#code lyoko x reader

Aelia Schaeffer:

Post Lyoko and post college, where she was definitely a Computer Science major, Aelita meets you in her classes with Jeremie. The two of you hit it off pretty quickly, being interested in music and computers, and she finds your presence to be refreshing. Of course, she loves the Lyoko gang -- they're family! But, meeting someone new, and away from all that chaos just brings so many new things, new perspectives of life, and she's there for it.

For the sake of writing for Aelita, let's say that she and Jeremie broke up at the end of freshman year in college, because Jeremie's concern for her -- however heart-warming and welcome -- got overbearing and she felt as though she was just an object to be constantly fretted over. So, she called off their relationship and things were just weird between the two of them for a while after that.

It is during this while that Aelita grows closer to you, and finds herself falling head over heels for you within the next six months. But, it takes her until the middle of senior year -- after she's got things sorted out with Jeremie, and then you meeting all her other friends and them giving her approval, and then her meeting all your friends -- that she confesses to you, only to find that you've felt the same way about her all along!

The two of you move in together after college, with you working and her immediately applying for a masters degree in Artificial Intelligence.

Domestic life with Aelita:

Out of the two of you, you're the more domestic person.

Of course, Aelita is an angel, but she has no experience keeping a home.

By the way, I don't think Aelita would have told you about Lyoko -- as much as she's excited for the new life she's got with you, she wants to keep that part to herself. You know about her parents passing away and how much of a help her friends have been, but not a single bit about Lyoko.

Aelita helps with the cleaning, once you show her the ropes, but you're the one who cooks and buys groceries. Our little angel tags along, but it takes her about two extra years before she's even got the basics of cooking down.

You love listening to Aelita's remixes. They're always playing somewhere in your house, regardless of whether people are there or if it's just the two of you. You're her hype buddy -- her music is your ringtone and everything.

While Aelita does her masters, you're the sole breadwinner, and Aelita's royalties from her published music also contribute to finances.

Aelita's great at coming up with budgets. She's also a savvy when it comes to stock markets and investments. You're so in awe.

Aelita loves giving you back hugs when you're doing the dishes! If you're about her height, she would press kisses to your neck. If you're taller, she would nuzzle into your back, and if you're shorter, she would rest her chin on your head.

You eventually trust Aelita more with cooking as time goes on, and you get hearts in your eyes when you watch her prepare simple meals with an apron on.

Besides her own music, the two of you dance to Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift music as well.

With regards to cuddling, AELITA IS A HUGE CUDDLEBUG. She loves cuddling with you and would do it forever if she could.

You feel the same way.

Watching TV? Cuddle! Doing dishes? Cuddle! Standing together in an elevator? Cuddle!

Weirdly enough, Aelita might like being the big spoon more than the little spoon! She just likes hugging/holding on to you in any form.

Aelita has a lot of PTSD. You figure that out early on, and even though you don't know much about Lyoko, or anything, you're a huge comfort to her. You always know the right things to do, and even if you don't, you're willing to learn, and she falls in love with you all over again.

You have friends from school come over, and so does she (and eventually with their partners too)! Both sets of friends love the other person immediately (except Jeremie, for whom it took a while to warm up to you, considering how he used to date Aelita).

Odd is Aelita's cousin (according to the stuff they had to tell at Kadic Academy), so Odd is what you consider to be Aelita's family equivalent.

You introduced Aelita to your parents within a year of living together, and your mother pulled you over and nearly demanded you to propose to her that instant cuz your family was blown away by Aelita!

Your parents might have mailed over the ancestral family ring to you about a week later

But you two are all about just living your best cozy life.

After Aelita's masters, she probably starts work as a Reserach and Development Engineer in AI and she also contributes a lot more to your shared income.

That's when you think about the next stages of your life.

You might have brought out said ancestral family ring and she definitely said yes

Jeremie Belpois:

Same as Aelita's story. Jeremie and Aelita break up in freshman year of college. Both of them are doing computer science.

