05 Avr 2007, 01:46
Sleeping Satellite
Sleeping Satellite
I Love You, Yumi Ishyama
Yumi was sitting in her living room with her friends, Aelita and Sam, watching the news broadcast about the space shuttle Eclipser and its passengers. All they cared about was the passengers’ safe returns.
Yumi would only think about one of the passengers, Ulrich Stern. She thought about him day and night. She had never wanted him to go on this trip into space. He had been her best friend since the ninth grade (he had been in the eighth at the time) and she fell in love.
So did Ulrich. Ulrich had fallen in love with Yumi. The thing is that neither of them was able to gather up enough courage to tell each other how they felt.
For Aelita it was almost the same thing. The only difference was that she used to live on a virtual universe called Lyoko and she was materialized by Jeremy and came into the real world. She and Jeremy had fallen in love with each other since Jeremy first found her on his computer… inside it, actually. A couple weeks ago, Jeremy had asked Aelita to marry him and now he was the pilot of a spaceship hurtling through space. They were going to get married the week after he came back.
For Sam, she had come to the others’ high school, Kadic Academy, fallen in love with Odd Della-Rhobbia, another passenger on the shuttle, made Odd fall in love with her, then disappeared until his graduation. When she came back, Odd had asked her out. Now they were engaged and were waiting until he and his pals got back for the wedding.
So, as you can see, they were all worried about what would happen to their true loves.
There was a camera on the shuttle. Every day the three passengers would come on camera and do a sort of recap on their adventure. This had been going on for four weeks now, and there was another one coming on right now.
The three girls jumped onto Yumi’s couch and never took their eyes off the screen. First there were Jeremy and Odd. They were floating in front of the camera. They usually had big smiles on their faces, but now, they both looked like they’d been crying for the past hour. Once Yumi saw that Ulrich wasn’t on camera, her mind came to the worst thought.
“H-hi, everyone,” Odd said. “Uh… we’ve got some bad news. Uh…it looks like we might not be coming back.” The girls all gasped and felt the tears at the back of their eyes. “The, uh, ship is being pulled into the moon’s gravitation field,” Jeremy said. “We’re not moving very fast, but uh the landing will be pretty hard.”
“We’re going to do the best we can to either get out of the gravity field or to make the landing softer.”
“So, if we don’t make it back alive… we want those two girls to know.”
“I love you Sam.”
“I love you Aelita.” Aelita and Sam were crying now. Yumi kept wondering where Ulrich was. Her question was answered when he jumped in front of the camera. Relief spread over her. “There’s something I want to say, too,” he said. “There is one girl that I truly don’t want to leave.” Congrats, Sissy, Yumi thought. It was true; they had all befriended Sissy. “I want that girl to know something. That ever since you first became my friend, I loved you. You may get a little… a little bossy sometimes, but…” Wonder when the wedding is? “… I still love you. I’m just sorry I didn’t get to tell you earlier.” Yumi was halfway up the stairs now. “I love you, Yumi Ishyama.”
I Love You, Too
She stopped in her tracks. She turned around and ran down the stairs. She jumped over the couch and landed right in front of the TV. Ulrich turned around. “Shut it, Odd,” then he faced the camera again. “Yumi, please wait for me. I will come back for you… if you want me to.”
“Whadda ya’ mean ‘if’? She loves you, dude!” You could hear Odd’s faint voice right before the camera cut off.
Yumi slowly stood up and turned around. Aelita and Sam were still crying, but they had slight grins on their faces. “There you have it, girl,” Sam said. “You heard it your self.” Yumi sat down between them. “But what if he doesn’t come back?” She couldn’t hold the tears any longer. They spilled out of her like a water hose. Sam let her lean on her shoulder and Aelita held her hand. The three of them cried together until they fell asleep on Yumi’s couch.
Yumi woke up first. She blinked and saw that the TV was still on. It was playing today’s tape. She woke Sam and Aelita and they all watched the screen. “Ladies and Gentlemen,” Odd said, “we’re coming home!” All three of the girls screamed. “We made it out of the gravitation field so we’re coming back to Earth!” Ulrich jumped on screen and said, “And we’re never gonna leave!”
“We’re over halfway there. We’ll be there in a few hours. Get the house ready Yumi!” Jeremy said. The camera cut off. The girls jumped off the couch and went upstairs to Yumi’s bedroom.
The three of them walked to the end of Yumi’s bed and collapsed onto it.
“Oh.”
“My.”
“God.”
Sam sat up. “You know what? We only have a few hours ‘til they get here. Let’s just relax, okay?” The other two girls nodded in agreement and Sam lay back down.
This time they woke up to the sound of the doorbell. Two of them shot up: Aelita and Sam. They looked down at Yumi and decided to leave her for a few minutes. They both quietly crept downstairs to answer the door.
They opened the door and immediately hugged their fiancés. Ulrich walked in, looking for Yumi. “She’s upstairs,” Aelita said. Ulrich walked up the stairs, trying to figure out what he would say to her. When he walked in and saw her asleep, he forgot all about that. Without thinking, he walked over to her bed and sat down beside her. He put his arm under her neck and lifted her up. Her head started to move and her eyes fluttered open.
“Miss me?” Ulrich said. At the sound of his voice, her eyes shot open and she immediately hugged him. “You don’t know how much,” she said. Then she remembered about the broadcast. She pulled back and blushed, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“Listen, Yumi,” Ulrich said, “about that broadcast, I…”
“It’s fine.” Ulrich didn’t realize it, but once she said that, she’d scooted a little closer to him. The next thing he knew, she was kissing him on the cheek. He turned to face her. “Hi,” he said. “Hi,” she said. They slowly moved closer and closer until….
Knock, knock, knock. Both heads shot towards the door. “Hey, you two,” they heard Odd say, “Don’t get too cozy in there, or we might just have to call your parents!” Then they heard a laugh (probably Sam’s). They saw a fragment of a face in the crack between the frame and the door. They were watching them. They didn’t care.
They turned back towards each other. “Oh,” Yumi said playfully, “I didn’t know you were back.”
“Funny,” Ulrich said, “I didn’t realize I’d gone.”
“Why’s that?”
“I would die if I was away from you.” He softly put his hand on her cheek. Right before they kissed, Yumi whispered so only Ulrich could hear, “I love you, too.”
Hey, You Think They’ll be Fine Here?
They heard a door slam shut down the hall and the heard laughing and whooping in the room next door. Ulrich took Yumi’s hand and they went down stairs. They sat on the couch and turned on the TV. Yumi had no idea what to say to Ulrich. She had never felt this way about anyone else but him. “Uh… Ulrich?” she said. Ulrich turned to face her. “Yeah?”
“I’ve waited a really long time for this,” she said.
“Me too. Hey, you think they’ll be fine here?”
“I guess. Where are we going?”
“You’ll find out.” He took her hand again, turned off the TV, and they went out to Ulrich’s car. He opened the door for Yumi and once they were both inside the car, Ulrich started driving.
They turned onto a road that Yumi had never traveled on before… at least she didn’t think she had. “Ulrich, where are we?” she said. “We’re going to a place that should bring back some old memories,” was his reply. She knew exactly where they were going when she saw the sign that read “Kadic Academy Jr. High School”. Ulrich passed the school and went on down the road. He cut through the grass and he parked in front of an old, abandoned factory.
“Wow,” was all Yumi could think to say.
Before she could get out, Ulrich said, “Hey, let’s go in the old way, huh?” She agreed and he drove to the school’s parking lot. They got out and ran into the woods behind the school, hand-in-hand. They came to a stop at an old and rusty sewage hole. They both climbed down and saw something they couldn’t believe.
Theirs and Odd’s skateboards and Jeremy and Aelita’s scooters were still there! They were a little rusty, but who cares. They both took one quick glance at each other and Yumi lunged at her skateboard saying, “Race ya!” By the time Ulrich had gotten his feet on his skateboard, Yumi was already a speck in the distance.
When Ulrich got to the end of the tunnel, he started to climb. When he got to the top and reached fresh air, he didn’t see Yumi anywhere. He stood up, put the lid back over the hole, and looked around. There was no Yumi in sight. She’s probably already inside, he thought. He started walking down the bridge towards the factory… only to be knocked to the ground by someone jumping on top of him.
He looked up to see that it was Yumi. “What’re you doing?” he said. “This,” Yumi said. She kissed him. When she stopped, she jumped up and started running toward the factory. “See ya!” she said. Ulrich sat there, confused, just watching her swing down the ropes and win the race.
It took him about ten seconds to realize that she did that to confuse him on purpose. He jumped up and ran towards the factory. He jumped at the ropes and barely caught them. He slid down the ropes and landed on the floor of the factory. He saw her in the elevator, leaning against the wall, a smirk on her face, waving at him. He ran over and got there the second the doors closed.
When the elevator came back down, he took it up to the control room, where Jeremy used to see what was happening on Lyoko. He carefully stepped into the room when the doors opened and was again jumped on by Yumi. She kissed him again, but this time, she didn’t get up. Instead, she said, “Hi,” and he said, “Hi,” back.
She lay her head down on the crook of his neck. They lay there until Yumi fell, once again, into a deep sleep.
Oh… That One
When Yumi woke up, she found herself in Ulrich’s house, lying on his bed. Once she noticed this, she quickly turned around. No one was there. Leave it to Ulrich, she thought. Then she thought Ulrich only has one room in his house. She jumped up and ran into the living room. Ulrich was sleeping on the couch.
She walked over to him and leaned over. She ran her fingers through his hair. Once his eyes opened and he saw her, she said, “Hey.” She walked around the couch and sat down beside him. “You know what?” she said, “I forgot to tell you something yesterday.”
“What’s that?”
“Never go into space again!” They both laughed. “Yeah. You can believe me when I say I never want to go again,” Ulrich said. “I would never want to leave you,” he continued, “I would never want you to leave me.”
“Oh, Ulrich. I would never leave you. You should know that. Why would you think that?”
“Because of what happened at Kadic.” Yumi paused. A lot of things had happened between them at Kadic Academy. “Which one?” she said with a forced laugh.
“When you were fourteen. In the park,” Ulrich said.
“Oh,” she said quietly. “That one.” The year they had first met, they had had many arguments. One would get jealous then the other would. Ulrich would get jealous of William and Yumi would get jealous of Sissy. One day Yumi had just had enough. She brought Ulrich to the park and said that they should “just be friends.” Ulrich’s life had fallen apart that day.
“Look, Ulrich,” Yumi said, “I always regretted saying that. I was just too upset. My mind was always racing about whether or not we were together I… I’m just so sorry.”
“It’s okay, Yumi. I understand.”
“You do?”
“Of course. I understand that this is all a hoax and that you should just leave.” Ulrich took his arm from around Yumi and studied his shoes. “But Ulrich,” Yumi started, “that was like… ten years ago. Please don’t do this… I love you.” She took his hand, but he pulled it away. “I just need time to think, okay?”
“Think? Think? You’re the one who said that you love me on National TV! If you really loved me then you wouldn’t do this to me.” Silence. “Fine. I’ll just walk home, then.” She ran towards the door and slammed it shut.
Ulrich fought the sadness building up inside of him and ran towards the door himself. He opened it and said, “Yumi, wait!” But he didn’t need to. Yumi was sitting in the yard right by the driveway, holding her right ankle. Oh, no, Ulrich thought and ran over to her side.
