Athena

Chapter 10: Dark Days

Odd's POV

It's been three days since Dawn disappeared. We had started searching for her everywhere. The school, the forest and park, and even Lyoko. She was nowhere to be found. I walked into the last day of classes thinking I was going to break down any second. I couldn't believe that we had all shamed her besides Yumi, who had tried to show us how wrong and stupid we were being. 

I never listened and now she was gone. The sadness I had heard in her voice when I was on the phone with her was something I never thought was possible for anyone. She sounded like everything she had lived for was completely gone, but in a sense it was. We were everything to her, because we were all she had. 

I sat down in my seat and put my head in my hands just wishing she would walk through that door. 

I sighed as our teacher walked in.

"Alright class, we aren't really doing anything of much importance, so I'd like to take this time to wish you all a happy summer and hope that when you all come back you'll be able to comprehend some more than you did this semester." 

After classes were over I headed towards the dorms to pack and headed to the airport. 

"Odd, how you holding up?" Ulrich asked as I walked into the room.

"I could be better, but I guess it's our faults anyways. Yumi tried to tell us, but now it's too late to tell her how sorry we all are." He put his hand on my shoulder.

"Try to enjoy the summer, who knows maybe when we all come back she'll be back. You never know, she doesn't really have any place to go anyways." I nodded and packed to go. I really didn't want to leave, but I guess Ulrich was right I needed to go away for a while.

Aelita's POV

As I packed to spend the summer with Jeremy and his family I looked at the picture frame with the picture of everyone together, even Dawn, who was smiling like there was nothing wrong with tomorrow.

"I'm so sorry, I never meant to make you leave, if I had only listened to Yumi..." That's when someone knocked on my door. I turned my head and saw Jeremy standing there. 

"Ready to go?" He asked forcing a smile.

"I never should have let her leave..." He came in and hugged me tightly.

"It's all our faults not just yours, we never should have done what we did and we all realize it now. You have to learn to move on, Aelita. She told Odd she wasn't coming back. So don't assume she is. Now come on my dad is waiting." I followed him outside and to his dad's car. 

This was going to be a long summer...

Yumi's POV

"Of course you can stay here, Dawn." I said as she appeared at my front door, three days after she had told Odd she was never going to come back.

"Thank you, but I'd also like you help me change the way I look." She said and walked in with her stuff, my parents were going away for the summer with my little brother so it really didn't matter if she was here or not. 

I helped her take everything upstairs and finally she pulled out a brown dye. 

"You sure you want to change your hair?" She nodded quickly and I walked with her into the bathroom so we could dye her hair. Once it was done I could tell she was happy with the results.

"Thanks Yumi." The next thing she did was curled the ends and put them into long pigtails. She was really serious about having everyone think she was gone. She had even told me she had registered to go back to Kadic but under the name Athena Summers. 

"Dawn, I mean Athena, is this really what you want?" She nodded and sat down across from me on the floor.

"I came to you because I know I can trust you, Yumi. You trusted me even after everything that happened on Lyoko and I'm grateful, but I really don't have any place to call my own because I don't belong on this world, but if I could somehow find a way to fit in then maybe just maybe I can live a normal life without Lyoko." I was surprised she wanted to cut Lyoko out of her life.

"But without Lyoko, you'll die." I said.

"If you turn the supercomputer off I will, but only you know that. All I know is that as long as that supercomputer is on I can survive in this world." I knew that meant I would have to stop the others from trying to turn it off. "Yumi, it's okay if they want to turn it off. I don't mind. They don't need to continue to concern themselves with my affairs." I shook my head sharply.

"You're my friend, I won't allow them to kill you." She smiled and then curled up on the floor.

"I can only imagine what they're feeling right now. They must be happy I'm finally gone right?" Her question took me aback.

"No it's the opposite, they are beating themselves up over it saying how I was right and how they never should have said the things they had said." She chuckled painfully.

"I guess they should have thought of that before they said it. I've made my decision and I will never forgive them. They made the last days at Kadic the most unbearable of my life." 

She was never going to be able to be their friend again because of this... I can't believe she even managed to tolerate them the last couple of days because I know I couldn't.

"I understand how you feel."