Jeremie sulks around for a while after the break up, and that's when Odd offers to set him up with someone. The first person was ridiculous, and so was the second and third, and Jeremie nearly gives up hope and resigns to a life without a life partner.

And then, one day, while he sees Aelita hanging out with her new significant other, he sulks and goes to a random cafe and orders a whiskey.

That's when he meets you.

You work part-time in that cafe to have a little extra cash in hand while you study. You're a year younger than him and you study in a different university/college, but something about you gives Jeremie the kind of butterflies that he hadn't felt -- for a while now -- even with Aelita. The more and more he gets to know you, with your sickeningly sweet smile, the more and more he falls, but he wants to see how well the two of you work as friends, first.

You definitely are into him too. Blonde, glasses, and the way he knew everything about everything was a huge turn on for you.

It's only after he graduates and gets a research fellowship in his university that he confesses and asks you out. The two of you start dating, and two months in, you need to find a new place and that's when Mr. Belpois just goes, "Why not move in with me?"

Domestic life with Jeremie:

Moving in two months into a relationship was definitely a first for both of you.

His own friends were very skeptical. Like, they knew that you've known him throughout your whole college life, but you've only just started dating, and it's weird, in Ulrich's thoughts, to move in with your partner of two months, but Jeremie found that he couldn't care less.

Jeremie, after his breakup with Aelita, has had a lot of time to think things over. His perception of certain things have changed, and he's a slightly reinvented version of himself.

Also, equally weirdly, Aelita is the first person to come to Jeremie's defense and say, "It's not weird that he's moving in with someone if he feels that it isn't weird!"

Coming back to you and Jeremie.

In my mind, Jeremie's new partner is someone who isn't from a tech background. I imagine that someone with a literature degree of sorts would also match up with him.

You want to publish your own writing one day.

And Jeremie's very supportive of that!

Coming to your dynamic, Jeremie earns more than you, owing to his affliation to tech, while you're a literature graduate who's getting short stories and news articles out. You also freelance, so on the whole, your income isn't fixed.

There have definitely been some misunderstandings between the two of you because of the money, but you work on it. Plus, Jeremie is very supportive of you and just loves you.

Jeremie's love language is always being able to help you in some way. You're searching for your scarf? He knows where it is. Your spacebar key is faulty? He can fix that for you. You want someone to offer feedback on your work? Jeremie will do it.

As for you, you're very physically affectionate. Hugs, cheek kisses, neck kisses, throwing Jeremie's glasses away while you climb on his lap for a makeout session. It takes him a while to get used to it, but he's not complaining.

Odd can't believe that Jeremie's intimate life is far more developed than his own.

He's told you about Aelita, of course, so you're happy to let him work that situation out on his own. You're sweet to Aelita, her partner, and the rest of his friends and he loves it!

The first time they hosted a get-together after moving in, he saw how sweet and affectionate you were with his friends and decided right then and there that you were the one.

You love cooking! You're an amazing cook, and that won over not only Jeremie, but also all of his friends, and their partners!

So you guys host dinner once a month for your friends.

Also, I don't think any of the Lyoko warriors' partners are ever told about Lyoko. That's just an adventure for themselves.

Jeremie's parents have met you and they love you! His dad, especially. And Patrick, too. Same goes for your parents and siblings.

Also, the two of you have an aquarium of fishes together. I feel like Jeremie's allergic to cats, and you're allergic to dogs (you only found this out after meeting Kiwi; you would have never known otherwise). So you bought an aquarium and learnt all about fish!

The two of you are very open about money, work and where you see yourselves in the future. This openness came after your first few fights about the money earning situation, and has led you to be more open with each other since.

You made it very clear that you'd only be ready to marry later on in life, after you've published your first book.

And that's exactly when he proposes.

You say yes, of course.

Your wedding happens a year after Aelita's wedding.

Odd Della Robbia:

Now, Odd!

Odd strikes us all as a player. He's not that bad boy player, but the cute, fun person everyone wants to date at some point. So, he's got his fair shares of partners throughout school life as well as college life.

