Chapter 1: Homecoming
Janika shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably to get used to the weight of the heavy backpack. All the rest of her things had been taken beforehand, leaving only a few odds and ends for her to carry herself.
She turned to look at Odd and Aelita. They were the only ones she asked to come with her to the bus stop, so she'd said her goodbyes to the others earlier that day.
"I was hoping this day would never come," she muttered to herself. "Looks like it was a pointless hope."
"We'll keep in contact," Aelita assured her with a smile. "I'll e-mail you to let you know what's going on, and so will Odd. Right?"
She nudged the boy and he jumped a little as though being jolted out of his own thoughts. "Y-Yeah! I wouldn't dream of not…doing…that…?" he trailed off, looking helplessly at his pink-haired friend.
"E-mailing her, Odd."
His confusion cleared and he looked relieved. "Oh, of course! Why wouldn't I?"
Janika threw him a sly grin. "Maybe because you're so easily distracted and forgetful."
"Not all the time," he defended himself.
"Odd, you forgot I was leaving today. How does that speak for you and your memory?"
"It's only one example."
She was about to start listing off another ten cases from that week alone when the slow, heavy sound of a bus approaching caught her attention. She could see it turning the corner and coming toward them. The girl couldn't help tugging on the end of her braid as she looked once more at her two friends.
"I don't know what's going to happen now and I don't know when I'll be able to come back, but…" She didn't know what else to say. How could she promise anything if she couldn't even control what school she attended?
Aelita seemed to understand, patting her friend's arm as the bus came to an ear-piercing halt in front of them. "It's been a good year. Come back when you can."
"I'll try. Bye, guys."
She paused there as though waiting for something while the bus door slid open behind her and several people got off. Janika gave a beaten sigh and started to step toward the bus.
Odd grabbed the edge of her blue jean jacket. "Hey! You'll be a lot safer than we will from now on. Try not to get too serious while you're away, though."
The girl couldn't help cracking another smile. "That won't be a problem. All I have to do is think of you and your goofy outfit. With that kind of reminder I'm not so sure it's even possible to be serious at all!"
%*% 11 months, 1 week, 2 days, and 12 hours later %*%
Janika slid down and kicked at the seat in front of her. The passenger sitting there turned around and asked her to stop or else she would find herself minus a limb or two.
"Well, reer!" she rolled her eyes but sat up and looked out the bus window.
Somehow this trip just reeked of déjà vu. Ever since she was forced to return home and abandon her friends at Kadic, it seemed like they had gone out of their way to keep her out of the loop.
As promised, Aelita had been nice enough to send her updates occasionally, but she had to speak in code just in case someone else got their hands on the emails. In that way she was able to keep on top of everything going on with them, but she hardly had anything to share from her end.
Jeremy sent her some of his incomplete work when she asked if there was any way to help, so she'd been able to finish some of the programs for him—things like minor improvements on the vehicles, shortcuts to make manipulation on Lyoko quicker and simpler from the computer, and even an untested project on energy-thievery. It helped her feel less "left out" but not much.
As for Odd…if she received anything once a month from him she was surprised. And maybe it was because of that very lack of communication that made Janika mad enough to not let them know she was visiting.
Even though she was far away, the super-computer's effects still caught her unawares. It was actually more than a little annoying having to relive things. Especially gym class…
She got off the bus, heart pounding. One look around told her the others hadn't gotten the whiff of a clue that she would be showing up from her last few emails. In a way she was relieved, but in another way it just made this trip that much harder.
It wasn't until she was at the school that her courage flagged. The moment she saw Odd and Ulrich with Yumi by the soda machines she froze, not sure what to do. Thankfully the choice was taken away from her.
"Janika, is that you?" She spun around to see her pink-haired friend smiling at her. "It is you! Why didn't you tell us you were coming to town?"
Just then the others caught sight of them and Janika couldn't help feeling like she wanted to run the other direction. Instead she smiled. "Hi, guys! Been a long time."
"I'll say!" Odd laughed. "Almost a year now."
She didn't say anything for a moment. He acted so…laid back? His relaxed manner was so natural that it made her more nervous than ever.
There was a short conversation with them all in which she made some excuse about wanting to surprise everyone and not meaning to make them change plans just for her. Inside she cringed at the hollowness of her words, but the truth was that she no longer felt as though she was part of the gang.
"Can you join us for breakfast?" Aelita invited.
"Um, I'm not sure if that's allowed. I'm not a student here anymore."
"Sure it is!" Odd said as he took her hand, dragging her toward the cafeteria. "And if we can't get you anything I'll go back for seconds and give you that."
