This is going to be a hard one to write, so wish me luck! Mega thankies to everyone that voted! After this fic or Honor is completed I will start Winner Take All, because it had the second most votes.

And the really good news is that my formatting looks less icky now because of something fanfiction did! No more double spacing for me! (I have word pad, and it sucks royally, that's why my formatting used to be all messed up.)

Disclaimer- I do not own Code Lyoko, or the song lyrics used at the begining of the prologue, they are sung by Kenny Rodgers.

Dedication: This is for Rob, the closest I'll ever get to a big brother, with love, from 'Red'

Tricks of the Trade by Ransomed Heart

Prologue: Of Pasts and Puppies

[Sweep away the sand and dry the ocean

And just

Pack the moon and stars up in a

Cardboard box and

Stop the clocks from chiming

Block the sun from shining

Paint the sky a deeper shade of blue

'Cause my world's over without you.]

Sometimes it's hard to get over a person. They come into your life like the police barging through the door on a drug bust; with no warning and no apologies. Not that Yumi had ever apologized. It simply wasn't in her nature. Everything she did she had done with absolute certainty with no looking back and no regrets. It was one of the things he had always loved about her, Yumi's ability to simply forget the past.

For most people the past is a shadow that follows them around like a lost puppy. A mean lost puppy that is waiting for them to drop their guard so that it can run up and bite them in the butt. People will react to this differently. Some will scream and run like the devil himself is after them, those are the people who can't face their past. Some people will bite the puppy right back, those are the people who face their past head-on and will eventually conquer it. Then there are the lucky few who never run into lost puppies at all. Those are people like Yumi. It was an aspect of her he had never fully grasped in the short time he had known her, how she could simply avoid her past. How she could simply avoid him.

-----

It had been a chilly fall morning at Cadic Jr. High. Yumi had strode up the sidewalk path just as she did every morning. Odd, Ulrich, Jeremie and Aelita were gathered around a tree laughing at something Odd said. XANA had been deactivated in the previous year, so this year Aelita had a dorm on campus and she and Jeremie were happily dating. Odd was the same old person, though he had developed an intrest in Naomi that was yet to be returned.

Ulrich saw her first and froze like a deer in the headlights. He knew confrontation was coming, but was able to do little but stare it in the face and hope that it braked before he got hit. Yumi considered mercy for a moment, but continued toward the group, noting Ulrich as he paled slightly under her gaze. The others had seen her now too and were looking at her with a strange mix of expectaion and horror.

Her fight the night before with Ulrich had been explosive. The two teens had verbally battled it out before God and peers in the same courtyard they were standing in now, though what the mini war had been about was anyone's guess. Theories had run wild the night before, though the general concensus was that Ulrich had said something stupid, or at least that was what the girls thought. That could be attributed to the fact they Jr. High boys were prone to saying stupid things. Millie and Tamiya had appeared at Ulrich and Odd's door early that morning, camera on and notebook and pen poised to get the dirty details. Ulrich had shoved the door in their surprised faces.

Sissy too had made an entrance that morning, this time at the breakfast table. The principle's daughter had slid into the seat usually occupied by Yumi at lunch and firted shamelessly and badly, so much so that Odd was snickering into his food. After several minutes of this with no response at all from Ulrich she grew offened and stormed off like hell's harpie on a rampage.

The other students had backed off now, sensing that blood would be spilled here and now in one way or another, and they didn't want it to be their's. Yumi reached the group and stood, eyes locked on Ulrich. His eyes were locked on hers as well, and the resulting standoff was a long and tense one.

Finally Yumi broke the eerie silence with a single statement. "I'm moving."

The rest of the group blinked. They had expected rage, anger, shouting. Even slapping Ulrich would have not caused as much shock as that single statement. Jeremie, ever the logical one, recovered first.

"Where? Why?" The questions were simple.

Yumi's eyes were pinned on Ulrich still. "My parents told me last night to surprise me. We are moving to America this weekend." It was Thursday already. "I won't be at school tomorrow, I have to help pack." The warning bell rang, urging the students to head to class or face the prospect of a tardy. Heeding it, Odd, Aelita and Jeremie moved off with stunned looks on their faces, leaving Yumi and Ulrich standing there.

"You don't want to be late, I know how little time you have for your friends, " Yumi prompted him in a dry voice with a hint of sarcasm.

Ulrich's initial shock fled before a rush of rage. "Don't start this up again, Yumi!" It was a warning, hissed in a low voice. It didn't faze the older girl.

"Of course not. Go find Emily, I'm sure you have time to walk her to class." Yumi stuck the verbal barb in him and twisted it. Before Ulrich could respond though, she marched away, out of his sight and out of his life.

-----Ten Years Later-----
Chapter One: A Natural Arrogance

Ulrich reached over and slapped groggily at his bedside table. After several long seconds he was rewarded with a click and an end to the insistant beeping. The offending alarm clock had been a gift from his parents, and the twenty-four year old could only assume it was his mother's way of nagging him yo get up without actually being there. It had been a long time since he had required earplugs to sleep, but he still slept light enough that the alarm woke him up without too much trouble.

Kicking aside the sheets, he moved in a zombie-like fashion to the bathroom, blinking into the mirror that hung dutifully above the sink. "Mirror, mirror," he muttered in a mocking voice, taking in the dark rings under his eyes and his hair tossled from sleep. Not that he'd gotten much sleep, so the hair was probably the result of the previous night's activities.