“Yumi, are you okay?” She didn’t look up. “I’m fine.” Her voice cracked on the last word. She tried to stand up, but immediately fell down and more tears burst out of her eyes. “Okay. Yeah, you can help me now,” she cried. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and he tried to help her walk, but she couldn’t even hop on one foot. “Okay, Yumi,” he said, picking her up, “the nearest hospital is about half an hour away. They can get here faster, so I’m going to call them, okay?” Yumi nodded and Ulrich took her back inside his house.
Once she was laid on the couch, Ulrich took out his phone and Dialed 9-1-1, all the while never leaving Yumi’s side. Ulrich was right. The sirens helped the ambulance get to his house within ten minutes. They had Yumi onto a stretcher and were headed towards the truck. “Wait!” Ulrich called. “I want to come.” One of the men stopped him before he could get inside. “What’s your relationship with this girl?” he asked. Ulrich paused.
“He’s my boyfriend!” Yumi said before Ulrich could answer. The man let him pass.
Ulrich sat on the seat built in to the truck next to where Yumi was. “Does this mean you forgive me?” he said. Yumi smiled. She nodded.
At the hospital, they took x-rays of Yumi’s ankle. She had stepped in a hole in Ulrich’s yard and broke her ankle. She had to get a cast. There was a room in the hospital. It was where Yumi was supposed to go. She was put into a wheel chair and Ulrich took her down to that room. He didn’t go in with her, though. He just pushed her inside and walked back out. He sat down on one of the benches in the hallway, waiting for her.
There was a lady doctor already in the room. “Hello,” she said. Yumi looked around and saw that on a wall there were six hooks, each holding a different colored roll of material. Yumi guessed that this was what they made the cast out of.
“So you’re Yumi?” the doctor said. Yumi nodded and the doctor said, “Who was he?” Yumi said, “My boyfriend,” without any signs of embarrassment. “Oh,” the doctor said, “So will he be taking care of you?”
“It looks like it,” Yumi said. The doctor let Yumi choose the color of her cast. She was about to say “black,” but then changed her mind. She remembered Ulrich, so she said “green.” Once her cast was finished, the doctor opened the door and waved for Ulrich to come in.
He walked in and put Yumi back in her wheelchair. “Will you be able to handle her?” the doctor said. “Mm-hmm. Sure,” Ulrich said. “Okay. I’ll need your name, then. From now on you’re responsible for her.” Yes! Yumi thought.
“I know. Ulrich Stern.” The doctor took down his name and Ulrich wheeled Yumi out to the car.
“So green, huh?” he said. “I was sort of expecting black.”
“Yeah, well….” Her voice trailed off and she blushed. Ulrich picked her up and put her in the front seat. He folded the chair and put it in the back of the car, then went back up to the drivers’ seat and got in.
Thank-you
“You think the others are still at your house?” he said.
“I don’t know. Maybe. But if they are, they need to be quiet, cause I’m tired.”
“Yumi, you gotta eat something, okay? You haven’t eaten all day and it’s already… three o’clock.”
“But I don’t want to!”
“Do you want to starve?”
“If it means I can get some sleep first, yeah!”
“Yumi!”
“All right, fine! I’ll eat something. Happy?”
“Yes I am.” They pulled into the drive way and Ulrich remembered something. “Oh, man. The steps!” Yumi looked up to see that Ulrich was right. Yumi had at least seven steps leading up to the front door. “You don’t have your key do you?” Yumi asked. “No.”
“Then I hope that either they’re here, or they left the door unlocked.” Ulrich turned the car off and walked over to the passengers’ side. He opened the door and picked Yumi up. He started to walk towards the front door.
When he got to the top of the steps, he tried the doorknob. It was locked. He rang the doorbell. In a few seconds, Odd, of all people, answered it. “Hey! They’re back!” he exclaimed. “So,” he continued, “You two must be tired. You must’ve had a very busy day to be coming at 3:00.”
“You know?” Ulrich said.
“Well, it’s kind of obvious, don’t you think. Hey, why you carrying her, huh? You wear her out?” Odd laughed.
“It’s not funny Odd. And I’m carrying her because I can’t get the wheel chair up the steps. It’s in the car. Can you get it for me? Thanks.” He walked inside.
“Wheelchair?” Odd said, “Hey, what happened to Yumi’s leg? Wheelchair?” He ran out to Ulrich’s car and sure enough, there it was. He brought it inside and upstairs to Yumi’s bedroom. “So what happened?” he asked.
“I thought you knew,” Ulrich said. “Yeah,” Odd said, “About that… I, um… bye.” He set the wheelchair down and ran out of the room.
Ulrich turned back around and put Yumi down on her bed. “So, what do you want to eat?”
“Nothing.”
“Yumi, come on!”
“Fine! But I don’t know. I’m not really that hungry now. Can I just have some cereal?”
“Sure. What do you want?”
“Cocoa-Puffs.”
“You still eat Cocoa-Puffs?” Ulrich laughed.
“Yeah. What’s so wrong about that, huh?”
“Nothing. Where is it?”
“In the cabinet. In the kitchen.”
“Okay.” Ulrich went into the hallway and almost got ran over by Sam and Aelita running towards Yumi’s room. Yumi took the elastic off of her nightstand and started to put her hair up in a ponytail (what she usually does when she thinks about Ulrich) when they came bursting through the door. They immediately ran to the side of Yumi’s bed.
“Oh my gosh, are you okay?” Sam asked. “You guys, I’m fine. I just fell, that’s all,” Yumi said.
“Fine?” Aelita said, “Fine? How could you be fine when you are sitting here in your bed in a cast… that’s green?”
“Why would you choose green?” Yumi shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. Sam and Aelita looked at each other and smiled. “You know what?” Sam said, “We’re gonna leave now.”
“Bye,” Aelita said. “Hey,” Yumi said, “could you take the boys with you? It would be a huuuuuge favor.” Sam smiled at Aelita. “Sure,” she said. Both girls ran out of Yumi’s room and Yumi could here Sam’s voice. “Okay, boys time to go! No not you, Ulrich.”
She heard the front door shut and footsteps on the stairs. Ulrich came through the door with a bowl and spoon in one hand and a box of cereal in his other. “Hey,” he said, “You’re out of milk.” He walked inside and put the stuff on the bedside table. Then he sat down on the bed beside Yumi. “I need to go to the store,” he continued. “Will you be okay here by yourself while I’m gone, or do you want to come with?”
“I should be fine. I’ll call you if I need anything, okay?”
“Okay. Bye.” He stood up and walked out of the room. When he shut the door, his cell phone started ringing. He picked it up. “Hello?” he said.
“You forgot something,” Yumi’s voice said. Ulrich flipped his phone closed and walked back inside Yumi’s room. “What?” he said. Yumi motioned for him to come and sit back on the bed. He did so, and when he did, Yumi pulled him down and kissed him. Not like any ordinary “Bye-I’ll-See-You-In-A-Few-Minutes” kiss. This was like a “Bye-I’ll-See-You-In-A-Few-Decades” kiss.
They broke apart and he smiled. “Wow,” was all he could say… that and, “What was that for?”
“That was my way of saying thank-you.”
“Then don’t ever say thank-you to anyone else.” She laughed and he stood up to leave. When he got outside the door, his phone rang again. He picked it up. “Yes, Yumi,” he said. “I’m bored,” Yumi said. “Take me with you… or don’t go. Either way is fine with me.” Ulrich walked into the bedroom, again. He sat down on the bed beside Yumi and said, “Well, Yumi, you’ve gotten what you want… again. So I’ll stay here, so we can do whatever you want.”
Just then, they heard the door downstairs open and shut, again. “I’m back, you witch!” they heard Sissy say.
Oh, Hi, Ulrich Dear!
Oh, I didn’t tell you that they lived in the same house? Oh… my bad. Sissy stomped up the stairs and pushed open the door. “Should have expected this,” she said when she saw Ulrich. “Oh, hi, Ulrich, Dear.” She walked over to the wheelchair and said, “What is this for?”
“For me,” Yumi replied.
“What happened? Did you break your ankle or something?”
“Uh… yeah. I did.”
“And no doubt on purpose too.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you broke your ankle on purpose so Ulrich would get confused and think that he loves you… when he obviously loves me!”
“Okay, look, Sissy. I don’t love you. I never did!” Ulrich said.
“Then why did you kiss me… twice?” Ulrich stopped for a second while Yumi looked at him on the verge of tears. “You kissed her?” she said. “No! Yumi, I didn’t kiss… okay, the first time I did, but it was only so she would do something for you. The second time she kissed me! That’s what happened on the bridge.”
“So you still kissed her… in Jr. High. And it took you ten years to kiss me?”
“Okay, Yumi. That is not fair. You are the one who said that we should just be friends.”
“Yeah, but that was after you kissed her.” Yumi reached for her cell phone. “Yumi,” Ulrich said, “what are you doing?”
“I’m calling Sam to come and pick me up.”
“No, Yumi, you can’t! Look… I only kissed her because I loved you.”
“What?”
“When you said that you had to move because your father found work in Japan, I needed Sissy’s help to stop you.”
“Oh, and what did you need her to do, exactly?”
“I… she… I don’t remember.”
“Hmm.” Yumi started to dial Sam’s cell number, but then she stopped. What if Ulrich really was telling the truth… that he truly didn’t remember why he had kissed Sissy? If that were true, then she wouldn’t leave. But if he was lying, which was a small possibility, then she would leave in a flash. She had known Ulrich to do anything for her… would anything include lying?
Sissy, what did You Do?
Sam walked up the front steps to Yumi’s house, wondering why she wanted to come and live in her and Odd’s house with Aelita and Jeremie. She opened the door to see Yumi and all of her things packed away in suitcases. Ulrich was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands and Sissy was sitting on the steps with a proud look on her face.
“Sissy, what did you do?” Sam said. “Oh, nothing!” Sissy said, “I just helped them realize how imperfect they are for each other.” Sam walked over to Yumi and started pushing her toward the kitchen. “What are you doing?” Yumi said, putting her hands on the wheels to stop her. “I need to talk to you, Yumi,” Sam said, pushing harder.
Once they made it to the kitchen, Sam walked in front of Yumi and said, “Okay, what happened?”
“Nothing.”
Silence.
“Nothing happened!”
Silence.
“He kissed her, okay?”
“Who?”
“Ulrich! He kissed Sissy!”
“When?”
Silence.
“Yumi!”
Silence. Yumi was really starting to get annoying! “When did he kiss her?”
“Jr. High, okay?”
“You mean he kissed her ten years ago?”
Silence. “Yumi!”
“…Maybe.” Oh my gosh, Sam thought. “Yumi, he wasn’t even dating you in Jr. High.”
“So? If he loved me, then he would have told me that a very long time ago, Sam.”
“Maybe he just didn’t want this to happen… and that’s what Sissy wants.”
“What?”
“Sissy knows that Ulrich loves you. If she could make it so that you don’t think that he loves you, than he would probably be so sad that he would rely on Sissy to make everything better.”
“Whatever.” Yumi wheeled herself out of the kitchen and into the living room, where Sissy was sitting next to Ulrich, patting his hair, and Ulrich was trying to push her away from him. She wheeled herself in front of them and yelled, “HEY!” Both of their heads turned immediately toward her. Sissy saw her and said, “Bye, Ulrich, dear,” and kissed him.
“That’s it! I’m out of here!” Yumi said. “Yumi, wait!” Ulrich said, “Please, you can’t just leave me like this!”
“Leave you? Yeah right Ulrich! I’m staying at your house. I can’t live with this girl anymore… that is okay, right?”
