5-8: Recap

This is the part where everyone realizes Janika is controlled by an alien slug in her head. Or maybe I'm thinking of Animorphs…? Oh, and this is dedicated to Dantheman7777 for giving me a surprise appearance in his story that I didn't even know I was in. Thanks!

(((-5-)))

Janika heard beeping nearby and distant voices. Gradually, her eyes opened. She realized she was in a hospital. But why? There were people in the white room with her. Children no older than herself, really. Three of them.

The Japanese girl noticed she was awake first. "Janika! Are you feeling better yet?"

"Do I know you?" she inquired hoarsely.

The unfamiliar girl's face fell. "You don't remember me?"

Janika's blank look answered the question.

"Jeremy, you were right. She has amnesia. What are we going to do now?"

"I don't know, Yumi," the blonde boy murmured. "I guess all we can do is leave her alone from now on."

The boy with dark brown hair beside him snorted. "X.A.N.A.'s not going to leave her alone just because she can't remember. She'll have to leave Kadic. We can't risk her getting hurt or killed just because she didn't know."

"Ulrich, you know we can't force her to leave," 'Yumi' protested. "Her parents sent her here, and they would have to decide themselves."

The girl in bed didn't like this. The strangers were talking about her like she wasn't there. Was she part of some undercover plot or something? What had she forgotten that was so dangerous she could be murdered?

The boy named Ulrich came over to her. He was kinda cute, but she tried not to look straight at him. Those piercing brown eyes probed her face for any flicker of recognition.

The door opened. "I brought Sprite, Dr. Pepper and Coca-Cola. Who wants what?"

Janika's eyes fixed on him as she saw the spike-haired boy enter the room. He noticed she was awake and smiled instantly.

"Feeling better, are we?"

She stared up at him from where she lay, almost through a haze of fog. He wasn't handsome, but definitely kindhearted and humorous. She knew he cared for her, but how could she admit the truth?

He began to stand and suddenly she felt time slipping away. She had to tell him! There might not be another chance. She groped for his hand—such a strange hand—and pulled him back, saying his name aloud.

"Odd!" she cried out joyfully. She knew him! "You're the panther-boy!"

(V)

A couple hours later she was sitting on a bench outside Kadic Jr. High, her memory still piecing together. Her adventures on Lyoko were faint, but she was recovering quickly, though some things remained obscure.

Ulrich looked up at a clock nearby. "Hey! It's almost time for me to meet Sissy. Got any ideas for a gag?"

"My rubber tarantula again?" Yumi wondered.

"Maybe, but it would be nice to get a picture for the school paper too," he smiled evilly. "Millie and Tamiya wanted something good."

"Sissy and spiders?" Janika spoke up. "I am so there! Let's hurry up and go, but can we get something to eat first? I'm still famished."

(V)

Janika got all the Orb spiders out of the biology room and stuffed them inside a brightly colored box. Ulrich took it and waited for the Target to approach him alone near the soccer field. Right on cue, she showed up and was about to hound him when she noticed what he was holding.

"What's that?" she wondered curiously.

"Something for Biology. You wouldn't like it even if I was allowed to let you see it. Now what do you want?" he said in a tolerant voice as he set the box down beside him on the bench.

Eyes still on it, Sissy laid out the accusation. "You remember the window that used to be in the Art department, right? Well, I could tell my daddy all about it. Destruction of school property is punishable by suspension."

"Jeremy didn't mean to, and you know it, Sissy. He helped Jim fix it anyway."

"That doesn't change the fact that he did it. Now, either you go out with me tonight, or your little friend will be packed up and gone by Friday." She stood there smugly, thinking she had him cornered.

Ulrich stood up. "I'll consider it, Sissy."

And then he walked away, leaving the tempting box conspicuously behind.

Her fingers twitched as she reached for it. The lid came off and she stared at a cluster of large spiders waving their legs about and struggling to crawl out of the box. Sissy took one look and flung them away, squealing and trying to get the insects off her arms, all thoughts of Ulrich gone for good.

She actually took the surprise very well, considering the circumstances. As it was, the picture was hardly necessary since she had opened the box in the middle of campus during lunchtime.

"She always did suffer from arachnophobia," the dark-haired girl chuckled as she and Odd walked alone toward the dorms. She glanced sidelong at him. "You know, I had kind of a flashback when I saw you in the hospital earlier. We were on Lyoko and I was about to say something really important. Trouble is, I don't remember what it was. Do you?"

Odd kicked a rock and watched it bounce off a post as he answered. "Sorry. We went back in time as you were about to tell me."

Janika shrugged. "Oh well. There's no point in crying over spilt milk. I don't know if I'll ever remember, but if I do, you'll be the first to know."

Thinking of the flashback reminded her of the look in his eyes as they stared at one another. They must have had some sort of understanding before, unless she was mistaken.

In a courageous moment, the short girl leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. He stumbled.

"See you later, Odd," she said, smiling.

Ha ha! You people thought I was going to have Janika fall for Ulrich all over again, didn't you? Well, this is more satisfying to me. Since she had amnesia, she thought Odd and herself were close already, so that's the end of her and Ulrich.