of Jeremy's favorite pastime, the thought of dancing with Aelita made him smile.

"That's better!" Exclaimed Ulrich. He pulled the car into the parking lot of what looked like an old warehouse. "Anyway, we're here!"

First on the agenda was a massage, and Aelita nervously laid face down on the table. The idea of being mostly disrobed in front of a complete stranger made her a little uncomfortable, even if it was another girl. She'd never even been fully undressed in front of Jeremy! Not yet anyway... She smiled and felt her cheeks warm slightly at the thought of their upcoming wedding. There was a rustling in the cloth partition that separated her area from Yumi and Sissi's tables which shook her from her thoughts and caused her earlier unease to return.

"Ms. Aelita Stones, are you ready?" Asked the masseuse. Aelita winced slightly. Her fraudulent surname had been bothering her more and more the closer she came to her wedding. She put it out of her mind and answered.

"Yes." The woman walked up next to Aelita and she heard some rustling at a nearby table.

"Have you ever had a massage before?"

"Uh uh," Aelita replied. She twitched in surprise as a warm liquid drizzled across her back.

"That's fine, just relax and let me know if you want me to adjust the pressure." Aelita gasped and her worries melted away almost instantly as the masseuse started working at her shoulders...

Jeremy ducked behind a large wooden spool that served as cover and the heard the crack-crack-crack of paintballs splattering on the opposite side. He figured it was just his luck that he was already being shot at a mere ten seconds into the first round! There was a loud sliding sound next to him and he jerked his head to the left just in time to see Odd scrambling back to his feet after diving behind the spool. He was somehow already covered in dirt and dust which he attempted to quickly brush off. His hands weren't any cleaner than his clothes, so he wasn't very successful.

"Alright, if we take that tower," the short blond gestured to an elevated wooden fort of dubious structural integrity about twelve meters in front of them, "then that'll give us a commanding view of the entire arena!" Looking at its location and how well it would protect any inhabitants, Jeremy agreed with his friend's assessment. Unfortunately, there was one problem...

"How do we get there without getting shot?" Jeremy asked frantically. Odd grinned wide enough to be visible through the tiny slits in his mask.

"I'll provide cover fire while you make a break for it!"

"What!?" The genius exclaimed.

"And when you get there, you can provide cover fire for me!"

"Argh, ok!" Grumbled Jeremy, and he got ready to run.

"Ready... GO!" Signaled Odd and Jeremy took off as fast as his legs would carry him! At first he heard the fwap-fwap-fwap of Odd's gun behind him, but after a moment, the rest of the world melted away as adrenaline took over his system and he saw nothing but the fort that was rapidly approaching! He was halfway there, then three quarters, and with a feeling of elation, his foot hit the first of the stairs...

Thud-thud-thud

A sharp pain shot through Jeremy's shoulder, side, and thigh as he felt the sting of being hit, and the dismay of being out before firing a single shot. Raising his paintball gun over his head per the instructions for being out, he walked to the arena exit, now with a slight limp. On the way, he passed Odd.

"Sorry Einstein, I didn't see those guys over there." Jeremy just shrugged, knowing it wasn't really his scrappy friend's fault

Upon leaving the arena, Jeremy noticed that the amount of people on his team that were out far outnumbered the other team... he sighed and thought to himself that it was going to be a long day.

After the second treatment of the day, which was a body polish, Aelita couldn't help running her hands up and down her arms under her robe sleeves. She marveled at how soft her skin felt.

"Hi Aelita, feeling relaxed yet?" Asked Yumi when Aelita met back up with her and Sissi before their next treatment.

"Very, I wouldn't mind doing this more often!" Aelita replied happily.

"Yeah, this was a great idea Yumi, thanks for setting this up!" Added a very enthusiastic Sissi before wrapping her best friend in a big hug. "So, what next?" The tall woman asked after letting go. Aelita opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by one of the spa's employee's.

"Are you all ready for your salt soak and facials?" She asked. Sissi grinned widely, and her friend's eagerness made Aelita look forward to this next step as well.

"Yes, I think we are," Yumi replied, and when she saw the excitement on her friend's faces she started sporting her own self-satisfied smile.

Jeremy peeked above the crate he was using for cover just in time to see Ulrich make a zigzagging break for the flag that was in the center of the arena with Odd providing cover fire. The young genius knew that Ulrich was in excellent shape, but seeing the speed and agility he possessed in person was incredible! Ducking and weaving over, under, and occasionally through obstacles in the arena, he snatched the flag out of its holder and made a break for the home base. While watching, Jeremy saw a couple of guys poke out of cover and open fire on the large man. Bringing his own paintball gun to bear he peppered the area with the inaccurate weapon. One of the opponents ducked for cover, but the other one kept firing at Ulrich, managing to hit the athlete several times just before one of Jeremy's shots managed to connect.

Ulrich dropped the flag and walked to the arena's exit, and Odd bolted forward shooting his own suppressive fire from the hip in an attempt to finish what his large friend started. Jeremy knew that the small man hadn't seen the guy that had tagged out Ulrich, but when the opponent came out of cover again to shoot at Odd, Jeremy was ready for him. He pulled his trigger as rapidly as he could and moment's later the opposing team member raised his weapon over his head signaling that he'd been hit!

"YES!" The genius exclaimed as he pumped his fist in celebration just before he felt a couple of impacts on his chest. Raising his own weapon over his head, the genius started walking off the arena. Despite the stinging pain from being shot he couldn't help cracking a wide grin as he felt like he was finally getting the hand of this game. Odd could be seen crossing the threshold to their home base with the flag in hand, while Ulrich flashed Jeremy a thumbs-up for successfully covering his buddy allowing their team to win!