“Yeah! Of… of course! Totally fine!” He opened up the door and picked Yumi up. He carried her to his car and put her in the front seat. “Yumi, you sure can change your mind in a flash, you know that?”
“Yeah.” After Ulrich had put all of Yumi’s bags in the car, he stopped by Sam and said, “Whatever you said to her, thanks.”
“Hey, you two were supposed to be together. The least I could do is make it that way.” Ulrich got into the car and started to back out of the driveway. Yumi pulled down the window and said to Sam, “I’ll be wanting my car back soon!” She looked up at the window of the house and saw a crying Sissy. She pulled her head back inside the car and rolled up the window.
“Okay, rule number one,” Yumi said, “no one sleeps on the couch.” They laughed and before Yumi knew it, they were at Ulrich’s (and Yumi’s) house. Ulrich pulled into the driveway and turned off the car. “Welcome to your new life,” he said. He carried Yumi into the house and then brought all of her bags inside. Once everything was in it’s place, he saw a place for him on the couch next to Yumi. He sat down and checked the messages on his phone. One new message. BEEP!
Stern! It’s Caldwell. We’ve got some great news. You get to go into space again! You, Della-Rhobbia and Belpois are going to orbit Earth again. We’re going to need you here in two weeks. Talk to your friends and see if you want to do the video journal again. Tell me tomorrow. See you soon, Stern!
End of final message.
An Idiot like Odd
“What?” Yumi said. “You just got back and you have to go again?”
“They mast have thought that what I said on the journal was a joke… the part where I said we were never leaving again.”
“Maybe. Well, you better start packing, then.”
“Yumi, there is no way I am possibly going into space again.”
“Why not? I thought you had a great time up there.”
“Yeah, sure. You can’t even brush your teeth without the paste floating off the brush. The food is disgusting… and I don’t want to leave you again. Especially since I’m supposed to be taking care of you.”
“Well what are they going to do without you, Ulrich? Odd and Jeremie, I mean.”
“Hey, if they want to go into space again, then fine. They probably won’t be, since they’re supposed to be getting everything ready for the weddings and stuff.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. But just to make sure, I’m gonna call Sam and see what Odd’s gonna do.” When Sam picked up, the first thing Yumi noticed was that she had been crying. “Sammy, what’s wrong? Did Odd get one of those messages calling him back into space?”
“Yeah.”
“So what’s wrong? He’s not going, is he?”
Silence.
“Sammy?”
“He’s packing his things already.”
“He’s going?” Ulrich grabbed the phone out of Yumi’s hand. “Let me talk to him,” he said. When Odd picked up, Ulrich said, “What’s wrong with you? You’re going into space when you’re supposed to be getting married?”
“Uh… yeah.”
“Odd, Odd, Odd!”
“What?”
“Do you have… never mind. Just think about how Sam is feeling for once.” Ulrich flipped the phone closed. “Odd’s an idiot.”
“What about Jeremie?” Yumi snatched the phone back and dialed Aelita’s number. When she picked up, the first thing that Yumi noticed was that Aelita was giggling…a lot… a little too much. “Hey, Lee-lee. Having fun?”
“Um… no comment?”
“Whatever. Hey, did Jeremie get a message from that space guy…?”
“Um… yeah. What about it?”
“Well… is he going?”
“No! He’s not like… um…”
“Odd?”
“Odd? Why, is he going? What about Ulrich?”
“Yes and no. Yes, Odd, being the idiot that he is, is going. No, Ulrich, being the perfect guy that he is, is not.”
“Awe… how’s Sammy taking it?”
“Badly.”
“Maybe I should call her…?”
“Yeah. I was going to but the perfect guy here snatched the phone away to talk to the idiot.”
“Oh. Well, I’ll call and see what I can do.”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye.” Yumi flipped the phone closed and said, “He’s not going. Apparently, he’s not an idiot like Odd.”
“He’s never been an idiot like Odd.”
“Ulrich, I need to tell you something.”
“What?” Yumi gave him another thank-you kiss. “Before you ask, that was for not being an idiot like Odd.”
For dinner, they had Chinese food. Yumi hadn’t had Chinese food in so long. Sissy had made her eat these diet meals that came in the mail every night. Yumi’s mouth watered just at the thought of Sesame chicken with shrimp fried rice, shrimp egg fu young and egg drop soup, those little crackers that no one knows what they’re called with the sweet and sour dipping sauce.
She finished the meal twice as fast as it took for Ulrich to finish his. After that, they sat on the couch again and watched some T.V. Then Ulrich picked Yumi up and brought her to the bedroom. She was half asleep by then; her eyelids were drooping constantly over her eyes, so would have had to change her… of course, Ulrich (being the polite Ulrich that he was) left her in her day clothes.
The moment her head hit the pillow, Yumi fell asleep. Ulrich made sure that she was asleep, then changed himself and crawled into bed beside her. He turned off the lamp that was on the bedside table and closed his eyes. Then he felt something on his lips. He lifted his hand up and felt hair. He pulled her closer to him as they kissed, and when they stopped, Yumi whispered, “Goodnight, Ulrich,” and Ulrich whispered, “Goodnight, Yumi.”
Hi, Maurie
When Yumi woke up the next morning, she opened her eyes, looked around, and saw Ulrich. She smiled and stared at him. Then she kissed him. He opened his eyes, and he noticed something. The room wasn’t quiet. It was beeping. He looked around and saw the clock. The alarm went off.
“Oh, man,” he said.
“Oh, man, what?”
“I’m gonna be late.”
“Late for what?”
“Something.”
“What’s ‘something’?”
“Uh… we need to go to the airport. We’re going to meet someone there, and she’s very special to me, so please don’t be a child.”
“I am not a child!”
Silence.
“Fine!” The two ate breakfast and got into the car. On the way to the airport, Yumi got impatient and asked, “So, who is this person we’re meeting?”
“A very special friend of mine.”
“And how old is she, exactly?”
“She’s…” Ulrich sighed, “She’s four.”
“Four?”
“Yes, four.”
“What, are we meeting your cousin or something?”
“Uh… something like that.”
“Oh…” Yumi stayed silent for the rest of the ride. When they got into the airport, they sat on a bench and waited for about ten minutes. Then they heard footsteps running towards them. They both looked up to see a small little girl standing in front of them. Unfortunately, for Yumi, she looked just like Ulrich.
Ulrich hugged the little girl and said, “Hi, Maurie.” She looked up. “Who’s this?” she asked. “This is Yumi. Yumi, this is Maurie. Maurie, where’s your mom?”
“She stayed in Germany.”
“Awe, but I thought she was coming down this time. I’ve been missing her lately.”
“You miss her?” Yumi said.
“Well, yeah. I mean, she’s still my little sister, even if she hardly ever comes to visit.”
“Little sister?”
“Yeah. Maurie’s my niece. What were you thinking?”
“Um… nothing.”
“Sure… hey Maurie, go get your bags, okay? We’ll be right here.”
“Okay, Uncle Ricky.” Maurie ran off to the baggage claim area. “Yumi,” Ulrich began, “Who did you think Maurie was?”
“No one.”
Silence.
“I thought she was your…”
“My what?”
“Daughter.”
“Daughter?”
“Yes, daughter.”
“How could you believe that I had a daughter?”
Silence.
Maurie returned with a pink Barbie suitcase in her hand. “I’m ready!” she exclaimed. “Well, lets go, then,” Ulrich said. The three of them got into the car and headed on the way to Ulrich’s (and Yumi’s) house. When they pulled into the driveway, Maurie asked, “Uncle Ricky, aren’t you going to drop Yumi off at her house?”
“This is her house, Maurie.”
“I thought this was your house.”
“Yes, this is my house, but now it’s Yumi’s house, too.”
“You mean Yumi’s living with you?”
“You could say that, yes.”
“Oh… yay!”
“What are you so happy about?”
“I’m gonna have an Auntie!” Ulrich stopped the car. He turned it off and said, “Hold on, Yumi. Let me take her inside first, okay?”
“Sure.”
“Be back in a sec.” He got out of the car, opened the back door, took Maurie out of her car seat, and carried her inside the house. “Okay, Maurie, you wanna know a secret?”
“Yeah!”
“You just might have an Auntie, but only if Yumi says yes, okay?”
“O-tay… so you have to ask her?”
“Yes, Maurie, but I’m gonna wait until Yumi gets the cast off of her leg, okay? So don’t say anything to Yumi, alright?”
“O-tay, Uncle Ricky.”
“Alright.” He walked back out to the car and opened the front door. “What’d you tell her?” Yumi asked. “I told her that if she behaves well, then we can watch a movie tonight.”
“Hmm… okay. That’s fine with me.” When they walked inside the house, Maurie ran over to them and said, “Yumi, Yumi, guess what!”
“What?”
“I wanna watch a movie!” Ulrich held in a sigh of relief. Hey, the kid was good, and Ulrich had no problem with that. “Tonight, okay, Maurie?”
“O-tay, Yumi!” She ran into the bedroom and turned on the TV that was in there. She started flipping through the channels until she settled on a Barney show. Ulrich laughed as she started singing along with the songs. He set Yumi down on the couch and handed her the remote. “I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Sure.” Ulrich walked into the bedroom as Yumi turned on the TV and started flipping through the channels herself. Ulrich jumped on the bed, sending Maurie into the air. “How did you know what I told Yumi?” he asked.
“I read your mind.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yup!”
“Then what am I thinking now?”
“You’re thinking… that we’re going to have a great week together.”
“That’s right! How’d you do that?”
“Magic!”
“I missed you, Munchkin.”
“I missed you too, Uncle Ricky.”
It’s Over
Ulrich kissed her on the top of her head and went back out into the living room. He sat down on the couch and Yumi leaned against him. She was still flipping through the channels. “Nothing on?”
“Nothing… except kiddy shows.”
“Well, it is a weekday, and since it is only ten o’clock in the morning, no bigger kids should be home. They only put the baby shows on because they have no where to go.”
“Barney’s not a baby show, Uncle Ricky!” Maurie yelled. Yumi and Ulrich laughed. “Whatever you say, Maurie,” Ulrich said. He leaned in towards Yumi. “Whatever you say.” When their lips were about to meet, Maurie jumped up in front of them and said, “What-cha doin’?” scaring them both half to death. They blushed and Yumi said, “Nothing, Maurie.”
“No, you guys were about to kiss!”
“Maurie…”
“I can kiss, too! See?” She gave Ulrich and Yumi a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Maurie,” they both said. Then they heard music playing on Barney in the other room. “Ooh! This is my favorite song!” Maurie said, running into the bedroom. Ulrich shut the door (just in case) and went back into the living room. He sat back down and said, “Where were we?” they leaned in closer and… there was a knock at the front door. They both heaved a sigh and Ulrich went to answer the door.
Before he could get there, though, Maurie came running into the room and opened the door. When Ulrich saw who it was, he knelt down and said to Maurie, “Maurie, this is our friend…” only to be interrupted by Maurie saying, “Sammy!”
She jumped into Sam’s arms. “You guys know each other?”
“Yeah. I met her last year when I went to the U.S.”
“Maurie went to the United States?” by the way, they all live in France… except for Maurie. “Yeah! I went to visit Daddy.”
“How do you two know Maurelle?”
“She’s my niece.”
“Really? Huh… she looks just like you. Why’s that?”
“Yeah, Ulrich,” Yumi said, finally speaking, “why’s that?”
“Because she’s my twin sister.”
“I thought you said she was your little sister.”
“Well, I like to think that, because technically, I am older.”
“Ooh…” both girls said. Sam walked inside and Yumi asked, “So why are you here, anyway?”
