I do not own Code Lyoko or anything affiliated with it. I'm just a fan like you guys.

POV Jeremy

"GOOOOOAAAALLLLL"

It was Thursday after class and I looked up from my laptop screen to see Odd pumping his fist in the air excitedly at the foosball table in the rec room. It was him vs Ulrich. They used to be pretty evenly matched but since Odd started playing against Sissi regularly he'd gotten much better and won much more often!

"I take it you just won?" I asked as I closed the lid on my laptop. It was hard to do after being glued to it for so long in case of a X.A.N.A. attack, but I was getting better. Besides, I had good friends that I wanted to spend time with AWAY from the screen.

""Haven't won yet, but it's game point! Ulrich has only 4 points."

"It's kinda unfair that you've been getting private one on one time from an expert!" Lamented Ulrich.

I was curious about something though. "Speaking of an expert, now that you've been together for a couple weeks, how are things going with you and Sissi?"

"Things are really great, seriously!" He looked at Ulrich, "you ended up missing out on a real gem! Not that I'm complaining!" He said with a wink and a chuckle.

"Well I'm glad that it's working out for you two, but Sissi was never my type... still isn't. Yumi's always been the only one for me! Though I'm surprised that you're still alive after principal Delmas saw the picture in the Kadic news last week."

"He was actually pretty cool about it, I was surprised! He probably realized that his daughter dating Odd the Magnificent is the best thing for her after all!" Always the braggart.

I snorted "I dare you to say that in front of Sissi!" I challenged.

"Or Hervé for that matter!" Chimed in Ulrich.

We all laughed, Then they both stopped for a moment and looked at me. Odd cocked a eyebrow. "What are you guys looking at me for?"

Ulrich smirked a little. "It's your turn next you know!"

Knowing he was referring to Aelita and me, I felt my cheeks start to get hot. Fortunately, both Sissi and Aeltia happened to walk in right then. "Hey! How was your study session?" Perfect timing.

POV Aelita

Sissi and I walked into the rec room and found Ulrich and Odd at the foosball table like usual, and Jeremy sitting near them with his laptop on his lap. The lid was uncharacteristically shut. I knew his old habits were hard to break, but he'd been getting better and I was really proud of him for trying to break away from his screens once in a while. He was also blushing right now which meant that Ulrich or Odd must've just said something about the two of us. I started to feel my cheeks flush at the thought as well.

Jeremy called out, "Hey! How was your study session?" The words came out rushed and he was clearly eager to change the current topic of conversation.

I thought I'd oblige him as I would be rather embarrassed to discuss that particular topic with everyone as well. "It went well Sissi's finally getting the hang of converting units of measurement!"

"And it only took 2 hours!" Said Sissi in an exasperated tone. Her expression softened into a look of affection as she walked over to Odd. "How's the game going sweetheart?"

"Game point, my lead!" Odd replied enthusiastically before putting a hand on Sissi's cheek and pulling her in for a kiss, which she gladly accepted.

Ulrich groaned, "Get a room you two!"

I'll never know how those two can be so comfortable being so openly, and blatantly, affectionate in public. Though truthfully I was kinda jealous of that kind of confidence.

"Well Ulrich Dear, Yumi should be here soon and then you shouldn't feel so left out!" Sissi teased, using the old pet name she used call Ulrich while mockingly batting her eyelashes.

"Odd! Could you call off your girlfriend!?"

"Hey, no flirting with my friends! You don't want me to get jealous now, do you?" Odd responded playfully.

"Of course not sweetie!" Sissi said turning back to Odd. Being several inches taller than the short blond she tilted his chin up and kissed him again.

Though they were both outrageously playful flirts, I knew their relationship went so much deeper than that, having spent months developing a very strong friendship before ever considering the possibility of going out. Their relationship was every bit as strong as Ulrich and Yumi's. To see them so happy together was wonderful.

Speaking of Yumi, I heard the door open and turned to see her standing in the doorway with an unamused, yet unsurprised look on her face. "I really didn't need to walk in on that..." Referring to Odd and Sissi still kissing.

"I told them to get a room..." Said Ulrich walking over to greet his own girlfriend.

They broke their kiss, "Oh hey Yumi!" Greeted Odd.

Ulrich and Yumi May have been dating publicly for months, but they both preferred to keep their public displays of affection a little more... subdued. When Ulrich walked over to Yumi he simply kissed her on the cheek gently before taking her hand in his for a moment and they still both blushed slightly. Yumi had told me that they were both a lot more comfortable being affectionate in private. Again, I was thrilled that they were doing well, and it seemed that they were able to talk about how they felt about things and each other much more than they ever could in the past.

Then I looked at Jeremy. I did my best to keep the look of longing out of my eyes. When he looked up at me though, I knew he saw it and we both blushed again. I wanted with Jeremy what the others had with each other, and I knew he did too. Jeremy had always been too shy and awkward to make the first move himself, and while I was willing to be a little more forward, I was still pretty shy about it too. I also didn't want to rush him. I sat next to him though and enjoyed simply being close to him.

"All right Odd, I forfeit the game, you win!" Called out Ulrich.

"Hey, come on, we just got enough people to play doubles!" Sissi said while she and Odd grinned slyly at each other. Everyone else groaned knowing the two (especially Sissi) were unstoppable.

"Hey Einstein!" Called Odd, "you're on Sissi's team to make it even!"

Jeremy and I looked at each other for a moment before he shrugged and headed for the table. Darn, that was short lived. At least we all had fun for the rest of the afternoon.

A few games later Odd looked at the clock on his phone and called out, "Hey, it's time for dinner, and I am NOT going to be late for spaghetti and meatballs!" We all rolled our eyes and laughed a bit.

