Some Context Before Entering:

I wrote this story some time ago, and if I recall correctly, it was during a phase of short lived depression. At the same time, I was trying to forget so much, and fill it with anything I could find, Code Lyoko being one of them. This is a result of many mixed feelings I had at the time, as well as my mixed experiences. After having re-read it, I decided to post it here, because maybe someone will get something out of it. It certainly serves me no purpose anymore. If you want to use all or any ideas in this, feel free to use anything you wish. I care not for credit, but for inspiration and growth of other aspiring stories.

The pushing inspiration for this was of a song called Moth's Wings by Passion Pit. While the song has several interpretations, mine was of someone in the midst of a wave of turmoil, after losing someone, or even several people, and having that painfully real pang of loneliness. In this particular story, I projected that feeling onto the whole CL group, but it's the most prevalent in Aelita and/or Ulrich, because they have always expressed their connection with others in a deeper way. Then once that connection is cut, they can feel nothing but a void, and what happens after is extremely volatile based on each person, but one thing is for damn sure every time: change is painful.

Growing Pains:

The gentle snowflakes danced around the air as if it were trying to tell the story of a forgotten people. Quietness blanketed the courtyard as Aelita sat there, still, as not to disturb the fresh sheets of snow that were being formed. All she wanted to do was sit there and admire the beauty of the white puffs of lush frozen water around her, but there was oh so much more on her mind. More than she wanted.

It was January, and Aelita only had a few months till she was to graduate Kadic Senior High. Her, along with Jeremy, were both excited and nervous for the upcoming months. It has been two whole years since she and the rest of the gang defeated XANA and shut down the supercomputer once and for all. Yet Aelita couldn't help but still feel a sense of emptiness every time she recalled the remaining days of lyoko. Her father was gone, and ever since she was 9 years of age, she hadn't the foggiest idea of what became of her mother.

Of Course this was only part of her troubles. For approximately three years, she had been able to get by any formal identification check with a false profile that Jeremy had created for her. That fake profile wouldn't hold for much longer, because her and Jeremy both knew full well that if she tried to register for anything ranging from a job to college, someone would run a full background check with the Canadian Office, and in doing so they would find no "Aelita Stones" in the database.

-And the other snowman says: I know carrots are good for your eyes, but all I can see are carrots!

Aelita didn't even have to look up to know who that was, the sound of a terrible joke was even more familiar to her than the sound of Odd's Voice itself. Glancing up just briefly, she saw Odd and Ulrich trekking through the courtyard towards her, right through the previously untouched snow. Odd with a croissant in hand, and a mouth that looked ready to spew another pun in a vain attempt to make someone laugh had it already half-stuffed with a croissant. Ulrich accompanied him, looking only slightly annoyed by Odd's persistent comedy stand. That was an improvement as of late, considering the seemingly permanent bad mood he slid into.

About a year after the gang unanimously decided to shut down the supercomputer, Yumi graduated. It was an imminent fact that they all knew of, but Ulrich took the hardest. Yumi herself did not travel far to go to college, she picked up a nice sizeable scholarship for going to the University of Paris, and decided to major in linguistics. Of course, since this was a new kind of school for her, it was required she move into a dorm for at least the first year of college. This meant she was only an hours walk away from home, but as time went on she became more consumed by her classwork. Ulrich, still stuck in his insecurities, was still unsure of how to cope with not seeing Yumi much anymore. He tried pretending he didn't care, and even for a short time pretending he never wanted to see her again, but his closest friends knew just as well as him that this was not the case.

As for Ulrich himself, well, there wasn't much to show. The only sign of his parents' existence were the occasional visits they made to 'discuss some important matters'. As always, his grades were in the shitter, and Ulrich's state of mind only went down as he was dealing with his quarter-life-crisis. Lucily he had one saving grace, which was the hope of going to Belgium to improve his fubol skills further. If everything went right, he'd be signed on to a team in the Belgian Pro League, and from there, the European Cup. This was seemingly the only skill that kept Ulrich's father from outright disowning him. Ulrich wasn't particularly inspired to go for it, not for the success, wealth, or fame; rather all he could think about was how much further away he'd be from Yumi. He really missed her, and there was nothing he could do to hide it.

Ulrich was scheduled to leave for Belgium in mid June.

Regardless of all of the negative vibes from the group, Odd was the one still trying to be as charismatic as ever. As always, Odd got too comfy with the idea of not doing work and essentially scrubbing his way out of secondary school with D's. Yet, even through accomplishing the bare minimum, Odd's parents were still as supportive of him as ever. His folks decided to stick with the "He could be successful if he wanted to, he just doesn't want to try" excuse. Although his grades were too lacking to get him into a full-time college, he decided his best course of action was to go to a trade school for the arts of cinematography. Odd's new dream was to make a hit movie and become the next James Finson.

Odd was scheduled to leave for Eastern France in July, and arrive and settle in early August.

Nothing good lasts forever, Aelita mumbled to herself. Then she let out a half-hearted sigh of discontent.

Hey there Princess, what's going on with you? Odd said.

Not much, she replied. Then she realized that she had dozed off for much longer than she initially thought. Lunchtime was almost over, but once again she forgot all about it.