“I brought your car back.”
“Why now?”
“Cause I felt like it. See ya!”
“Sammy! Wait! Where are you going?”
“Jeremie’s in the car waiting for me, Maurie.”
“What happened to Odd?” Ulrich asked, knowing it was a mistake the moment it left his mouth. Sam stopped and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s over.” Yumi gasped. Maurie slowly walked up to Sam and hugged her leg. “I’m sorry, Sammy. Was he mean?” Sam pondered on this for a moment. “Yeah. Yeah, he was.” She kissed Maurie on the top of the head and stood up to leave. She waved good-bye to the other two and shut the door behind her.
Blond Hair, Purple Clothes…
“I can’t believe he still went on that trip,” Yumi said. “Can you imagine how Sam is feeling now?”
“Can you imagine how Odd is feeling now that Sam dumped him?”
“I know!” Maurie said. “I read Sammy’s mind!”
“Really, Maurie? How is she feeling?”
“She thinks that she was never meant to be Sammy Della Rhobia and she’ll never love anyone ever again.”
“Really, Maurie?” Ulrich said. “Ulrich, you don’t really believe that, do you? I mean, she can’t really read minds.”
Ulrich whispered, “I know that, Yumi, just play along, okay?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, Maurie, I’m ready. What am I thinking?”
“You want spaghetti for dinner!”
“That’s right, Maurie!”
“Yay!”
“It’s eleven. Want something to eat?” he asked Yumi. She shrugged and said, “Sure.”
“What-cha want?”
“What do you feel like making, or having?”
“Hmm… how about French toast?”
“Sounds… great.”
“Uncle Ricky, can I have some French toast, too?”
“Sure, Munchkin. Wanna help me make it?”
“Uh-huh.” Ulrich and Maurie walked into the kitchen while Yumi still flipped through the channels. The only thing that wasn’t a baby show was the news, so she stopped and watched. Something interesting might happen. Someone got into a car crash… a chimney fire in Paris… someone jumped off a building… wait! This might be interesting. A twenty-three-year-old man jumped off of the Eiffel Tower and still survived! Blond hair, purple clothes, name is Odd Della Rhobbia… WHAT? “Ulrich!” Yumi yelled. Ulrich ran into the living room. “What?”
“Look!” On the television screen, Odd’s unconscious body was being rushed into an ambulance on a stretcher, and Sam was crying, screaming, trying to run after him, while police were attempting to hold her back. The picture froze and shrunk, revealing a woman on the side of the screen. “Reports say that this man clearly jumped and failed. He is severely hurt, but paramedics think that with the proper care, he will survive. More on this subject when we come back. This is Judy Levy, and Eleven O’clock News will be right back.”
“Oh my gosh.” Yumi quickly searched for her phone and when she found it, called Aelita. “Lee-lee? Yeah, it’s me. Did you just watch the news?”
“No.”
“Well… um… Odd… he…”
“What did he do now? Is he being an idiot again?”
“Um… yeah, you could say that.”
“Well, what did he do this time?”
“He… he… he jumped.”
“What? Don’t tell me he jumped off of…”
“Yes.”
“Is he alive? Is he okay?”
“Alive, yes, okay, no… and honestly, I think he’s taking it better than Sammy.”
“What did she do?”
“She did nothing really, but cry and scream and try to strangle him. Honestly, I don’t know what she’ll do if he doesn’t make it out.”
“I’ll try calling her and from now on, I won’t let her out of my sight.”
“Okay, Lee-lee.”
“Bye, Mimi.” Yumi slowly flipped the phone closed and took her hair bow out. As her long, black hair fell gently against her face, she fiddled with the bow as Ulrich sat down next to her. “Why would he do this?” he said. “Why do you think?” Yumi replied. She leaned into Ulrich’s shoulder and, for the first time in years, she cried. Yumi Ishyama actually cried. Ulrich held her close and laid his head on top of hers. Yumi felt another pair of arms around her and heard Maurie say, “Don’t worry, Yumi. It’s gonna be o-tay.” Yumi wrapped her arms around Maurie and said, “I really wonder now if that’s true or not.”
The three of them sat like that for an hour, and Maurie fell asleep. When Ulrich looked over a few minutes later, Yumi was asleep, too. By the way they had been acting, Ulrich would’ve thought they were mother and daughter, if he didn’t know any better. He slowly got up and let Yumi gently fall back onto the pillow he placed under her head. He walked into the bedroom and pulled out the notepad and pen he kept hidden under the bed. He flipped through the pages and recapped on all of the songs he had written over the years… all of them about Yumi. He didn’t have to think about what he would write; it just came to him. By the time he heard one of the girls stirring in the living room, he had written three pages full of musical words.
He closed the notebook and hid it and the pen back under the bed. When he walked into the living room, both girls were still sound asleep. Then the idea came to him. He quietly got his camera out and walked in front of the couch. He snapped a picture and went back into the bedroom. He plugged the camera into the computer and uploaded the picture to it. He got out the glossiest glossy photo paper he could find and clicked “Best Photo.” When he printed the picture, he made two copies… one for himself, and one for the artist.
She’s Already Become my Daughter
A few hours later, Yumi woke up. Ulrich walked into the living room and saw that Maurie was still asleep. Ulrich gently picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. He pulled the covers up to her chin and quietly closed the door. Yumi sat up and let Ulrich sit down beside her. She leaned into his shoulder as he said, “I have to show you something.” He pulled the picture out of his pocket and put it in front of Yumi’s face. “Wow,” she said, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was…”
“Your daughter? Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.” Yumi stared at the photo for a while, and then whispered, “It hasn’t even been one day, and she’s already become my daughter.”
“Hey, from the first time she stayed with me, she’s been mine.” Yumi smiled. She leaned back more and kissed him. They went on and on for about… five seconds. It would’ve gone on longer, if it weren’t for a certain little someone saying, “Ooh!”
“Maurie!”
“What? I wouldn’t do anything to you guys! I’m your daughter!”
“Come here, you little munchkin!” Ulrich jumped up and ran after the four-year-old bolt of lightning. Yumi laughed as she watched Ulrich chase Maurie around the room… and losing, for that matter. Then, Maurie jumped onto the couch behind Yumi and they both laughed as Ulrich ran around the couch, chasing an invisible person that wasn’t there. When he finally caught on, he sat next to Yumi on the couch and caught his breath. “Alright, she got me,” he said. Maurie came out from behind Yumi and jumped on Ulrich.
“Uncle Ricky, we didn’t eat yet. It’s two o’clock and I’m hungry!”
“Two o’clock?” Maurie nodded. Yumi said, “I wanna go see if Odd’s awake yet. Can we, Uncle Ricky?”
“Maurie, wanna go see Sammy and Odd?”
“Who’s Odd?”
“Sammy’s friend.”
“O-tay, Uncle Ricky. Let’s go!” Maurie dashed out the door before Yumi or Ulrich had gotten up. Ulrich wheeled Yumi out to the car and put her inside. Then he put the wheelchair in the back; got in the front, made sure Maurie was strapped in, and drove off.
When they parked and went inside, Ulrich went up to the front desk and said, “Hi, um… we’re here to see Odd Della Rhobbia, please.”
“I’m sorry. He’s in surgery right now and no visitors are allowed for another hour and a half. Come back then and you can see him,” the nurse said. “Okay,” Ulrich said, “Thank-you anyway.” He turned around and told Yumi and Maurie that they had to come back later. “Uncle Ricky, can we go eat while we’re waiting?”
“Sure Maurie. What do you guys want for lunch?”
“Pancakes!” Yumi said. “French toast!” Maurie said. Ulrich laughed and said, “I know just the place!”
When they parked this time, they were in front of IHOP, the Incredible House of Pancakes. They walked inside and took a seat. Maurie opened the kids’ menu and saw a picture of the famous Smiley Face Pancake. “Ooh! I want that one! It looks pretty!”
“Maurie, I thought you wanted French toast.” Maurie paused. She bit her lower lip in deep thought and she said, “O-tay! I want French toast, please!”
“Okay. Which one? That one has strawberries on it, but that one has chocolate, syrup, whipped cream, and cinnamon on it! Which one, the first or the second?” Again, Maurie bit her lip and thought. “The second one!”
“The one with the chocolate, syrup, whipped cream, and cinnamon?”
“Yeah! Yeah! That one!”
“Alright! What about you, Yumi?”
“I’ll have to go with the Chocolate Carnival Pancake X-treme.”
“You mean the Smiley Face Pancake with extra chocolate, whipped cream, chocolate chips and no cherries?”
“Yeah.”
“You sure?” Yumi tried her best to look insulted, but it was failing horribly. “Yes, I’m sure, Uncle Ricky,” she teased. “What about you?”
“I don’t know. Probably just some French toast with whipped cream.” Yumi shrugged. The waitress came and the three of them ordered. When their food came, Maurie’s mouth watered at the sight of it. She took her fork and dived into her stack of French toast. “This is good, Uncle Ricky!” she said. She continued stuffing her face full of French toast… reminding them both of Odd. “What time is it, Uncle Ricky?” Maurie asked a while later. “It’s four o’clock. We can go now.”
They paid for the food and drove back to the hospital. This time, when they stopped at the front desk, the nurse replied, “Room 605, on the sixth floor, first corridor.”
“Thank-you.” They walked (or in Yumi’s case, rolled) to the elevator. They went up to the sixth floor. They went down to room 605 and opened the door. There, lying on the bed was Odd Della Rhobbia. They went into the room and Maurie and Ulrich pulled up chairs. “This is Odd?” Maurie asked. “Yes, Maurie,” Yumi said. Odd opened one eye. “Hey, buddy,” he said. “Odd!” Ulrich said. “You’re okay!”
“Unfortunately.” Odd frowned. “Who’s this? You two have been hiding something from us?”
“Uh, well…” Ulrich started, “I have. From everyone… including Yumi.”
“So this isn’t your…”
“She’s not my daughter, okay? She’s my niece. Her name is Maurie.”
“Well, hi Maurie. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Maurie giggled and tried to hide behind Yumi’s wheelchair. Yumi picked her up and put her in her lap. “So, Odd, what’s the damage?” she asked.
“I broke my left arm and fractured the other one; broke my right leg and the other one’s okay; broke some ribs and have a concussion. Other than that, I’m fine.”
“So… I take it it’s pretty bad with you and Sam, huh?”
“Who’s Sam?”
“Okay, Odd. We know you’re mad at her, you can stop pretending you don’t know her,” Yumi said, a hint of worry in her voice.
“No, seriously guys, who’s Sam?” Yumi and Ulrich looked at each other. “Okay, Odd…” Ulrich said, pulling out his wallet. He took a picture from inside it. It was the group picture they took when they were in Jr. High. He held the picture in front of Odd and pointed to Sam. “Do you know who she is?” he asked. Odd shook his head, very slowly. “Everyone looks familiar except her. Is that her? Is that Sam? Wow… she’s beautiful.”
“And you know everyone else in the picture? You know Aelita and Jeremy; and Kiwi and Sissy?”
“Yeah.”
“Ulrich, we have a problem. He has… some kind of… amnesia.”
“But… why would he just forget about Sam?”
“I don’t know, but we better tell someone.”
“Yeah.” They left Odd in his room and went to the desk that was sitting right outside of it. “Excuse me,” Ulrich said, “but a friend of ours—Odd Della Rhobbia—something is wrong with his memory. He can remember all of his friends except his ex-girlfriend… Sam!” Ulrich looked over and saw Sam coming out of the bathroom, eyes puffy and red… probably from crying.