POV Jeremy

After dinner and free time, we all headed to our dorms, and Yumi headed home. I just couldn't stop thinking about the looks that Aelita kept giving me. Even though I could tell she was trying to hide it, they were happening more and more frequently. I was sure that she wanted to be more 'together' than we had been until now, and truthfully, so did I. The problem was that we both were really shy about it, and I was really awkward at this sort of thing as well. We had been quite comfortable with our current relationship until Odd and Sissi got together a couple weeks ago. After that we were starting to feel the pressure of being the last of our group to not be officially together. I knew that wasn't a very good reason, but it was still there.

I needed to talk to someone. Odd and Sissi probably weren't good choices. They practically fell into each other's arms without hesitation upon realizing what they felt for each other, plus neither one ever had trouble asking someone out (even if in Sissi's case it was met with repeated rejection from Ulrich). I've always been really close with Yumi so I'm sure we could easily talk, but I kinda wanted to talk to a guy about it. Ulrich was probably the only one who could relate to what was going on having mostly been there himself with Yumi for a long time. He was also able to make it past this stage, which also helped.

We all went our separate ways to our dorms and said our good nights. When I got in, I sat in my computer chair and dialed Ulrich's number.

"Hey Jeremy, What's up?"

"Could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure?"

"In my room preferably, for privacy."

"Um... ok. It's after curfew though..."

"That hasn't stopped us before!"

"Good point, I'll be right over."

A few minutes later he walked in and sat down on my bed. "So, what's going on?"

I flopped my head on the back of the chair and took a deep breath. "I'm pretty sure you know that I really like Aelita."

"Jeremy, you flipped for her when we still thought she was a computer program. At the time I thought you were crazy! Still, I'm glad you've finally said it. I proud of you!"

"It's that obvious?"

"Yeah, it is."

I pulled my head up off the back of my chair and looked at him. "I want to ask her to be more than friends, and I'm pretty sure she wants that too."

"That's good, you're not only good for each other, you two deserve each other!"

"Thanks Ulrich. The problem is I just don't know how. I know you went through something similar with Yumi, and I was wondering if you had any advice."

For a minute he looked like he was trying to remember something, but suddenly looked me right in the eye and said quietly, but forcefully. "You've already told me that you like her, but do you love her?"

I was slightly confused by his sudden forwardness. Still, I only had to think for a moment before responding, "yes, I do."

"Then say it out loud."

I was confused. "What?"

"You trusted me enough to come to me in the first place, so just trust me on this. Tell me that you love her out loud."

I found that it was surprisingly much easier to answer a simple 'yes' when prompted than to actually say the words out loud myself. I barely mumbled out "I love her."

"Speak clearly and tell me who." Ulrich commanded, standing up and stepping towards me.

Under Ulrich's verbal onslaught I shocked myself by blurting out "I love Aelita!" My cheeks flushed badly.

He smiled and sat back down. "It feels good to say it out loud, doesn't it?"

I weakly nodded. On the one hand, he was right. It really did feel good to say it. On the other hand, it was kind of scary the way Ulrich kind of forced it out of me. I didn't expect that, and I'm not sure how I felt about it.

Ulrich continued. "Let me share some good advice that was given to me. 'If you love her, then tell her. It's that simple.'"

It did sound simple, but simple things weren't always easy. I realized that my knuckles were white from gripping the armrests on my chair. I forced myself to relax. "You know Ulrich, simple isn't the same as easy."

He smiled. "I thought you'd say that. I did too. I'll tell you what though, it's well worth it."

"Maybe, but what if I'm wrong and she doesn't feel the same way abou..."

"Don't even go there." Ulrich interrupted. "She's loved you for as long as you've loved her and wants this too. Aelita, Yumi, and Sissi talk to each other a lot more than we do, and this has come up more than once. Yumi has told me about it, she and I don't keep secrets from each other anymore. Not too long ago we even exchanged diaries and it definitely helped us get even closer."

Ok, now he was just rambling. Then my eyes went wide in sudden realization. "Do you mean that you're going to tell Yumi about this!"

"Sorry, I probably should have told you that before we started, but we refuse to keep each other in the dark about anything anymore. Though I will admit that it was very hard for both of us to get to this point, we both have a hard time talking about what we think or feel. Exchanging diaries really helped break through a lot of walls. WHEN you and Aelita finally get together, I suggest you do the same. And when she talks, make sure to really listen. That's another hard lesson we both had to learn."

I looked at him, skeptical about his opinions on confidentiality.

"Don't worry, when Yumi and I talk it's in full confidence. 'Girl talk' is not, which is why I don't feel bad about telling you how Aelita feels about you. Besides, after everything we've all been through, do you really think she can't keep a secret!?"

I let out the breath I just realized I'd been holding. "Ok, that's a good point."

We sat quietly for a few minutes while Ulrich gave me a chance to think. "Do you mind if I ask a couple of unrelated questions?"

"Sure."

"Do Yumi and Sissi really talk to each other, just the two of them?"

Ulrich chuckled a little. "Sometimes. Since Sissi and Odd hooked up there's no more jealousy issues and she hasn't been the spoiled brat she used to be in a long time. Now that those are gone, they actually get along pretty well."

"That's true, still strange to think about."

"It's only strange until you think how unlikely Sissi and Odd being together would've seemed six months ago, and those two are great together!"

"That's also a good point, and good for them. Question number two: who gave you that advice?"

Ulrich let out a small laugh and smile. "Believe it or not, William."

"You're Kidding!"

