-The Princess and the Genius-
Fear
Earth was simply fascinating Aelita thought, not for the first time, as she held tightly to the safety bar in front of her. She focused hard on the distant, sparkling sea, unable to bear looking directly below and half-wishing she was safely back on the ground. That something like this existed was-
Then there was a rattling sound cutting off her thoughts; she plummeted and the contents of her stomach surged up into her throat, her exhilarated screaming tossed to the wind. The rollercoaster cart hurtled down the first steep incline and Aelita's hand found Jérémie's across the rail, gripping so hard her knuckles turned white.
When it was over they staggered shakily towards the exit with flushed faces and messy hair and relieved giggles, rushing off with the others towards the log flume.
"Did you enjoy the theme park today?" Jérémie asked her afterwards.
"It was great! I had a lot of fun. I felt strange on the rollercoasters though. It's a feeling I know from seeing XANA's monsters on Lyoko – my mind starts to race, and I have the urge to hide or run away."
"That's right."
"And here, my heart starts to beat faster too." Aelita frowned as she noted this, wondering if it was a normal thing to feel.
Jérémie nodded knowledgeably, pushing his glasses a little further up his nose. "That's fear," he explained. "It's the body's natural reaction to scary things."
"Oh." A pause as Aelita took this information in, and then: "Am I scary?"
"Uh-what?"
"Your heart beats faster when I'm next to you. Like this afternoon, and like right now." Aelita placed a hand innocently against the boy's shirt to prove her point. "So does that mean that you're afraid?"
"..."
"Jérémie...? Why has your face turned so red?"