I Love You, Yumi Ishyama
Yumi was sitting in her living room with her friends, Aelita and Sam, watching the news broadcast about the space shuttle Eclipser and its passengers. All they cared about was the passengers’ safe returns.
Yumi would only think about one of the passengers, Ulrich Stern. She thought about him day and night. She had never wanted him to go on this trip into space. He had been her best friend since the ninth grade (he had been in the eighth at the time) and she fell in love.
So did Ulrich. Ulrich had fallen in love with Yumi. The thing is that neither of them was able to gather up enough courage to tell each other how they felt.
For Aelita it was almost the same thing. The only difference was that she used to live on a virtual universe called Lyoko and she was materialized by Jeremy and came into the real world. She and Jeremy had fallen in love with each other since Jeremy first found her on his computer… inside it, actually. A couple weeks ago, Jeremy had asked Aelita to marry him and now he was the pilot of a spaceship hurtling through space. They were going to get married the week after he came back.
For Sam, she had come to the others’ high school, Kadic Academy, fallen in love with Odd Della-Rhobbia, another passenger on the shuttle, made Odd fall in love with her, then disappeared until his graduation. When she came back, Odd had asked her out. Now they were engaged and were waiting until he and his pals got back for the wedding.
So, as you can see, they were all worried about what would happen to their true loves.
There was a camera on the shuttle. Every day the three passengers would come on camera and do a sort of recap on their adventure. This had been going on for four weeks now, and there was another one coming on right now.
The three girls jumped onto Yumi’s couch and never took their eyes off the screen. First there were Jeremy and Odd. They were floating in front of the camera. They usually had big smiles on their faces, but now, they both looked like they’d been crying for the past hour. Once Yumi saw that Ulrich wasn’t on camera, her mind came to the worst thought.
“H-hi, everyone,” Odd said. “Uh… we’ve got some bad news. Uh…it looks like we might not be coming back.” The girls all gasped and felt the tears at the back of their eyes. “The, uh, ship is being pulled into the moon’s gravitation field,” Jeremy said. “We’re not moving very fast, but uh the landing will be pretty hard.”
“We’re going to do the best we can to either get out of the gravity field or to make the landing softer.”
“So, if we don’t make it back alive… we want those two girls to know.”
“I love you Sam.”
“I love you Aelita.” Aelita and Sam were crying now. Yumi kept wondering where Ulrich was. Her question was answered when he jumped in front of the camera. Relief spread over her. “There’s something I want to say, too,” he said. “There is one girl that I truly don’t want to leave.” Congrats, Sissy, Yumi thought. It was true; they had all befriended Sissy. “I want that girl to know something. That ever since you first became my friend, I loved you. You may get a little… a little bossy sometimes, but…” Wonder when the wedding is? “… I still love you. I’m just sorry I didn’t get to tell you earlier.” Yumi was halfway up the stairs now. “I love you, Yumi Ishyama.”
I Love You, Too
She stopped in her tracks. She turned around and ran down the stairs. She jumped over the couch and landed right in front of the TV. Ulrich turned around. “Shut it, Odd,” then he faced the camera again. “Yumi, please wait for me. I will come back for you… if you want me to.”
“Whadda ya’ mean ‘if’? She loves you, dude!” You could hear Odd’s faint voice right before the camera cut off.
Yumi slowly stood up and turned around. Aelita and Sam were still crying, but they had slight grins on their faces. “There you have it, girl,” Sam said. “You heard it your self.” Yumi sat down between them. “But what if he doesn’t come back?” She couldn’t hold the tears any longer. They spilled out of her like a water hose. Sam let her lean on her shoulder and Aelita held her hand. The three of them cried together until they fell asleep on Yumi’s couch.
Yumi woke up first. She blinked and saw that the TV was still on. It was playing today’s tape. She woke Sam and Aelita and they all watched the screen. “Ladies and Gentlemen,” Odd said, “we’re coming home!” All three of the girls screamed. “We made it out of the gravitation field so we’re coming back to Earth!” Ulrich jumped on screen and said, “And we’re never gonna leave!”
“We’re over halfway there. We’ll be there in a few hours. Get the house ready Yumi!” Jeremy said. The camera cut off. The girls jumped off the couch and went upstairs to Yumi’s bedroom.
The three of them walked to the end of Yumi’s bed and collapsed onto it.
“Oh.”
“My.”
“God.”
Sam sat up. “You know what? We only have a few hours ‘til they get here. Let’s just relax, okay?” The other two girls nodded in agreement and Sam lay back down.
This time they woke up to the sound of the doorbell. Two of them shot up: Aelita and Sam. They looked down at Yumi and decided to leave her for a few minutes. They both quietly crept downstairs to answer the door.
They opened the door and immediately hugged their fiancés. Ulrich walked in, looking for Yumi. “She’s upstairs,” Aelita said. Ulrich walked up the stairs, trying to figure out what he would say to her. When he walked in and saw her asleep, he forgot all about that. Without thinking, he walked over to her bed and sat down beside her. He put his arm under her neck and lifted her up. Her head started to move and her eyes fluttered open.
“Miss me?” Ulrich said. At the sound of his voice, her eyes shot open and she immediately hugged him. “You don’t know how much,” she said. Then she remembered about the broadcast. She pulled back and blushed, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“Listen, Yumi,” Ulrich said, “about that broadcast, I…”
“It’s fine.” Ulrich didn’t realize it, but once she said that, she’d scooted a little closer to him. The next thing he knew, she was kissing him on the cheek. He turned to face her. “Hi,” he said. “Hi,” she said. They slowly moved closer and closer until….
Knock, knock, knock. Both heads shot towards the door. “Hey, you two,” they heard Odd say, “Don’t get too cozy in there, or we might just have to call your parents!” Then they heard a laugh (probably Sam’s). They saw a fragment of a face in the crack between the frame and the door. They were watching them. They didn’t care.
They turned back towards each other. “Oh,” Yumi said playfully, “I didn’t know you were back.”
“Funny,” Ulrich said, “I didn’t realize I’d gone.”
“Why’s that?”
“I would die if I was away from you.” He softly put his hand on her cheek. Right before they kissed, Yumi whispered so only Ulrich could hear, “I love you, too.”
Hey, You Think They’ll be Fine Here?
They heard a door slam shut down the hall and the heard laughing and whooping in the room next door. Ulrich took Yumi’s hand and they went down stairs. They sat on the couch and turned on the TV. Yumi had no idea what to say to Ulrich. She had never felt this way about anyone else but him. “Uh… Ulrich?” she said. Ulrich turned to face her. “Yeah?”
“I’ve waited a really long time for this,” she said.
“Me too. Hey, you think they’ll be fine here?”
“I guess. Where are we going?”
“You’ll find out.” He took her hand again, turned off the TV, and they went out to Ulrich’s car. He opened the door for Yumi and once they were both inside the car, Ulrich started driving.
They turned onto a road that Yumi had never traveled on before… at least she didn’t think she had. “Ulrich, where are we?” she said. “We’re going to a place that should bring back some old memories,” was his reply. She knew exactly where they were going when she saw the sign that read “Kadic Academy Jr. High School”. Ulrich passed the school and went on down the road. He cut through the grass and he parked in front of an old, abandoned factory.
“Wow,” was all Yumi could think to say.
Before she could get out, Ulrich said, “Hey, let’s go in the old way, huh?” She agreed and he drove to the school’s parking lot. They got out and ran into the woods behind the school, hand-in-hand. They came to a stop at an old and rusty sewage hole. They both climbed down and saw something they couldn’t believe.
Theirs and Odd’s skateboards and Jeremy and Aelita’s scooters were still there! They were a little rusty, but who cares. They both took one quick glance at each other and Yumi lunged at her skateboard saying, “Race ya!” By the time Ulrich had gotten his feet on his skateboard, Yumi was already a speck in the distance.
When Ulrich got to the end of the tunnel, he started to climb. When he got to the top and reached fresh air, he didn’t see Yumi anywhere. He stood up, put the lid back over the hole, and looked around. There was no Yumi in sight. She’s probably already inside, he thought. He started walking down the bridge towards the factory… only to be knocked to the ground by someone jumping on top of him.
He looked up to see that it was Yumi. “What’re you doing?” he said. “This,” Yumi said. She kissed him. When she stopped, she jumped up and started running toward the factory. “See ya!” she said. Ulrich sat there, confused, just watching her swing down the ropes and win the race.
It took him about ten seconds to realize that she did that to confuse him on purpose. He jumped up and ran towards the factory. He jumped at the ropes and barely caught them. He slid down the ropes and landed on the floor of the factory. He saw her in the elevator, leaning against the wall, a smirk on her face, waving at him. He ran over and got there the second the doors closed.
When the elevator came back down, he took it up to the control room, where Jeremy used to see what was happening on Lyoko. He carefully stepped into the room when the doors opened and was again jumped on by Yumi. She kissed him again, but this time, she didn’t get up. Instead, she said, “Hi,” and he said, “Hi,” back.
She lay her head down on the crook of his neck. They lay there until Yumi fell, once again, into a deep sleep.
Oh… That One
When Yumi woke up, she found herself in Ulrich’s house, lying on his bed. Once she noticed this, she quickly turned around. No one was there. Leave it to Ulrich, she thought. Then she thought Ulrich only has one room in his house. She jumped up and ran into the living room. Ulrich was sleeping on the couch.
She walked over to him and leaned over. She ran her fingers through his hair. Once his eyes opened and he saw her, she said, “Hey.” She walked around the couch and sat down beside him. “You know what?” she said, “I forgot to tell you something yesterday.”
“What’s that?”
“Never go into space again!” They both laughed. “Yeah. You can believe me when I say I never want to go again,” Ulrich said. “I would never want to leave you,” he continued, “I would never want you to leave me.”
“Oh, Ulrich. I would never leave you. You should know that. Why would you think that?”
“Because of what happened at Kadic.” Yumi paused. A lot of things had happened between them at Kadic Academy. “Which one?” she said with a forced laugh.
“When you were fourteen. In the park,” Ulrich said.
“Oh,” she said quietly. “That one.” The year they had first met, they had had many arguments. One would get jealous then the other would. Ulrich would get jealous of William and Yumi would get jealous of Sissy. One day Yumi had just had enough. She brought Ulrich to the park and said that they should “just be friends.” Ulrich’s life had fallen apart that day.
“Look, Ulrich,” Yumi said, “I always regretted saying that. I was just too upset. My mind was always racing about whether or not we were together I… I’m just so sorry.”
“It’s okay, Yumi. I understand.”
“You do?”
“Of course. I understand that this is all a hoax and that you should just leave.” Ulrich took his arm from around Yumi and studied his shoes. “But Ulrich,” Yumi started, “that was like… ten years ago. Please don’t do this… I love you.” She took his hand, but he pulled it away. “I just need time to think, okay?”
“Think? Think? You’re the one who said that you love me on National TV! If you really loved me then you wouldn’t do this to me.” Silence. “Fine. I’ll just walk home, then.” She ran towards the door and slammed it shut.
Ulrich fought the sadness building up inside of him and ran towards the door himself. He opened it and said, “Yumi, wait!” But he didn’t need to. Yumi was sitting in the yard right by the driveway, holding her right ankle. Oh, no, Ulrich thought and ran over to her side.
