I don't own Code Lyoko.

When Jeremy's out of contact for a week and Aelita can't figure out why he left her all alone in her tower again, how will she fare without him? Jerlita fluff.

Aelita searched the interface for any sign of movement on the other side of the screen almost desperately. Jeremy hadn't contacted her in almost a week. She was worried that he had gotten hurt. XANA hadn't made a move that she had detected, so she knew that he wasn't in trouble like that. But she had no idea what had happened to him. It was the most frustrating thing in her world, being trapped in Lyoko away from him.

She was just ready to….

Aelita sighed. The tower's walls morphed around her and she emerged in the middle of the Forest Sector. Just like in the beginning, she thought to herself sadly.

It only took a few moments out in the open before XANA's monsters reared their ugly one-eyed heads. Two Bloks. They didn't waste any time in firing their red lasers at her, missing repeatedly even though she was a stationary target. They never were known for their marksmanship.

She walked closer to them, which made the monsters spin on their feet in confusion. The only thing on her mind at the moment was everything she was going to miss. She thought this might not be her brightest idea. If she really trusted them, she would have stayed in the tower. She would have kept herself safe, knowing that they would be back for her. But the fear in the back of her mind was that they were like her father: they had abandoned her, too. Jeremy wouldn't do that to her… would he? Aelita gasped in realization at the horrible mistake she was making. If she died now, how would Jeremy fare? Not too well, she assumed. Or would he care? He wasn't here right now for her….

"Aelita!" a familiar voice rang out in the air around her. It was filled to the brim with fear and regret.

"Jeremy?" his voice yanked her out of her thoughts and brought her sense back. Jeremy was here now, so what was she doing? She turned to run back into the shelter of the Way-Tower, but as she ran one of the Bloks made a successful shot.

"Aelita, hurry! You just lost twenty life points!" Jeremy sounded frantic over the speakers. Aelita sprinted back into the tower and relaxed. She floated up to the interface so that she could see the boy she had missed so much. "Hello, Jeremy," she smiled warmly at him, as if a few seconds ago hadn't even happened.

"Are you hurt anywhere? I'm not even sure to what extent you can feel, but I can restore your life points, or try to program something to heal you if you need it," he offered worriedly.

Aelita was silent for a moment. Then slowly she put her hand to her heart. "…It hurts right here. Can you fix it?" she asked.

Jeremy shot her a confused glance. "In your heart? Are you sad?"

"What does sad feel like? I want to be with you. In your world. I don't know if that's making me 'sad'. But I think it hurts."

"Sad feels exactly like what you're describing. I'm sad because I can't be with you in person," Jeremy explained. He was blushing profusely by that point. He was too shy to express himself like that. And he was scared. He had almost told her that he loved her.

"Like love?"

The landmine.

Jeremy held back a sigh. This topic always scared him. But she constantly brought it up. It was the one human emotion she just couldn't seem to grasp. It felt like she could see right through him whenever she started talking about love. "Yes, in a way."

"… Jeremy, can I ask you something?" her bright green eyes were innocent, and Jeremy couldn't say no to her.

He smiled. "Anything."

"Does that mean that you love me?"

The question scared Jeremy stiff. She just confronted him with it. There was no way to deny it effectively now. "I- er that is, I like you. A lot. And I'm sad that I can't be with you in person. But that's not the exact same thing as-"

"I love you, Jeremy," Aelita stated plainly. Her head was tilted slightly to the side. She found nothing awkward about her confession, and that's not to say that she didn't understand the gravity of it. As soon as she said the words, something inside of her clicked. This was love. She had just never realized it. And she loved Jeremy.

Jeremy, on the other hand, was having a meltdown inside as his shyness tried its hardest to take complete control. But there was no denying it anymore. "I love you to, Aelita." His face was bright red and he averted his eyes from the virtual girl.

"I know." Aelita smiled. "But why were you gone for so long?"

"I got in trouble because one of my new programs brought down the school's entire network. Jim took my laptop and basically kept me under house arrest for a week. I'm just glad that XANA didn't launch any kind of attack while I was in trouble. I'm sorry I wasn't able to contact you to tell you. But what were you doing? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for you to go out without protection? What would I do if I lost you?" he was still slightly panicked at her attempt at what equaled virtual suicide.

"I- I thought you were mad at me. You were gone almost a week. And I went out. But then it dawned on me that you wouldn't do that to me… and I was ready to run back in but then you came over the intercom. And I had to get back here," she explained sheepishly.

"Don't scare me like that ever again," Jeremy told her quietly.

"I won't. I promise," Aelita swore. She kissed the interface, knowing it was the closest she was going to get for a while. "I'll never do that to you again."

Jeremy was blushing deep red and glanced around. He pecked the screen quickly and suddenly became very interested in his shoes.

"Thank you, Jeremy," Aelita smiled. "It's getting late, though. And you have class in the morning. So you should get some sleep."

"Okay, Aelita. Goodnight," he smiled at her, and flicked off the monitor.