Life had gotten quiet after the Lyoko incidents, it was something all of them looked forward to, except Ulrich. Then, when the tranquility of normal life came, they were only left dumbfounded with the extra time they had. The times Aelita truely missed the most was working the long hours at night in the factory, with Jeremy. Whether it was creating an entirely new sector, or going on a goose chase for an "anti-virus", she enjoyed it all. The ambient humming of machinery, the familiar feeling of tiredness, but more so the urge to fight it in order to work just a few minutes longer, and of course Jeremy. Now that was gone, there were no more late night calls, or emergency XANA attacks to be had. So Aelita was just left to rethink all that had happened. Sometimes she enjoyed the feeling of nostalgia, sometimes she could barely stand the feeling of emptiness that developed. Either way, she had a new life now, and had absolutely no idea how she wanted to spend it. Atleast, not yet.

For the time being, if Aelita wasn't in school or doing school work, she was out wandering the forest or sitting around the courtyard, just… thinking. This was more recent, as Jeremy was being pulled away from school more often to do college visits, and exclusive meetings with presidents of this and that. He was busy lining up scholarships and trying to chose which prestigious school he might want to go to.

The only reason the same didn't happen for Aelita was for the simple fact that no one knew who she was. There was no such person as Miss Aelita Stones, and if she were to try and use her original French Citizenship, she would only face friction as those just simply looking at her file would expect her to be 11 years older than her real age. It wasn't as if she could just nonchalantly tell them about how she was trapped in a computer for more or less a decade with her father, in an attempt to stop an artificial intelligence from destroying the world. This was going to be hard, she was fully aware of that, but had the feeling that it would work out… somehow.

You feeling alright Ulrich? Aelita continued.

No better than yesterday. He said with a half-smirk. Anyways Yumi says she'll be home next weekend, and wants to stop by.

Aelita figured as much, as yesterday was the anniversary of Yumi informally leaving Kadic. If for even a brief moment, as Ulrich was saying it while simultaneously comprehending it, Aelita saw in him a faint glimmer of hope, either that or he was just ready to be rid of Odd's jokes. Either way, there was something he was looking forward to in the future, and that was definitely an improvement as of late.

Well I hope you don't mind, Princess, but you missed lunch again, so I asked Rosa to load on a little bit more mashed potatoes. Odd said with a slight look of guilt, but more a look if satisfaction from a meal well eaten.

It's fine. I wasn't hungry anyways. She replied in a rather monotone manner.

If there's one thing that's for sure, Odd was going to miss the food at Kadic, it wasn't what anyone would call gourmet, but to him it was good food and there was lots of it.

Right, well, I'm going to go study. said Aelita. She promptly stood and drudged to the dorm, partially out of feeling lethargic, partially to avoid slipping on any black ice.

Things just aren't the same anymore, are they? Odd retorted.

Ulrich snorted a bit and replied, Where have you been for the last two years?

No, I meant Aelita, she isn't the same as she used to be. I haven't even seen her touch a vinyl since the subdigitals gig, and she hasn't even bothered responding to William's offer to have her DJ the winter dance.

Well, as some famous person said: "Times-are-a-changin" good buddy, Ulrich said. Odd, knowing him, looked past the bitter sarcasm as not to take it personally, but then all he saw was the sadness and pain that came along with change.

Once again, Odd's effort was to try and avoid that at all costs.

You know what you need 'good-buddy'? A good joke.

To Aelita, silence was more peaceful than anything. Even more so than a good cup of tea, or maybe a warm hug from someone special. Of Course, she was only playing back scenarios in her head of things she'd have to adapt to in the future. Separation from those she cared for most was the common denominator.

Suddenly, a soft sound of plastic vibrating against wood interrupted the tranquility of Aelita's room. It was her phone.

Hey you, said a familiar voice.

Aelita quickly felt a rush of joy and nostalgia at once. Perhaps it was a call to meet at the factory. Maybe XANA had awaken yet again and they had to dispel him again.

Just thinking about you. Wanted to make sure you're still okay. Jeremy said.

Yeah I'm fine. Nothing new to report here.

Ah good, look I think I may have found a solution to our little college problem. There's a guy I know- well… my dad knows him. Anyways, he's the dean of admissions at a school here in Britain, and if we can get a good word in for you, we might be able to work with filling in the rest.

That sounds good and all but- (Aelita Started)

-but that means you'd have to go by a different name. Again.

Jeremy you know I don't want to do that. I'm done living a life of lies and coverups.

What choice do we have though? Your old identity is no good anymore, you know that much.

Yes, but… Isn't there another way? I dunno. Something we can do? I don't want to live like this anymore.

There was a brief pause in their conversation, as they both backed off to pay respects to each other's frustrations.

Okay. Jeremy started. I'm going to be back in school next week, we can talk about it then.

Alright.

Aelita?

Yeah?

I miss you.

… I… I do too.

With that a low toned beep cut their conversation, and Aelita returned to reading her Italian textbook.

Meanwhile, in London, England, Jeremy sat quietly on his hotel bed. He threw his phone over on the chair, with his other stuff, sitting on the edge of his bed with his head buried in his hands. Change was not going to be easy, not even for the best and brightest minds.

End of Chapter