One Door Closes As Another Door Opens- A Code: Lyoko Fanfic
Written By: Painin Uranus
.:AN:.
Okay, as you can see, this is the very last chapter. THE VERY LAST CHAPTER! OMG! This is a first for me, never thought I'd ever finish a story, let alone its very last chapter be a kissy-kissy romance one. Yes, I've never done a kissy-kissy romance scene in my LIFE! So, please, tell me what you think, I just have to know… here it is. Don't hurt me!
Chapter 22: Love's Solace—Chocolate Kisses
Ulrich's POV:
"Yumi!" I yelled, bursting through the cafeteria doors, blinded momentarily by the sunlight that illuminated the school grounds. Jerking my head around, I sighed, frustratingly raking my fingers through my brown locks. Where did she go off to? "Yumi!"
Taking one last survey of the deserted area, I determinedly straightened up my shoulders before steadily pacing towards the first place that came to my mind—the forest.
I didn't think she'd gone back to the factory—not with class starting so soon, and having just got back from that place… with no eager thoughts to return just then… However, I suppose that the most private area that she could escape to would either be her dorm room (which wasn't likely, for some reason) or the shaded and comforting environment of the trees surrounding the school buildings.
I stopped calling her name, knowing that she wouldn't answer me and would also most likely hide when she heard me draw near. So instead, I walked slowly and delicately, so as not to alert her of my presence.
Deciding quickly, I decided that I would go in the direction of the forest entrance. It was the only way that I knew best and could safely return later on if I needed to without worrying about getting lost. I had barely gotten halfway down the path before I heard some stifled sniffles (say that three times fast). Treading softly, I bent down slightly so as to pinpoint the exact location they were coming from and who they belonged to.
My heart sank with guilt when I recognized them as Yumi's… and I had been the one to cause them. Discovering offhandedly that they were coming from the shadows of a rather large bush, I knelt down quietly and hesitantly stuck my head through the smaller branches of the plant.
There was Yumi, her knees pulled up to her chest and her face buried in them. Her dark curtain of hair shielded the small amount of skin visible to my eyes, shoulders shaking with every muffled sob, her form shivering as if she were intensely cold.
"Yumi…" I whispered with self-dislike, and her head snapped up, tear stained cheeks greeting my sight. "What have I done?"
Yumi's POV:
I exited that cursed cafeteria room so forcefully that the doors bounced off their doorstops, rattling the glass windows violently. My eyes were narrowed in hatred, not to mention the fact that they had a glassy look to them due to repressed tears. So much anger and despair was bottled up inside of me, desperate to burst out, that I bent over, strongly gripping my head, and let out a frustrated cry.
Why was I acting like this? I should be happy that Ulrich wasn't dead! I should be overwhelmed with joy and merriment for having my good friend back!
So why was I acting like this?
Deep down, I knew why. However, that fact didn't want to show itself to me at the moment, and that made me even more perturbed.
My feet were on automatic, heading in the direction the four of us usually took to get to the forest entrance to the factory. Angrily, I wiped the burning tears from my face and jolted my head around so that I could remember how to get back when I felt good and ready.
I needed a place to calm down. That was the only thought passing through my mind. I needed a few moments to myself, to collect my thoughts, to work out why I was overreacting and acting so immature.
I needed to get away.
Through the whirl of passing trees, I saw exactly what was required in this situation. It was quite a sizeable bush, branching out to make a sort of hangover with the perfect coverage for fleeting eyes. Without another thought, which was surprising, considering the emotions rampaging within me, I fell to my knees and crawled under.
It was dark; it was muggy; it was seamless.
I took a moment to sigh, bringing my legs in and hugging them to my chest while leaning back and closing my eyes in content. Then again, it didn't last long before the suppressed tears leaked through my eyelids and slid down my already red cheeks. Suddenly, I started to cough, and sniffle, and weep even more, breaking into a full-out breakdown not two minutes later.
How did he do it? How did he mange to make me cry when in any other case I'd be strong, be stable? HOW?