He laughed and stood up. "Nope! Maybe I'll tell you about it another time. But right now, I'm going to head back and get to bed. I'm beat. Try to say that you love Aelita out loud a few more times, it might help your nerves. Goodnight."

I shook my head a few times before answering, "night Ulrich, thanks for coming. I don't think I'm ready just yet, but you definitely helped."

Before walking out the door he stopped and turned back to me. "One last thing. When I asked Yumi out officially, I was more nervous than I had ever been before, and that's ok. It's ok to be nervous, you don't have to fight it. All you need to pay attention to is saying what you need to."

After he left, I took his advice and said "I love Aelita" quietly aloud a few more times. Each time it felt better and calmed my nerves about the subject a bit. Unfortunately, that wasn't all that was holding me back...

POV Aelita

It was Thursday again and Sissi and I were halfway through our weekly study session that had become part of our routine. "You really picked up on molarity of compounds really quickly, I'm proud of you!

Sissi beamed at the compliment. "I don't know what I would have done if you and Jeremy hadn't started helping me with this sort of stuff! I was hopeless in math and science before!

At the mention of Jeremy, my heart ached, and it must've shown on my face.

"You want more, don't you?"

I was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean with Jeremy. You love him and want to be more than halfway between friends and a couple like you are now, don't you?"

My eyes went wide, and my cheeks started burning with how casually Sissi said that out loud! Then I buried my face in my hands with embarrassment before letting out a very muffled "Yes."

"Hey." Sissi started gently pulling my hands away from my face. "It's ok, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Besides, everyone knows it anyway!"

I looked up at Sissi and saw she had a tender 'big sister' look on her face. "I don't really know. Sometimes I wish I was just a little more forward like you."

"Somehow I don't think Jeremy would like that. You're already more forward than he is, any more might be too much."

"You're probably right." I slumped in my chair and we sat in silence for a few minutes. "Sissi, can I show you something?"

"Sure!"

I thought for a minute about how to describe what I wanted to say while Sissi waited patiently. "Could you close your eyes for a minute? I want you to imagine something."

Sissi looked surprised, but willing. "Uhh- ok." And she shut her eyes.

"And could you hold out one of your hands palm up on the table."

She did so.

I want you to imagine for a moment that the only sensations you can possibly experience are what you can see, and what you can hear. You've never drawn breath, you've never felt warmth or cold, rough or smooth. You've never tasted anything. The feel of a cool drink of water is foreign, the heat of a warm meal is completely unimaginable. You've never smelled the flowers on a spring day, nor the scent of the grass after it rains. The taste of chocolate melting on your tongue is a meaningless reference because you can't know what it's like because you don't have a sense of taste. Every sensation that I just described simply didn't exist in your memory, where those memories could exist is complete emptiness. Think you've got it?"

"Yeah I think so. It's... kind of sad."

"This was my world for over 10 years. Thankfully I wasn't conscious for most of it, but for over a year I was. Over a year of straight consciousness without sleep, dreams, or sensation."

"And now imagine that you have never felt Odd's hand in yours despite wanting it more than anything, the brush of his lips was one of your deepest desires, but you couldn't even imagine what any of that was like. You've never felt any sensation on your lips at all. The only interaction you ever had with him was to talk to an image on the other side of a screen.

Sissi was starting to look troubled, I thought it was time to make my point.

"Then I was materialized and the first thing that I felt was 'his' hand take mine to help me up." I slid my hand into Sissi's outstretched hand.

Sissi sharply inhaled at the sudden warmth of my hand in hers, then her eyes shot open and she stared at me for a moment breathing heavily. "Wow!"

"That was my first memory with Jeremy in person. It's also my dearest memory. Finally meeting the boy on the other side of the screen after so much time longing to meet in person."

Sissi managed to calm herself a little. "I told you once to not let him go. If he doesn't make the first move, then maybe you should. I still wouldn't worry about it too much yet though. If he's as crazy about you as everyone says, I'd say you've got time."

I was surprised that I wasn't blushing at that comment. I guess I was starting to get comfortable talking with Sissi about this. "Maybe." Maybe I should talk to daddy for a bit about it. Sometimes it seems like he answers. I looked at the time, still an hour left of our usual study time. "Do you mind if we cut it short today? I'd really like to talk to my father."

"You do what you need to. Besides, you're doing me the favor by being here in the first place!"

"Thanks, Sissi. Could you not tell anyone I'm gone yet?" I could see she didn't want to keep secrets, especially not after being finally let in on the secret of Lyoko "I'm not asking you to lie about it, just don't bring it up for a couple hours." She seemed to feel a little better about that.

"Ok, I'll just keep studying here for a bit, so I don't have to talk to anyone yet."

I packed up my stuff and I headed towards the tunnel in the park.

POV Jeremy

I looked at the time on my phone and saw that Aelita still had about an hour and a half left for her usual weekly study with Sissi, Odd and Ulrich were probably at the rec room, and Yumi was just about to head to class. This was a good time to head to the factory. I felt I should let someone know where I was going, so I dialed Yumi while headed for the tunnel.

"Hey Jeremy, what's up? I'm about to go to class so this needs to be quick."

"I'm headed to the factory and wanted to let someone know where I was."

"The factory, why? You aren't planning on starting up the supercomputer, are you!?" I could hear the worry in her voice.

"No, nothing like that." I hesitated to tell her the real reason I was going. "I... need to talk to Franz Hopper."

There was silence on the other end for a minute. "It wasn't your fault, so try not to be too hard on yourself." I seldom had to tell Yumi what I was thinking anymore, somehow, she just knew.

"I'm not making any promises with that one. I'll be ok though."

"Jeremy." There was another pause on the line. "You did good, No one else could have done better."

"Thanks for saying that."

