Disclaimer: I don't own Code Lyoko.

Emotion

Slowly I let my eyes scan over the angles of my face as I gazed into the reflection looking back at me from the water's surface. Reaching I hesitantly brushed my fingers through the image until the resulting ripples blurred and twisted the form. Ice water was cold. Or at least the way Jeremie had explained it... He also called this place the ice sector...and yet... I frowned slightly as I tried to fill the emptiness in my understanding. But what was cold...? I thought. Had I simply not noticed it, was it still there? I couldn't be sure...but somehow it seemed like Jeremie had described something completely new to me.

Standing I turned to slowly pace out of the cavern and onto the pale blue plateau spanning into the distance. Stopping for a moment I let myself listen to the stillness filling Lyoko. XANA was resting it seemed. A tiny smile rose to my lips at the welcome reassurance. But in the quiet came more thoughts slowly drifting into my mind. Ice water was cold. Something called wind blew over earth. Breathing air was basic to living. And something called emotions seemed to motivate people.

Real people.

I let my footsteps keep pace with my thoughts as I began to wonder aimlessly through the landscape. Jeremie had explained that briefly before, but more than once I had observed it first hand. Whether it was Odd, Yumi, Ulrich or Jeremie himself, they all acted strangely at times. But... I clenched my eyes close tightly as I stopped suddenly. So did I... I felt things...things I couldn't understand... Things impossible to describe in as simple of terms as feeling good or bad. Were these things emotions? Jeremie had seemed to think so... Gently putting a hand to my chest I waited, hoping maybe now I would feel another thing Jeremie had spoke about.

It was called a heartbeat he had said.

I knew it didn't make sense that something that wasn't here before would be here today but...a part of me kept hoping. But like all the times before, I didn't feel anything. And even if it seemed foolish, the worst feeling of all spread through me as I realized it again. I quickly turned to look behind me as if surveying how alone I really was. Emotions made you a real person he had said, and they come from the heart so...how could I have one without the other? It was only because Jeremie believed that I was truly real, that they continued to put themselves in danger. So that I could be... I frowned deeper.

Human. A real human.

But what if...I didn't have emotions after all? Then would I never be real? Would everyone have risked their lives for nothing? Would Jeremie give up trying to bring me to earth...? A sharp feeling darted quickly through me. And though it felt more than horrible, I tried to cling to it, to examine it. Emotion...? I wondered to myself wordlessly. Was that the sadness Jeremie had explained before.
Yes it must-

"Aelita? Are you there?"

A smile suddenly beamed onto my face as a completely different possible emotion flowed through my virtual body. Hurrying into the nearest tower I quickly activated a panel in front of me. In an instant a window opened and Jeremie appeared. "Oh there you are. He said as a slight smile came to him. I'm sorry I'm late Aelita, but Jim finally decided I had skipped one too many gym classes, and held me up after the last bell." I simply gazed out at him silently as I traced over the different parts of his face. From the few strands of blonde hair messily hanging around his glasses, to the soft blue eyes sitting behind them...it all caused a strange feeling inside of me.

Slowly I reached toward the side of his cheek almost forgetting how many worlds separated us. "Jeremie..." I whispered gently. " Yes...?" He replied slowly, seeming to notice how odd I was acting. I thought for a moment in silence as I tried to gather the right words. " Do you think I can have emotions even without having a real heart...?" I asked sincerely. For a few moments he didn't say anything, but then he started to shuffle about in his chair and straighten his glasses; the same as he had done so many times before when I asked something that was...well maybe a little strange.

But finally he looked at me as his voice trembled out a reply. " O-Of course..." I watched as his chest filled with a deep breath of air before he continued. " I mean...You've always had...emotions... And... " His eyes gently changed somehow, though it was hard to describe...but they seemed...focused suddenly on me. "Aelita...I promise...I'll find a way to give you a real heart one day..."

For a moment my whole body felt weightless, almost as if something heavy had been lifted off my shoulders...and something comforting had been placed around them. I had felt like this before...but never so strongly. Without even thinking, I smiled brightly at him. "I know Jeremie, thank you."

All the world was between us, but because he was my best friend, and because of the wonderful feeling freely stirring inside of me, I believed without a doubt that this was...at last...emotion.
The beautifulness that felt almost like being enveloped by something beyond words.

It was real. He was real. And soon...I would be too.

Real with a heart...a heart I wanted so desperately to fill...

To fill with him.

FIN

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