"I hate him," I cursed, my voice breaking slightly due to these infuriating tears. "I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him…"
And so I continued to mutter as I cried, rocking back and forth as I struggled to find some sort of solace in my own comforting efforts, knowing full well I wouldn't be able to find it from anyone else.
However, it all stopped when I heard a voice whisper in such a heartbroken voice that my lament session paused for a moment.
"Yumi," the voice said. "What have I done?"
Looking up, I saw spiky brown hair, so soft and smooth looking, falling almost lazily into the path of those chocolate orbs of his, shining with sadness and love…
Wait. Love?
I had to stare hard at his eyes, reading the emotion bleeding through so easily, for so long, but came to the conclusion that that was exactly what I was seeing in his eyes.
Love.
"I'm so sorry," were the first words out of my mouth, wiping my eyes with the back of my hands with embarrassment. "You must think I'm being a child, acting like this."
"Not at all," he assured me quickly. "If anything, I was the one being a child, with Lance and all… I could've handled it better." He paused to emit a quick laugh before continuing, "Thinking back, I was being an idiot. I can't believe I did some of those things I did!"
I couldn't help but let out a weak laugh in return. "True, but I guess it was understandable."
He nodded, his small smile fading, as he looked away, instead taking in my resident "plant shack" with contempt.
"Mind if I join you under here?" he asked hesitantly, those same chocolate brown eyes shining with hope.
Not trusting my voice at the moment, I simply nodded and he slid in much more gracefully than I had during my reckless tantrum. He mirrored my position, and let out a brief huff before falling silent once more.
We stayed that way for a couple minutes, the only sound being the soft hiccups I had yet to overcome. After that, I had to break the silence.
So I did.
"Why did you come after me?" I asked, my voice thick with emotion. I looked up at him, my eyes starting to water (as annoying as it was starting to get) again. "Why couldn't you just wait until I came back?"
Ulrich stared at me for a moment with a contemplative look, then quickly looked away sheepishly. "I dunno," he answered with a shrug. "I… guess I just thought you shouldn't be alone when left with such strong feelings…"
"How do you know they were strong emotions?" I launched at him, indignation rising past my sadness. "Maybe I just got sick of your constant mood swings! The way you've been the past couple of weeks, months, I dunno, you could be going through your PMS period!"
As soon as those harsh words left my mouth, I instantly regretted them.
Ulrich bent his heads with shame, going out of his way to look anywhere but at me.
"For now, I'll pretend you never said that," he said as calmly as he could, though his hurt was evident in his voice, "because we just got over saying that we were forgiven for acting so idiotically. It's in the past, and it's a low blow to bring it up after this moment."
I nodded my head in acknowledgement, wordlessly berating myself for being so cruel and thoughtless. I wanted to throw myself into a full-out apology, to beg for his forgiveness since the emotional guilt I was feeling was like impaling a iron-hot rod into my chest—it was uncomfortable, it burned, and it hurt like hell.
"Yumi," Ulrich tried to start smoothly, but managed to choke somehow. "I—I'm so sorry."
I hadn't expected those words to escape his perfectly soft and desirable lips (snap out of it, girl!) If anything, I thought they would escape mine before his. Therefore, I was caught off-guard, and couldn't speak.
I didn't have to; Ulrich had more to say.
"I realize that I should've tried to find another way to save you guys, or to tell you that I would be fine, but…" he trailed off, choking on some brief tears, "you have to understand that I was scared."
He looked up at me with those shining brown eyes of his, and I almost collapsed into more tears of my own at the pain and care that was pouring out of them. He looked so vulnerable, and made me realize how young he really was. I just wanted to envelope him into my arms and comfort him much like I had been doing for myself not five minutes previous.
"I was scared, Yumi—of loosing you, of loosing Odd… I couldn't stand the fact that X.A.N.A. could succeed in… getting rid of"—Yumi noticed he refused to use the word "killing"—"one of us. I just did the first thing that came to mind and hoped that it worked out."
