A/N 2: Sorry! I pulled this off right after I posted it after a friend gave me an idea! Here it is! . again lol!

A/N: I'm sorry it has been such a long time since y'all've heard from me. As I said in my last author's note, it has been a very busy start for 2020. I've finally been given some relief with a new hire who has taken over a bit of my work load.

Besides that, I sure hope all of you are staying well! After listening to everything on the news (worst idea ever by the way) I can only hope you are all staying healthy and washing your hands when you get the chance. By the way! If anyone has a spare roll of toilet paper… could you ship it our way? Lol, jk, jk! . There should be a truck coming in Friday morning to our local Dollar Store (practically "across" the street) where we'll pick up a pack.

Stay safe in this insane world everyone.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Code Lyoko, that respectfully belongs to the creators!

Sittin' In A Tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Chapter 20: Secrets in the Dark

Hopper couldn't help but frown as he looked to the cameras within the factory. He'd watched his daughter remember Dahlia, a memory he'd hoped she'd been able to bury when she'd whispered the girl's name. He'd hoped his acronym for Jonathan wouldn't be an easy one to figure out, but he should have known they would, these kids were smart. His daughter was smart. "Aelita…" he whispers as he looked at her face from the recorded camera.

Dark eyes widened as the name slipped from Aelita's lips like the whisper of a secret, "Dally…"

She had looked almost betrayed as she recalled the name of her forgotten cousin, and Hopper could only feel his stomach clench as he watched. He had done so much to protect his daughter from Jonathan. He'd thought helping her suppress those memories were for the best. As her father, Hopper had kept her busy enough that she'd forgotten all about the dark haired man, or so he hoped. Each time Dahlia's father came to them, he'd kept Aelita out of his sight, hoping it would keep his disgusting claws from latching onto his precious daughter. It was one of the reasons why he hadn't brought Aelita with him to the funeral that day. How could he allow her to get mixed up with the poison his brother-in-law was? The older man shook his head as anger welled up in him when Jonathan had set his sights on his family. He hadn't been able to stand how Jonathan looked at Aelita after he'd stumbled upon the two girls. It was almost as if he had been trying to devour her with his eyes. It had taken Hopper everything he had from snatching her away and hiding his family away from him.

After Lena passed away, Hopper had hoped he would be able to take Dahlia home. It had been specified in her will, if anything were to happen to her, Dahlia was to go to her brother's family. At first he had been horrified. His younger sister had practically named her child like an object, passing her off to brother without batting an eyelash; but later on he finally understood why. It was at the cabin where he discovered why his sister had written that Dahlia was to be handed to his family after her passing. It was there he saw the way his brother-in-law looked at them with eyes that could have given frostbite. Hopper knew that as a father, a brother, and an uncle, he had to protect his family which included his sister and niece; but his family was first priority. He'd felt it was his duty to place his family into hiding. Granted it hadn't been hard to kick Jonathan off the project and run, he just wished he'd been able to warn his sister.

Losing Lena had been the hardest thing he ever thought he'd experience, until he lost his wife too. Hopper knew he had done the right thing by keeping his daughter in the dark, but then Jonathan contacted him and asked him to take Dahlia. After that, it was even harder to keep Aelita in the dark when Dahlia came to live with them. Dahlia suffered from incessant nightmares that jarred the house from its sleep. At some point, Hopper expected them like clockwork and began to wake before her night terrors erupted into screams. He'd head to her room and shush her screams, but Aelita would always follow him in and reassure her cousin that things were fine, that they were a family.

A sigh escaped the now digital man, how could he protect the girls now while in this state? As long as the Cardinal program existed and sought to control Dahlia as well as to destroy Aelita, the girls would be in danger. He needed to stop the program! His fists clenched as he watched the feed play over and over again. Aelita looked so confused. Would she blame him for hiding the truth from her? How was she taking it right now?

The pinkette couldn't stop herself from pacing the room while her hands constantly ran through her pink hair. She had been trying for hours to force herself to recall her cousin clearly. "Dally…" She mumbled as she turned back to her door and took the ten steps it takes to reach across the room before turning back towards her bed and walking back, "Dally. Dally, Dally, Dally," she sighs softly, "why can't I remember you…?"

Ever since Aelita had discovered that Dahlia was her cousin, she couldn't stop herself from wondering as to why the memories of their childhood continued to evade her. The only memories she was able to grasp were of her playing tag with 'Dally' in that tall, green grass. Her vision of the dark haired child was always clear in view and seemed to be getting more vivid. Somehow it still felt as if there was something missing to this memory, but what? Was there more to the memory besides Dahlia and tall grass and the sky tumbling in to view?

She groans before dropping onto her bed face first, "Why can't I remember?!" Aelita rolls over on her back, staring up at her ceiling. The plastic, glow-in-the-dark stars starred back down at her, making her smile a little. The Lyoko gang had wanted to help soothe her after her nightmares of Puck being chased; it was even Odd's idea to have Jeremie look up a few constellations for them to do. They helped, but couldn't top the sigh that escaped her as she turned her head, seeing her elf, Puck. "Didn't she…have one too?" Aelita picked up Puck, holding him up as she looked to him. "Puck… would hers still be at home?" A soft sound made her lower him, looking to her star covered ceiling before a star from Aries horns fell. She gasps before bolting up and looking to Puck, "It has to be…" With those thoughts in mind, Aelita hopped up, pulled on her clothes and dashed out of her room, Puck in hand. Aelita didn't even stop to think about a plan to avoid Jim as she dashed through the halls to the outside doors. All she knew was that she had to find it, Dahlia's keepsake.