"You don't believe it though, do you?"

I knew if I lied, she would see right through it easily. She always did. "I'm not sure."

"You know, Aelita says that sometimes she feels him answer back. I hope you do too."

"I guess that depends on his answer. I should be back before you get out of class. I'm at the tunnel, see you later."

"Good luck, but I really don't think you need it."

After I hung up I lifted the manhole cover and climbed down, I grabbed my scooter made the trek to the factory. The others had long since taken their skateboards back, but Aelita and I went back often enough to leave our scooters. Within minutes I was hitting the button to descend on the elevator.

I was here.

In all the times I had been here with Aelita after shutting down the supercomputer, I had never left the elevator.

I hadn't been able to bring myself to face... him.

Franz Hopper.

Aelita's father.

...

...

...

The man I couldn't save.

This time I felt my feet shuffle forward step by agonizing step and I felt all the guilt and shame that I had been bottling up the months after his death start to boil and spill over. When I reached to door to the mainframe I fell to my knees and openly wept.

"Mr. hopper, I did all I could..." I started. No, it was a lie. I had thought him gone after he saved Aelita after the Scyphazoa stole her memories and never went looking to make sure. "No, I didn't. I didn't know you were still here. I could have spent more time trying to find you, but I didn't. Because I wasn't good enough, I couldn't save you." My tears fell in puddles on the steel floor. "Now Aelita has to go through life without a father, and it's my fault!" I wailed in anguish and pounded my fist on the mainframe door. I imagined parts of her future, visions that had haunted me for months. No father to congratulate her at graduation from Kadic, no one to come home to during college breaks. I saw her, dressed in white, walking down the aisle, alone. She was in a hospital room with her first child, knowing that there would always be a grandfather missing... because of me... and I had come here thinking to ask to be with his daughter. What a fool.

As I was sobbing in all the guilt, the shame, and the self-loathing for my failures, my eyes suddenly shot open wide, and for a moment my breath was uncontrollable! A wave of something crashed over me that swept everything away. I fell over to the side and all the visions in my head started to change.

Where before she was alone at graduation, I saw friends and laughter. Instead of having no one to go home to during college breaks, she had a family. Not her real one, but a family of wonderful friends. She had finished walking down the aisle and now stood before the altar facing someone. In the delivery room, she had just handed her newborn baby to someone she was beaming so proudly at. I saw one more image, a new image. I saw a pair of matching rocking chairs, and in one of them sat a very old but content looking Aelita, hair just barely holding on to a hint of her natural pink. Surrounding her was a bunch of grandchildren around the room and what had to be their parents... her children.

I felt something in my heart that whispered, 'You saved my daughter... that was enough.'

Then the visions started to become even clearer and I was now able to recognize the people around her at graduation and in college, Yumi, Odd, Ulrich, and even Sissi. I recognized the man standing at the alter with her, and the same man that was holding her child, the same man that was in the matching rocking chair...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

It was me.

I felt the 'voice' again. 'Please take good care of her.'

I quietly whispered, "I will." Then I started gently crying again, but not tears of pain. Where there was guilt and shame, there was now peace and hope for a future. A future with the one I loved so very much.

As I laid there, I heard the elevator door close as it was called back to the surface.

POV Aelita

It was odd not seeing Jeremy's scooter at the beginning of the tunnel, but upon seeing it at the end I knew he was here. Why?

I pushed the elevator call button and waited nervously. When it arrived, it took over a full minute for me to get the nerve to push the button to go to the bottom floor, and when I finally did arrived I saw Jeremy there like I expected. What I did not expect was to find his eyes red and cheeks puffy from crying. From the puddles on the ground where he was standing, he had cried a lot. "What happened!? Are you ok!?" I called out, running to him.

As soon as I was close enough, he wrapped me in his arms and whispered, "I am now." I felt my cheeks flush for a moment and since he seemed fine now, I just wanted enjoy his warm embrace for as long as I could.

Too soon for my liking though, he pulled away and looked at me. He was a mess and there we still some traces of tears in his eyes, but he looked calm and happy. "I guess you're here to talk to your dad?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want me to stay? If not, I can wait for you in the control room."

I thought for a moment considering his offer but decided that I needed to be alone this time. "I think I'd like to be alone for a little while."

He nodded in understanding and headed to the elevator.

After he left, I approached the trap door and knelt where Jeremy had been and dipped my fingertips in the puddles of his tears. 'What happened here?' I thought to myself. I resolved to ask him later, but right now I had other questions to ask.

"Hi Daddy, it's me." I never could tell for sure, but for some reason I thought I could feel his presence here. Even so, it was always strange talking like this. "I guess I kinda wanted to ask you some things. Mostly about Jeremy." I could have sworn I felt something stirring. "I just don't know what I should do. I really do... love him." I started tearing up a little at saying it for the first time. "He saved me from Lyoko, and I really think you'd really like him." I paused for a moment then whispered. "I wish you were here. I wish I could talk to you for real."

I felt the stirring again, stronger this time. An image of Jeremy popped into my head. That wasn't unusual as I often thought of him, however just then I felt the presence of my father that I always felt was fading very quickly.

My eyes shot open and I felt the trap door with my hands as if trying to find something lost. "Daddy NO! Please don't leave me again!" I cried out as I tried to hold onto his presence. But as it was leaving, the image of Jeremy was placed back in my head and I felt the words whispered in my heart, 'I'm sorry I can't stay, but you're in good hands now.' And then it was gone. The door under my hands was only cold steel, and the floor merely concrete. The presence of my father was gone, and there was no more comfort for me here.

I slowly got up off the floor and started to walk towards the elevator and started to cry. There might not be comfort here, but I knew where to find it.