Yumi gave a soft, sad laugh at this. Ulrich wasn't usually the kind to act on impulse, but she guessed desperate times came for desperate measures.
"Thankfully, it did," he managed to get out with a watery smile. "You don't know how happy I was when I able to safe you and Odd, and get rid of "X.A.N.A. Lance" as well. But…I guess I didn't think that the same kinds of thoughts were shared between you and I. I didn't realize how my supposed "death" effected you so much more than it did Jeremie and Odd."
Throughout his whole explanation, his eyes had been shifting around the small dome the plant created for them. Now, though, they were as shifty as ever, as he was unsure whether or not he wanted to continue.
"I tried to understand all throughout lunch, after you got all mad at me and everything," Ulrich admitted with a half-hearted smile. "Really, I did. Barely paid any attention to anyone, I was so focused on it. And when you finally stormed out of the cafeteria, I thought I had found the answer. And… as crazy as it may sound, it makes some sense."
I felt my heart stopped, anticipation and fear taking over my body.
"What is it?" I managed to whisper.
He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath, as if gathering all of his courage. It seemed as if time slowed, seconds turning into years, minutes into decades. When he finally opened his eyes, they locked onto mine with such a fiery, blazing passion that I had to stifle a gasp.
"Do you like me, Yumi?" he rasped out.
"Huh?" I asked shakily.
"Do you…have feelings for me?" he questioned again.
I couldn't answer, my eyes pinned on his. I took in his appearance, his brave face, his plush brown hair (littered with tiny twigs and leaves all thanks to the small branches that got caught in it), his strong body frame, and, last but not least, his fierce chocolate brown eyes.
"I have feelings for everybody," I told him with a soft smile, my tears clearing up slightly.
Ulrich gave me a confused look, lasting a few seconds, before sighing, bowing his head and making a move to back out of the bush.
"However," I continued seriously, "none are as strong as they are for you."
His head jerked up at this, and he opened his mouth to say something.
Sadly, and not so sadly, he never got the chance to say them.
I practically hurled myself at him, my arms flying forward to wrap around his neck. As if of instinct, his own encircled my waist, even as he fell onto his back with me on top. The momentum from my jump caused us to roll out from underneath the protection the strange bush-plant offered, but we didn't seem to notice. As our movement died away, I was still on top of Ulrich, and he was staring intently at my face, every once in a while darting down to my lips before slowly traveling up.
My own eyes couldn't stay put. They too traced a path to his mouth, and fantasy's that I had kept locked away in the recesses of my mind on what his kisses would feel like flew forward.
Acting on these curiosities, my head bent slowly down to his, and in turn his rose to meet me halfway. Our lips brushed against each other for a split second before Ulrich firmly fitted his mouth to mine.
No words could fully explain the electrical surge I received when my lips met his. They were so soft and warm, gentle and caressing. I felt like I was kissing a chocolate bar, as stupid as it sounded. It made some sort of twisted sense in my love-high mind—his every look was chocolate, why not his kisses?
We pulled apart, slightly dazed, for only a second before he sat up, pulling me firmly against him to the point of straddling his legs, and pressed his lips to my own with less hesitation.
His mouth moved against mine, and I had to stifle a moan rising in the back of my throat as he ran one of his burning hands up my spine, up and down, up and down. He insistently nibbled on my lips, desperate to explore my mouth. A small voice in the back of my head asked, why not?
So I let him in.
And I swear I had just died and went to heaven. As clichéd as it sounded, that was one way to vaguely describe what I was feeling. Every sweep of his hot wet tongue (as disgusting as it may sound) caressed everything it came in contact with. Every once in a while, he coaxed mine into play, but always managed to keep dominant.
After drawing myself out of my pleasure-dazed mind, I found myself not liking the fact that he was taking control of the kiss I had initiated. My idle hands, which were not so idle considering they were playing the hairs at the back of Ulrich's nape, rested on the sides of his mouth before pulling him closer to me.
