PhantasyDreamer: Hey this is my first Code Lyoko story. So go easy on me. I've watched the show for a year now and was just inspired lately to write a story about it. In this story Ulrich is the same age as Yumi, I don't like the fact that she is older. Even though he is shorter, I still think he should have been older. That's how I see it. Well, to sum it all up, let's just say that Ulrich repeated a grade and that is why he is in the same grade as Jeremy and Odd. This story also contains a lot of action/adventure but I couldn't put three genres in there. Read and Review! I hope you enjoy it.

Secret of the Heart

Chapter 1: The Ultimate Decision

"You did what JEREMY!" Aelita screamed looking at him strangely, "What were you thinking?"

Jeremy looked at Aelita as if she was crazy. What was wrong with her? He was only trying to help out a friend and her behavior was clearly one that surprised him. He didn't know what to do but he was clearly not expecting this from Aelita.

"Aelita, you have to understand that this was Ulrich's wish." he stated bowing his head while stuffing his hands in his brown pants pocket.

He stood next to her as she watched him seriously. She brushed her short pink hair a little trying to understand why Jeremy had did what he had done. The two children were standing outside of the cafeteria on the side of the steps. Aelita sat down on the steps while Jeremy stood next to her. The young girl wore a pink long sleeve shirt that had a hood on the back of it. A dark maroon jumper went over the shirt coming down two inches above her knees. She also wore dark pink flat boots that went a little below her knees and on the ends of the boots were white flaps which had a split in two.

"I'm sorry Aelita, but this is for the best." Jeremy smirked trying to make her feel better by placing his right hand on her shoulder.

Aelita looked up at him with a sad expression and then replied, "I guess so then."

"Hey now, what are you two love birds up to?" a male voice replied interrupting their conversation.

They both looked up to see Odd, a young boy with blond hair that lay up in the air; his hair had a small purple patch in the front of his head. He smiled at them teasingly. He wore a purple pant that was dark purple on the right leg and light on the other. Also a dark purple long sleeve shirt with a v-neck that stopped a little above his pants, it showed the light purple shirt he had underneath clearly showing his yellow belt. He also wore yellow shoes.

"So, what seems to be the problem Aelita? The water works seem to tell me something." he sneered making her laugh a little.

"It's nothing." Jeremy frowned trying to avoid the subject.

"Jeremy, Odd needs to know, we all need to know." she sighed getting off of the steps.

She walked down the steps and stood next to Odd taping him lightly on the shoulder while wiping away her tears. She let out a deep sigh before she spoke.

"Jeremy created a profile for Sissy, so now she can come to Lyoko with us." she sighed bowing her head.

"You mean like on a mission?" Odd asked folding his arms across his chest as he received a nod from Aelita, "What? What were you thinking Einstein?"

"Look, Ulrich made me do it." Jeremy grimed bowing his head in shame, his blond bangs partially covered his glasses.

Odd sighed turning his attention to two teens that were walking by. It was Yumi and William, two teen that were in different classes from them. Although she was in a higher form than them she was still friends with them and would travel countless times with them to Lyoko.

"Does Yumi know?" he asked waving to her.

"I'm afraid to tell her. I just want Ulrich to do that." Jeremy sighed looked at Yumi as she passed by.

"Yeah, he's the best one to do it for sure. But I know one thing this is not going to be pretty." Odd grinned sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"I know."

Aelita looked at her friends as she remained silent.

'Maybe this isn't such a bad idea,' she thought seriously looking at the two boys in front of her, 'who knows we just may need the help.'

"I'll see you guys later." Aelita replied waving to the two boys.

"Where are you going?" Jeremy asked looking at her strangely.

"Yumi wants to talk to me before class, so I have to meet her now." she waved running away with smiles.

The two boys nodded in agreement to her response. Jeremy took the time to explain to Odd when Aelita was gone, the main reason Ulrich had asked him to make a profile. He told him that Ulrich came to him a few days ago, telling him that he wanted Sissy to be apart of their group. And since they were dating he didn't want to keep any secrets from her, so he told her about Lyoko.

"So, what did he threaten you with?" Odd asked raising his eyebrows mysteriously.

"He said he would tell Aelita my secret."

Odd paused a minute before laughing.

"That shouldn't be too bad, you know. It isn't as if it's a secret that you like Aelita."