POV Jeremy

After I had made it to the control room and sat down in the chair, I wondered why Aelita was here. I knew she was here to see her father, but she had never come without me before. Not that I knew of anyway. I guess I'll ask on the way home. There are other things to talk about while we are here.

The calm that I felt earlier was starting to wear off. Fortunately, the feelings of inadequacy were not coming back, and the feelings of hope remained. I was still getting nervous again though, and I tried calming myself with deep breaths.

I started to think about what happened in the mainframe room. If it all really happened, then Franz Hopper was grateful to me for saving her. It seemed like he was ok with his death too and willingly sacrificed himself. That was sort of comforting to my state of mind, but I was really going to need to spend some time wrapping my head around all this. One thing was sure though, I absolutely intended to 'take good care of her' no matter what.

Then there were the altered visions that I saw. Were they visions of the actual future? Or just the desires of the future? If so, whose desires, mine or Franz Hopper's? Both...? It wouldn't surprise me if the supercomputer was capable of looking into the future, it could already return to the past.

"It doesn't matter!" I exclaimed out loud. The future was not set in stone! We had proven that with every Return to the Past trip! The fact was that I had come here for the slim chance I might have Franz Hopper's blessing with Aelita. He had given that, and so much more! XANA was gone, and Ulrich had assured me that Aelita felt the same way about me as felt about her. The only thing left to do was share how I felt about her. I was definitely nervous, but it was like Ulrich said. That was ok.

For the first time in years, I felt my entire body relax and let the realization that everything was going to finally be ok at long last truly sink in. The rest of my... our life was finally ahead of us.

When I heard the Elevator head down to pick up Aelita, I felt my heart begin to race again and felt my palms start to sweat. 'You're nervous Jeremy, but that's ok. You can do this.' I told myself. Then the elevator door opened, and I saw Aelita standing there crying and shaking. All thoughts of being nervous and what I was going to say were completely replaced by the need to comfort her.

"Aelita!" I ran to her and wrapped her in my arms and pulled her close.

"He's gone."

"Who's gone?"

"Daddy. I always felt him near when I was here, but now he's gone. I felt him leave."

I guided her to the computer chair and sat down. Then I pulled her up across my lap and held her close with her head on my shoulder while she cried."

POV Aelita

A few minutes went by and I started to get over the shock of what happened in the mainframe room and calmed down. It was then I realized what was happening here. Jeremy had never held me like this before. It was warm and comforting and exactly what I needed. I looked up at him for a moment certain that I would see him blushing, but he wasn't. Instead of looking shy or embarrassed, he just looked concerned for me. That was just like my Jeremy, always thinking more about me than himself. It was also one of the things I always loved about him. He smiled at me and I put my head back down on his shoulder. Then he started softly running his fingers through my hair, it was so comforting, and so nice. I couldn't believe he was being this bold, and I couldn't help but forget everything else if only for a little while.

"Mmmm... That's nice. Who are you and what have you done with my Jeremy?" I cooed.

"It's still me, but I like the sound of 'my Jeremy'" he whispered.

My eyes got wide as I straightened up immediately! I felt my cheeks start to burn as I looked at him. I couldn't believe I let that slip out like that!

He was blushing too but didn't look away. Instead he gently pulled me close and started stroking my hair again and after a minute I completely forgot about my embarrassment and nuzzled in closer.

A few minutes later he stopped brushing my hair and ask, "So what happened?"

"What?"

"In the mainframe room, what happened?"

The sadness of what happened earlier resurfaced. "After we defeated XANA, I always felt like I could still feel my father in the mainframe room. That was why I kept wanting to come back here, to feel his presence. Sometimes I even thought I could feel him answer back when I talked to him."

Jeremy looked a little lost in thought for a moment after hearing that. "Yumi told me about that this afternoon when I told her I was coming here."

I almost forgot that he was here before me! "Why did you come here anyway? And what happened down there!?" I sat up and looked at him, then blushed hard when I saw how close that put my face to his. He was blushing too. I could see in his eyes how much he wanted to look away in embarrassment, but I could also see he was determined not to look away out if shyness, and so was I. I stared into his beautiful blue eyes until it just felt natural and our blushing went away. Then he guided my head back on his shoulder where I nuzzled back into the crook of his neck.

"I'll tell you but go ahead and keep going for now. You started first."

I blushed yet again at the thought of telling Jeremy that I was here to ask about him. "Umm... could you go first...?"

POV Jeremy

I wasn't sure how to feel right now. Having Aelita finally nestled in my arms was incredible, but the news about not being able to feel her father anymore cut like a knife. Right now though, she wanted to know what happened downstairs. "Aelita?"

"Yes Jeremy."

"Ever since your father died, I've felt guilty about not being able to save him, and I've felt responsible."

Aelita picked her head up and gave me a concerned look. "That wasn't your fault."

I looked at the floor. "I know that now, but I had thought if I was smarter, or faster, I should have been able to save him. But I couldn't. It's the reason that every time we've come here since the shutdown, I never left the elevator. I couldn't face him, until this afternoon."

Aelita put her hand in my shoulder. "Jeremy, what happened down there?"

I looked back at her. "When I got off the elevator all the guilt and shame I'd been bottling up came out at once and I broke."

Aelita looked confused. "When I got here you were calm."

"As I was breaking down, your father answered. Probably the same way he answered you. For months I've been haunted by the thoughts of you growing up without a father. Things in the future, graduation..." I took a deep breath, these next two were big. "Not being able to have your father walk you down the aisle, or your children not having a grandfather."

