Super bowl tomorrow! Go Patriots! Lol, I'll probably be flipping between the Super Bowl and the Puppy Bowl. I don't own Code Lyoko, or rip stick, or apple, or any other (big) name brands mentioned in this chapter or any other of the chapters for that matter.

Ulrich stacked the presents he had wrapped one on top of another, in an attempt to make carrying them all down to Aelita's room a little easier.

He stole a glance at Odd, who was struggling to hold all the presents he had gotten for their friends.

Ulrich smirked. "That's some great wrapping, Odd."

Odd smiled at his presents, which were covered in more tape than wrapping paper.

"Thanks Ulrich. It's nice to know someone appreciates my wrapping abilities."

Ulrich rolled his eyes and gathered his presents. "Ready?"

Odd nodded, and the two boys made their way down the hall, to the stairs, (where Odd almost dropped all his presents) and down the girls hallway to Aelita's door. Jeremie's suitcases were by her door, seeing as he would have to leave right after their party and so he wouldn't have to go back upstairs to get them.

Not having any free hands, Ulrich knocked by kicking the door several times.

Aelita opened the door, frowning. "My doors not a soccer ball, Ulrich."

"Well it's about to become a present dump site if you don't HELP US NOW."

Aelita laughed and took a few presents, welcoming them into her room where the others were already gathered. Everyone was wearing their pajamas to be Christmas-y.

"Took you guys long enough." Yumi said. "Did you forget that some of us have to leave in a couple hours?"

Odd and Ulrich made their way to the center of the room, putting their presents down in the present pile in the middle.

Odd frowned as he set his presents down. "Wait, who's leaving early?"

Jeremie and Candy both raised their hands.

"My dad's picking me up in a couple hours." Jeremie said.

"And I'm catching a train home around midnight to Spain, before my parents and I fly to Mexico to celebrate with the rest of our family."

Odd nodded before glancing at Ulrich and Yumi. "When are you guys leaving?"

"Tomorrow night I'm leaving for Japan with my parents and Hiroki." Yumi said.

"And I'm leaving around the same time for Germany." Ulrich muttered, not exactly thrilled to see his father.

"What about you three?" Yumi said, gesturing to Vanessa, Odd, and Aelita. "When are you heading out to the states?"

Vanessa answered. "Plane leaves at four pm, but we're catching a cab to the airport at one."

With the departure times out of the way, the gang got down to business.

Present exchanges.

Odd, Vanessa and Aelita decided not to exchange presents between the three of them until Christmas, seeing as they'd be spending it together. Yumi also decided not to open any of her presents in front of her friends, it being a Japanese tradition.

They decided to open their presents in a circle, starting with Jeremie.

Jeremie received a snow globe with a calculator in it from Ulrich, a pair of extremely expensive sneakers with special wifi connectivity from Vanessa, and a holographic picture that showed the eight of them smiling back when you held it one way, and the seven of them in their Lyoko forms (Plus Jeremie at his computer flashing a piece sign) when you turned it the other way from Aelita. Yumi had gotten him a small robotic gecko from Tokyo that he could program with artificial intelligence. Odd had gotten Jeremie a book full of drawings, sketches and comics of their Lyoko adventures, and a reoccurring drawing of what Jeremie looks like on Lyoko. Candy got Jeremie a huge book full of Sudoku, math equations, word problems, and critical thinking questions… all of which were in Spanish. Candy challenged him to see how quickly he could finish the book, and he accepted the challenge.

Next was Candy. Vanessa and Odd had both donated a large amount of money to Candy's dance team in Spain for better costumes and so they could compete in more competitions. Aelita, after hearing numerous complaints from Candy about her feet hurting from dancing so much, got Candy a bottle of special Peruvian foot therapy lotion she had overheard Sissi talking about. Yumi had gotten her a very small laser hair remover that she had won at an auction but never used. Gymnasts often used them to permanently get rid of hair in certain 'places' so it wouldn't show when wearing a leotard at competition. Jeremie had gotten her a CD with a special program on it that allowed her computer to work faster with more complex hardware and programs. Ulrich had gotten her a black base ball cap that said "OMG" in glittery letters, and under it "(Oh My Ginger)".