You come into his life when Kiwi dies, actually (I imagine that this happened a year after Jeremie's partner met Kiwi). Your dogs, Otto and Goober had also died within the same week that Kiwi passed away, and both of you were looking at good spots to hold a funeral for your dogs.

The two of you bond over your dogs, how you both snuck your dogs into your schools, and how your dogs were very important to you, and you keep in touch even after the funerals.

He takes you as his plus-one to Aelita's wedding, and asks you out the same day. That's when you start going out. You have a standard relationship, and Odd decided after the second date that you're the one.

It takes you a while to, though, because you know about Odd's dating history, and also, in my head, Odd's partner might be a year or two older than him, so you're very level-headed and guarded.

So, when he asked you if you were cool with moving in about two years after you start dating, you were skeptical. He was okay with it, respecting your space, but he find sout about your apprehension regarding his past relationships and why you're so guarded, and he promises you that it's not like that with you, and that you're different.

Domestic life with Odd:

Odd actually moves in with you.

Your place is much bigger, and he slowly adds elements of him to that space, and the two of you make it your own.

Having grown up in a joint family, Odd is pretty good at keeping his house clean. He's good at chopping vegetables and doing the laundry when it needs to get done, and you're fairly surprised.

I imagine that Odd majored in theatre in college, and has his own stand-up shows. You, on the other hand, are probably a doctor, or lawyer, or a private business consultant of sorts. I think that would suit Odd well, but sometimes, you might have fights because of your individual career struggles.

But you love comedy, and you love Odd's brand of humor. It's one of the things you adore about him. Regardless of your schedule, you help him write bits, and always attend his shows.

Odd is so grateful.

Jeremie is so shook that Odd managed to find someone level-headed. Also, out of all of Odd's friends, you're the closest with Jeremie, which was very surprising because Ulrich and Odd are top-tier besties.

You spruce up Odd's life. Like, his old apartment was messy and cheap, but your place -- now his place as well -- is full of plants, full of life!

Odd, much like Aelita, likes to give you back hugs when you're doing the dishes.

The two of you get a dog about a year after you officially move in together, and you name him Scooter (I couldn't think of any other names).

With both of you having very different careers, you guys dedicate one weeked every month for netflix and chill, and another to date night.

I think the two of you just fall asleep cuddling during netflix night, tho. It's cute.

You've met all of Odd's sisters, and his parents, and he's met yours. His family loved you at once, but your family is skeptical, even after the two of you get married (which, I think, happens a little later down the line).

Odd might feel slightly insecure because of this, but you love him, and you assure him that though you love your parents, you won't let them give him a bad time because of his career choices. You love him for him!

Ulrich Stern

By now, dear reader, you've probably realized that I made specific scenarios for each Lyoko warrior. I hope you're liking this so far.

We all know Ulrich and Yumi's dynamic. But, for the sake of writing for Ulrich and Yumi seperately, let's say that Ulrich and Yumi decided to stay friends. Their relationship dissolving seemed like an inevitable thing for them, contrast to how things between Jeremie and Aelita went slightly awry when they broke up.

I think Ulrich just took some time to figure out what sort of person he was during his years after Kadic.

His father then sets him up in an arranged marriage.

Naturally, he's pissed, but he's a mature man. He doesn't like the idea of an arranged marriage. But he goes to meet the person because his father and your father arranged a meeting, and Ulrich's mother convinced him to at least meet you before rejecting you, if he was really so averse to being set up.

He goes to meet you. And he is absolutely floored.

You are the most gorgeous person he has ever met, and you have a very corny sense of humor in a way that's adorable! The two of you have so much fun and he saves your number, hoping to meet in the future.

You're actually the one who proposes moving in together before marriage, and he's fine with it. One part of him is scared, because he could see that things were moving too fast, but in comparison with his relationship with Yumi, he thought things were considerably better with you.

Domestic life with Ulrich:

For you and Ulrich, there's a timeline of events. The two of you move together two months before you were set to get married (which is, roughly speaking, after three years of dating/engagement).

You're very open to communicating, and your love language is basically every form of affection. For Ulrich, this is different and new, because his parents have never really openly communicated like this, but he's learning and he loves it.