“Yumi, are you okay?” She didn’t look up. “I’m fine.” Her voice cracked on the last word. She tried to stand up, but immediately fell down and more tears burst out of her eyes. “Okay. Yeah, you can help me now,” she cried. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and he tried to help her walk, but she couldn’t even hop on one foot. “Okay, Yumi,” he said, picking her up, “the nearest hospital is about half an hour away. They can get here faster, so I’m going to call them, okay?” Yumi nodded and Ulrich took her back inside his house.
Once she was laid on the couch, Ulrich took out his phone and Dialed 9-1-1, all the while never leaving Yumi’s side. Ulrich was right. The sirens helped the ambulance get to his house within ten minutes. They had Yumi onto a stretcher and were headed towards the truck. “Wait!” Ulrich called. “I want to come.” One of the men stopped him before he could get inside. “What’s your relationship with this girl?” he asked. Ulrich paused.
“He’s my boyfriend!” Yumi said before Ulrich could answer. The man let him pass.
Ulrich sat on the seat built in to the truck next to where Yumi was. “Does this mean you forgive me?” he said. Yumi smiled. She nodded.
At the hospital, they took x-rays of Yumi’s ankle. She had stepped in a hole in Ulrich’s yard and broke her ankle. She had to get a cast. There was a room in the hospital. It was where Yumi was supposed to go. She was put into a wheel chair and Ulrich took her down to that room. He didn’t go in with her, though. He just pushed her inside and walked back out. He sat down on one of the benches in the hallway, waiting for her.
There was a lady doctor already in the room. “Hello,” she said. Yumi looked around and saw that on a wall there were six hooks, each holding a different colored roll of material. Yumi guessed that this was what they made the cast out of.
“So you’re Yumi?” the doctor said. Yumi nodded and the doctor said, “Who was he?” Yumi said, “My boyfriend,” without any signs of embarrassment. “Oh,” the doctor said, “So will he be taking care of you?”
“It looks like it,” Yumi said. The doctor let Yumi choose the color of her cast. She was about to say “black,” but then changed her mind. She remembered Ulrich, so she said “green.” Once her cast was finished, the doctor opened the door and waved for Ulrich to come in.
He walked in and put Yumi back in her wheelchair. “Will you be able to handle her?” the doctor said. “Mm-hmm. Sure,” Ulrich said. “Okay. I’ll need your name, then. From now on you’re responsible for her.” Yes! Yumi thought.
“I know. Ulrich Stern.” The doctor took down his name and Ulrich wheeled Yumi out to the car.
“So green, huh?” he said. “I was sort of expecting black.”
“Yeah, well….” Her voice trailed off and she blushed. Ulrich picked her up and put her in the front seat. He folded the chair and put it in the back of the car, then went back up to the drivers’ seat and got in.
Thank-you
“You think the others are still at your house?” he said.
“I don’t know. Maybe. But if they are, they need to be quiet, cause I’m tired.”
“Yumi, you gotta eat something, okay? You haven’t eaten all day and it’s already… three o’clock.”
“But I don’t want to!”
“Do you want to starve?”
“If it means I can get some sleep first, yeah!”
“Yumi!”
“All right, fine! I’ll eat something. Happy?”
“Yes I am.” They pulled into the drive way and Ulrich remembered something. “Oh, man. The steps!” Yumi looked up to see that Ulrich was right. Yumi had at least seven steps leading up to the front door. “You don’t have your key do you?” Yumi asked. “No.”
“Then I hope that either they’re here, or they left the door unlocked.” Ulrich turned the car off and walked over to the passengers’ side. He opened the door and picked Yumi up. He started to walk towards the front door.
When he got to the top of the steps, he tried the doorknob. It was locked. He rang the doorbell. In a few seconds, Odd, of all people, answered it. “Hey! They’re back!” he exclaimed. “So,” he continued, “You two must be tired. You must’ve had a very busy day to be coming at 3:00.”
“You know?” Ulrich said.
“Well, it’s kind of obvious, don’t you think. Hey, why you carrying her, huh? You wear her out?” Odd laughed.
“It’s not funny Odd. And I’m carrying her because I can’t get the wheel chair up the steps. It’s in the car. Can you get it for me? Thanks.” He walked inside.
“Wheelchair?” Odd said, “Hey, what happened to Yumi’s leg? Wheelchair?” He ran out to Ulrich’s car and sure enough, there it was. He brought it inside and upstairs to Yumi’s bedroom. “So what happened?” he asked.
“I thought you knew,” Ulrich said. “Yeah,” Odd said, “About that… I, um… bye.” He set the wheelchair down and ran out of the room.
Ulrich turned back around and put Yumi down on her bed. “So, what do you want to eat?”
“Nothing.”
“Yumi, come on!”
“Fine! But I don’t know. I’m not really that hungry now. Can I just have some cereal?”
“Sure. What do you want?”
“Cocoa-Puffs.”
“You still eat Cocoa-Puffs?” Ulrich laughed.
“Yeah. What’s so wrong about that, huh?”
“Nothing. Where is it?”
“In the cabinet. In the kitchen.”
“Okay.” Ulrich went into the hallway and almost got ran over by Sam and Aelita running towards Yumi’s room. Yumi took the elastic off of her nightstand and started to put her hair up in a ponytail (what she usually does when she thinks about Ulrich) when they came bursting through the door. They immediately ran to the side of Yumi’s bed.
“Oh my gosh, are you okay?” Sam asked. “You guys, I’m fine. I just fell, that’s all,” Yumi said.
“Fine?” Aelita said, “Fine? How could you be fine when you are sitting here in your bed in a cast… that’s green?”
“Why would you choose green?” Yumi shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. Sam and Aelita looked at each other and smiled. “You know what?” Sam said, “We’re gonna leave now.”
“Bye,” Aelita said. “Hey,” Yumi said, “could you take the boys with you? It would be a huuuuuge favor.” Sam smiled at Aelita. “Sure,” she said. Both girls ran out of Yumi’s room and Yumi could here Sam’s voice. “Okay, boys time to go! No not you, Ulrich.”
She heard the front door shut and footsteps on the stairs. Ulrich came through the door with a bowl and spoon in one hand and a box of cereal in his other. “Hey,” he said, “You’re out of milk.” He walked inside and put the stuff on the bedside table. Then he sat down on the bed beside Yumi. “I need to go to the store,” he continued. “Will you be okay here by yourself while I’m gone, or do you want to come with?”
“I should be fine. I’ll call you if I need anything, okay?”
“Okay. Bye.” He stood up and walked out of the room. When he shut the door, his cell phone started ringing. He picked it up. “Hello?” he said.
“You forgot something,” Yumi’s voice said. Ulrich flipped his phone closed and walked back inside Yumi’s room. “What?” he said. Yumi motioned for him to come and sit back on the bed. He did so, and when he did, Yumi pulled him down and kissed him. Not like any ordinary “Bye-I’ll-See-You-In-A-Few-Minutes” kiss. This was like a “Bye-I’ll-See-You-In-A-Few-Decades” kiss.
They broke apart and he smiled. “Wow,” was all he could say… that and, “What was that for?”
“That was my way of saying thank-you.”
“Then don’t ever say thank-you to anyone else.” She laughed and he stood up to leave. When he got outside the door, his phone rang again. He picked it up. “Yes, Yumi,” he said. “I’m bored,” Yumi said. “Take me with you… or don’t go. Either way is fine with me.” Ulrich walked into the bedroom, again. He sat down on the bed beside Yumi and said, “Well, Yumi, you’ve gotten what you want… again. So I’ll stay here, so we can do whatever you want.”
Just then, they heard the door downstairs open and shut, again. “I’m back, you witch!” they heard Sissy say.
Oh, Hi, Ulrich Dear!
Oh, I didn’t tell you that they lived in the same house? Oh… my bad. Sissy stomped up the stairs and pushed open the door. “Should have expected this,” she said when she saw Ulrich. “Oh, hi, Ulrich, Dear.” She walked over to the wheelchair and said, “What is this for?”
“For me,” Yumi replied.
“What happened? Did you break your ankle or something?”
“Uh… yeah. I did.”
“And no doubt on purpose too.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you broke your ankle on purpose so Ulrich would get confused and think that he loves you… when he obviously loves me!”
“Okay, look, Sissy. I don’t love you. I never did!” Ulrich said.
“Then why did you kiss me… twice?” Ulrich stopped for a second while Yumi looked at him on the verge of tears. “You kissed her?” she said. “No! Yumi, I didn’t kiss… okay, the first time I did, but it was only so she would do something for you. The second time she kissed me! That’s what happened on the bridge.”
“So you still kissed her… in Jr. High. And it took you ten years to kiss me?”
“Okay, Yumi. That is not fair. You are the one who said that we should just be friends.”
“Yeah, but that was after you kissed her.” Yumi reached for her cell phone. “Yumi,” Ulrich said, “what are you doing?”
“I’m calling Sam to come and pick me up.”
“No, Yumi, you can’t! Look… I only kissed her because I loved you.”
“What?”
“When you said that you had to move because your father found work in Japan, I needed Sissy’s help to stop you.”
“Oh, and what did you need her to do, exactly?”
“I… she… I don’t remember.”
“Hmm.” Yumi started to dial Sam’s cell number, but then she stopped. What if Ulrich really was telling the truth… that he truly didn’t remember why he had kissed Sissy? If that were true, then she wouldn’t leave. But if he was lying, which was a small possibility, then she would leave in a flash. She had known Ulrich to do anything for her… would anything include lying?
Sissy, what did You Do?
Sam walked up the front steps to Yumi’s house, wondering why she wanted to come and live in her and Odd’s house with Aelita and Jeremie. She opened the door to see Yumi and all of her things packed away in suitcases. Ulrich was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands and Sissy was sitting on the steps with a proud look on her face.
“Sissy, what did you do?” Sam said. “Oh, nothing!” Sissy said, “I just helped them realize how imperfect they are for each other.” Sam walked over to Yumi and started pushing her toward the kitchen. “What are you doing?” Yumi said, putting her hands on the wheels to stop her. “I need to talk to you, Yumi,” Sam said, pushing harder.
Once they made it to the kitchen, Sam walked in front of Yumi and said, “Okay, what happened?”
“Nothing.”
Silence.
“Nothing happened!”
Silence.
“He kissed her, okay?”
“Who?”
“Ulrich! He kissed Sissy!”
“When?”
Silence.
“Yumi!”
Silence. Yumi was really starting to get annoying! “When did he kiss her?”
“Jr. High, okay?”
“You mean he kissed her ten years ago?”
Silence. “Yumi!”
“…Maybe.” Oh my gosh, Sam thought. “Yumi, he wasn’t even dating you in Jr. High.”
“So? If he loved me, then he would have told me that a very long time ago, Sam.”
“Maybe he just didn’t want this to happen… and that’s what Sissy wants.”
“What?”
“Sissy knows that Ulrich loves you. If she could make it so that you don’t think that he loves you, than he would probably be so sad that he would rely on Sissy to make everything better.”
“Whatever.” Yumi wheeled herself out of the kitchen and into the living room, where Sissy was sitting next to Ulrich, patting his hair, and Ulrich was trying to push her away from him. She wheeled herself in front of them and yelled, “HEY!” Both of their heads turned immediately toward her. Sissy saw her and said, “Bye, Ulrich, dear,” and kissed him.
“That’s it! I’m out of here!” Yumi said. “Yumi, wait!” Ulrich said, “Please, you can’t just leave me like this!”
“Leave you? Yeah right Ulrich! I’m staying at your house. I can’t live with this girl anymore… that is okay, right?”
“Yeah! Of… of course! Totally fine!” He opened up the door and picked Yumi up. He carried her to his car and put her in the front seat. “Yumi, you sure can change your mind in a flash, you know that?”
