Angel: Happy April Fools...but I wish the next thing I'm saying was a joke, and it's really not (I already pulled an April Fools prank on another story anyway). I have the next episode finished, but besides that, I haven't even started episode 84 yet. So...next week I will be uploading on Fridays, and Fridays only for the time being. I'm falling a bit behind because of schoolwork and remote learning -_- I think it's because teachers are changing a lot of things in my classes around to the point where I've just been doing mostly hw and not writing. There is no way I'll get Guided Missile done by next Monday, because right now I'm working on a research paper that is due Sunday, and I need to focus on finishing that this week.

I promise I'll work as quick as I can to get episodes done, because I only have 12 more left to write and then the story will be over...

On a snowy day in the mountains, a little girl was heard laughing, rolling a snowball. "Look at my giant snowball, Mommy!"

"Stay near the house, darling," Her mother called out. A car pulled up to the house, Ms. Smith stepping out with a brown-haired girl with pink streaks in her bangs dressed in a burgundy coat, pink pants, and little burgundy snow boots.

"Amy!"

"Aelita!"

The two little girls ran up to each other and hugged. "Come help me with my snowman!"

Ms. Smith looked up ahead to the two adults, smiling weakly.

"Well done, my angels."

Aelita giggled as Amy helped her. They suddenly heard a wolf howl, growing scared. "Mommy! Daddy!"

"Mommy!"

They turned around to see two men in black suits staring at them. "Help!"

"Aelita!" Aelita's mother was taken away. "Aelita!"

Aelita and Amy ran towards her. "Mommy! Mommy!"

"Aelita..." Her mother got taken away in a van.

"Mommy!"

The van drove away, and Aelita tripped. Amy bent down to her as she cried. Ms. Smith appeared out of nowhere, scooping up Amy.

"Amelia, are you okay?"

"Yes, but..." She pointed up ahead to where the van left.

"You could have been kidnapped! Come, let's get away from this place," Ms. Smith ran off with her daughter.

"Aelita!"

"Amy!" The little girl cried out, now all alone with the wolf...

Aelita is crying in her sleep while holding Mr. Puck, wiping away her eyes with the blanket. She turns to look up at the ceiling, Amy opening her eyes.

"You saw that too, huh...?"

"...Yeah," Amy lets out a sigh. They hear barks and Amy stands up to let the four dogs out.


"What? You're still having nightmares?" Yumi asks in surprise as they're walking in the park. She thought that after they went to Sector Five, that those would be long gone.

"Well yeah, they keep coming every now and then. And what's more, they're always the same for us," Aelita explains as Odd, Amy, and Jeremy have bigger bags. "But don't worry, Jeremy, I'm used to them!"

"No, Aelita, it's not your nightmares I'm worried about," He tells her, glancing away.

"Is this about the break again?" Amy asks him knowingly and he doesn't answer.

"I told you that it's no big deal! Yumi won't be far for the holidays, and I'm staying here to keep an eye on XANA, so there's no need to worry!"

"I don't care about XANA!" He exclaims at her. "I just don't like leaving you here all alone. I'm gonna tell my dad I'm staying here."

"No you're not!" She argues back, crossing her arms. "You should spend the holidays with your families. For me, it's...it's not the same thing..."

Yumi glances at her. Her father is...well, MIA, and they don't know what really happened to her mother...

"At holiday time, my dad gets more stressed out than ever, which makes my mom hysterical. I think I'd rather stay here," Ulrich comments as they reach the entrance of the school. "Or better yet, go live with Mr. Smith for a weekend!"

"Yeah, me too. My sisters drive me nuts. Last year they locked me in the bathroom all night just because they thought it was funny!" Odd pouts a little, Amy patting his back.

"They did? But...that's even worse than my kid brother," Yumi couldn't help but feel sympathetic for him. "I thought they were older than you, Odd."

"They are," Odd shrugs a little, "And they're a lot bigger than me too, that's my problem."

They laugh at the statement.

"Speaking of families, where are you going for the holidays, Amy?" Yumi asks curiously as she looks at the brunette. "With your family, things aren't exactly going to be...festive."

"Yeah..." Amy rubs her neck sheepishly, clearing her throat. "Mom wanted me to make a mature decision about this, and I decided that I'm going to Odd's place for the holidays."

"Whoa, meeting the family? That's a big deal," Ulrich comments, raising an eyebrow. Odd has met hers, but now she's meeting his entire family.

"Really?" Amy stares at him. She didn't think of it as a serious thing...

"Uh, yes. They could change your relationship in a significant way," Jeremy gestures to Odd and Amy.

"Ah, don't sweat it," Odd places an arm around Amy. "They'll love you, and my sisters will probably go nuts over you."

"Are you sure?" She asks skeptically. "You've told me about them before...I'm not sure if I'll get along with them."

"Sure I'm sure! You're the most popular girl in school. You're friendly, helpful, and sweet, just my type," Odd winks at her playfully.

"She'll give Sissi a run for her money," Ulrich jokes, causing all of them to laugh this time. "If you don't mind me asking, Amy, what were your past holidays like?"

