A/N: This is just a reminder that this isn's Sissi's first time to Lyoko in this continuity. the first time was during the Bonus Chapter of A Shoulder to Cry On and took place about 2 1/2 years before.

Early September

Project: Recovery

"It's really happening then... I'm going to get my memories back," murmured Sissi, as if in a daze. "I'm getting my memories back!" She said louder with excitement just before running up to Jeremy and Aelita, wrapping them both in a tight hug!

"Shall we head to the factory then?" Aelita asked cheerfully when they separated.

"You bet!"

The six of them decided that it would probably be best to go through the secret entrance behind the Hermitage to stay away from prying eyes, even though it took them out of the way by a little bit. While still walking through the woods, Aelita strolled up next to Yumi.

"I didn't want to make a scene earlier," she started quietly, "but did something happen to your face? It looks a little swollen."

"I was attacked yesterday."

"Oh no," gasped Aelita

"It's alright. Ulrich came just in time, and now the people responsible are in police custody." The pink-haired woman breathed a sigh of relief. "That being said, it only looks this good because Sissi's a skilled makeup artist. I was going to ask you if I could be virtualized while you two are here to work the controls."

"Of course! We've got to take Sissi to sector five to unlock her memories anyway." Yumi smiled both for her friend, and the thought of getting rid of the pain in her face!

"Ulrich got hit hard in the ribs a few times, so he'll probably want to be virtualized too."

"That's not a problem. I guess that means everyone is going to Lyoko then." The two walked in silence for a few moments before Aelita spoke again. "I don't know what your fight with Ulrich was about, but I'm really happy to see that you two were able to past it." Yumi chuckled wryly at the irony. If she had pressed charges like Ulrich had said she should, she might not have even been attacked at all!

"Yeah, me too. I didn't like not talking to him." Their conversation ended there because they arrived at the ladder to get out of the sewer.

Deciding that the hanging cables were starting to look a bit unsafe, the six elected to take the stairs instead and then piled into the elevator. On the ride down, Jeremy started going over Project: Recovery with Sissi.

"I'm going to virtualize you, Aelita, and Odd directly into sector 5, where I'll direct you to the tower that you're going to need to enter for the procedure." Sissi started trembling slightly. Odd squeezed her hand that he'd been holding.

"It's ok sweetie, I promise," he soothed. She let go of his hand and pulled him into a hug, which seemed to calm her down.

"Are you alright?" Asked Aelita.

"Yeah," Sissi replied. "I'm just nervous."

"That's understandable," said Jeremy. "While we are one hundred percent confident that the program will work, we don't know exactly what unlocking your memories is going to be like for you." Sissi's eyes got wider.

"What do you mean you don't know!?" Her nerves had become more evident by the wavering in her voice, and the way she squeezed Odd tighter.

"I mean that for all we know, your memories could come back in order, out of order, forwards, backwards, or even all back at the exact same time. It's possible that you may end up reliving some of them too," explained Jeremy. "Overall, it's probably safe to assume it's going to be at least a little bit disorienting."

"And that's where Odd comes in," chimed in Aelita. "You love him and trust him. So just try to hold on to that throughout everything." Sissi pulled away just far enough to look at her fiancé. He put a hand to the side of her face and stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"I'm going to be right with you the whole time," Odd reassured, and it looked like that made Sissi feel at least a little better. The elevator lurched to a halt Jeremy got out at the control room. A minute later everyone else was piling out of the elevator into the scanner room and Jeremy's voice called out over the loudspeaker.

Alright, go ahead and get into the scanners.

"Jeremy," Aelita called out, "Yumi and Ulrich need to be virtualized too."

Umm, why? They're not needed for the procedure at all... he sounded confused.

"I'll tell you about it later."

"That and I want to see what Sissi looks like on Lyoko," added Ulrich.

Ok then. Ladies first!

Aelita and Yumi got in two of the scanners, and after getting one last hug and quick kiss from Odd, Sissi got in the remaining one.