You help him become more open!

Much like Odd's partner, you also love keeping plants and taking care of plants. The two of you (you and Odd's partner) talk about plants for hours when you first meet while Ulrich and Odd are just staring like 'O.O'.

I imagine that you would be a nurse/paramedic, while Ulrich's an electrical engineer (flying by the seat of my pants here, bear with me, but you can imagine yourself to be in any occupation you want. this is just what makes sense in my head). So your working hours are very demanding, and you function on coffee.

You always fall asleep when you and Ulrich are cuddling. He loves it! He carries you to bed if it's late, or if it's an afternoon, he'd take pictures of your face with doodles.

Both of you cannot cook to save your lives, so for about six months after you moved in (and four months after marriage), you survive on takeout or Yumi's cooking.

But then you learn to cook together and its still a work in progress.

Speaking of, Ulrich thought that things might be awkward between you and Yumi and was downright nervous about introducing the two of you, but then, after ten minutes of knowing you, Yumi is the embodiment of "if you break their heart, i'll kick your dick, ulrich."

Yes, you're basically corny sunshine.

Ulrich, I imagine, is the first person to end up as a Dad in the group.

Also, his relationship with his parents has improved after your marriage! You encourage him to be more straightforward and honest with them about his struggles during school and you're all a big happy family!

Ulrich teaches you penchaksilat.

You teach him how to take care of plants. Y'all have a garden.

The two of you are very cute.

William Dunbar

Now, remember where I said that all of the Lyoko warriors never told their future partners about Lyoko? William's partner is kind of an exception to this rule.

The truth is, you were also a student at Kadic Academy. You were in William's class, too.

Remember how sometimes people don't forget X.A.N.A. attacks even after a Return to the Past? That's how William actually got even more suspicious about Lyoko, remember?And Laura too! You, my dear, are also one of those people who don't necessarily forget X.A.N.A. events after a Return to the Past.

You just thought it was a case of deja vu.

William in my head will always be a secret agent. Or someone who likes extreme stuff. Let's just say he's a police officer/FBI/top secret agent and he was actually assigned to a case involving you receiving death threats. You're a successful author, by the way. Your stories may or may not revolve around your deja vu.

William read your books while he was on your case. He also got to know you and realized that while you were basically perfection with legs, you also went to Kadic Academy and had been his classmate for a long time, and it was him who never really noticed you.

He also realized about your deja vu problem and knew that you, like him, were kind of immune to Return to the Past.

After the case was closed, he asked you out on a date, though. You always did have a crush on him from school, so you thought, why not?

And the rest is history.

Domestic life with William:

So, you two don't really in together until marriage.

William's away for work and you keep a private life as an author, so most of your relationship is long-distance.

But when you stay with him, and he stays with you, it's basically flufftown.

William enjoys cuddles. He also enjoys reading your novels and your drafts and even gives suggestions (based on X.A.N.A. fights, shhhh).

You think he's very creative. He doesn't tell you about X.A.N.A. though. He'd thought of it several times, but he never tells you.

He sometimes does your chores for you, and you appreciate it, because you don't like doing chores.

William does those chores shirtless and often encourages you to join. You're only too enthusiastic.

You never really get a lot of cleaning done.

The two of you love planning two-day and/or week-long getaways to different places.

You often take trips with William's parents too. They adore you.

Because of your unpredictable work schedules, you two don't go to many of the Lyoko warrior gatherings. Sometimes, you do. Sometimes, he does, and the event of the two of you checking in on the gang together is always a blue-moon day.

All of them love your books.

Jeremie is a little wary of the things you seem to recall from X.A.N.A. days, so he's very cordial with you. His partner loves your books and has merchandise signed by you.

William proposes with a very expensive ring. The two of you have a very lavish wedding and that's when you move in together.

William's a very easy person to live with. The two of you are very touchy-feely and emotionally compatible, so there's no big problems between you two.

Yumi Ishiyama

You and Yumi met through a dating app.

