Disclaimer - Code Lyoko and the song In Your Eyes by DJ Foggy belong to their respective owners. I do not own either of them.
A yawn rips through Jeremie's hand and Aelita sighs. "You really need to sleep Jeremie. It's almost three in the morning for you." the pink haired girl speaks with concern. "I appreciate everything my friends do for me more than I can say; especially the time you spend talking to me. But you're wearing yourself ragged with the materialization program." Aelita stops before she could blurt out "And I can't lose you." Jeremie rubs his eyes and looks back at the softly glowing computer screen containing her.
Some of his tiredness seems to leak away as he looks into Aelita's virtual eyes. "Well if you insist. I really need to get the materialization program done; for you to be here is all I want." Aelita's answering smile is tinged with sadness and she looks down at the tower floor under her feet. "What's wrong Aelita?" Jeremie murmurs. She looks back up in shock at how easily Jeremie senses her varying emotions. Too bad he hasn't noticed the only one that matters.
Her inner turmoil almost masks the fact that Jeremie was waiting patiently for an answer. "Oh nothing. Just going to miss talking to you for a while as usual. Before you reply that does not allow you to stay up. Get to bed." she commands before grinning at the twinkle in his eyes. Jeremie bows in the chair to his princess and chuckles.
"I hear and obey." he retorts. Jeremie initiates their usual ritual by placing his hand on the monitor. Aelita puts her hand on his and imagines how his skin would feel against hers when she finally arrives on Earth. The human hand, every cell a testament to life, reaches for the virtual hand of lifeless code. Aelita shakes her head at her depression but knows in her heart that her existence is a mere mockery of the life Jeremie exudes continuously. To her eyes a mere centimeter of glass separates them but in reality an entire ocean divides Aelita from her friends.
In your eyes I see the sun shine
It's so bright that I can't see
And this love is so much stronger
Than everything that I've seen before
"Good night Jeremie." Aelita whispers past the lump in her throat. His sapphire eyes draw her in magnetically as always. He blinks and she tears her gaze from his face as he replies.
"Good night Aelita. See you in the morning." His hand falls off the monitor as Jeremie stands up from the creaking chair and flops onto the bed with a crashing sound. Aelita watches him roll over in his bed until sleep claims him. Unbeknownst to Jeremie, she had her own ritual of gazing at him while he slept. She sat cross legged in the tower with her mind lost in thoughts of her personal pain and ever-present hope.
An hour passes without change; Aelita listens to the sound of a world brimming with life. The roaring of distant cars, the rustling of air through treetops, and the rhythmic beat of Jeremie's breathing filter into Aelita's ears as a constant reminder of the differences between her and humanity. Unable to bear the pain, the pink haired girl severs the connection with the computer and gazes at the flickering walls of the tower once more.
A wistful smile inches across Aelita's face. How ironic the one thing she wants most in the world also causes her agony. Life is a dual-edged sword; ready to slice through her spirit and despair alike. Earth beckons to her constantly. The Internet may show pictures of the Earth's beauty but nothing compares to experiencing it with hands, feet, and touch.
In your eyes
I see flowers and trees
In your eyes
I see beautiful things I can't believe
'Cause in your eyes, I see
The love light shined on my
In your eyes, in your eyes, in your eyes
She just had to hold on a little bit longer. Soon Jeremie would have the materialization program ready and the long time entombed on Lyoko would end. Her emerald eyes brighten at the prospect of finally being able to truly feel Jeremie's hand. Worry replaces the smile with a frown as X.A.N.A. flickers across Aelita's thoughts. Every battle with the evil A.I. lately put her into a state of near-panic. Not for herself; she always knew dying in the fights was a real possibility.
Aelita stands up and exits the tower into the Ice Sector. Even if nothing really existed here this sector still remained her favorite. The gleaming ice contrasts with the deep blue water. Of course the blue landscape reminds Aelita of a certain pair of eyes. The battles with their mortal enemy were becoming far more common. Her human friends are becoming weaker and more sluggish, especially Jeremie.
She dips a hand in the programming that passes for water in this forsaken place. Light glimmers between her fingers while she feels nothing. What would she do if she lost the gang that supports her? Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich weren't irreplaceable to her. Aelita's heart would break at the loss of any one of them but only one death held the possibility of irrevocably shattering her forevermore. She chuckles without mirth. Then again, if any of my friends die the rest of them and I follow in short order.
