Summary: Jeremie and Aelita are both 20 years old. Both of them have a bad experience, and end up bonding romantically over it. Bitter/sweet love/songfic.

Disclaim: I don't own anything in this story.

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
wake me up when September ends…

Pain. Pain, embarrassment and anger. Never had she felt these emotions before now. Not this strongly.

The lone figure sitting in the center of the deserted park glared up at the sky.

Aelita shivered as another cold drop of rain hit her bare and bruised back, and tried to pull her ripped shirt over her skin. Tried to forget the drunken yells and laughter that had rang in her ears only ten minutes ago. Thank God for those Tae-Kwon-Do lessons in Lyoko, the young woman thought to herself sarcastically. Those guys were dumber than the crabs we used to destroy. Another shiver ran down her back, and she winced as the skin pulled.

"I have got to get home," Aelita whispered to herself, looking up at the full moon and the falling leaves. "They'll be wondering…Yumi was gonna call…Yumi!"

A familiar shape hurried toward her at top speed. "Aelita! Is that—holy shit!"

Aelita looked at her feet. "I kicked them a good few times. They got away, but I'm okay."

"You call this okay!" Yumi yelled, looking at Aelita's battered back and arms. "It was McKenzy, wasn't it?"

The girl sighed and nodded. "And Jones and Yulz. They were drunk, Yumi. Pure drunk."

Yumi gently grabbed Aelita's forearm and pulled her to her feet. "We are going to the Councilor. Right now. I am tired of you coming back from walks half-raped and bleeding." She paused, then looked back at Aelita. "No…I'll go. You need to talk to someone."

Aelita frowned. "Who?"

"Jeremie. He called about five minutes ago. His dad had a heart attack. He's dead."

"What!"

Aelita stopped dead, eyes wide. Jeremie. Jeremie, her good ol', sweet friend, that crazy little blue-eyed, bespeckled genius that had been her savior so many years ago. That Jeremie. The one she hadn't seen in a year, only talked to.

"Aelita? Aelita!"

She had started running. She couldn't even hear Yumi calling her. There was a strange, horrible ringing in her ears. This was worse than being hit, worse than being raped. It was like her father died, instead of Jeremie's. Only Aelita had no father. She was an orphan with endless innocence.

Innocence that was now gone.

10101010101

Like my fathers come to pass
seven years has gone so fast
wake me up when September ends…

"Jeremie?"

"I'm okay, Mom."

The blond woman standing in the door way sighed as she stared down at her son. 20 years old, and he was in one of the best technical collages in Europe. 20 years old, and his father was now gone. He hadn't cried yet, though she could hear his voice tremble slightly, and see the unshed tears behind those silly oval glasses he refused to replace with contacts. She sighed again, and closed the door, leaving her son to think.

Jeremie heard the door close, and looked up, wiping the cold liquid off his cheeks. How could this happen? His father…Jeremie shook his head and looked back out the window. The leaves were falling, now hard and fast, thanks to the rain that was pounding down. It was best not to think about it. His mother would just cry and sob. There was nobody else to talk to. Yumi had been sympathetic, but she just wasn't the person Jeremie was looking for.

Jeremie's cell phone rang suddenly, and the young man jumped in surprise. Who was calling him now? He stood, found his phone, and turned it on.

"Hello?"

"Jeremie, it's Aelita."

Relief filled Jeremie's mind at the sound of her voice, and he fought the urge to sigh. "Princess? To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

He could hear her sigh, and his heart skipped a beat. "I've heard," she answered simply. "And I'm coming down to see you." Jeremie's eyebrows shot up, and he sat down hard on the bed. "Not after what happened last week," he half-whispered.

"Yumi told you?"

"Was it a secret?" Jeremie asked, angrier then he meant it to be. "You're almost raped, and you don't tell me!"

"I don't want you to worry, Jeremie!" Aelita sounded wounded. Jeremie winced.

"I'm sorry, Princess," he told her, calming down. Forcing a bit a cheer in his voice, he added: "Did you kick their butts?"

"Yeah, just like earlier," Aelita retorted, then stopped. Jeremie gripped the phone hard.

"Earlier? What happened?"

Aelita sighed. "The last time they ever try to rape me. That's what happened. Three guys, full drunk, and all dumber than X.A.N.A.'s crabs." Her voice wobbled.

"Aelita, are you alright?" Jeremie asked.

"I will be soon," she told him. "Good night."

She hung up.

Jeremie didn't know what to do. Beautiful, sweet Aelita was being attacked by drunken idiots, while he sat and did math all day! His fists clenched. How dare they. How dare they even touch her! He buried his face in his hands, shaking. He had killed her innocence. Jeremie sighed, looked back out the window. He simply had no innocence left.

1010101010101

here comes the rain again
falling from the stars…

"May he rest in peace. Amen."

