Nineteen year old Ulrich walked around the grounds of his old Jr. High School. It was painful for him, but he knew that if he ever wanted to move on with his life he would have remember. Of course, he didn't want to. After all, who would want to remember a past like his?

As soon as he stepped inside the grounds, memories washed over him, flooding his mind. He could see it clear as day. Yumi, Odd, Jeremie, and himself sitting under a tree, talking about how the would materialize Aelita some day. They were all so happy. So care-free.

He missed them. Who wouldn't? They were his only friends through Jr. High and High School. They talked about graduating together, getting jobs, and just the general stuff fourteen year olds talked about. But he had graduated alone. Alone.

Odd was going to go on and be a professional skateboarder. He wanted to do all the "extreme" things. Like rock climbing, bungee jumping, and sky diving. And then he would joke that they could be visiting him in the hospital after he broke his leg or something. Ulrich never took him seriously. He never thought he would get a phone call from the hospital.

Flashback

Ulrich was studying for finals in his apartment when his cell phone went off, vibrating on the desk. He picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Ulrich?" a voice asked.

"Umm, yeah. Who is this?" he asked.

"I'm the secretary at St. Josephs hospital and we have, according to him, one of your friends here," she said. Ulrich dropped his pen and sat up abruptly, knocking his chair down.

"Who is it? What happened?" he demanded.

"His name is Odd, sir. He wanted someone to call you and let you know of his condition."

"What happened to him?" Ulrich was afraid now.

"There are too many details to go into now. He wanted you to call a-" there was the sound of shuffling papers, "Ms. Yumi and Mr. Jeremie. He then wanted you three to come over as soon as possible." By now, Ulrich was pale and visibly shaking.

"A-alright. We'll be there soon," he managed to get out. He hung up and dialed Yumi's number.

-----

A half hour later, the three friends were walking in the big glass doors of the hospital Odd was at. Yumi was on the brink of tears, Jeremie was wringing his hands, and Ulrich had broken out into a cold sweat. They strode up to the front desk.

"We're here to see Odd," he said firmly but softly. The secretary looked at some papers and then consulted her computer. She typed in a few things, and something appeared on the screen.

"Room 214 on the third floor," she said. Without another word, they walked over, boarded the elevator and Jeremie hit the button that would send them to the third floor.

When they got to his room, Ulrich quietly opened the door. The walked into the room and saw Odd lying in the bed. Upon seeing him, Yumi lost it. She broke down into tears and cried her heart out onto Ulrich's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her waist and patted her back.

A tear slipped down Jeremie's cheek, then another, and another. Figuring that it was useless to try and contain his own tears, Ulrich began to cry openly for the first time in years. Through blurred vision, he saw the chart on the end of Odd's bed.

Name: Odd

Age: 16

Condition: Critical

He looked at Odd again. He head was heavily bandaged and he had an arm and a leg in casts. His abdomen was heavily bandaged as well and despite all the bandages, blood was creeping through. He didn't look like himself.

The doctor entered the room looking grim. He removed his glasses and cleaned them on the hem of his scrub shirt. He saw the three of them crying in front of their friends bed and looked at the floor and sighed. He walked over and shook Ulrich's shaking and clammy hand. The four of them took a seat in the chairs in the room.

"Well, your friend here was brought in about four hours ago and his condition was worsening by the minute. Apparently, he was rock climbing and he lost his grip. The witness said that he slipped and fell. The cable that was holding his snapped and he fell. At that point, the witness was running toward him when a large rock fell on top of him," the doctor said calmly. Jeremie buried his face in his hands and started to cry again. Yumi's teary eyes widened and she gasped. Ulrich kept staring at Odd, not believing what he was hearing.

"The boulder crushed his arm and leg when he was trying to stop it from crushing him. But legs don't stop five hundred pound boulders. He's suffered severe head injuries and he has a collapsed lung." Jeremie looked at the doctor with red eyes.

"Is there any chance that he'll get better?" he asked shakily, afraid of the answer. The doctor frowned and sighed.

"There is a ten percent chance that he'll live if he stays on life support for the next two months," the doctor said grimly. Yumi let out an angry yet sad cry and sobbed into Ulrich's chest. Jeremie pulled his legs up to his chest and cried into his knees. Ulrich kissed the top of Yumi's head as his tears fell into her ebony hair.

"I'm so sorry," the doctor said sincerely before he left the room. Yumi pulled away, looked at Odd for a moment, and buried her head back into Ulrich's chest again, sobbing uncontrollably. There was a barely audible groan from Odd. Yumi looked at him and quickly went to his side. She gently clasped his hand.

"Odd?" she asked. "Odd can you hear me?"

"Y-Yumi?" he said, his voice not even a whisper. Yumi smiled weakly at him even though his eyes were closed.

"It's me Odd. Ulrich and Jeremie are here too. We're all here," she said, stroking the back of his hand with her thumb. At that point, Ulrich and Jeremie had walked to his side as well.

"Guys. I...I'm not...not going to...make it..." he whispered. Another tear fell from Yumi's eyes and she shook her head.

"Yes you are. You've got to make it Odd. How... how will we beat Xana without you?" she asked him.

"You can... you can beat him... without.. m-me," Odd whispered. "Jeremie. Bring Aelita to earth. I... I know you can do it. Ulrich. Be... be the soccer star. And go... go get her t-tiger," he whispered. A smile was trying to break through on his face. Ulrich smiled weakly and gave a short laugh. He knew who Odd was talking about.

"You guys are... are like f-family to me. I... I love you a-all s-so much. Remember... remember that. And remember... me... when I-I'm gone," he whispered. And he was gone. The monitor beside him went flat-line. Yumi gripped his hand.