Then it was Aelita's turn. Jeremie had gotten her several pairs of earrings that actually had small walky-talkys in them. Yumi had gotten her a stuffed animal penguin that was mixing on a miny DJ mixing board. Ulrich got her a pink soccer jersey that said "Princess" across the back. Candy got her a pack of ten Luz Del Sol nail polishes in the new spring colors.

Next was Odd. Yumi and Ulrich put their money together and came up with enough to buy Odd a purple rip stick. Jeremie had gotten him some new music video making software that was much better than Odd's old one. Candy got him a purple T-shirt that said "I'm not clumsy. It's just the floor hates me, the tables and chairs are bullies, and the walls get in the way."

Then Vanessa went. Yumi got her a black tank top that said "The only humans that can fly are cheerleaders." and a pair of black short gym shorts that said "Cheer" across the back. Candy got her a silver bikini and board shorts that were made by a designer from Costa Rica that Vanessa envied and stalked on twitter. Ulrich got her new soccer shin guards after hearing her desire for a new pair since the co-ed soccer summer team was holding tryouts soon. He also got her a soccer shirt that said "I'm a Della Robia -So you better watch out!". Jeremie had gotten her a program that hooked up to her webcam. The webcam records you doing a gymnastic move, and the program can analyze the move and tell you if you're doing something wrong and what you can do to make it look better.

Finally it was Ulrich's turn. Aelita had gotten him an almost identical katana to the one he had on Lyoko, but this one didn't have a solid blade, it was just a curved beam of light, so it looked a little like a light saber. Jeremie had gotten Ulrich a pair of training soccer cleats, which had digital analyzers and receptors on the outside that could sense when you kicked the ball, and detect where contact was made, and then analyze that to tell you how to kick better. Odd, being Ulrich's best friend had gotten him a David Beckham signed jersey that he had been trying to get for months for Ulrich through Sam. Candy got him a new video game that was almost impossible to get, and Vanessa got him a large soccer ball bean bag chair. When Ulrich got to Yumi's present, he decided not to open it until later, deciding to honor her traditions. The others accused him of just trying to make them all look bad. (Seeing as they opened their presents from Yumi in front of her.)

They messed around for a while, having as much Christmas fun as they possibly could in their last few hours together. They took turns mixing on Aelita's portable, (and cheap quality, seeing as Aelita couldn't really afford a professional one) mixing board. They were all terrible at it, except of course Aelita, and Odd who was the one that got her interested in DJing in the first place, but never the less, it was hysterical to see everyone try. They had moved Aelita's furniture against the wall sometime during their party, and had begun to play a game of soccer, which was very difficult to do seeing as there were eight of them in the smallish room. This of course led to Vanessa and Ulrich showing off, and trying to top each other with scissor kicks, step-over-spins, shaving creams, and rainbows. A mix of Christmas music and LMFAO blared from Aelita's radio, and Sissi had come in more than once, screaming her lungs out to turn the music down. Upon her unwanted presence, everyone started wadding up the scattered, torn wrapping paper that littered the room, and chucked their wads at her. Sissi, being Sissi, started throwing wads of wrapping paper back at them, and that led to a ten minute wrapping-paper-war.

After Sissi left, they turned down the hysteria, and just talked.

Sharing their feelings about Xana, how he had affected their lives, for better and for worse.

Around nine, Jeremieis phone rang.

Jeremie fumbled with his phone for a moment, bringing it up to his ear.

"Hello?...Hey dad."

"HI MR BELPOIS!" Odd yelled from across the room. Everyone followed, yelling hello's.

Jeremie waited for the chorus to die down, before bringing the phone to his ear again, only for him to bring it back down. "Dad says hi."

He brought his phone to his ear, listening. "…Uh huh…yup…ok…ya I'll get ready…ok see you then."

Jeremie dropped his phone into his pocket. "My dad's going to be here in five minutes. I have to go."

Odd stood. "We'll escort you to your car, Mr Belpois." Odd said, in a professional voice. He bowed and made a swooping motion with his arm.

