William and Xana fanfiction-6

Jeremy and Aelita sat in the factory, once again-searching desperately for Franz Hopper. Or atleast, Jeremy was, Aelita frowned at her closest friend with worry. The memory of William collapsing still fresh in her mind, she couldn't bear it if that happened to Jeremy.

"You should take a break Jeremy" Aelita pressed once again only for Jeremy to shrug it off.

"I'm fine Aelita, I'm more than used to this" Aelita sighed shaking her head.

"I'm tired"

"I don't need you to stay right now, get some rest"

"Not without you!"

"..."

"..." Aelita stared at him intensly

"I'm doing this for you" Jeremy resigned.

"I know, and I appreciate it. But that doesn't mean you need to put yourself in the hospital" Jeremy smiled finally understanding her concern.

"Alright" The young genious turned the computer off and Aelita grabbed his hand.

"Thank you Jeremy" She smiled planting a kiss on his cheek.

______________________________________________________________________________

About a week passed since William had first been admitted into the hospital and been on bed rest. But for the restless teen it felt like so much longer, his guilt had subsided when he had successfully pushed it on Xana but he still wanted to save Franz Hopper. If only to prove himself and Ulrich wrong.

His friends had been visiting him lately. They always went the same William would talk with Aelita and Odd in a light hearted way while Jeremy and Ulrich added in every once in a while. It turns out as long as William wasn't competition for Yumi he and Ulrich got a long well. Yumi wasn't there often as she was still dealing with the aftermath of the tsunami that had struck her home land and when she was there she hung back with a blank expression, slowly inching to the door uncomfortably.

But not today, today was the day William was finally breaking free-it also happened to be sunday on which there was no visiting hours. Leaving the hospital reminded William of returning to earth in many ways. For one thing his whole body felt like jello, for another he felt like he hadn't slept in month. But the biggest was he felt alone. William wasn't the loner type, he needed friends-adoring fans for his various pranks and stunts to feel comfortable.

On his way out William ran into a girl his age waiting to be dismissed from the hospital. The most noticible thing about her was how bandaged up she was, she had bandages around her head, neck, upper right arm and a cast on her lower left. But once William got past that he noticed her hair was so pale it was almost white so it matched her skin. And her Eyes where a startling red-brown. This girl had a familiar delicate-looking face framed by short hair. The only thing missing was the evil smirk.

William shuddered and ignored the girl's apology leaving as quickly as possible until he arrived at kadic. William thought about who he should tell if Xana was back. Aelita or Jeremy? No it would just cause them unnecassary stress if it was a mistake. Odd? No, he would go tell Aelita and Jeremy. Ulrich? No, Odd would notice if something was going on.

Yumi was the only choice, William heaved a sigh at this. Once she had gotten over her worry she had gone back to watching him like a hawk. It would be a long time before she trusted him again, but that's why she was perfect. She would have surely noticed Xana's pressence as William did and believe him easier. But then there was the matter of stress, Yumi was going through so much. But it was better than risking his security blanket via Aelita being upset.

William called Yumi up on the phone hoping she would answer. Each ring was longer than nessacary and it was almost painfull.

"Hello?" Yumi answered eventually in a tired voice.

"Meet me at the factory"

"Why?" Yumi replied understandably sucpicious.

"I'll explain when we get there, let's just say it has to do with you-know-who" Yumi sighed but jumped up at this phrase.

"Alright"