She was looking for casual relationships then, but very quickly found herself falling head over heels for you.

Yumi's relationship is the one that moves very fast. She meets you, you get together, and you're moving in together after three months.

She has never felt this with anyone else. You're a wild soul, always craving adventure, craving fun, and you have such positive energy around you that just pulls her in. With you, she feels understood. She craves your energy, your enthusiasm, and your curiosity.

Domestic life with Yumi:

Yumi was brought up in a traditional household and I like to think that you're the opposite of that. You might be non-traditional, but you respect her beliefs, and love to hear about her childhood and culture.

You're a very extroverted person. You love trying new things -- food, clothes, bars, talents -- and you believe that life is for exploring.

Both you and Yumi are workaholics. You believe that, in order to have the lifestyle you want to, you must also work hard. Yumi is of the same belief, and the two of you appreciate each others' work ethic. You and Yumi keep your finances seperate, but also do talk about your money.

Yumi is a mean cook. You worship her cooking and always compliment her on things she makes.

Yumi's so glad she sat through her mom's cooking anecdotes.

You and Yumi have very similar music tastes, and bond over that the most!

Yumi loves that you have a strong set of morals, and a defined way of living, but also that you're open to other perspectives.

Her parents are very skeptical of you because you're so non-traditional, but once they see how honest and hardworking you are, they eventually warm up to you.

You destroy that when they find out that you're not willing to get married.

In reality, you've had this conversation with Yumi before. You're not exactly open to marriage, because of your childhood and the trauma you faced, being a child of divorce. You're not very close to your family, either.

Yumi figured that out even before you moved in together, though, but she was cool with it. Still is cool with it.

But as time goes on, you're open to marriage. With Yumi.

You figure out that if Yumi was accepting of your wishes, you could atleast be open to trying to work through whatever issues you have to acknowledge hers.

General and All-characters-included posts:

Do the lyoko warrior swear or cuss?

Domestic life with the Lyoko Warriors

Headcanons - Code Lyoko

Yumi and Odd - Chaotic Besties

Aelita and William - Quiet Besties

Ulrich and Jeremie - Unlikely Besties

Bonus - Sissi and Laura - the Same kind of Weird Besties

Incorrect Code Lyoko (text memes):

Odd and Jim

Aelita Scheffer:

Aelita and William - Quiet Besties

When you fall asleep in their room (2)

Jeremie Belpois:

When you fall asleep in their room.

Ulrich and Jeremie - Unlikely Besties

Odd Della Robbia:

Yumi and Odd - Chaotic Besties

When you fall asleep in their room.

Ulrich Stern:

Ulrich Stern x fem! autistic reader (TW: panic attacks)

When you fall asleep in their room.

Ulrich and Jeremie - Unlikely Besties

William Dunbar

Aelita and William - Quiet Besties

When you fall asleep in their room.

Yumi Ishiyama:

Yumi Ishiyama x fem! autistic reader

Yumi and Odd - Chaotic Besties

When you fall asleep in their room (2)

Rewatching thoughts:

~

This is set after "Final Round", after William is captured by X.A.N.A.

I've also made a reference to the episode titled "Attack of the Zombies" but it's very mild.

Reader and Ulrich are friends, no confessions as of yet. I hope you enjoy this, and I hope to get better at writing these things.

TW: Anxiety, panic attacks.

~

"So William's just... gone?" Yumi asked, eyes widened in disbelief.

"... Yes." Jeremy replied, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Lyoko is completely gone, and I don't see him on my monitors."

"Jeremy and I are going to reconstruct Lyoko," Aelita spoke up, looking at the rest of the group as Jeremy turned away and back to the monitor. "William might show up after a while."

Silence followed.

"What... what if he doesn't?" (Y/N) asked slowly.

"Aww, relax, (Y/N)!" Odd exclaimed, setting his hands behind his head. "He will. He'll be fine. X.A.N.A. doesn't like throwing away new toys."

"Odd's reasoning is somewhat logical, for once." Jeremy's voice agreed. "I'll look for him."

"What about William's absence? Jim's going to kill us." Ulrich pointed out, hands folded.