“Yeah.” After Ulrich had put all of Yumi’s bags in the car, he stopped by Sam and said, “Whatever you said to her, thanks.”
“Hey, you two were supposed to be together. The least I could do is make it that way.” Ulrich got into the car and started to back out of the driveway. Yumi pulled down the window and said to Sam, “I’ll be wanting my car back soon!” She looked up at the window of the house and saw a crying Sissy. She pulled her head back inside the car and rolled up the window.
“Okay, rule number one,” Yumi said, “no one sleeps on the couch.” They laughed and before Yumi knew it, they were at Ulrich’s (and Yumi’s) house. Ulrich pulled into the driveway and turned off the car. “Welcome to your new life,” he said. He carried Yumi into the house and then brought all of her bags inside. Once everything was in it’s place, he saw a place for him on the couch next to Yumi. He sat down and checked the messages on his phone. One new message. BEEP!
Stern! It’s Caldwell. We’ve got some great news. You get to go into space again! You, Della-Rhobbia and Belpois are going to orbit Earth again. We’re going to need you here in two weeks. Talk to your friends and see if you want to do the video journal again. Tell me tomorrow. See you soon, Stern!
End of final message.
An Idiot like Odd
“What?” Yumi said. “You just got back and you have to go again?”
“They mast have thought that what I said on the journal was a joke… the part where I said we were never leaving again.”
“Maybe. Well, you better start packing, then.”
“Yumi, there is no way I am possibly going into space again.”
“Why not? I thought you had a great time up there.”
“Yeah, sure. You can’t even brush your teeth without the paste floating off the brush. The food is disgusting… and I don’t want to leave you again. Especially since I’m supposed to be taking care of you.”
“Well what are they going to do without you, Ulrich? Odd and Jeremie, I mean.”
“Hey, if they want to go into space again, then fine. They probably won’t be, since they’re supposed to be getting everything ready for the weddings and stuff.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. But just to make sure, I’m gonna call Sam and see what Odd’s gonna do.” When Sam picked up, the first thing Yumi noticed was that she had been crying. “Sammy, what’s wrong? Did Odd get one of those messages calling him back into space?”
“Yeah.”
“So what’s wrong? He’s not going, is he?”
Silence.
“Sammy?”
“He’s packing his things already.”
“He’s going?” Ulrich grabbed the phone out of Yumi’s hand. “Let me talk to him,” he said. When Odd picked up, Ulrich said, “What’s wrong with you? You’re going into space when you’re supposed to be getting married?”
“Uh… yeah.”
“Odd, Odd, Odd!”
“What?”
“Do you have… never mind. Just think about how Sam is feeling for once.” Ulrich flipped the phone closed. “Odd’s an idiot.”
“What about Jeremie?” Yumi snatched the phone back and dialed Aelita’s number. When she picked up, the first thing that Yumi noticed was that Aelita was giggling…a lot… a little too much. “Hey, Lee-lee. Having fun?”
“Um… no comment?”
“Whatever. Hey, did Jeremie get a message from that space guy…?”
“Um… yeah. What about it?”
“Well… is he going?”
“No! He’s not like… um…”
“Odd?”
“Odd? Why, is he going? What about Ulrich?”
“Yes and no. Yes, Odd, being the idiot that he is, is going. No, Ulrich, being the perfect guy that he is, is not.”
“Awe… how’s Sammy taking it?”
“Badly.”
“Maybe I should call her…?”
“Yeah. I was going to but the perfect guy here snatched the phone away to talk to the idiot.”
“Oh. Well, I’ll call and see what I can do.”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye.” Yumi flipped the phone closed and said, “He’s not going. Apparently, he’s not an idiot like Odd.”
“He’s never been an idiot like Odd.”
“Ulrich, I need to tell you something.”
“What?” Yumi gave him another thank-you kiss. “Before you ask, that was for not being an idiot like Odd.”
For dinner, they had Chinese food. Yumi hadn’t had Chinese food in so long. Sissy had made her eat these diet meals that came in the mail every night. Yumi’s mouth watered just at the thought of Sesame chicken with shrimp fried rice, shrimp egg fu young and egg drop soup, those little crackers that no one knows what they’re called with the sweet and sour dipping sauce.
She finished the meal twice as fast as it took for Ulrich to finish his. After that, they sat on the couch again and watched some T.V. Then Ulrich picked Yumi up and brought her to the bedroom. She was half asleep by then; her eyelids were drooping constantly over her eyes, so would have had to change her… of course, Ulrich (being the polite Ulrich that he was) left her in her day clothes.
The moment her head hit the pillow, Yumi fell asleep. Ulrich made sure that she was asleep, then changed himself and crawled into bed beside her. He turned off the lamp that was on the bedside table and closed his eyes. Then he felt something on his lips. He lifted his hand up and felt hair. He pulled her closer to him as they kissed, and when they stopped, Yumi whispered, “Goodnight, Ulrich,” and Ulrich whispered, “Goodnight, Yumi.”
Hi, Maurie
When Yumi woke up the next morning, she opened her eyes, looked around, and saw Ulrich. She smiled and stared at him. Then she kissed him. He opened his eyes, and he noticed something. The room wasn’t quiet. It was beeping. He looked around and saw the clock. The alarm went off.
“Oh, man,” he said.
“Oh, man, what?”
“I’m gonna be late.”
“Late for what?”
“Something.”
“What’s ‘something’?”
“Uh… we need to go to the airport. We’re going to meet someone there, and she’s very special to me, so please don’t be a child.”
“I am not a child!”
Silence.
“Fine!” The two ate breakfast and got into the car. On the way to the airport, Yumi got impatient and asked, “So, who is this person we’re meeting?”
“A very special friend of mine.”
“And how old is she, exactly?”
“She’s…” Ulrich sighed, “She’s four.”
“Four?”
“Yes, four.”
“What, are we meeting your cousin or something?”
“Uh… something like that.”
“Oh…” Yumi stayed silent for the rest of the ride. When they got into the airport, they sat on a bench and waited for about ten minutes. Then they heard footsteps running towards them. They both looked up to see a small little girl standing in front of them. Unfortunately, for Yumi, she looked just like Ulrich.
Ulrich hugged the little girl and said, “Hi, Maurie.” She looked up. “Who’s this?” she asked. “This is Yumi. Yumi, this is Maurie. Maurie, where’s your mom?”
“She stayed in Germany.”
“Awe, but I thought she was coming down this time. I’ve been missing her lately.”
“You miss her?” Yumi said.
“Well, yeah. I mean, she’s still my little sister, even if she hardly ever comes to visit.”
“Little sister?”
“Yeah. Maurie’s my niece. What were you thinking?”
“Um… nothing.”
“Sure… hey Maurie, go get your bags, okay? We’ll be right here.”
“Okay, Uncle Ricky.” Maurie ran off to the baggage claim area. “Yumi,” Ulrich began, “Who did you think Maurie was?”
“No one.”
Silence.
“I thought she was your…”
“My what?”
“Daughter.”
“Daughter?”
“Yes, daughter.”
“How could you believe that I had a daughter?”
Silence.
Maurie returned with a pink Barbie suitcase in her hand. “I’m ready!” she exclaimed. “Well, lets go, then,” Ulrich said. The three of them got into the car and headed on the way to Ulrich’s (and Yumi’s) house. When they pulled into the driveway, Maurie asked, “Uncle Ricky, aren’t you going to drop Yumi off at her house?”
“This is her house, Maurie.”
“I thought this was your house.”
“Yes, this is my house, but now it’s Yumi’s house, too.”
“You mean Yumi’s living with you?”
“You could say that, yes.”
“Oh… yay!”
“What are you so happy about?”
“I’m gonna have an Auntie!” Ulrich stopped the car. He turned it off and said, “Hold on, Yumi. Let me take her inside first, okay?”
“Sure.”
“Be back in a sec.” He got out of the car, opened the back door, took Maurie out of her car seat, and carried her inside the house. “Okay, Maurie, you wanna know a secret?”
“Yeah!”
“You just might have an Auntie, but only if Yumi says yes, okay?”
“O-tay… so you have to ask her?”
“Yes, Maurie, but I’m gonna wait until Yumi gets the cast off of her leg, okay? So don’t say anything to Yumi, alright?”
“O-tay, Uncle Ricky.”
“Alright.” He walked back out to the car and opened the front door. “What’d you tell her?” Yumi asked. “I told her that if she behaves well, then we can watch a movie tonight.”
“Hmm… okay. That’s fine with me.” When they walked inside the house, Maurie ran over to them and said, “Yumi, Yumi, guess what!”
“What?”
“I wanna watch a movie!” Ulrich held in a sigh of relief. Hey, the kid was good, and Ulrich had no problem with that. “Tonight, okay, Maurie?”
“O-tay, Yumi!” She ran into the bedroom and turned on the TV that was in there. She started flipping through the channels until she settled on a Barney show. Ulrich laughed as she started singing along with the songs. He set Yumi down on the couch and handed her the remote. “I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Sure.” Ulrich walked into the bedroom as Yumi turned on the TV and started flipping through the channels herself. Ulrich jumped on the bed, sending Maurie into the air. “How did you know what I told Yumi?” he asked.
“I read your mind.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yup!”
“Then what am I thinking now?”
“You’re thinking… that we’re going to have a great week together.”
“That’s right! How’d you do that?”
“Magic!”
“I missed you, Munchkin.”
“I missed you too, Uncle Ricky.”
It’s Over
Ulrich kissed her on the top of her head and went back out into the living room. He sat down on the couch and Yumi leaned against him. She was still flipping through the channels. “Nothing on?”
“Nothing… except kiddy shows.”
“Well, it is a weekday, and since it is only ten o’clock in the morning, no bigger kids should be home. They only put the baby shows on because they have no where to go.”
“Barney’s not a baby show, Uncle Ricky!” Maurie yelled. Yumi and Ulrich laughed. “Whatever you say, Maurie,” Ulrich said. He leaned in towards Yumi. “Whatever you say.” When their lips were about to meet, Maurie jumped up in front of them and said, “What-cha doin’?” scaring them both half to death. They blushed and Yumi said, “Nothing, Maurie.”
“No, you guys were about to kiss!”
“Maurie…”
“I can kiss, too! See?” She gave Ulrich and Yumi a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Maurie,” they both said. Then they heard music playing on Barney in the other room. “Ooh! This is my favorite song!” Maurie said, running into the bedroom. Ulrich shut the door (just in case) and went back into the living room. He sat back down and said, “Where were we?” they leaned in closer and… there was a knock at the front door. They both heaved a sigh and Ulrich went to answer the door.
Before he could get there, though, Maurie came running into the room and opened the door. When Ulrich saw who it was, he knelt down and said to Maurie, “Maurie, this is our friend…” only to be interrupted by Maurie saying, “Sammy!”
She jumped into Sam’s arms. “You guys know each other?”
“Yeah. I met her last year when I went to the U.S.”
“Maurie went to the United States?” by the way, they all live in France… except for Maurie. “Yeah! I went to visit Daddy.”
“How do you two know Maurelle?”
“She’s my niece.”
“Really? Huh… she looks just like you. Why’s that?”
“Yeah, Ulrich,” Yumi said, finally speaking, “why’s that?”
“Because she’s my twin sister.”
“I thought you said she was your little sister.”
“Well, I like to think that, because technically, I am older.”
“Ooh…” both girls said. Sam walked inside and Yumi asked, “So why are you here, anyway?”
“I brought your car back.”