Aelita's stood and turned to face me. I immediately missed the warmth of having her in my arms. "You shouldn't have to be worrying about that, I'M not even thinking about those things yet!" she said incredulously.

I looked at the floor again. "I know, but I couldn't help it. But somehow your father did something and just... blew it all away. The shame, the doubt, the guilt, and he replaced it with the calm you saw earlier. Then he sort of 'spoke' to me and changed all those thoughts."

Hesitantly, Aelita asked, "What did he say?"

"He told me, 'you saved my daughter, that was enough.'"

Aelita looked like she was about to cry again. "Did he say anything else?"

I reached out and took her hands in mine. "Please take good care of her."

Her mouth dropped open a little, then she started to get angry and jerked her hands out of mine. "So he passes me like a baton and leaves again!" She ran towards the elevator and pounded on the 'up' button.

I called out "Aelita wait!"

I waited for the elevator to come back down then quickly got in and slammed the 'up' button myself. When I got to the ground floor my phone started ringing, it was Yumi.

"Where are you? I thought you said you'd be back before I got out of class." She didn't sound very happy.

"Still at the factory, sorry."

"That's ok, is Aelita there with you?"

"How'd you know she was here!?"

"Sissi told us." She sounded relieved, that was going to be short lived. "Did you get the answer you were looking for?"

"Yes, but I don't think Aelita did. She just got upset and ran off!"

"What! Do you know why? And do you want help looking for her!?"

"Not yet, I don't know, and I think I know where she is."

"Ok then. Let us know if you end up needing help. You should probably walk slowly though."

"What does that mean?"

"It means she's upset and could probably use a little bit of time to calm down!" She sounded a little agitated, I couldn't blame her. Aelita was like her sister, and Yumi was very protective of her.

"Ok, that sounds like a good idea. I'll see you later."

"Good luck Jeremy."

POV Aelita

I was running, again. I didn't really know why I was running, especially away from Jeremy. He wasn't the one who left, Daddy was. Jeremy was comfort... I needed comfort. But before I knew it, I found myself in my old room at the Hermitage.

'I'm sorry I can't stay, but you're in good hands now.' Remembering the words I felt at the factory, he probably stayed just long enough to tell Jeremy to take care of me. Not that Jeremy ever needed to be told that, he just did it! Why did Daddy have to go at all!? Why couldn't he have just stayed? Maybe he wanted to see mom... I didn't know... I probably never would...

I laid down on the bed.

I hope Jeremy comes here. Jeremy is comfort, but I don't want to move...

POV Jeremy

I approached the Hermitage after having heeded Yumi's advice not to hurry. The trip probably took about 30 minutes. When I got upstairs though, I found Aelita asleep on her old bed. Before going in her room, I quietly texted Yumi 'found her, we're at the Hermitage. I'll call you later,' and she texted an acknowledgment.

I knocked on the doorpost and Aelita started to wake up. She sat up and rubbed her eyes a little. "Jeremy... I'm glad you're here. Could you sit down?"

I walked in and sat next to her on the bed. Upon doing so, she snuggled up to me just like she was at the factory. I'm didn't know what to expect when I got here, but this wasn't it. "Aelita, are you feeling any better?"

"I am now."

"Are you still mad at me?"

She took one of my hands and put it on her head. Understanding what she wanted, I started running my fingers through her hair again. "I wasn't mad at you. I was upset with my father and I just ran, I don't really know why. I hope I didn't worry you."

"Oh, that's ok."

"Can we just sit here like this for a while? I think I need this."

I was just happy be able to give her comfort. "If that's what you need, yes."

I don't know how long we stayed that way, but eventually Aelita spoke. "My father might have done some terrible things, especially to me, but I still love him and miss him."

I stopped stroking her hair and hugged her with both hands. "I understand. And now he's gone."

"Again."

"You know he loved you, right."

She sighed. "I know."

"I think he would have stayed if he had a choice."

"I know that too. It's just that sometimes it's hard knowing that the life that I could have had is gone."

Knowing what my life would be missing without her, it was hard to hear that.

We sat in silence for a few more moments. "You know we would have never met if this hadn't happened. You would have never met the others either, and even if you did, you'd be 8-10 years older than us. We would have never been friends."

"I know", she said quietly. "That's what I keep holding on to. It seems like you got the assurance from my father that you needed, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did. I didn't go there for closure, but I'm glad I got it."

Aelita picked her head up and looked up at me a little perplexed. "Then... What did you need to talk to my father about?"

I blushed yet again and looked away. I was kinda glad she took her head off my shoulder as I'm sure she would have heard my heart pounding otherwise. Once again, I was thankful of Ulrich's advice on being nervous. "I went to talk about you."

POV Aelita

Watching the look on his face and the color in his cheeks, it all made sense. I knew exactly what he went to talk to my father about. If he continued to be as bold as he had been this whole day, then I also knew what was coming next. I buried my face back into the crook of his neck to hide my own blushing face, and gripped his shirt tightly. I thought words of encouragement towards him though I knew he couldn't hear, 'you can do it, please say it.'

"I love you Aelita."

It felt as though time stood still. My own heart felt like a drum as I put my arms around him and refused to let go of him, and this moment. "I love you too Jeremy, you make everything that's happened worth it." He started running his fingers through my hair again, and I decided that I loved that too.

Time didn't stand still for us though, and eventually daylight started to fade. We both knew we had to get back to the dorms and hope the Jim hadn't found out we were missing.

We untangled ourselves from each other and stood up, and I started heading for the door expecting Jeremy to follow. I didn't get more than a couple steps before I felt Jeremy's hand on my shoulder, and I turned around. I saw him close the distance quickly and surprised me yet again as I suddenly felt the soft pressure of his lips on mine!

