I don't own Code Lyoko.

A part of this chapter was inspired by a picture by Son-Neko on . The present idea came from F Hopper and was used with his kind permission.

The next few days passed by very enjoyably. Jeremie showed Aelita all around town during the afternoons. In the evenings they played board games or watched TV. Once they saw a scary movie. Aelita wasn't really scared. After Lyoko and its monsters cardboard and Styrofoam held little fear for her, no matter what shape they were molded in. But she certainly wasn't going to pass up an excuse to bury herself in Jeremie's chest.

Another time Jeremie got out an album of his childhood pictures. Since Aelita still had trouble remembering her own childhood, he thought she might like to see more of his. Jeremie knew he was placing himself completely at Aelita's mercy. She could tease worse than Odd. She didn't poke fun at him, though. She just stared. It was strange to think of her best friend as a baby, as a helpless being only a few months old. It made her want to hold him gently. She didn't, not quite. But she blushed and thought of just how cute he was as a child, not to mention how cute he was right now.

Fun as they were, the days just flew by, and before Jeremie and Aelita knew it, Christmas had rolled around the corner. They were both very much excited about it, since this would be their first Christmas together with Aelita outside the supercomputer.

Early in the morning of Christmas Eve Day it became apparent that they weren't going anywhere, since during the night it snowed so much that most roads were closed and even the door was blocked. That was fine with the young geniuses, though, since all they wanted was to stay inside where it was nice and warm. They passed most of the day by watching Christmas specials, though close to the evening Jeremie's parents dragged up a karaoke machine and everyone got to sing some carols. It was a bit embarrassing but tons of fun.

To put an end to the evening Jeremie escorted Aelita to her room again. He did this every night. Aelita didn't really understand it; she could get around the house on her own now. Yet somehow it felt wonderful and she didn't want him to stop. Especially not on this evening. Because though most of the decorations had been put up days before, Aelita added a special one to her room just that morning.

When Jeremie was at her door and Aelita took a step into her room she glanced upward. Jeremie followed her gaze to find the mistletoe Aelita hung up on her doorframe. He instantly went scarlet. He wasn't quite sure what to think, but he liked where this was going.

Aelita was just about to take advantage of the mistletoe's powers when something made her pause. Did she really want Jeremie to think that the only reason she kissed him was because they happened to be under a stupid green plant?

After having that thought Aelita retreated deeper into her temporary abode. Turning around, she found Jeremie looking extremely confused. She grabbed his hand and tugged it, drawing him away from the doorway. She then grabbed him and kissed him.

Aelita wanted to make it clear to Jeremie that she didn't need an excuse to kiss him, that she wanted to do it just because it was him. She hugged him tightly, not because she was afraid he would escape, but because she wanted to be close to him. Aelita tried to put all her love and appreciation for Jeremie into the kiss, but it didn't seem to work because by the time it was over she had more than ever of both.

Jeremie wasn't frozen this time-quite. But he was swaying a little. Aelita smiled and mouthed 'goodnight', knowing he wouldn't be up to much else this evening. Jeremie nodded stiffly and managed to walk out of the room.

By the next morning Jeremie was coherent once again. And he had a surprise of his own for Aelita. When she came downstairs, she found a brightly wrapped present with her name on it waiting for her.

"But Jeremie, you already got me a present!" she protested.

"Well, yes, but I figured you should get an extra one because you were stuck on Lyoko last year."

Aelita knew it was useless to try to resist. When Jeremie wanted to do something nice for her there was no stopping him. So she played along.

"Does that mean I should get presents for all the years the supercomputer's been shut down, too?" she asked. Then she saw the look on Jeremie's face change and realized he was actually thinking about it.

"No, Jeremie, I'm just kidding!" she assured him. "Please, don't even think about it!"

"I wasn't." he answered, but Aelita knew he was lying. She smiled and sat down to unwrap her present, revealing a brand-new laptop-a pink one.

"Jeremie, how did you…this must have cost a fortune!"

"It doesn't matter Aelita. It's about time you had your own. It might come in handy for fighting Xana, too. But mostly I just wanted you to have it."

Aelita put the laptop down and hugged Jeremie. He returned the hug, grinning. Things were going great for both of them.