Yumi sat at her kitchen table, food in front of her, but she didn’t have much of an appetite. Her bowl of noodles sat in front of her, completely full. Both of her parents kept glancing at her, but neither really knew what to say. Even Hiroki was silent and somber, which was unheard of for him.

"Yumi, why don’t you eat something?" her mother asked, trying to get her daughter to at least take a few bites of her meal. She was beginning to grow worried…Yumi had barely eaten much of anything since she became blind.

"I’m not hungry." Yumi replied, seeming as though she was a million miles away. "I think I’m going to go to bed." She added as she stood and reached for her walking cane.

"Hiroki, help your sister up to her room." Yumi’s father told the young boy.

"That’s alright. I’m quite capable of getting into my room by myself." She extended the cane and stumbled to the stairs and ultimately to her room. Once there, she collapsed on her bed. Millions of thoughts raced through her mind.

Why did this have to happen to me? Why didn’t the return fix this?

It was torture living day in and day out with this crippling disability. Then, to top it all off, Jeremie dropped the bombshell and told her earlier about her future trips to Lyoko…there were no more. She knew why he would say that, but she still felt that it was unfair. She needed to go to Lyoko…she needed to feel as though she had some purpose, and that that purpose was protecting Aelita from XANA. But she really couldn’t do that; nor could Odd and Ulrich if she was there. Not only would they have to worry about protecting Aelita, but they would also have to make sure that she didn’t accidentally walk off a plateau and fall into the digital void...again.

Yumi flopped onto her stomach and held her head in her hands. She hated being like this; she hated feeling so helpless.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A hot shower always felt relieving to Odd, but on this night it didn’t feel as good as it normally should have. Perhaps Ulrich’s mood was rubbing off on him, but Odd sincerely doubted that. This whole thing with Yumi’s eyesight had made them all a little more apprehensive and edgy than usual. Things that they normally enjoyed were overshadowed by this whole incident.

With a sigh he finished putting on his pajamas and made his way back to his dorm where he was instantly greeted by Kiwi. Tossing his clothes on his bed he reached down and scooped up the small dog in his arms, patting him on the head.

"Hey Kiwi." Odd greeted the animal. "Did you keep Ulrich company?"

He slowly glanced at Ulrich who was sitting at his desk, studying. Or at least, he appeared to be studying. Odd put Kiwi back down on the floor and walked up behind the brown haired boy.

"Ulrich? You okay?" he asked, setting his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

It was as if Odd had lit a firecracker behind him. Ulrich jumped up off his chair, nearly missing it when gravity pulled him back down. Bewildered, he turned and faced Odd who was trying his best to keep from laughing.

"Don’t do that!" Ulrich scolded, standing up out of the chair.

"S-sorry." Odd replied, a giggle escaping. "I didn’t realize that you were sleeping."

Ulrich grumbled as if he didn’t believe what the other boy said. Sluggishly, he walked over to his bed where he collapsed.

"Hey, Ulrich." Odd started as he sat down on his own bed. "Why don’t you take a shower? Maybe it’ll help take your mind off everything."

"No Odd." Ulrich replied. "I’m fine. I just need to get some sleep."

The blonde haired boy shrugged as Kiwi hopped onto his bed and crawled into his lap. Odd pet the animal before laying down on his own bed and falling asleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Knowing that her night’s sleep had come to an end, Aelita pushed the covers off of herself before swinging her feet onto the floor. She stood and stretched, a few of her bones making a popping sound as she did so. At least she could get in line for showers earlier this morning. Perhaps when she actually got into the showers, she’d have some hot water.

Grabbing a few toiletries, she walked out of her dorm room and made her way toward the showers. She was thrilled to note that no one was waiting in line in front of the door that led to the girls’ bathroom and she quickly made her way inside. A few other girls were inside, but not nearly as many as there normally was at five after six. Aelita smiled to herself as she made her way into one of the showers.

Quickly she hopped into the shower and let the hot water cascade down her body. There were numerous things she liked about living on Earth, and this was definitely one of the best. She let her eyes drift close and enjoyed the serenity she felt at that moment. It was great to finally live on earth and with every new day came new surprises as well as plenty of not-so-new ones.

Shortly, Aelita stepped out of the shower and dried off. Within no time she had her clothes on and was walking out of the shower room. As she walked by the mirrors she glanced up at the lights…the same lights that had cost Yumi her sight. She shuddered to think of how such a seemingly harmless object could cause so much distress and pain.

She sighed as she finished getting ready for the new day…a day full of learning, adventure, heartache, and who-knows-what-else. Walking out of the bathroom Aelita couldn’t help but smirk at the girl who made her first few weeks of life on earth miserable. Sissi had obviously gotten up later than she planned and thus was waiting in line.

"Pity." Aelita said sweetly to her. "Looks like your going to be here for a while."

"Hmph!" Sissi snarled, turning her nose up at the pink-haired girl and then turning away. Aelita smiled to herself before making her way back to her dorm room. Once inside, she glanced at her clock and found that she had another twenty minutes before breakfast would be served.

After putting away her things and making her bed, Aelita turned and walked out of her dorm room, making sure to lock her door behind her. She then sauntered down toward Jeremie’s room where she found the boy hunched over his computer.

"Jeremie?" she asked as she peeked her head into his room after knocking.

"Hi Aelita!" he greeted as he swiveled his chair around.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she stood over his shoulder, looking at the computer monitor. "Not still working on the anti-virus, are you?"

"Yes and no." Jeremie responded.

"What do you mean?"

"I’ve been working on trying to find your anti-virus, but I’ve also been trying to figure out what - if anything - is wrong with the return trip."

"Ah." Aelita replied, sitting down on Jeremie’s bed. "Have you had any luck?"

"No. But there’s not much I can do here on my laptop. I need to go to the factory to analyze the program files."

"We can go after lunch." Aelita suggested, including herself.

Jeremie smiled at her. "Sounds good. Maybe, if we’re lucky, we can figure out a way to make everything right again."

Aelita glanced at him, her eyes hoping that he was right. "I really hope so."

*~*~*~*~*~*