The voice of the priest seemed to echo ominously in her eyes. Aelita raised her head, looking toward the front of the small church. There Jeremie stood, looking somber and handsome in his black suit, ignoring the tears running down his cheeks. His mother stood next to him, staring at her feet. There was a veil covering Mrs. Beloplis's face and head, but Aelita could see blond hair poking through the top. Her eyes shifted back to Jeremie, and her hands fairly itched to wipe those silent tears of his face. She hated to see him sad.

The service was over, and for a moment, all that could be heard was the rain pounding on the roof.

drenched in my pain again
becoming who we are…

Jeremie couldn't take his eyes off her. He had never seen her so sad, yet so mesmerizing. Then the funeral ended, and she came toward him. Jeremie felt his heart skip a beat. He could barely hear the words of the strangers apologizing to him. He just nodded slowly, hardly comprehending anything. She was his healing. It didn't hurt as much to stand next to his father's coffin. Not now that Aelita was there.

as my memory rests
but never forgets what I lost
wake me up when September ends…

She finally reached him. For a moment, they just stared up at each other: the tall, blue-eyed young man, and the pink-haired young woman. Then, without a word, Jeremie kissed her forehead lightly, and hugged her tight.

"I'm glad you came, Princess," he whispered in her ear as they parted. Aelita felt his warm breath tickle the back of her neck, and shivered slightly, moving closer to him. She didn't really want to let him go. Jeremie simply smiled, and hugged her again.

Aelita sighed, and looked up into his face. "I'm sorry, Jeremie. So sorry…"

Jeremie silenced her with a finger to her lips, blushing slightly as he did so. "You've nothing to apologize for, Princess," he told her in a whisper. "We're both hurting."

"But my hurts fade, Jeremie," Aelita whispered back, reaching up to brush away a stray tear. Suddenly, Jeremie simply took her hands, and lead her out into another, empty room. He guided her to a large couch, and sat down next to her. Then taking her face in his hands, he looked her straight in the eyes.

"And so is mine, thanks to you, Aelita," Jeremie told her softly. "Weather you pain is physical or not, I want to help you heal. You've helped me so much, just by being here. I hated not being there to help you, when you were first attacked. I'm sorry for not coming down."

Aelita looked up at him, preparing to tell him to worry, when she saw the look in his eyes. She blinked, then, ignoring the tear that had fallen, leaned forward and kissed him gently, softly, on his lips. Immediately she felt Jeremie's body freeze, and she pulled back, blushing. That was the last time she'd act without thinking!

"I'm sorry, J-Jeremie," she whispered, starting to stand. "I just--"

"No," Jeremie whispered, his voice hoarse. The next moment, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back, letting her understand that he hadn't minded that kiss at all. Aelita felt her knees turn watery, and wrapped her arms around his neck. The sweetness out-fought the sorrow, leaving her in complete bliss. An eternity later, or so it seemed, Jeremie pulled back, keeping his arms wrapped around her.

"Aelita…" He couldn't seem to get any other words out. "I love you. I always have."

His Princess stared up at him for a second or two, then emotion swamped any other thoughts, and she kissed him as he did her only moments ago. When she pulled away, Jeremie's eyes were wide behind his glasses, and as a beautiful blue as ever. Aelita smiled, feeling better than she had in weeks.

"Excuse me?"

The two jumped apart, and looked toward the voice. A stranger woman stood there, dressed in black like everyone else, surprise in her face. Jeremie and Aelita looked at each other, blushed, and walked out, back toward the funeral.

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
wake me up when September ends…

1010101010101

It was 9:00 PM when Aelita came home, this time with a promise from Jeremie that he'd visited every weekend. Barely noticing where she was going, she almost ran into Yumi as she entered the dorm-room door. The next second, Yumi had tackled her, and dragged her fully into the room. Turning around, the Japanese girl grinned at Aelita.

"So, what was it like?"

"What?"

"His KISS!"

Aelita sighed and gave a flustered glare at Yumi. "We were at a funeral, Yumi. What makes you think he kissed me?"

Yumi raised her eyebrows at the pink-haired girl and sat down on the bed. "For one thing, he's wanted to kiss you since eighth grade. Another thing, he hates it when you're sad, and I think he'd go to any length to make you happy. He may be shy, Lit, but Jeremie-"

"Loves me, I know. He told me."

The black-haired girl let out a squeal and hugged Aelita happily. Immediately, Aelita's still bruised back screamed at her, and she yelled.

"OW!"

"Sorry!"

Aelita glared half-heartedly at her friend. "I never made this much fuss when Ulrich asked you out! Stop this at once!" Yumi grinned innocently and left, humming some random love song. Aelita shook her head, and sighed. Almost immediately, Jeremie's face swam in her mind, and a grin formed on the girl's face. Then she sighed again, and looked out the window at the falling leaves.

"It's ironic, in a way," she said to herself. "The best day of my life comes from the worst. Such an innocent love…" she touched her lips, and smiled sadly. "From events that took our innocence away." Jeremie would protect her. The little innocence his love had given her had also given her hope.

Aelita smiled, and watched the leaves fall.

Sort of a bittersweet little story there. Kinda how I've been lately, sorry. Did you still like it? Please review.