Transfer: Aelita, transfer: Sissi, transfer: Yumi

Scanner: Aelita, scanner: Sissi, scanner: Yumi

Virtualization!

Aelita and Yumi felt calm at the feeling of being buffeted by air just before the virtualization, but Sissi, being far less familiar to the experience couldn't help but still be a little freaked out by the idea of being turned into data! Moments later it didn't matter as the physiological aspects of feelings such as 'relaxed' and 'nervous' disappeared as the three were virtualized. Yumi touched her face and smiled. The numbness of Lyoko was very welcome compared to the ache that had started coming back full force, the pain medicine she took that morning had worn off. Several seconds after the girls were materialized, they saw the wire-frames of Odd and Ulrich appear and fill in. After they were fully virtualized and made the drop, Sissi walked up to Odd and chuckled.

"I hope you're not laughing at what I look like again," Odd said with a frown.

"No," she replied. "I'm laughing at how strange it is being the same height as you!" Odd laughed.

"Ok, that's fair," he conceded and drew the back of a clawed finger gently across Sissi's cheek. "But you know, you're still just as dashing as I remember!" If she had been in the real world, Sissi might have started blushing.

"Yeah, that musketeer getup is pretty cool!" Exclaimed Ulrich.

Alright guys, I hope you still remember how to ride because here come your vehicles! Called out Jeremy's voice.

"It's still weird hearing him coming from everywhere," muttered Sissi just before hopping on the overboard behind Odd after it finished appearing. Yumi and Aelita got on the overwing and Ulrich mounted his overbike and they were off.

On the way, Yumi couldn't keep herself from looking at the back of the overbike and wishing she was riding with Ulrich. He startled her when he called out, "hey, Sissi!" Odd flew closer to Ulrich to make conversation easier, and Yumi also flew closer just because she was curious!

"What's up, Ulrich?"

"Do you want to do some sword fighting after the operation?" Sissi's grin stretched from ear to ear. "If you'll be up to it, that is." Her smile didn't dim at all.

"You bet I do! I've been studying a lot of the stuff you sent me!"

"You get em' sweetheart!" Odd exclaimed with a laugh.

"Hey! Who's side are you on!?" Ulrich asked jokingly.

"Sissi's! Did you even have to ask!?"

"As it should be!" Aelita chimed in with a giggle.

Alright guys, the tower is around the next corner.

"Roger that Einstein!" Exclaimed Odd.

Oh, and Aelita...

"Yes, Jeremy?"

Would you be able to give me a visual of Ulrich and Sissi's fight? I think I'd like to watch. Aelita giggled again.

"Of course, Jeremy."

The five of them reached the tower and dismounted their vehicles.

Ok, so technically only Sissi and Aelita need to be in the tower, but having Odd in there won't effect the procedure at all, and I figure you'd probably want him there.

"Of course I want him in there with me! Why'd you even ask!?"

Uhh... technically I didn't.

"Oh... yeah..." Sissi said, after thinking about it for a second.

Sissi, Odd and Aelita all entered the tower leaving Ulrich and Yumi alone outside. The two of them looked at each other.

"Can we talk?" They asked almost in unison, causing them both to to laugh.

"I guess I wanted to ask if we could talk later, when Jeremy can't listen in on us." Ulrich clarified.

"Yes, of course." Yumi replied, suddenly nervous about what he wanted to say.

"So... Want to try some sparring while we wait?" Yumi smirked and pulled out her fans thinking that a distraction would be most welcome. "I was thinking unarmed. After all, I owe Sissi a sword fight and it wouldn't do to get devirtualized before then!" Ulrich grinned as he adopted an Abrazare posture. Yumi put her fans away, dropped into her own fighting stance, and smiled right back at him.

"Sounds good to me!"


In the tower, Aelita stood between Odd and Sissi and put a hand on each of their shoulders. Aelita sang her Song of Creativity, and with a yelp from Odd all three of them started to rise.