The Hermitage stood silently, proud, and tall as the vines from the over grown garden climbed up its walls. It hardly stirred as Aelita stepped through the iron gate which squeaked with the announcement of her arrival. Her breaths came out in small puffs from the urgency she'd made to get here tonight. On normal circumstances she may have glanced up at the stars to see them twinkling down at her, but the need to go inside had stopped her in fear they'd be the distraction from her current mission. An unmistakable frown appeared on her pink lips before she headed inside, curious and determined. "Was she here too…?" She questions the dark house before slipping her cell phone from her back pocket. She turned on the flashlight to scan the house's bowels before continuing to talk, "When father took me to the factory… was she there too?" Aelita continued to walk forward allowing the darkness to swallow her as she entered her old home without a second thought of worry, after all XANA could always attack without a moments warning. She couldn't help herself as she wondered further inside and asked her questions out loud.

How long had it been since Dahlia had been here, with her father and her? Had she also been here when Aelita was learning to read and write, or did they learn together? Aelita couldn't stop her gut from squeezing as she walked further inside. "Did she live with us?" She whispers. Her eyes locked onto the foyer, a surprised looking coming to her face as she heard the laughter of children.

"I'm gonna get you!" Calls out a pink haired child as she ran up the stairs after the dark haired child.

The dark haired girl laughs, "You gotta catch me first!" She taunts before finishing her climb up to the top stair. "I'm gonna get there first!"

Aelita blinks before suddenly turning as she heard rattle. She searched for the source with her phone's flashlight. "Who's there?" Aelita winced slightly, both at the loudness of her voice and the stupidity of the question. If Odd had been here, he'd have reminded her of Horror Movie 101. She'd just broken rule number one: Never call out to noises in the dark, especially if you're alone.

A rat reared its ugly little head, holding a rotten banana peel in its teeth. Those red beady eyes looked into Aelita's light before dropping the peel and dashing off.

Aelita released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She placed a hand on her heart before sighing, "I'll just grab and go," Aelita reminds herself as she continues onward.

The childlike laughter seemed to follow her as she head upstairs, stairs creaking with each step she made. "Lita!"

Aelita couldn't help but smile slightly, "Dally…"

"C'mon Lita! Uncle Hopper said we could play outside today!" A soft gasp as a child at the window points, "Lita, look! It's snowing!"

Little Aelita joined her and squeals. "We should build a snowman!"

"Snowball fights and then hot cocoa!" Dally says with her.

"We got so sick afterwards," Aelita chuckles, "dad made us soup and told us stories…" she wiped a stray tear away, "about him and mom and Aunt Lena…"

Aelita stopped in her tracks. "Aunt Lena…" She glanced back to the door, almost seeing the memory of her father opening the door and revealing a forlorn Dahlia.

"Aelita, you remember your cousin Dahl-"

"Dally!" Aelita had called out as she'd ran from the bottom of the stairs and to her cousin, hugging her tightly. "Did you come to stay the night? Did Aunt Lena come too? Do we get to have a slumber party again? We'll set Puck and - up and tell stories!"

Her father chuckled lightly, "Now, now Aelita, calm down." He patted his daughter on the head as Dahlia looked up at him. "Dally is going to live with us, just like she was your sister."

"And Aunt Lena?" She asks excitedly. "Is Aunt Lena coming too?"

Dahlia looked down at the question.

Hopper bent down to the two, "I'm afraid not. Aunt Lena got her pair of wings." He pulled them into a hug, "No matter what happens, we'll always be a happy family, together."

"No wonder she was so sad then…" she whispers softly.

By the time Aelita made it to the empty child's room she'd been unable to place months before, she was wiping her eyes from the tears the memories had brought on. How could this place have deteriorated in the time they'd been gone? The greying, old wallpaper was rolling away from the tops of the walls, and the bottom was covered with mold and mildew. Already the once light colored carpet had rotted away with the rest of the house, yet the floor was somehow sturdy minus the few creaking noises that erupted from Aelita's cautious steps. At one point there must have been a bed in the corner which had long since broken.

Aelita couldn't help her frown as she saw the bed in shambles. "Where would it be then…?" She questions the air. "Where else did she…?" her words slowly trailed off as the thought popped in her mind. She could see it as plain as day as Dahlia held her favorite possession in her arms before dashing down the stairs.

"Hurry up!" Commanded a man's voice from downstairs.

Quickly she walked back downstairs, heading to what use to be the parlor, following the little Dally.

The man stepped into the parlor, neat hair in place as he towered over Dally. "I don't have time for your childish antics! I said we're leaving!"

Dally quickly ran to the piano, opening the lid before dropping something inside and shutting it.

Her father's piano still stood by the wall where it had resided, and somehow she just knew that Dahlia's possession had to be there. She looks around before locating the spot the rotten piano resided. Cautiously she opened the back of the piano crying out when a swarm of moths flew out. Her cheeks reddened lightly before she looked inside to see it, the rugged pink teddy bear of Dahlia's. She smiles, "Found you."

The bear's head was cocked to the side, looking up at her with curiosity as she pulled it from its hiding place. "Hello again, Hippolyta." She smiles lightly before cradling the bear to her chest as she headed back to the dorms.

A/N: I hope y'all enjoyed it! R&R! Let me know y'all are out there and okay everyone! Criticism is always welcomed too.

Stay safe and well.