"WHAT! Who told you that?" Jeremy yelled clutching his shirt.

"Easy Einstein," Odd smirked raising his hands in defense as Jeremy slowly loosed his collar, "you actually make it quite obvious."

'I do?' he thought looking at him and then sighing in defeat.

"Okay, maybe you're right." he said looking down at the ground.

They paused for a moment before Odd spoke.

"So Jeremy, do you think you're ready for the physics exam in Mrs. Hertz class today?" Odd smirked, placing a hand on his shoulder while trying to brighten up the mood.

"As ready as I can be." he smiled as they both walked to their classroom, "Are you?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm just gonna breeze through it."

Jeremy just smiled away as they walked to class.

"I hope so Odd, I really hope so."

URLRICH'S DORM ROOM

It was late in the afternoon, mostly after two when Ulrich made his way out of his dorm room leaving Odd to sleep on his separate bed. He had a class but had fallen asleep unexpectedly and Ulrich decided not to bother him. Ulrich on the other hand, had a class in a few minutes and was just getting his books to leave for it. He closed the door slowly as he saw a tall raven hair girl walk up in his direction.

"Oh, Ulrich dear." she replied in her squeaky voice, while smiling, "Are we still on for our date tomorrow?"

"Yeah Sissy we're still on." he smiled as she quickly gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

"Okay, well don't be late. I'm really looking forward to it." she walked away smiling vibrantly.

He stood still staring down the hallway where she had just disappeared to. They hadn't been dating very long, mostly a week but for some reason Ulrich was beginning to see Sissy as a different person. Not as the annoying brat she usually was. But as a nice, warm and gentle person almost like Yumi, but that was another issue. He just felt happier around her now and after going out with her for a while he felt like he was finally over Yumi. As if on cue a certain someone cleared its throat behind him causing him to turn around sharply.

"Y-Yumi." he whispered stuttering a little while narrowing his eyes.

She stared at him inquisitively wondering what was going on. After all she had just caught Sissy kissing him and that was nothing she was accustom to seeing. She shoved her hands into her pants and looked at him strangely. She couldn't believe what she saw that she wanted to cry but decided not to do so in front of him. It was weird, seeing Ulrich being so nice to Sissy after hating her so much. But she realized things change and so do people.

Yumi had short black hair that extended to her neck. It was short in the front coming to her chin. She wore a long black sleeve turtle neck shirt that showed a portion of her stomach and navel. A long black jeans pant and gray dark flat boots finished off her look. She gazed at him wondering what to say or do but finally decided she should just get to the point and find out what was really going on.

"So, what's going on with you and Sissy?" she frowned, her voice almost a whisper.

"Nothing really, w-we're just friends." he replied sternly stuffing his left hand in his pocket.

She walked up a little closer towards him while he looked at her seriously. Being a few inches taller than him he had to look up towards her. She tried to read his eyes but it was very hard to do so. Urlich had short brown hair that flared up a bit and dark eyes. He wore a lime green shirt with a dark green jacket over it along with a dark green kaki pants with pockets on the lower ends of it. He sighed as if trying to avoid further questions.

"I don't understand Ulrich." she replied sadly, "A-Are you two dating?"

"Look, I don't think there should be a problem," he replied holding the books in his right hand firmly, "I haven't told you anything about you and William."

She laughed a little startling him while pushing back a few strands of her hair.

"Ha Ulrich, William and I are not-" she started but he immediately interrupted her.

"You don't have to explain anything to me, I already know."

She looked at him shock. What did he know? To her knowledge William and she were just friends. But it seemed that Ulrich thought otherwise. She didn't know what was going on in his head but for some reason he was acting so cold towards her and she didn't know what she did wrong. She remained silent as he stared at her standing still. The silence it the hallway was so thick that even a pin could be heard from a mile away. Yumi forced a smile on her face trying to prevent the tears that were about to fall.

"Just tell me one thing." she replied whispering some more taking him by surprise, "Did you ask Jeremy to create a profile for Sissy?"

"Yeah." he simply shrugged.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to lie to her and I want to spend more time with her." he stated getting a little angry that she was questioning him about it. He gave her a slight wave before speaking, "Listen I have to go to class now. See you around sometime."