"A simple morphed call as William's father should do the trick."

"I knew something like this would happen." Yumi grumbled, clenching her shaking fists. "He was too careless, and now he's just stuck..." she swallowed and exhaled, and her voice came out shaky when she spoke after, "We shouldn't have asked him to join."

"Agreed." Ulrich sided with her.

"Th-that's not important right now!" (Y/N) piped up hotly, making the others -- even Jeremy -- turn to look at her. A breath. Though they were all friends, it still made her nervous to have so many people looking at her, especially Ulrich, whose eyes were the ones staring directly into hers. "We have to find him and set this right. He's a person for god's sake and he's missing!"

"(Y/N), you're right." Aelita was the first person to approach her, gently squeezing her hand. "I promise you we'll find him. Okay?"

~

Jeremy and Aelita stayed back at the Factory while the others climbed down the sewers.

Usually, Odd Aelita, Jeremy and Ulrich, being boarding students, would part from Yumi and (Y/N), the day students, to get to Kadic's boiler room. The girls would then travel to the neighborhoods and get home. Tonight, just the walk through the sewers was agonizingly slow.

Too silent. Too silent.

It's because of you, a voice in (Y/N)'s head whispered. It's because of you. Apologize.

(Y/N) clenched and unclenched her fist. It wasn't a noticeable action, but it did help her calm herself a little bit.

"I'm sorry for raising my voice back there." (Y/N) said after about ten clenches. "I'm just worried."

"That's alright, (Y/N)." Odd smiled. "We understand. Besides, Ulrich and I might have been insensitive too."

"Yeah, sorry about that, (Y/N)." Ulrich supplied.

Yumi, who was the one walking ahead of all of them, suddenly came to a stop.

"I should send William's Dad's contact number." she said, her voice thick. "You guys go on ahead."

She went to lean against the walls of the sewer tunnels.

"I have his number." (Y/N) piped up, opening her phone's contact list. "I can send it to-"

"Just go, please." Yumi said forcefully. "Please."

Gahh, what was wrong with her today?

An unsettling pit of acid bubbled in (Y/N)'s stomach. It's you. You're the problem.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." (Y/N) said. "I-"

A hand squeezed her shoulder, and she squeaked in surprise, seeing Ulrich behind her.

"Let's go, (Y/N), I'll walk you."

"But I didn-"

Yumi sank to the ground, sliding down the wall till she could put her head on her knees and cry. It was no secret that she liked William, even after Ulrich had been particularly sour about it, so a part of (Y/N) could understand why she was so upset.

Before she could say anything, Ulrich was guiding her towards the entrance that led to the city. (Y/N) turned her head around, her (H/C) hair nearly whipping Ulrich, to glimpse Odd hugging Yumi to comfort her before they took another turn.

"I didn-didn't mean to start anything off." (Y/N) said when Ulrich let go of her slightly. "I just..."

"I know." Ulrich said gently. "It's just that Yumi doesn't exactly like expressing her feelings in front of people she's not very close to."

Yumi, Y/N and William were in the same class. Y/N and William had joined Kadic together from the same previous school, and William had taken to Yumi immediately.

(Y/N) had tried too, but..

"I'm not very good at understanding social cues, I'm sorry." Same reason why she hadn't been able to make any other friends except William in her previous school too.

And now, she had lost that friend.

"Yumi didn't like me knowing about the scanners and Lyoko too... did she?"

"What?" Ulrich gaped. "No, no. It's not about-- okay, well, yes." he changed his answer after (Y/N) gave him a look. "But you can understand why... Lyoko is a dangerous thing and the more people knowing, the more dangerous it is."

They walked together in silence.

(Y/N) knew how she had heard Ulrich, but she couldn't help the queasiness in her stomach, couldn't help but listen to the voice in her head telling her it's all your fault, you should have tried better, you should be more normal and understand Yumi, you should have gone in and scanned yourself and let it be you instead of William.

She clenched and unclenched her fists again.