"Since when have you been able to do that!?" Exclaimed Odd when they landed on the upper platform.

"It's just an expansion on my Creativity Jeremy programmed to make it easier for all of us to get up here," replied Aelita, having just opened up the tower interface.

"So that wasn't normal?" Asked Sissi.

"Nope. I've never actually been on the top platform before," said Odd while looking around. "It doesn't look any different..."

"Oh." Sissi's nervousness was written all over her face so Odd pulled her close and whispered reassuringly to her while Aelita kept working away at the glowing interface in silence. Eventually she smiled and called out.

"Alright Jeremy, I've got access to the source coding for the Return to the Past program."

Ok Aelita, I'm sending you the memory inhibitor deletion program now.

"Got it, Jeremy. Initializing now." The interface bleeped a few more times before The pink haired girl turned to Sissi. "Are you ready?" After only a moment of trepidation, she responded

"Yes."

"Ok then." Aelita placed her hand on the panel and her hand started emanating a gentle blue light. "This might be a little... weird. Just remember what we told you about trying to anchor your thoughts to Odd." Sissi nodded and Aelita touched Sissi's forehead and the dark-haired woman's eyes went pure white.


Sissi hurriedly tried opening the door in front of her, just to found it locked! looking behind her, the girl's heart sank as she realized she was trapped and the rats that were surrounding her were starting to take notice of the lone defenseless teen.

"Help! Help! Over here!" She cried out to a group of students led by Ulrich and Odd that looked like they were somehow holding the rats back. They looked in her direction and started talking among themselves. Before they could take any action, Sissi saw Yumi of all people appear on a bicycle and was racing through the swarm and directly toward her. She skidded to a stop right in front of Sissi and grinned.

"Your carriage, Cinderella!" She said, patting the rack behind the seat. Sissi never thought that she would be happy to see her romantic rival, nor excited to be riding on the back of a bike like that, but right now she climbed on without hesitation and a tremendous amount of appreciation!


"Yumi!" Sissi cried out, her pupils coming back into view.

"Is it done?" Asked Odd.

"No," gasped Sissi, just before her eyes went white again. Odd took her hand and looked to Aelita with his eyes full of concern.

"She's ok so far. I'm pretty sure that was just one memory, but I think they're going to start coming quicker."


"Don't move," instructed Sissi as she finished tightening the knot on her makeshift sling. "There." She pulled her hands away, but not before briefly caressing Ulrich's cheek with the back of her hand.

"You know, you're a real good nurse," said Ulrich, inspecting her handiwork. The dark-haired girl smiled.

"Ah, I'm not just someone who sticks to you like glue huh?" The two teens smiled at each other for a moment until they looked down and noticed water starting to flow across the floor of the elevator.


"ULRICH!" Shouted Sissi. Her body twitched as her pupils came into view for only an instant.

"You might want to hold onto her..." Aelita suggested to Odd. "I think this could get a little rough." He grabbed hold of his fiancé's hands tightly.


"No, wait Yumi." Ulrich grabbed the Japanese girl's wrist before she was able to take off. Hidden from view, Sissi barely contained her laughter as this was the moment she'd been waiting for! "I wanted to tell you something... it's about your letter."

"Huh? But..." The confusion on Yumi's face was priceless.

"No, let me finish," Ulrich interrupted. "You said in the letter that you had certain feelings for me," Yumi's confusion seemed to increase and it was getting even harder for Sissi to keep from bursting out into laughter! "And I wanted you to know that I feel the same things for you. There, I said it!"

"But I never sent you any letter, Ulrich."


Sissi's pupils returned, and with it her face filled with painful remorse.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, and she was gone again.


Jeremy was facing the wall and Sissi couldn't believe what Aelita had just asked her to do. She had always thought that the little pinky really liked the nerd!