Aelita, playing along, also stood. "Thank you for choosing Aelita's room, we hope you enjoyed your stay." She said, also using a professional voice.

Odd gestured to Ulrich, and still using his professional voice, said "My bellhop, Ulrich, will carry all you bags for you."

Ulrich frowned. "I'm not your lackey Odd."

Odd stuck out his tongue, and opened the door. After putting on their winter gear, they all helped Jeremie carry something and headed out into the snow.

They stopped by the curb, where Mr. Belpois's car was waiting.

The teens waved hello to Mr. Belpois, and began their good byes.

"Good bye Jeremie. Merry Christmas." Vanessa said, hugging him.

"Merry Christmas, V."Jeremie said, deciding to use her nickname as he hugged her.

Vanessa moved aside as Yumi stepped up.

"See you next year Jer." Yumi said, happily hugging him. "And Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas Yumi." Jeremie said, hugging the girl that had played the role of his older sister. Yumi stepped back to let Ulrich come forward.

"Later Jer. Happy holidays."

"You to Ulrich. Have fun in Germany."

"I'll try." Ulrich laughed, quickly sharing a half hug with Jeremie.

Odd, realizing it was his turn, and being more spontaneous than Ulrich, rushed up to Jeremie and gave him an enormous Oh-My-God-Your-Crushing-me hug.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS JEREMIE! HAVE THE BESTEST NEW YEAR!"

Jeremie smiled. "Bye Odd. Happy holidays to you, too."

Aelita pulled Odd off Jeremie to hug the blond genious.

When they embraced, the world seemed to freeze for a moment.

Everything that had happened between them, everything that had threatened their friendship in the past was washed away in that moment. The awkward silences, angry glares, and sad glances that had passed between them in the past didn't matter now.

Because during the time they were in love, and during the time they hated each other, both could feel something tugging at them, telling them that it wasn't right, that they had a relationship that wasn't love, wasn't hate, but wasn't exactly friendship either.

He was her soul brother.

And she was his soul sister.

A bond that wasn't romantic, but one of true, blossominly beautiful friendship. They now understood why they could sense one another when Jeremie was stuck in limbo between Earth and Lyoko. They were each other's other half. They could feel pain when the other was sad, and joy when the other was happy. Aelita had found happiness with Odd, and Jeremie was slowly finding it with someone as well.

"Merry Christmas Jeremie." Aelita said.

"Merry Christmas Aelita." Jeremie said. And feeling the need to leave her on a lighter note added "Be safe on your vacation with Odd and Vanessa. The Della Robia's are insane."

Aelita laughed and gave him another hug, before stepping back in line with Odd, the two of them interlocking their fingers.

Candy took a step forward. "Adiós Jeremie. Feliz Navidad, y tener un Año Nuevo maravilloso." She said, slipping into her native tongue, and hugging him.

They came apart and he smiled at her. "Feliz Navidad Candy. I hope you have a wonderful New Year, too."

Ulrich and Yumi had loaded his bags into the car for Jeremie, and Jeremie knew it was time to go.

Jeremie opened the door and got in. Everyone called a few more 'good byes' and 'happy holidays' before Jeremie shut the door.

And as the car pulled away from the curb, snow began to softly fall from the night sky.

After Jeremie departed, they all headed back to Ulrich and Odd's room instead of Aelita's to hang out for a while. (Sissi was getting very irritated with them, and they felt generous, so they decided to give her some space)

They played video games for a bit, and attempted to throw small things into the basket ball hoop that hung above the window. Eventually, they went back to their video game, which was a racing game, and divided up teams; Ulrich, Vanessa and Yumi against Aelita, Odd, and Candy.

After a while, Yumi stood up from her spot beside Ulrich in the beanbag and stretched. "I gotta get home guys. Curfew and all that junk." She turned to Candy, who was sitting on the couch beside Vanessa. "Since you'll be gone by the time I come back up here tomorrow, I'm not going to see you until after break."

Candy stood, smiling. "Then I guess it's goodbye time." She held her arms out.

Yumi laughed and came forward, hugging the Spanish girl.

"Adios Yumi. Feliz Navidad, y feliz Año Nuevo."