When (Y/N) had been younger, the panic attacks came without warning, where even the slightest misstep caused her to spiral down into what she could only describe as absolute, agonizing hell. She wouldn't be able to breathe, wouldn't be able to think straight, let alone stand. She would feel queasy and vomit.

Going to school when she was younger had also been a herculean task. Loud noises, and people, so many people she had to look at and talk to -- and so many people who made fun of the way she spoke, the way she was slower than others, and how she was weird and different -- and no matter how much she tried, she would end up getting hated anyway.

William was the only person who understood -- the only real friend she'd had.

(Y/N) stopped walking. It was all too much.

"(Y/N)?" Ulrich whispered, meeting her eyes. The night made his eyes look black.

Black void. Black despair. William. It was all too much.

"I have to go.." was all she could manage before she got to an open corridor where sewer water was collecting. She knelt down and hurled the contents of her stomach into the stream, hurled and hurled and cried and cried, panting, out of breath.

"(Y/N)-- Oh shit, what happened?"

"I'm-- I'm sorry." (Y/N) sobbed.

"Are you alright?" he asked, sitting down beside her. She avoided his eyes. "Hey, hey, look at me."

She sobbed some more at her own inability to be able to look at a person and hold their gaze. Eye contact scared her, and it was hard when it was like this, when she felt like she couldn't quite do anything worthwhile.

"(Y/N), please, please don't cry.." Ulrich sounded helpless. She was looking at his crossed legs, wiping her eyes. "Is there something I can do?"

No, nobody could do anything. William was in the digital sea, Yumi hated her, she couldn't even look at people -- there was nothing that could be done.

Hands touched her face. Rough, calloused hands. Ulrich's -- penchaksilat's doing, no doubt -- and they were familiar. She had definitely felt them before. Hands that slowly tilted her face upward. She closed her eyes.

"D-don't do that." she told him and his hands dropped at once. Everything put her on edge when she couldn't breathe. But, Ulrich.... Ulrich was trying to help. "I'm having a p-panic attack. Tha-that doesn't help."

"What does help, then? I want to help."

What helps?

She wiped her eyes, lowering her head till it about touched her own cross-legged feet. Covering her mouth with her hands, she breathed in and out. The sewers were suffocating, but she needed this. The exhales came out as sobs, and no matter what she tried, they didn't stop coming out as sobs.

"G-go." (Y/N) choked out to Ulrich, still not looking at him. "It's l-late. Go."

"I won't leave you like this."

She had only known Ulrich a short time -- shorter compared to William -- but she knew that he was stubborn. And kind.

Come on, get up, (Y/N).

Slowly, (Y/N) lifted her head up and opened her eyes. She saw Ulrich's face. He sighed, looking very clearly relieved now that she was looking at him.

"Trying to calm down is difficult. I've always taken a long time after a panic attack. It's hard." she explained, trying to keep her voice as leveled as she could, but a sob and a stream of tears escaped her after the 'hard'. "Sorry that you had to see me like this."

Ulrich looked sympathetic. Kind.

"You don't have to apologize for anything, (Y/N)." he said. He looked contemplatively at her for a moment, maybe two. Then he sighed. "I can't imagine how hard this entire situation has to be for you. You're new to the whole Lyoko thing and William's a close friend of yours...."

William had noticed a long time ago that Yumi and her friends were always disappearing, always off into a world that seemed different than the ones they lived in. He told her of dreams he had, of defusing bombs to save the whole Lyoko gang, how it all felt too real to be a figment of his imagination.

(Y/N) hadn't understood then, but with dreams of zombie students and a heartfelt moment between her and Ulrich out in the snow, she had started to realize that his theories had some substance to it.

He had been right -- the Lyoko warriors were in a world of their own. And by proving his resourcefulness, he had been inducted as one of them, and -- with one thing leading to another -- so had she.

"Best friend," she corrected. How many times had he stood up for her since they had been kids? "You said that the Return to the Past won't bring him back?"

He shook his head. "No, it doesn't work that way." Then, he added, "Odd was right back there, though. William was great with that sword, and X.A.N.A will not let a good fighter go."