It lasted only a couple seconds, but it was wonderful! I had kissed him that one time after XANA's first polymorphic Spector incident, but where that one was more out of curiosity, this one was entirely out of love and affection! Plus, this time he kissed me!

After we broke away from each other, there was just enough light in the room to see him grinning madly. "I felt I needed to do that before we left." He admitted sheepishly.

I returned the grin for a moment before reaching out, pulling his face to mine, and kissed him right back! "Now we can go!"

We left the Hermitage hand in hand with fingers laced together and headed back to Kadic. On the way back I had a couple of questions. "You've been really bold, and a lot more forward today than I've ever seen you, what happened?"

"Was it too much...?" There was definitely some trepidation in his voice.

"Not at all! I liked it. It reminded me of how brave you were when we were still fighting XANA." I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"That's good. I got some really good advice from Ulrich. He told me it was ok to be nervous, just concentrate on saying what I need to."

"That sounds like good advice."

"Speaking of saying what I need to, if I'm already you're Jeremy, would you be my Aelita?" He squeezed my hand this time.

I giggled and beamed happiness at him. "I would only ever be 'your Aelita!'" As upset as I was about my father leaving yet again, he was right about one thing. I was definitely in good hands!

POV Jeremy

Thankfully we made it back to the dorms just before lights out. I walked Aelita to her room before heading to mine. When we got there Sissi must have heard us in the hallway because she stormed out of her room across the hallway and saw us. "I have been worried sick about you two!" She scolded as loudly as she dared. She pointed to Jeremy, "And you, Mr. Belpois, owe Yumi a phone call and an apology for making her worry too!"

We just stood there like a deer in headlights. "Sorry Sissi..." I apologized weakly.

She glared at us angrily until she saw our hands clasped tightly. Her expression softened a bit and she huffed a little. "It looks like some congratulations are in order, but don't think I'm not still upset! I'm giving you three minutes of privacy, but Jeremy had better be headed back to his OWN room by then!" She opened her door to walk in but stopped for a second and turned around. "And don't forget to call Yumi, she's been worried too!" Then she shut the door.

We both stood there stunned for a second before Aelita spoke first. "Why do you owe Yumi a phone call?"

"Uhh... when I found you at the Hermitage, I told her I would call her later... umm, we only have two out of three minutes left, can I tell you tomorrow? There's something else I'd rather do with such a narrow timeframe!" I teased.

"Like what Mr. Belpois?" She teased back.

I took her face in my hands and kissed her gently, then started running my hand through her hair. I felt her arms wrap around my waist. It was wonderful, but short. Neither one of us wanted to get scolded by Sissi again.

"I love you Aelita"

"I love you too Jeremy." Then she went into her room, closed the door, and I left.

When I got to my room, I called Yumi and prepared for the verbal thrashing I had coming to me.

"Jeremy, please tell me you're not still at the Hermitage!" I was right, she was not happy...

"No, we're both in our rooms. We also ran into Sissi while I was walking Aelita to her room as well."

"I'll bet she's wasn't happy either!" I heard her take a breath to calm herself. "How is Aelita doing."

"Much better, thankfully."

She sighed in relief. "Well that's good. Do you know what happened that made her run? And was it something you did?"

"She wasn't mad at me, I asked. You know how sometimes she would feel her father answer?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"It's gone."

There were a few seconds pause, "What!?"

"Yeah, she was upset because her father's presence at the mainframe room is gone. Aelita said she felt it leave."

"That would be troubling, you're sure she's alright?"

"She was in good spirits when I left her. She seemed to find it really comforting when I ran my fingers through her hair." Oops, more information that I meant to share...

"Well that's good... wait! You what!?" Yumi exclaimed in complete shock. "Please tell me you didn't make your move tonight..."

I didn't respond for a few seconds. "Umm... why...?"

I heard a groan on the other end. "You probably shouldn't have done that while she might have been emotionally confused. Maybe waited a couple of days..."

"I don't get it."

"While I don't doubt that your intentions were anything but honorable, I'm just worried about it coming across as taking advantage of how vulnerable Aelita might have been at the time."

I was very confused, and kinda worried. "What do you mean 'taking advantage!'"

"Maybe it's nothing. Just try to think about it a little, but not tonight. For now, just try to get some sleep. Night Jeremy."

"Night." I had come into my room as happy as could be, but now I was just worried that I did something wrong...

POV Aelita

About 30 seconds after Jeremy left, I got a soft knock at my door. Confused, I opened it hoping Jeremy was back, but instead it was Sissi!

She came in, closed the door behind her, then wrapped me in a hug. "Yumi told me you ran off on Jeremy, what happened?"

I was surprised by the gesture. "I thought you were angry at us!"

"When I heard you had run off from the factory, I was just worried. I'm glad you're both safe."

After a minute she let go. "Jeremy didn't do anything wrong. It's just that my father's presence is gone from the factory now, I felt it leave."

Sissi looked really sad for me. "I'm so sorry! Are you ok?"

"I'm ok, I was really upset for a little while. Jeremy being there really helped though, I'm really glad he came to find me."

Sissi flashed me a smile. "You know that boy would go to hell and back for you, right?"

"I know... He has before." I felt a little wetness in my eyes as I said that. Both at how much he cared for me, and for everything he went through for my sake. I knew if he'd do it all again.

Sissi wrapped me in another hug for a minute. "So... you gonna tell me everything that happened or what!?"

It took a while, but I told her the whole story, including the part about Jeremy and my father.

"Well I'm sorry to hear about your dad, but I'm very happy to hear about you two." She yawned then glanced at the clock which was reading 11:45. "I hate to leave, but I've got to get some beauty sleep! Good night!"