"Same as they used to be with Mr. Smith: work, work, work. Well, at least that's how it was in the past. He…he hasn't been adjusting to his life well," She glances away.

"How so? Doesn't he still have his job?" Yumi asks her.

"Yeah, it's the one thing he's got going for him, but he's practically out on the streets half the time looking for scraps. I heard from my mom that if this keeps up, he might get suspended. He can't be fired because he got tenure," She rolls her eyes. "He has to still pay for child support and all, but that's not cheap."

"Just goes to show how downhill it's gone for him…" Aelita murmurs, getting looks from the others. "I'm not saying it's okay what he's done: the guy's kind of a jerk and has high expectations. But think about it, he's got no family, he lives alone, his only child that he raised has moved on, his staff and his house are gone. He's got no one for the holidays. I know he's not really your father, but…maybe next year you should talk to him."

"… I have nothing to say to him now…" Amy closes her eyes. "He'll never change, sis. He was trying to get me to stop living my life in my own terms… I can't live the way he wants me to." She tugs at the strap from her bag, biting her lip.

"Hey Ulrich, isn't that your dad's car over there?" Aelita points up ahead. He looks to the car, his mother waving from inside. Mr. Stern is standing outside the car.

"Well, the show must go on...see you soon, everybody," He waves to them.

"May the force be with you!" Odd gives him a high-five.

"Good luck. Your dad is just as bad as mine," Amy gestures to where the man is.

"See ya," Jeremy tells him.

"It's not all that long," Yumi adds in.

"Try and have some fun."

He walks across the street to the car as a yellow car pulls up. "There's my father," Jeremy picks up his bag. "Aelita, are you sure that you-"

"Come on now, hurry up. I won't be all alone, I've got the Kiwi family for company!" Aelita smirks a little towards the couple.

"Okay, goodbye for now," He waves to them as he walks off, Odd standing in front of Aelita.

"Alright, speaking of Kiwi, don't feed him any cheese at all. It gives him gas, and that's more powerful than your energy fields," Odd tells her.

"As for Kiki and the puppies, don't give them anything fattening all the time. Trust me, Odd regretted it immediately," Amy glances at her boyfriend.

Aelita laughs as she gets a big hug from her sister. "I'll call you when we arrive, okay?"

The pink-haired girl nods with a smile and watches them walk off together towards the airport. "Thanks for the tip!"

"Hi Dad!" Jeremy waves to the man.

"So long!" Odd waves to them as he walks down the street with Amy. The two cars take off.

Ulrich sits in the back quietly, looking out the window.

"I see you're still hanging around with that gang of good-for-nothings," Mr. Stern briefly glances at him.

"And I see you forgot your happy pill again," Ulrich retorts back.

"Ulrich!" Mrs. Stern warns him. He stays quiet, looking back outside.

"Your friends seem very nice, Jeremy," Mr. Belpois states in the car with his son.

"Uh, yeah, I really like them a lot. They're my good buddies. I'm just glad Amy's not with her parents, she could use a break from them."

"That poor girl," The man frowns a little. "I can only hope her father doesn't try to contact her. But that girl with the pink hair, is that Aelita? The one you're always talking about? She's very pretty! And I get the impression she likes you!"

Jeremy blushes with a small smile.

"I better go," Yumi turns to Aelita. "I promised my mom I'd help her clean up."

"Okay, yeah, see you, Yumi!" The pink-haired girl waves to her.

"Aelita, are you sure you don't wanna spend the holidays with us? I'll call my parents and tell them-"

"No, I'd just be in the way. And besides, I could use a little time alone..." Aelita looks away, Yumi nodding in understanding.

The girl smiles weakly. "Well...if you need anything, you know my number," Yumi holds up her phone.

"Okay! Have a nice holiday!" Aelita wishes her friend, watching her leave.


Aelita walks around campus as most people have gone home at this point. She walks back into her dorm room, smiling at the Kiwi family reunited, but sleeping. She pets all of them as she sits on her bed, taking her Mister Puck doll into her hands.

"Oh, he's so cute, I love him! What should I call him?"

"Wow, a violin!" Amy clapped at the instrument in front of her.

"How about Mister Puck? It's the name of an elf!"

"Do you like them?" The mother asked softly, the two parents getting hugs from the girls.

"Oh yes, thank you, Mommy!"

"Thank you, Daddy!" Amy smiled at her father.

Aelita strokes the cheek of her doll, taking a deep breath.


Michael is whistling as he continues driving. Jeremy looks out the window. "You've been very quiet, son. Is there anything wrong?"

"Uh, no," Jeremy speaks up, wondering how long it was before he noticed. "I-It's nothing, I was just thinking of something else."

"Oh," He smiles in amusement.

"You disappoint me again as usual, Ulrich!" Mr. Stern scolds as they're stuck in traffic. "I thought after the talk we had last month that you would try at least to make some kind of effort! Instead there's been no improvement at all!"

Ulrich looks to a little girl making faces at him from the car to his right. "Plus, all those unexcused absences!"

Ulrich laughs and Mr. Stern thinks it's towards him. "And you find that amusing?"

