Disclaimer: I don't own Code Lyoko, I just love fluff.

Chapter 21

I let my eyes drift away into the distance as I tightened my grip around the cold bridge railing. The air was charged with the first true moments of winter, even as a few stray autumn leaves floated within the water ripples below me.

Slowly turning my gaze to the tiny wedding band on my left hand I let my mind fall back to a million different memories. Playing in the sharp morning stillness I could hear the unforgettable sounds of everything I had ever experienced here.

The laughter, the tears, the simple, and often, not so simple, glory of living.

I wondered if I would ever come to terms with, not only the past few days, but everything that's happened to me since meeting her. I couldn't quite forget Alan Myer's words. They underscored how easily things could have been different. How easily Aelita could have been an adult, when I was nothing but a boy.

Our lives could have never intertwined... It made me wonder where she'd be now if Lyoko hadn't been created? It made me wonder...who she'd be with...?

I closed my eyes as I bit back the foolish amount of pain the thought brought to me. I knew it was pointless to worry about how things could have been. All that really mattered was how things did turn out to be. But still I-

"Good morning..." Gently rousing me from my silly thoughts was the voice I loved to hear most of all.

I turned to greet her with a soft smile. "Aelita... How are you feeling? I mean I was worried...you seemed so tired yesterday..."

Her eyes beamed a subtle warmth that still managed to make my heart race. "I feel much better Jeremie, I think I just needed a little time to come to terms with everything that's happened." I gave a small sigh as I turned back to gaze out at the river below us. "I know how you feel Aelita...I-" but cutting me off sharply, a few drops of water landed on my lens.

Was it really raining...? "Jeremie!" Her voice suddenly resounded. No, on closer inspection I realized the droplets were in fact melting ice crystals. "It's snowing already!"

I turned to smile at her; she hadn't lost any of the childish wonder for earth or the amazing things that filled it. "Yes...it's beautiful." I said softly.

But driven as always, by the endless desire to protect her, I reached and began to button up the coat she had left blowing open in the chilled breeze.

"It's really cold outside now, do you want to go back inside?"

Her face fell slightly as she seemed playfully disappointed at me. "Jeremie... Let's just stay for a little while, I'm fine really."

I frowned slightly as I rubbed her arms gently, hoping to warm them.

"Alright...but um...just don't push yourself too hard."

She smiled up at me as she stepped closer and leaned into my embrace. "Alright..."

I was at least a little relived that I could share some warmth with her, so I tightened my hold around her shoulders as the two of us gazed out across the frozen air.

I let my thoughts fade away as I savored the tingle of joy the moment brought me. All the times both recent and past, that I feared losing her, seemed utterly defeated, as I gently felt her heartbeat resounding against my own.

Yet all the same, it seemed amazing that I had lived to experience such a moment.

"Aelita..." I began slowly, as my thoughts formed against the back of my mind. "Do...do you ever think about how things could have been...?" She was silent for a moment before she replied. "What do you mean...?"

"Well I mean if Lyoko hadn't ever been created, if we never met..."

"I don't want to think about things like that..." Her voice seemed a little hurt by the thought, just as I had been. "Why were you wondering about it Jeremie...?" She asked slowly.

I gave into a sigh that gently rustled a few locks of her hair. "I was thinking about what Alan Myer said... And about what I said... Really when you think about it Aelita, even though Lyoko was created, and we both met, it still seems like a miracle that things turned out the way they did..."

"Why is that?" She asked again, her voice almost a little on edge.

I swallowed a slight lump of emotion as I gave into rambling all the thoughts racing inside my mind. "What if I hadn't been smart enough to figure out how to free you from XANA...? Or to bring you to earth...? It seems ridiculous...but what if it had been Odd or Ulrich, or anybody else?"

To my surprise, I felt her body stiffen before she pushed free from my arms. She took a few steps away, and then turned to face me. My blood seemed to freeze in my veins, as I gazed at her face so mixed with pain and anger.

"Is that really what you think Jeremie...?" Her tone was low and controlled, but underneath it was a razor that seemed to cut me to the heart. "After all this time you think me marrying you was just..."

Aelita's voice trembled as her composure faltered. "Just my way of thanking you...? Because you were a good enough programmer to bring me to earth...?" Her eyes flamed with a pained frustration I didn't quite grasp.

"You tell me that you love me for who I am...but...but all these times I've told you the same thing...you haven't believed me have you...?"

I fought to find something, anything! But every word I had ever spoken seemed stuck in my throat. But letting my mouth ramble again I spoke. "Aelita I...! T-That isn't what I meant! I mean of course I believe you!"

Aelita quickly lifted her hand in a gesture to silence me, before she heaved a heavy disappointed sigh as she gazed up into my blue eyes.

"Jeremie...what you're really asking me is...if I'd still have fallen in love with you no matter what... "

My lips quivered for an answer, but all I could feel was the heat rising to my chilled face. I hadn't meant to ask her that...but how could I refute that the thought had been playing inside my heart from the first moment her feelings for me met my ears?

I slowly allowed myself to meet her green eyes as I reached for a phrase that would fully push the pain from her beautiful face. But instead the absolute truth I had been hiding rushed from my tongue.

"I...want to be good enough for you... You...you deserve the very best of everything! But all I can give you is me... I can't help but wonder if maybe...someone else would have made you a better life than I have...? I'd hate for you to feel that just because I freed you from Lyoko you owed me anything! Because you don't..."

Unbelievably the frown on her face lightened ever so slightly into a smile.

"Jeremie...you are..." Aelita whispered as if groping for the right words. She slowly shifted from one foot to the other, before finally taking a few steps closer to me. "You're crazy."

"Crazy...?" I blinked at a loss as I slowly repeated the word.

She simply nodded as her smile grew softer. "Your head must be so dense that nothing I've ever said or done has gotten through." Gently she reached to touch the side of my icy cheek.

"Jeremie...I adore you."

My breath caught in my chest as I searched her unflinching expression.

"Not because of the brilliance that brought me to earth...but because of the heart that motivated you to keep trying. The kindness and the compassion that made me love you from the very first moment I heard your voice..." Her smile turned a little playful as she gazed up into my misting eyes.

"You don't have to understand that I guess... It'll be enough that you take my word for it..."

My frozen pulse began to beat heavy thuds against my eardrums as she gently pulled me into a kiss.

I let my heart fall into the millions of colors sparkling inside of myself. As if her confession were the first I'd ever heard, my mind raced ahead to the infinite possibilities that unwound before us. Our life was only just beginning, and nothing or no one, could ever take it from us. My fears vanished even as she slowly pulled away to look into my eyes.

"Jeremie..." She began as a soft excitement built in her voice. Gently she reached to place my hand on her stomach. "Look who wants to say hello again..."

A wonder I couldn't fully describe resounded throughout my heart, as I felt small kicks of life push against my fingertips.

"A-Aelita!" I trembled as my smile seemed to grow beyond the bounds of my face. She mirrored my expression before a soft laugh escaped her.

"I think what he's trying to say is...he loves you too Jeremie..."

I pulled my smile tighter as hot tears burst from my eyes.

Yes...only to beautifully freeze into crystals resonating everything words never could have said...