She couldn't hide a smirk. "Somehow I get the feeling if you get more food it won't make it to me. Seriously, though, I'm fine. I had some bagels earlier. If you don't mind, I'll just sit with you guys."
They continued their conversation as they entered the cafeteria and luckily Jim wasn't around or else there would have been some annoying repercussions. She looked around for Jeremy and though he wasn't around she saw William heading toward them. He stopped by their table and Janika could almost feel everyone grow tense.
"Can I join you?" The others looked at one another with edginess and William's eyes turned cold. "Fine. I know where I'm not wanted," he said stalking off to another table.
Janika looked at them reproachfully. "What was that about? I thought you said he was fine now."
Surprisingly it was Yumi who answered, "Yeah, but he was XANA's underling for months. He fought us and more than once it was his fault we nearly failed missions."
"But he's never devirtualized Janika. She doesn't really have a reason to be mad at him like we do," Odd put in.
She still looked disapproving. "But that's no longer the case. He's back to his old self and he's trying to make up for it. Why are you holding it against him?"
There was a brief moment when it seemed like Yumi and Ulrich were going to explode, but then Aelita looked down.
"Oh, Jeremy's calling me. Yes?" Her face went into semi-shock. "My father contacted you? Of course! Yes, we'll meet you in the park." She hung up and looked at her friends exultantly. "He thinks my father might be able to help us defeat XANA. He's asked us to be at the factory in fifteen minutes."
"Is he sure it's Hopper?" Ulrich wondered.
"He said he'll explain on the way."
"Well then what are we waiting here for? Let's go!" Odd said standing up.
As he passed behind Janika his fingers brushed her arm in a way she knew wasn't accidental. She pretended to be busy making sure her purse was closed to hide the smile she was trying to bite back. One thing home just couldn't replicate was Odd, and she could never bring herself to ask him about their relationship, so the possibility that he didn't care for her as much as he did a year ago haunted her all the time. The scarce emails he sent also gave her that impression, but…
Maybe it wasn't as bad as she thought.
They left, but Janika shot a look back at William. His eyes followed them and she knew instinctively that he felt she was trying to replace him. That guilty feeling clung to her as she trailed behind the others.
When they found Jeremy in the bushes he jerked back in surprise on seeing Janika. "What are you doing here?"
"I was in the neighborhood," she shrugged. "Can I help?"
"Well…we've been able to hold our own up to this point, but—" He cut off because just then someone else joined them.
William skidded to a stop and asked, "Is there anything I can do?"
"No, we're fine," Jeremy said little too quickly.
"Hey, I've got a bone to pick with him too!" he insisted.
All of them looked at one other nervously. Janika knew she hadn't been as close to the action or the danger, but it seemed unfair to keep him away especially since he wanted to help badly enough.
"Why don't you give him a chance?" she asked.
The response was immediate and Janika realized she should have just kept her mouth shut. Jeremy's eyes went hard and he thrust a finger at William.
"This operation is delicate enough without having to worry about him. Once he succumbed to XANA's control it made him susceptible. Right now it's only a danger to the rest of us to have him around the factory."
William jerked his head toward Janika. "What about her? Is she going along with you?"
The dark-haired girl closed her eyes, wishing he hadn't said it out loud. The answer to that was obvious before she even showed up in town.
"Well, we might need her," Odd suggested.
"The last time she fought on Lyoko was almost a year ago," Yumi reasoned. "This mission is too important and she's definitely out of practice."
The girl being discussed suddenly looked at them and said, "Don't you guys realize you're on a time-table? You can't keep wasting time bickering about whether or not William and I should tag along. If you need us you'll let us know. Now get going!"
With a few words of farewell the gang disappeared into the trees, leaving the other two standing at the edge of the park. William turned to her angrily.
"Why didn't you fight?" he demanded.
"What good would it have done? Do you really think insisting on my right to be in the club would have convinced them to let me go too? They would have been more anxious about having me there than ever, and that doesn't exactly add to the level of trust between all of us."
He folded his arms but didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Fine, but what about me?"
"What about you?"
"Do you think I'm 'susceptible'?"
"I'm no genius when it comes to those things. Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. But it's really not your call. You were invited into the gang, not pressured. Don't turn it around and act like they owe you."
For the first time William looked less upset and more thoughtful. He stuck his hands into his pockets and walked slowly toward the campus exit. Janika glanced back at the undergrowth of the park and then walked after him.
"Do you want to get an orange soda or something?"
"Sure," he replied in a kinder tone.
For those of you who have read all 11 episodes of my Code: Lyoko series, this will be the official last story. I was going over summaries of the episodes online, and when I came to the final one I accidentally mis-read it. From that mistake this story just fleshed itself out until I had my own version of what XANA's demise should have been like.