CHAPTER 11

Jeremie automatically launched the rematerialization programme and jumped off the armchair. His friends followed him to the scanner room.

Aelita was about to leave the scanner when they arrived there. She looked rather shocked than happy because of what had just happened. All of them shared the same feelings as they were hardly aware that XANA had become history. They had been waiting for this moment almost three years. Their goal was accomplished, but it could not do without unbelievable suffering and fear; they also risked losing their lives at times. Despite that, they did not give up, neither to XANA, nor to their weaknesses. Their hard work and sacrifice had been finally rewarded. But there was not time to such thoughts; they made it to the end safe and sound, that was what mattered the most and what they could feast together. Instead, they were standing there in the scanner room, silent and sad, overwhelmed by the importance of the moment.

Aelita leaned against the wall of a scanner.

"We did it," she whispered with an almost invisible smile.

"We did IT!" shouted Ulrich with joy.

Suddenly, happiness got into all of them; they began to shout joyfully, clap their hands, congratulate each other good job, shake hands and do all the things connected with a collective euphoria.

"Let's go, it's party time!" said William and walked to the elevator. That was when Odd recalled something.

"Wait, there are Jim and Sissi still up there! We have to wait until they leave!" he noticed.

"Let's go through the basement," proposed Yumi.

All six of them climbed up the ladder and left the lab. They arrived at the boiler room.

"Sissi!" it hit Jeremie. He reminded himself he had some bills to even with her. She arrived at the factory in perfect timing. He had an idea.

"OK, listen," he turned to Odd, Ulrich, Yumi and William, "get out another way, go to the dorm and... you know what to do there." He winked meaningfully and they nodded and took a turn in a corridor to exit the factory.

"Aelita, come with me," he said to her, disoriented with that weird course of things. He took her hand and she followed him to the main hall.

Meanwhile, Sissi stood close to the entrance to the elevator and looked around, squeezing the camera in one hand. Jim hung around the hall, hoping to find someone there. Eventually he came back to the elevator. His supplies of patience ran out.

"Sissi, it doesn't make sense. You must've made all that up..."

Suddenly, a sound of footsteps and quiet conversation reached their ears. Jim acted like a special force agent; he showed Sissi to hide behind the elevator and himself stood right behind the corner to observe the surroundings. The sounds were even louder when Sissi heard a loud, gleeful laugh. She recognized it immediately. She wanted to step from behind the elevator and see who was Aelita's companion and take a picture, but Jim held her in place and silenced. He was hiding constantly, not wanting to be noticed. In the end, in the distance he saw two familiar silhouettes.

Aelita and Jeremie were walking down the hall, which was lit with beams of light coming from shattered windows and full of shadows of steel columns. Aelita kept asking Jeremie why did he want her to follow him, but he would not answer. He was like charmed, not responding either to his name, nor to another question. He was silent, looking at one particular point in the space in front of him, the elevator, to be exact. He was entirely concentrated on what he wanted to do. He had to make sure Sissi would see him.

Suddenly, to his surprise, Aelita poked him in his arm and shouted "Tag!", laughing loudly. She managed to run a few steps away before Jeremie woke up and started chasing her. He could not let her escape too far. He caught her near a concrete column near the elevator, but not in purpose if making her tag him. He took her by her arm and turned to face her. She tried to get out of his grip and run, but Jeremie held her so tightly that she had to give up.

Just like the other evening he looked her straight in the eyes, as if he wanted to confess something. Suddenly the sun hid behind a cloud and it became dark and cold in the factory. As if in response to this change, Jeremie's head was downcast. His long fringe covered his face and his glasses hung at the tip of his nose. He had a lot of important stuff to tell her, but(as it was his habit) he hesitated and puzzled. Aelita freed one of her hands from his grip and brushed away his fringe off his face and adjusted his glasses. When she looked in his eyes again, she noticed they became wet and glossy.

"Hey Jeremie, what's going on with you?" she asked, seeing that he was losing control over himself. Jeremie sighed deeply.

"I... I just can't believe it..."