“Why now?”
“Cause I felt like it. See ya!”
“Sammy! Wait! Where are you going?”
“Jeremie’s in the car waiting for me, Maurie.”
“What happened to Odd?” Ulrich asked, knowing it was a mistake the moment it left his mouth. Sam stopped and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s over.” Yumi gasped. Maurie slowly walked up to Sam and hugged her leg. “I’m sorry, Sammy. Was he mean?” Sam pondered on this for a moment. “Yeah. Yeah, he was.” She kissed Maurie on the top of the head and stood up to leave. She waved good-bye to the other two and shut the door behind her.
Blond Hair, Purple Clothes…
“I can’t believe he still went on that trip,” Yumi said. “Can you imagine how Sam is feeling now?”
“Can you imagine how Odd is feeling now that Sam dumped him?”
“I know!” Maurie said. “I read Sammy’s mind!”
“Really, Maurie? How is she feeling?”
“She thinks that she was never meant to be Sammy Della Rhobia and she’ll never love anyone ever again.”
“Really, Maurie?” Ulrich said. “Ulrich, you don’t really believe that, do you? I mean, she can’t really read minds.”
Ulrich whispered, “I know that, Yumi, just play along, okay?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, Maurie, I’m ready. What am I thinking?”
“You want spaghetti for dinner!”
“That’s right, Maurie!”
“Yay!”
“It’s eleven. Want something to eat?” he asked Yumi. She shrugged and said, “Sure.”
“What-cha want?”
“What do you feel like making, or having?”
“Hmm… how about French toast?”
“Sounds… great.”
“Uncle Ricky, can I have some French toast, too?”
“Sure, Munchkin. Wanna help me make it?”
“Uh-huh.” Ulrich and Maurie walked into the kitchen while Yumi still flipped through the channels. The only thing that wasn’t a baby show was the news, so she stopped and watched. Something interesting might happen. Someone got into a car crash… a chimney fire in Paris… someone jumped off a building… wait! This might be interesting. A twenty-three-year-old man jumped off of the Eiffel Tower and still survived! Blond hair, purple clothes, name is Odd Della Rhobbia… WHAT? “Ulrich!” Yumi yelled. Ulrich ran into the living room. “What?”
“Look!” On the television screen, Odd’s unconscious body was being rushed into an ambulance on a stretcher, and Sam was crying, screaming, trying to run after him, while police were attempting to hold her back. The picture froze and shrunk, revealing a woman on the side of the screen. “Reports say that this man clearly jumped and failed. He is severely hurt, but paramedics think that with the proper care, he will survive. More on this subject when we come back. This is Judy Levy, and Eleven O’clock News will be right back.”
“Oh my gosh.” Yumi quickly searched for her phone and when she found it, called Aelita. “Lee-lee? Yeah, it’s me. Did you just watch the news?”
“No.”
“Well… um… Odd… he…”
“What did he do now? Is he being an idiot again?”
“Um… yeah, you could say that.”
“Well, what did he do this time?”
“He… he… he jumped.”
“What? Don’t tell me he jumped off of…”
“Yes.”
“Is he alive? Is he okay?”
“Alive, yes, okay, no… and honestly, I think he’s taking it better than Sammy.”
“What did she do?”
“She did nothing really, but cry and scream and try to strangle him. Honestly, I don’t know what she’ll do if he doesn’t make it out.”
“I’ll try calling her and from now on, I won’t let her out of my sight.”
“Okay, Lee-lee.”
“Bye, Mimi.” Yumi slowly flipped the phone closed and took her hair bow out. As her long, black hair fell gently against her face, she fiddled with the bow as Ulrich sat down next to her. “Why would he do this?” he said. “Why do you think?” Yumi replied. She leaned into Ulrich’s shoulder and, for the first time in years, she cried. Yumi Ishyama actually cried. Ulrich held her close and laid his head on top of hers. Yumi felt another pair of arms around her and heard Maurie say, “Don’t worry, Yumi. It’s gonna be o-tay.” Yumi wrapped her arms around Maurie and said, “I really wonder now if that’s true or not.”
The three of them sat like that for an hour, and Maurie fell asleep. When Ulrich looked over a few minutes later, Yumi was asleep, too. By the way they had been acting, Ulrich would’ve thought they were mother and daughter, if he didn’t know any better. He slowly got up and let Yumi gently fall back onto the pillow he placed under her head. He walked into the bedroom and pulled out the notepad and pen he kept hidden under the bed. He flipped through the pages and recapped on all of the songs he had written over the years… all of them about Yumi. He didn’t have to think about what he would write; it just came to him. By the time he heard one of the girls stirring in the living room, he had written three pages full of musical words.
He closed the notebook and hid it and the pen back under the bed. When he walked into the living room, both girls were still sound asleep. Then the idea came to him. He quietly got his camera out and walked in front of the couch. He snapped a picture and went back into the bedroom. He plugged the camera into the computer and uploaded the picture to it. He got out the glossiest glossy photo paper he could find and clicked “Best Photo.” When he printed the picture, he made two copies… one for himself, and one for the artist.
She’s Already Become my Daughter
A few hours later, Yumi woke up. Ulrich walked into the living room and saw that Maurie was still asleep. Ulrich gently picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. He pulled the covers up to her chin and quietly closed the door. Yumi sat up and let Ulrich sit down beside her. She leaned into his shoulder as he said, “I have to show you something.” He pulled the picture out of his pocket and put it in front of Yumi’s face. “Wow,” she said, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was…”
“Your daughter? Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.” Yumi stared at the photo for a while, and then whispered, “It hasn’t even been one day, and she’s already become my daughter.”
“Hey, from the first time she stayed with me, she’s been mine.” Yumi smiled. She leaned back more and kissed him. They went on and on for about… five seconds. It would’ve gone on longer, if it weren’t for a certain little someone saying, “Ooh!”
“Maurie!”
“What? I wouldn’t do anything to you guys! I’m your daughter!”
“Come here, you little munchkin!” Ulrich jumped up and ran after the four-year-old bolt of lightning. Yumi laughed as she watched Ulrich chase Maurie around the room… and losing, for that matter. Then, Maurie jumped onto the couch behind Yumi and they both laughed as Ulrich ran around the couch, chasing an invisible person that wasn’t there. When he finally caught on, he sat next to Yumi on the couch and caught his breath. “Alright, she got me,” he said. Maurie came out from behind Yumi and jumped on Ulrich.
“Uncle Ricky, we didn’t eat yet. It’s two o’clock and I’m hungry!”
“Two o’clock?” Maurie nodded. Yumi said, “I wanna go see if Odd’s awake yet. Can we, Uncle Ricky?”
“Maurie, wanna go see Sammy and Odd?”
“Who’s Odd?”
“Sammy’s friend.”
“O-tay, Uncle Ricky. Let’s go!” Maurie dashed out the door before Yumi or Ulrich had gotten up. Ulrich wheeled Yumi out to the car and put her inside. Then he put the wheelchair in the back; got in the front, made sure Maurie was strapped in, and drove off.
When they parked and went inside, Ulrich went up to the front desk and said, “Hi, um… we’re here to see Odd Della Rhobbia, please.”
“I’m sorry. He’s in surgery right now and no visitors are allowed for another hour and a half. Come back then and you can see him,” the nurse said. “Okay,” Ulrich said, “Thank-you anyway.” He turned around and told Yumi and Maurie that they had to come back later. “Uncle Ricky, can we go eat while we’re waiting?”
“Sure Maurie. What do you guys want for lunch?”
“Pancakes!” Yumi said. “French toast!” Maurie said. Ulrich laughed and said, “I know just the place!”
When they parked this time, they were in front of IHOP, the Incredible House of Pancakes. They walked inside and took a seat. Maurie opened the kids’ menu and saw a picture of the famous Smiley Face Pancake. “Ooh! I want that one! It looks pretty!”
“Maurie, I thought you wanted French toast.” Maurie paused. She bit her lower lip in deep thought and she said, “O-tay! I want French toast, please!”
“Okay. Which one? That one has strawberries on it, but that one has chocolate, syrup, whipped cream, and cinnamon on it! Which one, the first or the second?” Again, Maurie bit her lip and thought. “The second one!”
“The one with the chocolate, syrup, whipped cream, and cinnamon?”
“Yeah! Yeah! That one!”
“Alright! What about you, Yumi?”
“I’ll have to go with the Chocolate Carnival Pancake X-treme.”
“You mean the Smiley Face Pancake with extra chocolate, whipped cream, chocolate chips and no cherries?”
“Yeah.”
“You sure?” Yumi tried her best to look insulted, but it was failing horribly. “Yes, I’m sure, Uncle Ricky,” she teased. “What about you?”
“I don’t know. Probably just some French toast with whipped cream.” Yumi shrugged. The waitress came and the three of them ordered. When their food came, Maurie’s mouth watered at the sight of it. She took her fork and dived into her stack of French toast. “This is good, Uncle Ricky!” she said. She continued stuffing her face full of French toast… reminding them both of Odd. “What time is it, Uncle Ricky?” Maurie asked a while later. “It’s four o’clock. We can go now.”
They paid for the food and drove back to the hospital. This time, when they stopped at the front desk, the nurse replied, “Room 605, on the sixth floor, first corridor.”
“Thank-you.” They walked (or in Yumi’s case, rolled) to the elevator. They went up to the sixth floor. They went down to room 605 and opened the door. There, lying on the bed was Odd Della Rhobbia. They went into the room and Maurie and Ulrich pulled up chairs. “This is Odd?” Maurie asked. “Yes, Maurie,” Yumi said. Odd opened one eye. “Hey, buddy,” he said. “Odd!” Ulrich said. “You’re okay!”
“Unfortunately.” Odd frowned. “Who’s this? You two have been hiding something from us?”
“Uh, well…” Ulrich started, “I have. From everyone… including Yumi.”
“So this isn’t your…”
“She’s not my daughter, okay? She’s my niece. Her name is Maurie.”
“Well, hi Maurie. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Maurie giggled and tried to hide behind Yumi’s wheelchair. Yumi picked her up and put her in her lap. “So, Odd, what’s the damage?” she asked.
“I broke my left arm and fractured the other one; broke my right leg and the other one’s okay; broke some ribs and have a concussion. Other than that, I’m fine.”
“So… I take it it’s pretty bad with you and Sam, huh?”
“Who’s Sam?”
“Okay, Odd. We know you’re mad at her, you can stop pretending you don’t know her,” Yumi said, a hint of worry in her voice.
“No, seriously guys, who’s Sam?” Yumi and Ulrich looked at each other. “Okay, Odd…” Ulrich said, pulling out his wallet. He took a picture from inside it. It was the group picture they took when they were in Jr. High. He held the picture in front of Odd and pointed to Sam. “Do you know who she is?” he asked. Odd shook his head, very slowly. “Everyone looks familiar except her. Is that her? Is that Sam? Wow… she’s beautiful.”
“And you know everyone else in the picture? You know Aelita and Jeremy; and Kiwi and Sissy?”
“Yeah.”
“Ulrich, we have a problem. He has… some kind of… amnesia.”
“But… why would he just forget about Sam?”
“I don’t know, but we better tell someone.”
“Yeah.” They left Odd in his room and went to the desk that was sitting right outside of it. “Excuse me,” Ulrich said, “but a friend of ours—Odd Della Rhobbia—something is wrong with his memory. He can remember all of his friends except his ex-girlfriend… Sam!” Ulrich looked over and saw Sam coming out of the bathroom, eyes puffy and red… probably from crying.
