Chapter Text
"Jim?" Jeremie tried.
Their former phys ed teacher jolted from his comic book. He immediately straightened in the hammock he had made for himself near the elevator of the factory. "What, what is it? Is there an attack?"
"No," said Jeremie.
"We just wanted to talk to you about something," said Odd. He wasn't going to admit that he had always liked Jim. Even though he was their teacher and was often strict and kept trying to figure out things behind their backs, there was a lot of fun to the man that Odd enjoyed. Maybe that's why he kept poking him.
His friends were silent next to him. It had been nice to have an adult on their side. It had been a relief to have support on earth, to feel less alone, less overwhelmed by everything they had gotten themselves into. But it was too good to last.
Jim's expression turned into one of concern. "You kids look like you've got something to confess."
"Well, there was an attack, Jim," said Ulrich.
"It was tomorrow, but we did a return to the past." Yumi somehow managed to stand the straightest. Odd wondered if it was because of the extra year she had on them.
"Where's Aelita?" Jim asked.
"She went back to Lyoko after the attack," said Jeremie. He went on to explain the virus XANA had planted in her, how XANA had retaliated by sending monsters to earth, and then Jim helped them defend Kadic.
"That's great! Good to hear I was able to help you kids out," was Jim's enthusiastic response. He waited to see if their reactions would change, and Odd didn't like the look.
"You almost died Jim," Odd said. He didn't know why he decided to be the one to say it outright. But he felt like from one fun-loving, well intentioned goofball to another, it would mean something. "If Aelita had deactivated the tower seconds later, XANA would've shot you dead."
The teacher's expression fell a little. "Oh. Well, I'm glad I was able to protect the students. But it still looks like you kids have seen a ghost." Did shadows made of scary electromagnetic evil viruses count?
"This Lyoko business is dangerous," said Ulrich. "We can't have you risking your life on account of us."
Jeremie took a breath. "If we do another return to the past now, we'll be back to this time yesterday, before I fell down the stairs and before you learned about Lyoko, Aelita, and XANA. If we do that, you can forget about all this and go back to being our gym teacher."
Jim frowned. "So you're giving me an out."
"Yes," said Yumi. "We didn't ask you to risk your life for this. We decided that it was only fair."
They watched as Jim folded his arms and took a moment to think to himself. After several still breaths, Jim put his hands on his hips and looked up at the ceiling. "You know, I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night. Not because it was uncomfortable here, I've had worse sleeping arrangements during my time as a navy seal! But I'd rather not talk about that right now. I started thinking that you kids have been doing this since the year started. This was where all your exhausted eyes and whispers came from. And don't think that I haven't seen you run in phys ed. Every now and then it looks like your bodies have taken a beating. I couldn't have imagined what was really happening.
"You've been keeping this fight to yourselves for so long, shouldering all the consequences without any form of support. And through it all, there hasn't been a single casualty. That couldn't have been easy. I think you kids made the right choice. Aelita is as human as any of us, and she deserves a chance to live like one. That was the reason you began the fight in the first place, and that takes guts. So I'd say that's worth fighting. Besides, what kind of teacher would I be if I couldn't help one little girl?"
Odd couldn't help but smile and it was clear that Jeremie felt the same way.
"Are you sure, Jim?"
"Positive."
Odd turned to his friends and judging from the slight smiles on their faces, they had the same idea. "Come on," he said and brought them closer to Jim. "Let's give a warm welcome to our newest Lyoko Warrior." He held out his fist. Jim hesitated only for a moment before he and the others pressed them all together.
"I'm honored you'll have me."
"Thank you, Jim," said Ulrich.
"Well, this means we need to make an even better case to the principal," said Jeremie.
"The principal?" Jim echoed.
Einstein flicked up his glasses in confidence. "I promised you I'd get you your job back, didn't I?"
Jim could only stand in awe as four kids stood straight in front of the principal. Well, sort of straight. From behind, it looked like Odd's shoulders were arched, and that was because he had his hands together.
"It was my idea," said the boy. "I wanted to prank Nicolas and Herb. I was still really upset about the stunt at the robotics tournament and I thought it would be a good idea to get even."
"Yeah, and we brainstormed a lot," added Ulrich. "It was going to be this super big prank." Stern had never been the best liar, but Jim could see the effort. He did have some time on the stage after all.
Yumi stepped forward with her arms by her side. "Yeah, and if he hadn't caught us we definitely would've gone through with it." She was trying to look disciplined.
"Jim just pays very close attention to the students," added Jeremie. "It's annoying to us, but I realized that it's because he cares and he's trying to keep us straight. Please don't fire him, sir."
"Pleeease," the other kids echoed in complete synchronization. They must have had lots of experience coordinating with each other over the past year.
Principal Delmas murmured deeply. "Well, since you kids are so adamant about it. I guess I do owe you an apology Jim. Your persistence and nosiness turned out to be a good thing! Doubly so if these kids were so reflective of their actions that they came to talk to me about it. So what do you say?"
The students shuffled out of the way, letting Jim see the man, and father, who ran Kadic Academy.
"I'd be honored to, sir."
As Jim stepped forward to once again pen his name on a teaching contract, he realized how tall the students had become. Belpois hadn't had the biggest spurt and Della Robbia had only been around for half the year, but it was clear that they were growing. Ishiyama was more outspoken and stood strong. Stern he had always known was good at sports, but he hardly cracked a smile. And through their eyes, they had a stubbornness he had only seen before in mules and bravery in the soldiers he had seen around the navy base.
In that moment, he didn't think he was looking at kids. Heroes, Jim thought. They look like heroes.