"Umm, Jeremy..." the nerd turned around to see Sissi dropping into a combat stance, and before he could react he was out cold on the floor.


Sissi's eyes flickered again and her shoulders spasmed once.

"How long is this going to go on for!" Shouted Odd.

"I don't know..." Aelita replied apologetically.


The zombies were everywhere. Sissi knew that Ulrich could take care of his side, but the small redhead between the two of them was as good as defenseless and Sissi suddenly felt extremely protective.

"Don't you touch Milly, you hear!


With a scream, Sissi slid into William, knocking him off the roof and she immediately followed him over the edge. Her heart sank as she realized that this was the end... until she felt a strong hand on her wrist and her momentum stopped with a painful jerk!

"Sorry to tell you this Sissi, but you're not as light as you say you are!"


"Yes you never know, you just might sprout a brain!" Sissi fumed at the nerve of the shrimpy pink haired girl!


Sissi knelt down in front of Ulrich's battered form. "Ok, then you'll remember this kiss." She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.


The pupils in Sissi's eyes were practically strobing. Her body had started convulsing, and it only seemed to be getting worse!

"Aelita, shut it down!" Cried out Odd.

"I can't."

"Then I will!" He pointed his arm to shoot her with a laser arrow to devirtualize her.

"NO!" Aelita shouted as she tackled Odd, causing his shot to go wide.

"The program has to run it's course otherwise it could cause permanent damage!" Shouted Aelita. "Jeremy, what's the status?"

Everything looks normal from here!

Odd pushed Aelita off of him.

"You call that normal!" He pointed at Sissi, who was still convulsing just before getting up and running in front of her. He gripped her shoulders and shouted.

"SISSIIIIIII!"

The memories flew by too quickly even tell where one ended and another began. Sissi was being swept away, tossed about in the ebb and flow of her own mind until she heard her name shouted loud and clear... then she heard it again.

"SISSSSIIIIIIIII!"

The voice brought comfort to her. She clung to it while the tide of unlocked memories buffeted her conscious mind, threatening to sweep her away again.

"SISSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Suddenly she remembered who the voice belonged to... her Odd Darling, her love, her future husband. Remembering his love for her, and hers for him, she was able to fully anchor her consciousness... and wade through the sea of memory to search for one in particular.


Odd had just shoved an entire cauldron of meatballs and gravy into Nicolas' face, knocking the dork out cold.

"That is really awful wasting food on a vegetable like him," he quipped causing Sissi to chuckle slightly. She picked up a frying pan and tested its weight a couple times before using it on Herve, who had been planning on attacking Odd with a broom.


She had found it. The cherished memory she thought was lost forever. She latched onto it and refused to let it go.

As she watched the rest of the memory play out, she noticed that while she did help Odd, she hardly saved his life like he told her all those years ago. She only knocked out Herve and the rest of the time was spent running. Still, even if she thought she didn't do much, Odd didn't see it that way and for that she would still treasure it.

The convulsing stopped, and a couple minutes later so did the flickering in Sissi's eyes. Though she was clearly worn out mentally, a warm smile came to her face.

"I got it," she whispered and fell forward to be caught by Odd. He helped her down into a sitting position and held her close while Aelita descended to the lower platform to give them some privacy.

"You had me worried." He said softly.

"I'm sorry, but I'm back, and so are the memories. It'll probably take a while to sort through them though."

"And I'll help you keep things straight as much as I can." Odd offered causing Sissi to smile again.

"I know."

The two of them sat in each other's arms for a couple minutes before Sissi stood up with Odd doing the same.

"Alright, I'm feeling better now so let's get going," Sissi started then smirked, "I owe Ulrich a sword fight!"

A/N: This one took a bit more research than any of my other chapters due to trying to adhere to the original script from the episodes that the memories came from, but overall it was a lot of fun to do. I hope that you all enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus outbreak I'm out of work for the next couple weeks. I hope everyone is doing their best to stay isolated and safe during these uncertain times.