My tongue challenged his, and we dueled with passion and what I hoped was love and not lust. The feelings that were coursing through my body set fire to my veins. I didn't know if this was having the same effects on Ulrich as it did on me, but if his own groans of pleasure were anything to go by, I'd say he was having more trouble keeping a clear mind than I was.
I don't know how far we would've gone (no, nothing past a very heated make-out session), and it was all thanks to one person I never had the pleasure of seeing.
"EWWWW!" Sissi squealed shrilly.
Ulrich and I jumped apart, though I was still sitting in his lap, my legs molded perfectly to fit with his, and looked around at the dark-haired girl. She was standing there behind us, holding her hands to her mouth with her face twisted in disgust.
"That is SO wrong!" she shrieked with a angry look. "You'll get in trouble by the teachers if they see you, there are rules against public displays of affection."
"Really?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, finally getting over my passion-filled state of mind.
"Well, we never were very good at abiding by rules of any kind, were we, Yumi?" Ulrich added, giving my waist a quick squeeze.
"No, we were more for making up our own," I agreed with a cheeky smile. Then, pretending to have that "I have an idea" look on my face, I also supplied, "I just thought of one! Rule #634: Any time Sissi is nearby, start instant make-out session."
"Granted," Ulrich laughed with a pleased smile, before leaning in and claiming my lips with a quick, loving kiss.
Which was shortly followed by several more quick, loving kisses.
Which inevidably lead to a heated make-out session.
Another screech came from Sissi, but neither one of us looked like we noticed. She said something, in her shrill, annoying voice, but we were too caught up in our "public act of affection" to actually listen to her. We then heard footsteps, which we assumed were hers as she stomped away to throw a temper tantrum in front of her so-called "friends".
I reluctantly pulled away from Ulrich, which I was surprised I had the strength to do, and just looked down at him. He had that same charming smile on his face, his eyes sparkling with that laughter that stayed alive in them at all times. I idly ran my hands through his hair and reveled in the fact that it was way softer than it looked.
"Ulrich," I started quietly.
"Yeah?" he answered just as gently.
"We all good?"
He laughed that laugh that I could never, in a million years of hearing it, get sick of before giving me one of his loving grins. "Yes, we're are very good."
"Good," I answered with a similar smile. Brushing my nose against his, I whispered, "Class should be starting soon."
"So?" he shrugged playfully.
"So… we need to be there when it does."
"You sure?"
"Yes, Ulrich."
"Huh… fine."
Once again, I got up with way too much reluctance for it to be healthy, and helped pull Ulrich up with me. Holding his hand, he intertwined our fingers, and it amazed me how wonderfully they fit together.
We were made for each other.
"Ulrich?" I suddenly questioned.
"Yu-huh?" he chirped happily. I had to quiet a laugh at how giddy he seemed to be.
"What does this mean now?" I asked, raising our entangled hands.
"It means," he answered in that tender tone of his, bringing the back of my hand to his lips for a quick kiss, "that you won't be checking out any more new guys as long as I'm standing next to you."
I blushed, remembering how I had so mindlessly fawned over Lance the first time around when I had met him.
"Not a chance in hell," I assured him.
"Good."
"Good," I echoed, knowing full well that at that moment on, life would be good.
THE END!
.:AN:.
Okay, folks! How did I do? As I said, I need you to tell me. Please, I need to know! Once again, this was my first fluffy scene, and I hope that I got it pretty good. Did I get it good? I hope I got it good. Please say I got it good. I need to know if I got it good! NEED TO KNOW, PEOPLE!
Anyways, thanks to EVERYONE who has reviewed to my story through and through. I'd love to go through and thank everyone, but it would just take too long.
I will start posting the rewritten version of Anime Bubbles story, I'll See You. Is it bad that I'm changing things to her story? I hope not. Tell me if that's bad, and I won't do it. I'll just post her chapters, then write my own.
Oh, back to the previous topic, people have asked me for a sequel. I'll think about it. Since I am now starting my first year of high school (I know, hard to believe), I may not have a lot of time to do so… but I'll see.
THANKS AGAIN! STAY TUNED! PLEASE!
AND TELL ME HOW I DID!