Aelita leaned out of her small apartment window, a cigarette alight between her fingers. She watched smugly at William down below, who was dressed as smartly as he could with what little budget he mentioned he had.

"You know, mister bartender, if you wish to come in, you can just say so instead of standing out here and looking hopefully at a window," Aelita stated, laughing down at him standing around awkwardly.

"I don't mean to intrude," he shrugged his shoulders and smiled pathetically.

"It's only me," she called down as she pressed the cigarette on the window sill, putting it out.

She closed the window and threw on a long sweater on top of her long sleek nightdress, stepping out of her apartment and making her way downstairs.

"You smoke?" William asked dully.

"Why, are you worried?"

"No- I mean. Yes, of course, but it's your choice."

Aelita laughed at his stumbling of the words. She remembered him so optimistic and strong minded and flirty and now he seemed so vulnerable – it was quite endearing, really.

"I don't really smoke. My old roommate left me with a packet and I only ever use them if I'm incredibly stressed or upset."

"Upset?"

"Yeah... I was thinking. About the past. You know..."

"I know."

They stood on the porch in silence. Aelita looked William over another time. He wore black pants and a simple grey shirt with somewhat rusty cufflinks. She laughed to herself.

"What?" he mused.

"Do you maybe want me to clean those? I think I have some spirits," she pointed to the cufflinks.

"Oh, these?" he held up his wrists. "No, they're in, you know? Everyone's wearing them," he laughed awkwardly, fiddling with the darn things.

Really, she thought, evident in her expression. She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him inside the building, leading him up the stairs.

"Welcome to my domain, mister bartender."

The apartment was quite small, perfect for one or two people. Aelita dropped off her shoes and walked straight ahead into a small open room, filled almost entirely with a bed.

"Sleepovers must be fun here," William joked, eyeing the giant bed base.

"No one ever stays over so it's pretty much all mine," she mused as she dropped back onto the large soft surface. "So who are you all cleaned up for?" she asked, propping herself up on her elbows.

"Well," he shuffled around. "I was thinking of joining you at the bakery today. It seems important and I felt that you shouldn't go through watching that kind of thing alone."

She sat up, her breath hitched in her throat, slightly taken aback.

"I... you don't have to... um."

William picked off his cufflinks and walked towards the room Aelita was in. He sat down next to her and fiddled with the cuffs again.

"I insist," he smiled at her. "I found these near the bakery. I wanted to look after them until I found a way to get them cleaned myself, but I guess that plan went down the drain."

He took hold of her hands and placed the cuffs in her palm closing his own hand over hers.

"They'll mean a lot more to you than they will for me."

Aelita breathed heavily, looking over the rusty accessories as her lips began to curl upwards.

"God... I guess I should get ready," she pressed a free hand against her cheek, feeling it burning up ever so lightly.

William smirked at her reaction.

"I'll wait outside," he began, standing up.

"Oh... you can stay in the living room. I'll be quick," they smiled shyly at each other. "We can leave together."

William nodded and made his way towards the living room. Before sitting down, he found a tiny shelf near the small television with photo frames placed upon it. As he got closer he saw small statuettes placed around ID-card-like photos which were lying flat on the shelf. The first framed photo was of the whole group – William included. He was surprised she framed that photo. Even after all these years, William still felt like a third wheel at times, so he appreciated his inclusion.

The ID photos were of Aelita through the years. Her bus pass, her university ID, her work ID. She really had grown. Around the ID photos, the statuettes were of ceramic rabbits and butterflies – she must have gotten them while visiting the city. He then saw the second frame. It was a photo of her and a girl, arms around each others' shoulders. The girl was dark skinned with long black braids and looked like quite a rough girl. Nonetheless, the pair looked well acquainted. There was a tag on a key-ring hanging from the frame.

Aelita Stones

Monique Laurent

Room 365

This must have been the roommate that Aelita mentioned earlier, he thought. He moved on to the last frame on the shelf – a photo of Aelita recently with a small, plump man. Tanned skin and short black hair.

"That's Arnaud Becotte, my boss."

William jumped at Aelita's sudden voice, catching him off guard. She was dressed in almost all black – to keep the mournful tradition, he assumed. She made her way to his side and looked at the photos with him.