"But he will be under this X.A.N.A's control?"

"Not for long, you can bet on that." He set his hands on his knees. "Jeremy's good at what he does, and Aelita's his better half. We'll keep trying to bring him back."

(Y/N)'s mind thought of Mr. and Mrs. Dunbar. They were back home, going on about their night, not knowing that their son was trapped in a virtual world. An involuntary sob choked her, and as she recovered, coughing, she prayed that this truly wouldn't be for long.

"How long have all of you fought X.A.N.A?"

"Nearly two years." He scratched the back of his head with one hand, and she met his eyes again. Brown, not black, she noted to herself. "It feels like forever."

"You're... really brave." (Y/N) said quietly. Ulrich's eyes widened and she averted her gaze to the tunnels on the side. "I've only known about this for two weeks, and here you are, fighting this monster for two years with nobody knowing."

"It becomes a part of your day. I don't see heroism in it." he shrugged.

"I think it shows that... all of you really care about this world." she countered. "And everyone in it."

"I don't know what to say." Ulrich admitted. "That's nice of you."

"Thank you."

Silence followed again, but this silence was warm. Surrounded by sewage made things less ambient, but it was fine nonetheless.

"How long have you know William?"

"Four years. We... went to the same school together. He came here after his expulsion, and so did I." It was only logical.

"He's a boarder, though?"

"His parents work at our hometown since that's where their business runs. My parents shifted here so that I could travel to Kadic easily."

A thought occured to her.

"Oh no, it's too late." she whined. "I've got to go home."

She got up and dusted her clothes with her hands. Ulrich stood up too. "I'll come with you."

"No, that's alright-"

"Just until the gate. Then, I'll go back."

(Y/N) smiled, albeit a little unsure. "Are you sure?"

"Of course."

~

They walked till they got to the cityside entrance of the sewer base.

"Thank you, Ulrich." (Y/N) told him sincerely.

"Not a problem, (Y/N)." he replied. "Get home safe." A pause. "I know this wasn't really the greatest introduction to Lyoko, or to our lives, but this won't be for long." He met her eyes fiercely, with determination. "I know I haven't been the best to William, but I'll do everything I can to find him. We all will."

"I believe you." (Y/N) assured him. She looked at his hands. Calloused hands, she would always remember them for the kindness they showed her. A flicker of a dream appeared in front of her -- of him holding her hand as they ran from zombified students. It hadn't been a dream. She gently touched his hands and smiled, "Good night."

She let go, and he waved, and she walked out into the night, a smile lingering on her lips.

Ulrich watched (Y/N) go -- her (H/C) hair dancing slightly in the night wind, and watched her till she turned to the next street, where her house was.

His phone rang, and he picked the call, going back into the sewers.

"Where are you?" rang Odd's voice. "I'm back inside our room. Jim's on rounds!"

"Coming. It took a while to drop (Y/N)." He got back to the sewer tunnels. "How's Yumi?"

"She's okay. Better. Really missing that Cassanova. I still think that if (Y/N) and William hadn't shown up, you and Yumi would've fallen in love with each other instead of them."

"Odd." Ulrich hissed warningly.

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing! It's cute. Love is something you can't control."

"I'm hanging up on you." Ulrich stated before doing just so.

(Y/N) was different than most people, in that she was kinder than most people were, more empathetic. He still remembered how she had believed him when he told her that they knew how to help everyone else from the zombie attacks, and how she had accompanied him to the factory without hesitation. A Return to thhe Past had erased her memories of everything they talked about that day -- about her autism, about his vertigo, about how long they had been figting X.A.N.A. for. It was that kindness that made him fight the others to tell her about Lyoko in the first place.

He wanted that kindness -- needed it.

I believe you, she had said when he told her about X.A.N.A the first time.

I believe you, she had said when he assured her they would bring William back.

Now, all he had to do was keep his end up, and -- one day -- believe in himself enough to tell her how he felt.

~

And that's all I've got for now!

Maybe later down the line, I'll write something to elaborate on the "Attack of the Zombies" episode moments.