"Odd! Odd, you can't go! Not now! No, please... don't go.." Yumi yelled. But with every word she spoke her voice got softer until it was a dull whisper. She sank to the floor and cried again. Ulrich hung his head down as a new wave of tears flowed down his cheeks. Jeremie sat down in a chair and curled up, crying openly but softly.

Ulrich walked over to Yumi, sat down on the floor in front of her, and pulled her onto his lap. She willingly went along and sobbed into his chest. He hugged her, rocking her gently back and forth, his own tears falling on her head.

"I..I can't b-believe he's g-g-gone," she sobbed.

"I know... neither can I..." he choked out. He could barely talk without gasping for breath. The three of them didn't say anything after that; they just sat there and cried over the loss of their friend. They eventually fell asleep. Ulrich was leaning against Odd's bed with Yumi in her arms. She had actually fell asleep before she stopped crying. Jeremie was in the chair, using his jacket as a pillow.

End Flashback

He couldn't believe it was three years since Odd had died. He wished Odd would have never gone on that rock climbing trip. At that time, who knew that it would be his last?

He was inside the school now. He walked to his old dorm and opened the door. Everything was the same. The desk was in the same spot and so were the two beds. He walked in a laid down on his old bed. He was too big for it now; his feet hung over the edge. He could almost see Odd, Jeremie, Yumi, and himself laughing and having a good time. He smiled. But he frowned when he swore he heard Yumi's laughter.

It couldn't be her. She disappeared five months after Odd died. But he heard it. His ears weren't failing him. It was Yumi's bell-like laughter. He shook his head and left the room to go find Jeremie's.

When he found it, he took a deep breath and walked in. The computer, of course, was gone. The only thing that was there was the chair at the desk, and the bed. He closed his eyes tight, and when he opened them, he could see everything that Jeremie had had in his room before him.

Flashback

"Jeremie, you don't have to do this!" Ulrich shouted. Jeremie was standing on top of the bridge and was ready to jump. Xana had shut himself down and took Aelita with him. A tear ran down Jeremie's face.

"It's my fault Ulrich. I should have got the program ready faster. I failed myself, Aelita, and Odd. That was his last wish. Remember? He wanted me to bring Aelita to Earth but I didn't. I couldn't. I failed him. I can't live with myself," he told him. The crowd of people behind him began to murmur. They had no idea what he was talking about.

"Jeremie, it's not your fault! Now get down here right now! I couldn't take it if you went too! Odd's already gone! Come down here!" Yumi screamed, her face tear stained.

"I'll tell Odd you said 'hi'. Anything else you want me to tell him?" Jeremie asked. "I mean we haven't seen him for what, two months? I'll talk to him for you." Yumi began to cry again.

"Jeremie don't do this to us!" Ulrich shouted. Yumi grabbed Ulrich's arm and held onto it for dear life.

"See you guys some day! Love you all!" Jeremie shouted and he stepped off the bridge. Yumi lunged at him, as if she wanted to go after him. The water was freezing. But Ulrich wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back to him even though she was still struggling.

"NOOO!" she screamed. She sunk to the ground and looked up at Ulrich with her teary blue eyes.

"Two friends in two months. What did we ever do to deserve this?" she whispered to him. He kneeled down next to her and hugged her.

"I don't know..." he told her as a tear slipped down his cheek.

End Flashback

He wiped his eyes and looked out the window. His friends were gone. Two were dead and one was God only knows where. He heard it again. The laughter of Yumi. Closer this time. He walked out of the room and swore he saw a flash of black hair. He shook his head again. Memories. That's all it is.

"I'm in my own Memory Lane. That's all," he murmured to himself. But he went down the hallway anyway. He saw the black hair again just before it went around a corner. He followed it all the way outside and into the woods. The memories flashed in his mind, blinding him. As he ran, the only thing he saw was the blur of brown and green. The only clear thing he would see would be the black hair. He finally stopped running when he saw her. Standing on the manhole they had used so many years ago.

She had changed. Well, that's what three years does to people he reminded himself. Her hair was the same as always though. Black bellbottoms, tight black baby tee shirt. Filled out in all the right places, making her perfect in his eyes. But he didn't believe it. He couldn't believe it was her.

"Yumi?" he whispered. She looked at him from under dark lashes.

"It's me, Ulrich," she told him. He slowly walked over to her. He reached over to her and touched her cheek gently, as if checking to make sure it was really her. She held onto his wrist and leaned in to his touch.

"Is it really you?" he asked. She smiled.

"Yeah. It's me," she whispered. Without another word, he engulfed her in a bear hug as a tear slipped down his cheek. When they pulled apart, Yumi wiped is tear away with a delicate.

"Where've you been?" he whispered. Yumi looked down.

"Just hiding out, thinking my life over. I thought I'd be happy, you know, being away from all the painful memories. But I wasn't. A big part of me was missing," she said.

"What? Were they're names Jeremie and Odd?" he asked, feeling his eyes water. Yumi looked up at him.

"Well, yes. They were a big part of my life and they still are. But the part I was missing... was you." He looked into her deep blue eyes, searching them. She was sincere. Ulrich took her hands into his own.

"I've missed you so much Yumi. Remember what Odd told me when we saw him in the hospital?" Yumi nodded. "Well I've got her. And this time, I'm not letting her go." Yumi smiled as he captured her lips in a red hot kiss. It was something she'd wanted from him since she was fourteen. She kissed him back with as much passion as he was showing her.

When they pulled back, Ulrich smiled at her.

"Let's go home," he said, lacing his fingers through hers. They walked out of the woods and over to Ulrich's truck, where he drove back to his apartment with Yumi.