"I see you've acquainted yourself with Monique," she picked up the frame of her and the girl, the tag dangling off the corner of the frame. "One day I'll get you to meet her," she laughed.

"I just hope she doesn't get me to smoke as well."

"What, you don't smoke?"

"No. Weird, right? With the way I was at Kadic, you'd think I'd become a thug," he almost snorted at the mere thought.

"Seeing as this is how you turned out, I'd be expecting Odd to become the thug at this rate," they both laughed.

"Well, are you ready?"

Aelita nodded at him in response and they started for the door. She locked her apartment and the pair made their way downstairs and out of the building. Before setting off, William held out his arm, which Aelita gladly took.

"Still as classy as always," she nudged him light-heartedly.

They moved through the silent street, seeing women with pushchairs every now and then. It wasn't a surprise – the small suburb that they lived in was full of apartments and houses that were easily affordable for poor women who were struggling with pregnancies and kids or men who were struggling with an education or jobs.

Aelita decided on a cheap apartment in the area so she could have a small head start in saving up money for bigger and better things. William left university before he finished it to run off with a girl who he had fallen in love with – to him it was like straight out of a typical romance plot. But of course he had learned that nothing ever lasts the hard way. She had cheated him out of his money and left him. He ended up working night shifts all seven days of the week at the small grungy bar in the suburbs and living with his uncle. He felt he couldn't face his parents after what he did, no matter how understanding they were, so he cut off all contact.

They arrived at the demolition site for the small bakery building, Aelita tensing up in her steps every now and then. The last thing she wanted to see was her pride and joy being blown up, but like a captain with his ship, she swore she would stay until the very end. At least she was relieved from the idea of having to be alone during this. They stood on the other side of the road, opposite from the building and waited. The vehicles began to move back to make space for the remains. A man in a well-tailored suit and white builder's helmet – contrary to the other yellow helmets – came out from the building. He began yelling at the other builders in the area to move away. As soon as all the builders were out of the marked demolition area, the man in the white helmet began to count down.

5. 4. 3. The builders began to clasp each other on the back, grinning massively. 2. William took a firm hold of Aelita's hand, trying to calm her nerves. 1. The man pressed the button on the remote, causing an inward explosion within the building. The walls slowly fell and collapsed on themselves, smoke growing with every wall that toppled over. The men were cheering, congratulating the man in the white helmet for successful placement of claymores. William and Aelita stood further away, frozen in spot. The smoke soon cleared away and the rubble was in view. The bakery sign was completely broken, but an end of it was sticking out of the rubble. 'Sucrée'. Nothing sweet about this, Aelita thought, her breath hitching.

"Let's go," she whispered, slightly shaken.

William nodded and led Aelita away from the demolition site.

"Do you want to get a drink? It could help take your mind of things..."

"No, thank you, but... I think I want to be alone for a bit."

He nodded. It was just like their younger days – she would go off to the Hermitage to think for herself for a while and return as if nothing happened. He wondered if she still went to the Hermitage every now and then, even if it was quite far from where they were. William decided to at least walk her back to her apartment and see her off.

"Well, if you need anything, you can call or text me. I'll be at the bar from six in the evening, if anything."

Aelita watched him from the porch, pondering whether to leave yet or not – the silliness of it all made her chuckle.

"Thank you. For everything. It's really silly, all of this. Crying over a building," she sniffled out a faint laugh.

"I don't think that's silly. As much as I despise it, I'd probably cry over that stupid bar too if it ever closed down."

"It's not stupid," she sniffed again. "It made me find you didn't it?" she laughed to herself.

He watched her earnestly. She wanted to find the others – she needed to find the others. It was clear in her hopeless expression.

"We'll find them and bring them all home," he swore to her.

Aelita stopped smiling and watched the determined gleam in his eyes. Where had she seen that before?

"I'm ready to take on XANA and his monsters!"

Oh, right. She then realized the irony of the moment. The gang and she had spent almost a whole year looking for him on Lyoko and trying to bring him back to Earth. Now it's almost the other way around. In fact, this knowledge reassured her. Even though it took a year, they found William and saved him. Even if it will take a year, Aelita and William will find the others. How hard could it be? There were only hundreds of thousands of people in all of France. No big deal.