Yumi smiled. "Feliz Navidad Candy. Have a fantastic new years and have fun in Mexico."

Candy nodded. Vanessa, Odd, Aelita, and Ulrich gave her less heartfelt goodbyes to Yumi, knowing they'd see her tomorrow. Yumi left, but Candy remained standing.

"Ging, we gotta finish the game!" Odd said, pointing to the their paused video game. "Ulrich and Vanessa's team are down a player now that Yumi's out; we have to cream them now!"

"And that's the best way to win." Candy said sarcastically. "But you're team's about to be down a player too."

"Aww, you're leaving?" Aelita whined.

"I'm going to bed. I want to get a little sleep before I have to catch my train."

The others accepted this, and exchanged their goodbyes with Candy. After they had all shared their hugs with the red head, she left the room.

Now it was just Ulrich, Vanessa, Aelita, and Odd.

"Alright you two, Vanessa said, directing it at Odd and Aelita. "We have to go over our departure junk."

Ulrich stood. "Well, seeing as I don't need to be a part of this conversation, and the fact that I am freak'n exhausted, I'm going to bed." He walked away from the three, moving towards the bunk bed, and since he was already in his pajamas, slipped into bed.

"Ok…" Vanessa said, turning back to the two younger teens. "So, the plane leaves at four o'clock tomorrow evening, but the taxi's picking us up at one o'clock so we can get to the airport early. There is no way we're missing this flight, so make sure you're ready. We can grab lunch at the airport."

"Mmm. Airport food."Odd said, rubbing his stomach. "All you have to do is get rid of the 'airport', and BAM! You've got the best stuff on earth."

Aelita looked at him, questionably. "Wouldn't that just be food?"

Odd smiled. "Exactly."

Vanessa rolled her eyes and continued. "Odd, are your bags packed?"

"Packed and ready to go, chief." He said, saluting Vanessa.

Vanessa turned to Aelita. "And I know yours are packed; Yumi and I helped you pack earlier."

Aelita nodded. "Yeah, mine are packed. I just don't get why we couldn't wait until tomorrow to pack. We have the whole morning to pack."

Vanessa smiled. "Well, first off, when you travel, you should always make sure your stuff is ready the day before you have to leave so you're not racing to pack an hour before your flight. Second, we're going to be traveling for a long time. The plane ride is a six hour flight, and then it will probably take us forty five minutes to get all our luggage and junk together at the Maine airport, and then it's an hour and a half drive to the cabin. When we get there, it will probably be around one o'clock in the morning, here. It will actually be seven o'clock at night there because of the time change, but it will seem like one o'clock in the morning to us."

Vanessa took a breath. "Anyways, we're going to be traveling for a long time, so it's important that you get a lot of sleep. Sleep in. Set your alarm clock for eleven o'clock."

"Alright." Aelita said, intrigued with her lesson on traveling.

"And you've both got your travel bags ready? You've got junk in there to do on the plane; cell phone, iPod, a magazine, coloring book?" Vanessa asked, aiming the last item she said at Odd.

"Uh huh."

"Yuppers."

"And you have tomorrows clothes ready? Along with your coat, hat, and gloves?"

"Yes." Aelita said, going through a mental check list.

Odd sighed. "Vanessa, stop freaking out. We have everything ready."

Vanessa smirked. "Oh yeah Odd? Then where's your passport?"

Odd gave an exasperated sigh and stood, walking over to his purple luggage and reaching for his purple carry-on bag. He dug around inside it for a moment, before frowning.

He walked over to his desk, and looked through the drawers.

Now looking a little nervous, he quickly walked over to his closet. He opened the doors, and dug around for a minute.

Now flat out freaked, Odd started to dart around the room, looking under his pillow, in between the couch cushions, under the bean bags, until finally he cried "I can't find it!"

Vanessa smiled. "That's because I have it Odd. I knew you'd lose it if I gave it to you, so I'm hanging onto it. It's in my carry-on bag along with mine and all of our plane tickets."

Odd gasped at her. "You fiend! And here I was, running around thinking I lost my passport, and you just sit back and giggle?" Odd put a hand over his heart, pretending to be scared.

