Disclaimer: I don't own Code Lyoko, its Characters, a fancy car, a PS3, or anything else. Oh well, c'est la vie. (That's life.)

(Okay. Here it is. The moment we've all been waiting for. I revised the past chapters again, and it has been almost four years since chapter one has been typed, and since then it has undergone so many changes it is not even funny. It began as a simple romance fic, and changed into a drama of hatred and passion. And now I'm back to finish it all. To the fans that have stuck with me from the beginning, thanks for your support, and thanks for the reviews, everyone. Now, the moment we've all been hoping would come soon, four years in the making. The final chapter of the Mistletoe series, I proudly present…)

--Mistletoe: Chapter 7—

Ulrich snapped his phone shut. He stared at his knuckles, bloody and splintered. He had lost his friends, his girl, and he had nothing left. His life had gone downhill. It was hopeless.

He got up and went to the bathroom of his rented room. He began to clean his hands and pull the fragments of splinters from his hands when he heard a digital tone from the bedroom. He heard it again, twice in succession. It was his phone. His eyes widened and he dashed over to it and grabbed it off the bed.

It was William. Yumi must have given him his cell number. He flipped the phone open and at the same time yanked open his room's window.

"You… you bastard!" Ulrich said, "Do you know what you've done?"

"Ulr—" a voice began to say on the other end.

"Don't even talk! I'm not going to listen to a word you say! Son of a bitch!!" At this last exclamation he hurled his cell phone out the window, where it crashed satisfyingly to the street below.

He was breathing heavily and he drudged back to his sink, still running water, and finished washing his hands. There was a first aid kit under the sink, which he used to his advantage. After he was showered he decided to finally try and get some rest. He rolled onto the bed and opened the drawer to find a place to put his watch and wallet and the like.

In the drawer was a Bible. He stared at it and tears welled into his eyes. He clasped his hands together and began to pray, "God, please help me now when I am in my time of need. I… I can't do this alone. I can't do this. I can't. I can't…" he began to moan to himself and he eventually fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.

He woke up with a slightly cleared mind. He was going to have to apologize to Yumi, to at least see her one more time. He waited until classtime and went to his room to collect his personal items. He grabbed Odd's duffel bag just to have something to carry it all in and shoved all of his things into it without a second glance.

He took one last look, turned out the lights, and shut the door. He slowly trudged back to the hotel, where he discovered he didn't have enough to pay for a second night. He went back out onto the cold, wintry street and walked along the sidewalk. It was about time for school to be letting out, and he saw some familiar faces walking past on the street.

He rounded the corner and found himself on Yumi's street. He saw her unlock the door and close it, and he sat there across the street for hours. He stared at her house, heard vague talking through the windows and music from Yumi's room. It soon came evening and the sun began to set. The real cold of winter came into Ulrich's body and chilled him to the bone.

Eventually, Yumi's parents stepped out of the doorway and into their car, where they backed out and drove off to who-knows-where. Ulrich was about to approach the doorstep to talk to Yumi, presumably home alone, when a dark silhouette began to approach the house on the other side of the street.

Ulrich crouched down with interest and covered himself with the black duffel bag for more cover. He did not want to be seen. As the figure stepped into the porch light, he realized it as William. His fists clenched at seeing him, and he swore lightly at the pain in his hands.

William knocked on the door and Yumi opened the door, apparently expecting him. They stepped inside and a light clicked on in the living room. Ulrich stared in and watched as William fiddled with something in his pocket while Yumi was off in the kitchen. She returned with a bowl of popcorn and they sat down with the lights off and began to watch a movie.

Their faces were lit up by the screen, and gradually William began to lean into Yumi. She seemed slightly uncomfortable, as though she had her mind on other things, but she seemed to go along with it and eventually they were making out on the sofa. William reached his arm out from behind her and began to slowly bring it up her stomach. Yumi slapped it away, but he was relentless and tried again, this time with more force, and she threw him off.

"Get off, Will!" He heard he yell.

"You whore!" he screamed back as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife.

Yumi shrieked with terror, kicked him in the stomach, and raced up the stairs.

"Whoah, shit!" Ulrich said with surprise. "Shit, shit, shit!!" He dashed across the street and began climbing up the tree by Yumi's window, trying to ignore the cries of "Open this damn door!" from inside the house.

He reached the top to see the door locked with a chair in front of it and Yumi hiding behind her bed. Ulrich could only watch from his tree perch as the door began to crack from William's kicking and, finally, the door splintered open and Yumi screamed again.

As William charged in and Yumi sprang up in a defensive stance, everything seemed to slow down. The weight of the duffel bag was weighing down on Ulrich's arm and his thoughts were buzzing like a swarm of bees in his head…

"…Oh, Ulrich, dear!……you spent $100 on a stuffed bea--… …so, this is the plan… …she'll be in her bath any minute!… …I'm ashamed of you!… …I had feelings for you… …this is my new boyfriend… boyfriend… boyfriend…"

The last word echoed in his head and it was all silent. He looked down at the duffel bag. It had a tag, "Property of Odd Delorobia". He unzipped it. It seemed so heavy all of a sudden. One last memory entered his head…

"…What do you think will happen… …I don't want to find out…"

As William was holding Yumi down on the ground, forcing her shirt off, a loud cry rang through the sky.

"Hey, motherfucker!!" Ulrich screamed from his perch.

William looked up in surprise as a paint can shattered through the window and caught him in the shoulder. Ulrich jumped in through the broken window and hurled the Chicken Launcher at him as he was recovering, bringing an icy chill with him.

"You aren't ready for me!" William said. "Stop getting in my way!" He lunged at Ulrich with the knife.

Ulrich quickly ducked and grabbed William's arm, twisting it back and forcing the weapon out. Ulrich grabbed it and tried to use it but was met by a punch from William, and, feeling the knife slip from his grip, he tossed it through the window.

"No!" William cried out, running for the window.

Ulrich took the opportunity and kicked him forward, where he hit the wall and his right arm got impaled in several places by remaining pieces of glass. He grabbed a larger chunk with his good arm, ignoring the pain, and lunged for Ulrich.

He tackled him to the floor, and tried to stab him through the chest. Ulrich grabbed his arms just in time and saved himself. Now they were deadlocked. William was trying to stab him, and Ulrich was on the bottom and all he could do was push up.

"Stop it!" Ulrich cried in desperation. "You don't know what you're doing!"

"I know what you've done to me! Tormented me all my time at the school, getting the affection of the girl I loved! You had your chance, and now it's my turn!"

"This isn't love, William! You just pulled a knife on her and now you're going to turn an attempted rape into a goddamn murder!" He brought his knee up and put the shards of glass further into William's arm.

William screamed at the pain but stayed on him. "You know Ulrich, you're smarter than I thought, that's exactly what it's going to be."

He leaned back to come down on him with full force, and a high-pitched cry came from above them. A metallic clang was heard and William fell sideways, revealing Yumi standing above him with a can of green paint in her hands. William was unconscious and wouldn't be back for a while.

Ulrich stared at her for a long moment and finally began, "Yumi, I—"

"I know," she answered. She leaned down and kissed him briefly.

Ulrich smiled up at her. "Merry Christmas," he said… "Merry Christmas…"

---End---

(Well, now, there we go! Bet we all weren't expecting that ending, but I put some effort into it and I hope you all enjoyed the story! Review your hearts out or email me at I can talk with you on AIM if you want, and please, please, PLEASE review your hearts out!! Love you guys, MoonScar --out.)