"Night Sissi!"

When I finally was able to get to bed, I hoped I would dream of a certain skinny blonde boy with glasses...

POV Jeremy

Yumi's words still rang in my ears when I woke up. I needed to talk to Aelita. I got showered quickly and headed to the cafeteria and waited for her to arrive.

A few minutes later I saw her walking through the door talking with Sissi. I started to hurry over but when she saw me she ran up, wrapped me in a big hug, and almost shouted "Morning!"

Over Aelita's shoulder I saw a few heads turn briefly, before going back to their meals.

When Sissi caught up Aelita broke the hug. I must have had a troubled look on my face. "What's wrong?" Asked Aelita.

"Something Yumi said when I called her last night."

"What sort of something...?" Sissi asked suspiciously

"Something about taking advantage of Aelita being upset and vulnerable yesterday. I didn't really get it."

Sissi groaned audibly and rubbed her forehead.

Aelita put her hand to my cheek. "Jeremy, you did nothing wrong. I am so thankful that you were there yesterday, and more than that, I've loved you since before I knew I was capable of it!"

I smiled at that, but I still felt unsure of myself.

Sissi stopped rubbing her forehead and looked over at where Yumi had just walked in with Ulrich and Odd, then back to us. She had that protective 'big sister' look that she sometimes gets. "Ok Jeremy, this is what you are going to do right now. Take your girlfriend" she added an encouraging emphasis on 'girlfriend,' "go and get breakfast, enjoy the time spent with each other, and completely IGNORE what Yumi said!" She turned us both around and gently pushed us towards the food line. "In the meantime, I'M going to have a little chat with Miss Ishiyama!" We turned around and stared as she went to Yumi and grabbed her by the wrist, saying something to Ulrich as she walked by and dragged a stumbling Yumi straight out of the Cafeteria.

Reassured by both Aelita and Sissi, I took Aelita's hand in mine. "Well, shall we get some breakfast?"

"Sounds good, we both missed dinner last night." As if on cue, both of our stomachs growled. We looked at each other In surprise for a second and then laughed!

Just then Odd and Ulrich walked up talking amongst themselves. "What was that all about!?" Asked Odd.

"I don't know. Sissi's your crazy girlfriend, not mine..."

"Yeah, but Yumi's yours..., oh hey guys! Any idea what's up with Yumi and Sissi!" Their eyes looked down to see us holding hands with fingers laced and they both got the same satisfied smile on their faces.

Ulrich spoke first, "It's about time you two!"

"Yeah, way to go Jeremy!" Odd thought for a moment, "or is it way to go Aelita!? He flashed us his trademark cheeky grin.

Aelita looked at me confused, and I shrugged.

"He's talking about who asked who." Said Ulrich helpfully.

"How about we leave you two guessing then?" Aelita teased. "We both really need something to eat. If you remember neither of us were at dinner yesterday!"

When we all sat down after getting our food Sissi and Yumi came back into the cafeteria. Sissi looked much less irritated, and Yumi was just straight-faced.

Sissi walked up behind Odd, tilted his head back and kissed him upside down, "Morning Odd dearest!"

"Morning beautiful!" He responded as he gazed up at his girlfriend.

Yumi just sat down across from Aelita and me. "Jeremy, I'm sorry. I only got a small piece of everything that happened yesterday, and I guess I jumped to conclusions. I'm sorry to both of you."

Aelita scooted closet and put her head on my shoulder for a few seconds, "that's ok, no harm done!"

Ulrich and Odd looked at each other, then their girlfriends. "Uhh, mind telling us what's going on?" Asked Odd.

Sissi sat down next to him. "We'll tell you guys later."

Ulrich and Odd just shrugged. Apparently, they could wait.

POV Aelita

Later that afternoon, after class, we all headed down to the rec room like usual. Everyone else wanted to play foosball again, like usual. Jeremy just sat down on the couch near the table, like usual. He didn't open his laptop bag... not usual... instead he waved me over. After I sat down, he pulled me close.

Yumi turned away from the table for a moment and looked at us for a second and smiled. "You know, you two really are adorable."

We just looked at each other and grinned while Yumi turned back and started to join the slight argument that was starting about fair teams. I laid my head on Jeremy's shoulder, and when he started to run his fingers through my hair their argument, like everything else, just faded away.

I had waited so long for Jeremy to hold me. Now that I was here, I decided it was worth the wait.

A/N. Whew! This one was kind of a slog to get through! Jeremy and Aelita is my favorite pairing of the show but was strangely the hardest one to write. I think this is going to be the last major installment for 'What Came Next' (which I think is a dumb title, but I couldn't come up with anything better at the time.). I do have some ideas for an epilogue, and a fair number of one-shot ideas in this particular head-canon though.

I would like to thank my wife for valuing my happiness enough to not even hesitate when I said that I wanted to eBay hard copies of the bundle of creativity that is Code Lyoko, even after seeing the price tag it has in 2019 (not official releases, but I'll take what I can get!) even though I know she will never watch them herself. She would if I asked her to, but I know she wouldn't enjoy it, so I won't. (Maybe we'll have a kid that would one day appreciate them as much as I do.)

I would also like to sincerely thank Nijibrush for the reviews and all the encouragement in our PM's. Its value cannot be overstated and without it I don't think I would've had the drive to write part 2 or 3.

I'd also like to thank any readers that have made it all the way here. I know you guys have been coming around, the stats on-site don't lie!

As always rate and review. If you liked it, let me know, if you didn't, let me know how I could improve! If you thought it was good, but now your thing, that's fine too. I won't judge anyone for having different taste than myself!