Vanessa rolled her eyes and turned to Aelita. "Do you have the passport Jeremie got you?"

Aelita nodded. "Yeah, it's in my carry-on bag."

Vanessa nodded. "I think that's everything. We should get to bed. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Ok. Hit the lights on the way out, ladies. Good night V. Good night princess." Odd said, walking over to give Aelita a kiss before moving towards the bunk bed, ready for bed himself.

"Good night Odd."

"Set your alarm clock!"

Odd waved off his sisters nagging and fiddled with his digital clock before climbing up onto the top bunk.

"Night Ulrich." The girls both said.

From under the blankets, they heard Ulrich mumble something between 'good night' and 'go away'.

The girls giggled as they left, hitting the light switch and closing the door behind them.

They headed down the hall, down the stairs and stopping at Vanessa's door.

"You sure you've got everything packed?"

Aelita nodded. "Yeah, and I'll double check when I get back to my dorm."

Vanessa nodded and opened the door, the light from the hallway casting through the opening and over Candy's bed, directly hitting the sleeping girls face.

The red head lazily opened her eyes and smiled at Aelita. "Good bye Aelita."

Aelita smiled. "Good bye Candy."

Vanessa wished Aelita good night before slipping into the room and shutting the door.

Aelita continued two doors down to her room, slipping inside.

She looked over her pink and black luggage, and checked her carry-on bag. She looked over tomorrow's clothes to make sure everything was ready. Setting her alarm clock for eleven, (even though she knew she'd probably wake up before that) before turning off the lights and slipping into bed.

Aelita smiled and thanked the cab driver as he loaded Vanessa's, Odd's, and her luggage into the trunk. She turned back around and watched her friends.

They were all exchanging goodbyes.

"See you man." Ulrich said as he and Odd did their secret handshake.

"Later Ulrich." Odd said smiling, as he and Ulrich finished their 'special' handshake. They shared one of their rare hugs, which somehow turned into a wrestling match.

Vanessa yanked Odd off of Ulrich and stood on her tip toes to hug the taller boy.

"Merry Christmas Ulrich."

"Merry Christmas Blondie."

They pulled apart, smiling, and exchanged their 'soccer buddy' (as Odd called it) handshake.

Vanessa pulled away and Ulrich faced Aelita.

"Have you made a secret handshake with everyone but me?" Aelita said, swatting him good naturedly.

Ulrich laughed and hugged her, lifting her off the ground.

"See ya, 'lita. Merry Christmas."

"Yeah, you too Ulrich. Now, can you please let me go? You're crushing me. Can't, breathe!"

Ulrich laughed and set her down, ruffling her hair.

Yumi hugged Vanessa, and then Odd, and then Aelita.

She pulled back to look at Aelita, her hands now on her hips as she faced her and the two Della Robia's. "When you three get back, Aelita better not have purple hair."

They all laughed at that.

"I'm serious. Vanessa, make sure Odd doesn't make Aelita do anything stupid, like playing tag with a polar bear."

"Do they even have polar bears in Maine?" Aelita asked.

"Well, they have Della Robia's there, so I wouldn't be surprised if they did." Ulrich said, smile lighting his face.

Vanessa put a hand on Yumi's shoulder. "Don't worry about Aelita. I'll keep an eye on her."

Yumi nodded and hugged the three one last time.

Odd looked at his phone, checking the time.

"Alright. We should head out now. I'm getting hungry."

"What else is new?" Ulrich said, smirking.

Before the boys could get in another wrestling match and delay them any further, Vanessa pushed Odd towards the cab.

"Bye Yumi! Bye Ulrich!" Vanessa said, pushing Odd with one hand and tugging Aelita along with the other.

Aelita looked over her shoulder and waved at Ulrich and Yumi. Vanessa pushed Odd into the cab first, then Aelita climbed in next to him, and finally Vanessa climbed in, the cab driver shutting the door for her before walking around and climbing in behind the wheel.

Vanessa rolled down her window, and Odd leaned over Aelita and Vanessa, motioning Aelita to do the same. The three waved at Ulrich and Yumi, calling out their final goodbyes as the cab pulled away from Kadic in the direction of the airport.