As if blue skies bring some rain
I feel the blood rush in my veins
I never want to see you cry
Recently you said good night
Did not believe it for a while
But you really meant good bye
Shaking her head, Aelita looks up at a single Block that was sneaking up on her. Good thing that the monsters were barely intelligent when X.A.N.A. didn't focus on Lyoko. She calmly walks up through the laser fire and kicks the errant Block into the Digital Sea. A small amount of her depression fades away into the excitement of actually doing something. A glimmer of her usual enthusiastic self stands on the precipice of the Digital Sea.
Too often she watched helplessly while her friends fought off the threat. Their lives were in constant danger thanks to her. No matter how many times X.A.N.A. was thwarted; it only took one victory for him. They were winning the war but couldn't afford to lose a single battle. A sense of dread fills Aelita as her imagination runs wild with thoughts of her enemy's vengeance. It's not enough for him to win. He will punish me in the worst way possible.
The virtual being heads back over the slick ice back to the tower. The little diversion had cheered her up but the urge to be there when Jeremie wakes up forces her back to her sanctuary. She laughs at her hopeless situation with Jeremie; seeing as she couldn't stay away from the tower from a fear of missing his face a second longer than she has to. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought that love would affect a mere program such as her. Wait, dreams? I don't sleep.
In your eyes I see the sun shine
It's so bright that I can't see
And this love is so much stronger
Than everything that I've seen before
Aelita smirks at her tendency to absorb human traits without trying as the tower wall engulfs her. As if to prove her smile correct, she absentmindedly runs a hand through her hair before sitting once more in front of the computer interface. Jeremie still slumbers under the covers; daytime wasn't for another couple hours. Aelita smiles at the boy who defined her existence before closing the connection once more. Connection? We already are always connected in our minds.
Her thoughts lift out of her black mood and turn to the sapphire gleam of happy remembrances. Jeremie would chat with her 24/7 if she didn't force him to sleep. And eat. And go to classes that he didn't need to pay attention in. A question surfaces in her mind as she ponders the sheer amount of time he was willing to spend with her. Why does he want to spend so much time with me? Could it be he feels something for me…?
Aelita shakes her head in derision at her vain hope. No way Jeremie likes a mere program such as her. True, he valued her conversation and companionship but nothing more. A human deserves to fall in love with another human; not an advanced bit of code. Still…hope flutters in her chest as her logical mind analyzes the data that points to something more than friendship between her and Jeremie. She ruthlessly quashes the emotion that she doesn't deserve to have. Love would have to be her only solace yet also her only source of distress.
As if blue skies bring some rain
I feel the blood rush in my veins
I never want to see you cry
Recently you said good night
Did not believe it for a while
But you really meant good bye
The raining code on the side of the tower wall entrances Aelita. The numbers rapidly flicker as Aelita considers what love truly means to her. Humanity seems to always be in pursuit of love yet no one knows what it is. Perhaps the emotion is unique in every case. Finally a smile of actual happiness grows on the elfin girl's face. If love is always unique then hers could actually exist. Aelita even had a chance to be human someday if X.A.N.A. didn't kill her first.
Contentment wells up in her body as Jeremie's face slowly solidifies in her mind. My life isn't all bad. I at least have someone to care about more than myself. Minutes trickle by with agonizing slowness as Aelita waits in silence. Time had no meaning to her during these periods of stasis. In the twilight area when Jeremie was sleeping or at school Aelita lost herself in memory. Not the recollections of battle or time on Lyoko but rather the small details that spiced her existence. Things such as the laughter at Odd's jokes or the meaningless conversations with Jeremie became her world until Jeremie intrudes once more.
In your eyes I see the sun shine
It's so bright that I can't see
And this love is so much stronger
Than everything that I've seen before
Depression flees Aelita in the face of the pure love that fills her. She closes her eyes and savors the feeling. Putting her hands out in front of her, she vows to feel Jeremie with these limbs one day. She would wait as long as it took for Jeremie to finish the program without harming himself in the process. Her ardent desire to visit Earth would be meaningless if she had the program complete at the cost of his health. Finally morning arrives and she stares at the object of her love. "Good morning Jeremie."
In your eyes
I see flowers and trees
In your eyes
I see beautiful things I can't believe
'Cause in your eyes, I see
The love light shined on my
In your eyes, in your eyes, in your eyes