He walked away not receiving a response from her. For a minute he turned around quickly and she was still standing there looking at him. He immediately turned back around and continued to walk away.

'Why does she even care she has William? Does she want to ruin my life anymore than she already has?' he thought holding his books tightly to his side.

Yumi stood still as she watched him walk away.

"Ulrich." she whispered as he drifted out of sight.

POOL ROOM

Yumi sat on the ledge of the swimming pool meditating on what had just happened a few hours ago. After her class she immediately left and headed to the pool room. She hadn't seen Jeremy, Odd or Aelita since this morning but she didn't mind at all since she didn't want them to ask her why she was so sad.

She was really confused. How could Ulrich like Sissy now after hating her so much? It was strange and weird and she clearly didn't know what to do. But what made her even angrier was that he had convinced Jeremy to allow Sissy to join them on Lyoko. What was up with that? Even though the girl wanted to be apart of their group there was no reason to include her into their Lyoko trips. Lyoko, the virtual place where she and her friends traveled to was her escape from reality.

'I don't know what's going on anymore.' she thought splashing her feet in the pool, 'I don't even understand what's going on either with Ulrich? It's like he's a different person and I'm on a separate planet from him.'

She sighed as a silent tear slipped down her cheek as she bowed her head. The pool room was filled with students jumping and splashing around in the water but she barely seemed to notice. She was more concentrating on her predicament. Only a few minutes had passed by since she was sitting alone, on the edge sulking when she heard a snicker from some students.

She slowly looked up to see Ulrich and Sissy playing in the pool; right in front of her. Ulrich wore green trunks while Sissy wore a light pink bathing suit. Just what she needed to make her feel even worse than she already felt. She sighed as she got off the ledge and dove into the water below. Just a little swim might help her forget about what Ulrich had said. The cold water breezed itself through her skin making her shiver a little and her black one piece bathing suit, didn't make it any better either. She dove deeper into the water as if not caring about air but just searching for some place to escape to.

'Maybe I'm not meant to be with Ulrich,' she thought seeing them a far off while still underwater, 'I'll just have to accept it, I guess.'

She turned away from them and continued to dive deeper into the deeper part of the pool. She was almost at the bottom when she couldn't hold her breath any longer. She rushed up to the surface, gasping for air. Her short hair stuck to her face as she brushed it back a little. She swam over to the edge on the other side, a few feet from where she was sitting. As soon as she reached the edge, she leaned her hand on the ground and looked at the two teens playing happily. Sissy was ducking Ulrich underwater while he splashed water in her face. They looked so happy and Yumi bit her lip trying to fight the sad feeling that was dawning on her. Turning around she sighed as she struggled to get out of the pool.

"Need some help." a male voice replied breaking her out of her trance.

"Sure." she gazed at him while taking his hand that was stretched out to her, "Thanks William."

She smiled as she got out of the pool and grabbed a white towel from the stack. Wrapping it around her waist she stood still for a while trying not to let William see that she was sad but unfortunately for her he had already seen her sadden expression and her tears.

"They both look so happy. What a cute couple they make." he replied as if teasing her while looking at Ulrich and Sissy playing in the water.

"Yeah."

"Are you alright?" he asked touching her hand.

She looked at him skeptically wondering what he was thinking. She slowly pulled her hand out of his grasp. But before he could ask her what was wrong her cell phone rang.

"Hello."

"Yumi, meet me at the factory immediately. I'm going to finish setting up Sissy's profile now." Jeremy replied hastily while she frowned at his statement, "If you see Ulrich, could you tell him to get Sissy here immediately?"

"Okay, I'll be there. But you'll have to call Ulrich yourself." she frowned as she hung up her cell phone not waiting for a response.

William looked at her and she just smiled.

"I have to go William." she waved as she rushed to the door, "See you later."

AT THE FACTORY

Jeremy sat in front of the interface that shows the layout areas for the virtual world, Lyoko. The five children stood together along with their newly member Sissy. She was so excited about finally being able to join Ulrich's group and more importantly be closer to him. Yumi stood in the far corner of the room sulking with her arms folding. Odd was next to her mumbling something about Sissy while Aelita stood next to Jeremy. Sissy and Ulrich stood a few inches away from each other right behind Aelita and Jeremy.

