Summer of the Traveling Princess: A Report of Sorts

Of Summer Endings and Story Endings Too

A/n: I'm a terrible human being. I just realized this week that this story was originally published in 2008 so...OOPS. Sorry! But thanks for hanging out for this story. It was really fun and I enjoyed the character development immensely. Tell John (oshnsoa shnedashn kiunepgli) thank you for making sure it eventually got finished. Thank you! R&R (do we still say that? It's been a while..)

Aelita was on Jeremie's arm when Ulrich's car pulled up. She was practically vibrating with excitement, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She nearly burst when Ulrich emerged from the cab, slinging a bag over his shoulder. Breaking into a run, she all but launched himself into the arms of the unexpecting brunette. Ulrich caught her out of sheer necessity and reflex.

"Hey princess."

"Welcome home!" Aelita cheered. Ulrich set her back down onto her feet. "Well, back."

"Same thing," he promised. Jeremie looked a little neglected, with his hands still stuffed in his pockets, so she hurried back to his side as Ulrich made his way to the front of the school. "Hey, Einstein! How was your summer?"

"It was good." He smiled at the girl next to him. Giggles built up in her chest, cheeks turning almost as pink as her hair.

"Can we just tell him?"

"I thought we were going to wait-"

"For everyone to get back," she finished for him. "But I don't think I can wait!"

"At least wait for Yumi. I heard she got back last night." Jeremie sighed.

Ulrich looked interested, but pulled a pair of lime shorts out of the top of his duffle. "Uh, I think I warned you about these," he defended, tossing them to Aelita.

The girl blinked. "Charlie?'

"Charlie," he confirmed. Jeremie looked more than confused, but Aelita got up onto her toes, kissing the blonde on the cheek. "Oh." Ulrich eyed the two of them, pulling them away from each other's attention. "So... that happened." When Aelita opened her mouth to answer, Ulrich held up his hand, breezing past them. "Don't tell me until Yumi's here or she'll kill me."

Jeremie laughed, taking Aelita's hand as they followed behind him. "Did you have a nice summer, Ulrich?"

"It was okay being home," he admitted, barely casting a glance back at the couple. "I miss my family, but then I remember why we picked a school in France."

"Your family is wonderful!" Aelita argued, shaking the shorts in his direction.

Ulrich laughed. "Tiffany and Gavin are gone on their honeymoon so it's a little quieter- but Charlie makes up for it all by herself."

They headed up the stairs towards the dorm, chattering back and forth about Ulrich's family. Aelita couldn't have been happier to have her family back in one place. That was the thought at the forefront of her mind when Ulrich finally dug out his keys and swung open the door to the dorm- and there was Odd, sprawled across the wrong bed, face down in the pillows.

"Uhmm, Odd?"

Odd snored, startled and sat up sluggishly. "Oomf, uhhh..." He blinked heavy eyes at the grip. " 'i 'uys." He yawned, starting to lay his head back down.

"Why are you in my bed?" Ulrich asked, his duffle thumping to the ground next to the wardrobe. Odd made a noise in response. "Odd!"

"Don't," Odd whined. "Jet lag is hard," he drew out the last word, rolling over.

"Get off," Ulrich insisted, pulling the pillow out from under his head. "Have you heard from Yumi? Lita and Jer have news."

Odd sat up, slinking off Ulrich's bed in search of his own. "Wedding?" he asked around a yawn. Jeremie turned red.

"Not quite," he said in a strangled voice. Aelita sighed, putting herself on the edge of Ulrich's bed. The boy just gave her an exasperated look, letting her claim the space that he'd only just kicked Odd out of. Jeremie sighed, taking a seat on the corner of the desk at Ulrich started unpacking.

The group enjoyed a comfortable silence while they waited, and it wasn't very long before Yumi was letting herself into the dorm room, keys clutched in one hand and her phone in the other.

"Hey Yumi!" Aelita greeted. The older girl could only wave, her usually graceful steps heavy.

Odd peaked up at her, barely lifting his face off the pillows. "Jet lag?" he asked. Yumi nodded sleepily, rubbing at her eyes a little. Wordlessly, Odd lifted his the blankets he had burrowed under for her, and without flinching the older girl climbed in.

"Hey!" Ulrich protested. Yumi curled further into the bed.

"Shhh," Odd called across the room. At the same time Yumi whispered, "They just don't understand us." Odd patted her face and girl didn't even open her eyes.

Aelita laughed at the whole exchange, fingers playing absently with a fading blonde streak. "Is this what it'll be like every summer?" she asked. Jeremie shrugged his shoulder, smiling at her.

"I don't see why the summer should be any different from any other day. And you're not really supposed to sleep jet lag off...though I'm sure you found that out this summer yourself." Aelita nodded, looking to their friends with pity.

Ulrich started unpacking loudly, purposefully shoving things into drawers and kicking them closed, or banging harder objects against the doors of the wardrobe.

"Ulrich, shhhh," Yumi begged. She pulled Odd's pillow over her head.

"Aelita and Jeremie have something important that they wanted to tell us all together," Ulrich said as a retort, putting their friends on the spot. Aelita grabbed Jeremie's hand reflexively.

"Uhhh, do you want to?" Jeremie asked. The excited vibrating started again, Ulrich noted before shoving his duffle bag into the bottom the the wardrobe. He took his spot at the top of his bed.

Yumi looked like she might decide to sit up, and Odd peeked over her shoulder to see their friends.

"Jeremie asked me to be his girlfriend," Aelita said. She was clearly beaming, Jeremie grinning at her.

Odd looked confused, bumping Yumi to get her attention. She barely flinched. "They weren't dating already?" he asked.

"Jeremie never asked."

"But they were dating."

"I mean, pretty much."

"So what's the announcement?"

"That he asked."

"They woke us up for this?" Odd scoffed.

Yumi moved the pillow from her face to say a quick, "Congratulations," to the couple, but by the tone of her voice the meaning was very clearly more along the lines of, "About time."

"Yay, geniuses in love. Nap now?" Odd questioned.

"You're not supposed to-" Jeremie started, but Aelita yanked him off the desk and onto the bed next to her by his hand, laughing the whole time.

"Nap now," she reiterated, making herself comfortable. Ulrich squeaked out a protest of the two curling up in his bed and, begrudgingly, grabbed his pillow and moved to the floor.

"We need an air mattress," he argued. He was answered with light snores from Yumi, who after a night of trying to correct her internal clock, had finally seemed to lose out to the jet lag anyways. Sighing, Ulrich rolled onto his back.

"So, when are you going to ask Yumi out?" Aelita asked from his bed. Odd snickered. Jeremie pretended he was already asleep.

"When I feel like it!" was Ulrich's indignant response, but he cast his gaze back to the sleeping girl anyway. "...Like...maybe when she wakes up or something."

"Everybody shut up, and go to sleep," Odd demanded. So, that's how their summer ended. Asleep, tangled up in tiny beds (and on the floor) but together again.

The best part about vacation will always be coming home.