Ulrich grumbled his way through his morning grooming routine, muttering darkly into the sink about the night before. Abandoning the bathroom, he moved on to the closet, selecting a pair of dark jeans and a white t-shirt with a plaid button-up to go over it. His tastes hadn't changed much.

Shuffling through the expansive apartment he reached the kitchen. Pulling out a bowl and a carton of milk, he poured in the cereal. Lucky Charms had become a favorite; sugar and caffenine were often the only things keeping him awake on days like this one. Setting that down on the table, he went to the doorand found his paper waiting outside as though it expected him. Most in this particualar apartment complex in New York City could afford to have their papers delivered, sparing them the trip down to the sidewalk to buy one off a corner.

The building itself was ten stories high, more like a hotel than an apartment building really. It was fancy and well-to-do, often leaving Ulrich feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Sometimes he wondered why these people lived in a apartment rather than a mansion somewhere. There were only two possible conclusions. They either had a job like his but (also like him) had no significant other to share the wealth with, or simply loved the city.

A glance at the rubber band bound mass told him all he needed to know. There had been another robbery last night, and the headlines proclaimed, 'Jewel Thief Strikes Again! Fourth Robbery This Month!' Ulrich sighed and went back inside.

Plopping down in the waiting chair, he removed the rubber band and a package rolled into his lap.

Ulrich sighed again, wishing for a break. Cereal forgotten, he shoved the paper aside and opened the pakage, finding a note and dvd inside. It was totally beyond him how they could fit a dvd inside the newspaper, but who was he to argue?

He had moved to the U.S. after graduating, and became a fugitive apprehension agent for the government, taking whatever jobs were too top secret or too dangerous for normal agents. Ulrich wasn't a normal bounty hunter though. Instead of going after F.T.A.s, he went after those who hadn't been caught yet. Bounty hunter was simply a job discription. He did take normal cases every now and then, but he usually did what various governments ordered. Today, his orders came from the big man himself, though he worked for whatever government chose to hire him. An international apprehension agent. Apparently this particular string of thefts had the politicians up in D.C. worried, for whatever reason.

He unfolded the note, finding it stamped with the President's seal, and sighed again. He skimmed the note and found exactly what he'd thought he'd find. "So much for taking the day off." It suddenly seemed oddly appropriate that the pakage had come with that particular newspaper issue, his target was featured on the front page. Following the instructions given in the letter, he moved into the living room and placed the dvd in the player.

Ulrich watched as various jewelery stores rolled across the screen, the crime scenes no doubt. He admired the robber's handiwork, whoever it was certainly knew what they were doing. No fingerprints, no hairs, and they only took the good stuff. Though Ulrich had to admit, that information came from the numerous articles that the newspaper had run over the past weeks. The young man chuckled lowly. And the President was desperate enough to call in the bounty hunter. Who ever said the government wasn't corrupt?

Ulrich continued to watch as he was given details on all four crime scenes. Following that was probably the biggest ruby Ulrich had ever seen. It was currently being imported from a foreign country, due to arrive that day, which explained why he was being brought in. The government obviously didn't want it stolen; it might cause a...kink in their relations with whatever country it was coming in from.

Then came the target, and Ulrich's breath caught in his chest. "It can't be....not her....Anyone but her...."

-----

Yumi Ishiyama strode confidently down the streets of NYC as if she owned the place. Considering the major amount of panic she had the larger jewelery stores in, she might as well own the place. It was an intresting feeling, that of power, and she hadn't felt this secure of herself in a long time. She knew that was twisted, but it mattered very little to her. She was on the top of the world, especially with that emerald stashed safely away in the safe concealed in her apartment, waiting to be delivered to it's new owner.

The landlord hadn't even noticed that she'd come in late. Well, he had, but he assumed she was drunk. In high school Yumi had discovered a passion for acting. The drama club had needed a lead for Miss Saigon, and they wanted someone Asian for that part. Dispite her initial reservations and pleas that she was the wrong nationality, Yumi had loved it, and continued acting. Now those skills came in handy. When she had stumbled (in a very literal sense)in at about two in the morning, the landlord was kind enough to escourt the poor, drunken Yumi up to her spacious apartment on the third floor. Not that she was really drunk, she never drank at all as a matter of fact.

It was somewhat the same way about her job. She always paid the rent, and she always left at nine and returned at six like clockwork every day. It wasn't her fault the landlord and every other person assumed she went to work. Yumi did take odd jobs every now and then, but for the most part spent her days leisurly relaxing in the park or elsewhere. It wasn't like she really needed the money anyway.

Her high heels made an almost annoying clipping sound on the harsh cement as she continued walking, pausing occasionally to peer in a store window. Her clothes were designer and she felt very proper amid the usual crowd on the street. She smoothed down the edge of her black skirt, checking it in the reflection to be sure of it's smoothness. It was a new skirt, coming to about her knees and flared out in an almost ruffle-like manner. The shirt was white with a black design on the front. It left her shoulders bare. Her hair was pinned up in a simple bun. She wore no makeup, she never had liked the stuff.

Moving on down the street, Yumi felt a feeling of haughty arrogance well up inside her. No one could stop her. Yumi smirked to herself. Today was a good day.