Nights were the most difficult. Aelita's mind wandered to the darkest places when the world was also at its most vulnerable.
Her mother was a frequent guest star in her nightmares, reliving the day she was ripped from her and her father's lives by the Men in Black, never to be heard from again.
Then there were all the traumas she'd endured ever since: That period in her life where, if the supercomputer died, so would she. Falling victim to attacks by XANA, masquerading itself as a clone of Jeremie or William or any of her friends; even just seeing the symbol flash in someone's eyes, knowing they were possessed — it was a symbol that would be ingrained in her mind forever.
Hell, her first kiss, her first real kiss, was stolen by a polymorphic clone! XANA had kissed her, posing as Jeremie, and robbed her of that special moment in her life. She could never get that back.
It was a miracle she'd ever been able to get a full night's rest, what with waking up due to night terrors or panic attacks, seeing wolves… And then Sissi would barge in half the time, yelling at her to shut up, so she'd learned to keep the door to her room locked.
The night was dangerous. People were hurt at night, crimes were committed under the cover of darkness, everything seemed more… sinister.
And yet, it was also a time of peace, she guessed. Usually, people would be asleep, or at the very least more relaxed than how they'd felt during their daily routines. But not her.
During the day, she was around people, she was distracted, she didn't have all this time to herself, she didn't have to constantly will her mind to shut off and let her rest.
Aelita hated nighttime. She'd always associated the dark with monsters when she was little. And then she learned that those monsters were real, but they came for her at any time, regardless of the outside darkness.
Maybe she should get some help, but she didn't see how feasible that would be, considering if she divulged everything that had caused her to have PTSD and panic attacks, she'd be labeled as clinically insane. And she was anything but.
So, she stayed quiet, but tense, hugging her elf doll, Mister Pück, to her chest. She really hated the night.