As Aelita was walking to the car with Sissi and Yumi, she had never felt more relaxed in her life! The skin on her hands and feet felt smoother than they'd ever been from the manicure and pedicure. Her hair, done up in a stylish pixie-bob that she thought looked really cute and Jeremy was going to love, felt equally lovely!

"Best bachelorette party... ever!" Exclaimed Sissi when they were inside and had shut the doors. "Thank you so much for this!" The only other bachelorette party Aelita had ever been to was Yumi's, and it was a trip to an international martial arts workshop. While she did like learning a few moves and self defense tricks, she had to admit that she preferred the spa and hoped that her own party would be equally enjoyable!

The occupants of the car fell into a relaxed silence as Yumi started driving back to her and Ulrich's place.

After Ulrich parked the car, the guys exited with a lot of groaning from soreness.

"I'll admit it," said Jeremy once they started walking, "today was fun, but how about you guys make my party a little less physically demanding!"

"Sure thing, Einstein," replied Ulrich. When he opened the door to his apartment, he sniffed the air as a delicious aroma wafted through. "Mmmm, I forgot that Yumi was making kabayaki! You guys are in for a real treat!" With neither one of them ever having heard of the dish, Odd and Jeremy exchanged confused glances.

"What's kabayaki?" asked Jeremy. Ulrich flashed a knowing grin.

"It's kinda like an eel-kabab with a sort of salty-sweet glaze," he excitedly informed his friends.

"You've started eating some really weird stuff since you and Yumi got hitched..." Odd remarked with his nose all scrunched up earning him a light smack upside the head.

"Hey! That's my wife's cooking you're dissing!" Jeremy chuckled but said nothing as he and Odd walked through the door, with the short man grumbling and rubbing where he got hit.

His grumbling was short lived though as he quickly found Sissi sitting on the couch in the front room and his face split into a huge grin. He hurried over and attempted to hug her, but she put her hand out and stopped him at arms length.

"Uh uh! You get a quick kiss, but that's it until you take a shower, mister Della Robbia!" The small man looked down at all the dust and grime he was covered with.

"Uhh... fair enough." he leaned over and gave his almost-wife a quick peck. "What are you doing alone out here though?"

"I was told that I shouldn't be cooking this close to our wedding and was kicked out of the kitchen. I wasn't gonna argue!" Odd grinned widely at the mention of the wedding and started to lean forward for another kiss, but was rebuffed again. "Shower. Now. You smell!" The short blond sighed dramatically.

"Tough love." He grabbed the bag of clean clothes that he brought with him and headed for the bathroom with Sissi chuckling after him while shaking her head. When he had left, she turned to address the other guys, who were also laughing.

"Hey, quit laughing because you guys are next!"

"That's fine with me! I can't wait to get clean!" Laughed Jeremy.

"Yeah, me too," agreed Ulrich. "I'm gonna go say 'hi' to Yumi now though." He left for the kitchen and found his wife mixing the contents of a medium saucepan with Aelita looking over her shoulder.

"Hey honey, we're back and that smells amazing!" Yumi turned and smiled at her husband's compliment as Jeremy peered around the large man and his mouth fell open slightly for a moment when he saw his fiance. Aelita also turned away from the stove and beamed at Jeremy when she saw his surprise at her new look morph into a wide grin.

"You look amazing..." Aelita glanced away coyly and ran her fingers through her hair once, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to resist doing the same later and looked forward to it!

"I thought you would like it."

"You two are sickeningly cute, you know that!" Exclaimed Yumi, bringing the two geniuses back to reality and causing them to blush.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to need an insulin shot now," teased Ulrich, making their faces glow even brighter.

"Yumi's teaching me how to make unadon," blurted out the pink haired young woman, trying to divert the conversation, but Ulrich wasn't quite ready to let it go just yet.

"You two have been together for seven years and we can still make you blush, I'd say that's pretty good!"

"That's enough sweetheart, we've had our fun," Yumi lightly scolded, then she went back to attending the stove.

"Umm..." said Jeremy when his embarrassment died down a little. "What's unadon? Ulrich said that you were making kabayaki."

"Unadon is kabayaki served over rice," the Japanese woman replied without looking away from her work.

"Oh."

"After Ulrich proposed, my mom insisted that I learn how to cook," Yumi explained.

"I always liked her mom's cooking too, so I'm not complaining!" Added Ulrich.

"Hey, shower's free!" shouted Sissi from the other room.

"You can go next," Ulrich offered Jeremy, who left the kitchen. Entering the next room, he saw Odd snuggling up to a very happy Sissi. He smiled for a moment at the couple's affection, but when they started gently making out he decided that he'd seen enough and finished the trip to the bathroom.

After him and Ulrich finished getting cleaned up it was time for dinner. The group told each other about their respective outings, and laughed at the exaggerations in Odd's retelling of his own exploits until it was late. Odd and Sissi left for their apartment, but Jeremy and Aelita stayed as Ulrich and Yumi had offered them the pull-out bed for them to sleep on to help them save money. After Ulrich and Yumi went to bed, Jeremy and Aelita settled into the slightly uncomfortable bed.

"You seemed like you had a good time today," said Aelita as they cuddled together.

"I'll be pretty sore tomorrow, but surprisingly enough I did." the blond genius replied. "It seemed like you did too." He started running his fingers through his fiance's hair, just like she knew he would.

"Mmm hmm, that feels nice," she cooed. "Goodnight Jeremy, see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Aelita."

Within minutes, they were asleep.

A/N: to those of you who were expecting this update last week, I'm really sorry. My work schedule got really busy again. I'll try to keep the delay from happening again, but I can't guarantee that it won't happen again.