"Believe in what?" Aelita smiled. "That we freed the world from XANA? It'll be hard for us to get used to that thought. For me too."

"No," he answered. "I just can't believe that... that you're free... that you're not in danger anymore..."

Aelita was surprised with such answer.

"I was afraid all the time we fought XANA. Of many things," he added.

"Everybody had fears, that's normal," she said. "You can't imagine how frightened I was then, by the interface..."

"Yeah... B-But you know what was the worst...?" Jeremie's voice broke. "The fear of losing any of you. Especially you, Aelita. It was... terrible to live and be aware that something wished you death... I was afraid that you won't come back... sometimes. Today... I had such moment as well."

Jeremie spoke slowly, seeking for appropriate words and fought with himself, trying to calm himself down. As he spit his worries out, he blushed crimson. He was not used to such sincere confessions; he found talking about his feelings extremely hard. Aelita knew that too well. Therefore she was proud of him that he eventually broke his boundaries and told her what was bothering him for a long time. Not considering for too long, she grabbed him behind his neck and hugged tightly.

"It'll be fine now," she whispered. "You won't be afraid anymore."

"Yes, isn't it great?" he whispered back.

The sun emerged from behind the cloud and bright sunlight filled the hall. It lit them and spread wonderful warmth around them.

The rest of the words stuck in Jeremie's throat; he shivered a bit from emotion and his eyes filled with tears. He completely forgot about Sissi and Jim; he was too preoccupied by the fact that Aelita was close to him, safe and sound, in spite of all XANA's attempts to kill her. She was a living proof of his failure, who was laughing straight in his face...

He thought he would go crazy because of relief which filled him entirely at that moment. Finally, not being able to do anything else, he hugged her back.

Sissi and Jim emerged from behind the elevator.

"Aelita, Jeremie! What are you do..." Jim asked harshly. He stopped in the middle of the sentence when he saw them hugging each other, not paying any attention to him. When he realized what was going on, he smiled widely in admiration.

Sissi was instead thunderstruck when she saw them together. She was not even mad, what usually happened when things were not going the way she wished, she was just too shocked by a discovery she made. "Taelia was right," she thought. How could she be so blind to something everybody around found obvious? Her mind rearranged suddenly as if Jeremie and Aelita broke a dam built inside her head. She looked half admiring, half thrilled at the two, who she gossiped about just a short time ago. It ached her inside when she realized that she just ruined her reputation. Her insides boiled as she looked at the happy couple, which was standing in blinding sunlight.

Soon Jeremie released Aelita from his hug. As she did not want to move away from him, he put his shoulder around her waist. That was when he looked at Sissi meaningfully. She noticed that instead of usual, pale, weak eyes of computer nerd a pair of ice cold, blue eyes of a warrior were stuck at her; a warrior who was ready to defend the one close to his heart from wicked plots of the enemies. Sissi mentally backed off as she convinced herself of power which were hidden in that guy, who she clearly underestimated. And she would probably stay put under the impression Jeremie created if not Jim, who eventually came back to reality.

"Kids... Under normal conditions I'd have to report you to the principal, call your parents and give you a few hours of detention for hanging about an old, dangerous factory. But if that's what it was all about..." he smiled to Jeremie and Aelita, "then I forgive you. Which doesn't mean I won't keep my eye on you!" he underlined.

"Thanks, Jimbo," said Aelita.

"But I'll have to seriously consider your behaviour, Miss Delmas!" Jim said to Sissi.

"Forgive her, too. She learned a lot already," said Jeremie, looking at Sissi again.

"Ah, I'm too good for you," Jim whispered. "Okay, enough of this romantic play, let's go back to the dorm!" he ordered loudly.

They went outside the factory, Sissi noticed she was still squeezing her mobile in her hand. With one move of her thumb she opened it and the screen inside came to life thanks to an animated wallpaper. She closed the phone with a loud clap and looked at Jeremie and Aelita, who were walking a few steps in front of her. Aelita was holding her hand on his shoulder now, as if she wanted to cheer Jeremie up. Sissi again stared at a shiny case of the phone, wondering what she actually wanted to use it for.