Jeremy typed furiously at the keys on the keyboard entering the last necessary codes needed to finish building Sissy's profile. This was the first time he had ever done this but was hoping it would work. He did his research as usual gathering all the information needed to do this and everything seemed okay for now.

"So, are you ready Sissy?" Jeremy asked giving her a slight smirk.

"Well, I guess so." she smiled placing one hand on her hip.

"Okay now head to the scanner room and you too Ulrich," he replied typing up on the keyboard while bringing up her user card on the screen, "this is just a test run to see if this thing really works so be on the look out for monsters just to be sure."

"Okay Jeremy. Let's go Sissy." Ulrich replied taking her hand and walking into the elevator.

He refused to look at Yumi as he the elevator closed behind them. It hummed loudly heading down to the last floor. As soon as they were out of sight the others spoke.

"I don't like this one bit Jeremy." Odd replied coming up closer towards him. Jeremy looked at him and nodded.

"I know Odd but this was Ulrich's idea and he assured me that Sissy would keep this to herself no matter how much she may be interrogated." he smirked getting the process ready to start.

He adjusted his headphone raking his blond hair in the process and pulling the microphone closer to his mouth. He eyed Yumi in the corner of the room who was still sulking with one foot on the wall and the other on the floor. Aelita stood next to Odd eyeing Jeremy. At least he was doing something nice for a friend. She turned her attention to Yumi who still had an angry look on her face. It was nice indeed that he was helping out a friend but it was also breaking up another friendship.

'I hope those two can get along once again.' she thought frowning a bit.

"Hopefully she keeps the trips to Lyoko a secret," Aelita smiled placing her hand on the hip, "we wouldn't want her to accidentally tell her father now."

"Yeah." they all replied simultaneously.

"But what about her friends? What will they think when they see here hanging out with us?" Yumi asked still frowning.

There was silence in the air. They all knew that trouble may start for sure but hopefully Ulrich and Sissy would come up with some lame excuse to not cause further suspicion. Hopefully…

"Let's just hope she's fall in a ditch somewhere in Lyoko." Odd smirked laughing loudly breaking the silence.

"I'd pay to see that." Yumi smiled brighten up a bit. Odd sure knew how to make her laugh.

"I'll start the process now." he replied laughing a little, "Sissy and Ulrich get into the scanner now. I'm sending you two to the forest region. Ulrich now is your chance to help Sissy use her powers."

"No problem." he replied from below.

-------------

Ulrich and Sissy paused for a while looking at the three scanners before them. Sissy let out a deep sigh as if scared of what she was going to face. She looked at Ulrich who gave her a warm smile. She returned it.

'Here goes nothing.' she thought.

The two teens each walked into a separate tube like scanner. The door closed immediately behind them as soon as they turned around waiting for the process to begin.

"Scanner Ulrich! Scanner Sissy!" Jeremy yelled as the two teens began to rise in the machine as the scanner scanned their bodies.

"Transfer Ulrich! Transfer Sissy!" heavy wind rushed against their faces pushing their hair high in the air.

"Virtualization!"

Ulrich and Sissy felt a floating sensation around their body as they were being materialized into the virtual world. As soon as their bodies were materialized they fell onto the floor, Ulrich on his feet and Sissy on her bottom.

"Ow!" Sissy yelled rubbing her leg, "Hey I wasn't expecting that kind of landing."

She smirked a little making Ulrich smile.

"Well you're going to have to get used to it." he replied helping her up.

"Did you two make it alright?" Jeremy asked from above.

"Yeah," Ulrich replied looking around at the scenery.

-------------

Jeremy typed away above as a red exclamation mark came up on the screen. He held his mouth open in shock.

"What is it Jeremy?" Odd asked wondering what the beeping noise on the screen meant.

"Oh no," he said as if in shock, "X.A.N.A's attacking."

Well tell me what you think this was my first Code Lyoko fic and I would like to hear your comments. Please no flames. Just a thought. Anyone every wonder why X.A.N.A is spelt like this instead of ZANA? I was surprised when I found out but I guess it's an acronym for something. And I also thought Yumi would be spelt Umi since it's pronounced that way and Ulrich being spelt U-l-r-i-c-h instead of Ulrick. Weird huh? I guess they have silent letters in their names? Well, that's just my thought, I've babbled enough on my first chapter. Ciao and don't forget to review.

PhantasyDreamer