He squeezes his eyes shut.


Aelita is leaning against the wall reading a book. The three puppies are playing with the new toys that the Lyoko Warriors bought them just before they left. Aelita's computer turns on and she looks away from her book as she hears familiar music.

Franz played the piano at the Hermitage, turning towards her.

It's the same melody from the computer...she gasps as a chat box comes up. It's Franz Hopper himself...

Aelita?

"Daddy?" She sits in front of her computer. "Where are you?" She starts messaging him, and the next thing she reads has her in shock. "Expecting you here on Lyoko? You're not on the network?"

Before she can find out more, her computer starts bugging up. "Oh, rats! It bugged up!" She snaps her fingers, turning towards Kiwi.

"Take care of them, Kiwi," She closes the door behind her as she leaves the room.


Mr. Ishiyama is reading a newspaper. "Yumi, could you please give me a hand in here?" Mrs. Ishiyama calls out.

"As soon as I'm finished calling my friend," She replies back, deciding to check on Aelita. Mrs. Ishiyama appears in the doorway regardless.

"Your phone call can wait! I need you to help me right now! If not, I'll never finish all the housework in time!"

"But Mom, you've got a whole week to do it," Yumi protests to her.

"Yes, and as usual, your father's not going to lift a finger, so a week may not be enough!"

"Huh?" He looks up from his paper. "What'd I do this time?"

Yumi groans at this and stands up, walking away.


Amy and Odd are almost to the airport. "You know, you didn't need to carry my bag all the way there," She looks to him. "You don't have to do that just because it's your family."

"Oh, that's not why. It's because I don't want my favorite girl to stress herself before meeting them."

Amy chuckles at him and suddenly grows silent. She wished that she could have known Franz better...but she knew better than to hope. It's been months and nothing from him...she started to remember that she used to play the violin, and that her mother stopped her from going after a few years. Too bad she couldn't remember why...

"Something wrong?"

"Hm?" She looks up at Odd again. "Oh, uhh...well, it's about my dad."

He says nothing as he lets her continue speaking. "I don't know if it's because of the holidays, but...I remember little things about him and myself. Like that I played violin and he would watch Aelita and I play in the snow..."

"Wow. I didn't know you played violin," He tilts his head at her.

"Neither did I. I guess that my mind decided to block out those memories up until they came back," She shakes her head, closing her eyes.

"...Hey, I'm dating a natural Gitlis!"

She smiles softly towards him, kissing his cheek. "Of course you would make a joke..."

"Do you think you'll ever play again?"

"…Maybe someday," She smiles wistfully. "But to be honest, I'd much rather focus on my art."


Aelita enters the computer lab through the elevator. She walks up to the chair and sits down. There's a message waiting for her from her father.

"There isn't much time...not much time for what? Here are the coordinates. See you in a minute, my dear!"

"See you in a minute, my dear."

That was the last thing he said to her before they were virtualized together...She opens her eyes and starts a delayed virtualization. She crawls down into the scanner room, running up to one and getting inside. She's scanned, transferred, and sent to Lyoko.

Aelita ends up in the ice sector, landing safely. She gets up and looks around, only to see a giant yellow bubble.

"What's that thing? A simulation bubble?" She runs towards it and comes to a stop. She puts her arm through it before slowly stepping inside. She falls onto snow as she's suddenly in her school clothes again. She looks up to see the house from her memories, gasping.

"How can this be?!"

She walks across the snow, hearing the same piano tune again...

Franz turns around to see the girl standing right there. "Daddy?"

"Aelita," He holds out his arms and she runs into them. "We've so much catching up to do, and there's so little time!"

Tears stream down her face as she feels the warmth of the embrace. Finally, finally she could be with him again.

"I thought you were lost on the network!" She sobs slightly.

"Lost? No, dear. When XANA destroyed Lyoko, I managed to escape. I have information to give you, but first, I wanted so much to hold you in my arms."

"But how did you-"

"I had to create this simulation bubble so that I could finally-"

"This is fantastic!" She smiles happily. "Everything is just the same!"

"Yes, this bubble will allow us to do many things, my dear. Like spending an evening together at last. Where is your sister?"

Aelita frowns a bit sadly. "She left for the holidays...but when she comes back, maybe I can bring her here!"


"Aelita, come on, pick up, will you?" Yumi asks as she enters her room. Hiroki suddenly comes out of nowhere, scaring her. "What are you doing in here?! Get out!"

"Calling Ulrich?" He teases her.

"Mind your own business! Do I ask you about Milly Solovieff?"

He blushes in embarrassment, growling as he runs out of the room. Yumi picks up the phone again. "Hello, Jeremy?"

"For how long of a time? Her phone battery might be dead, that's all. Think you can go over there and check it out. Keep me posted, okay? And try calling Amy, she might know something," He hangs up the phone. "Uhh, Dad? Um, I forgot my laptop back at the dorm, and I, um..."

Michael turns around without even listening to the rest. "I get the idea, Jeremy. Your laptop wouldn't have pink hair, by any chance, would it?"

"Huh?" He looks at his father in confusion.

"You know, I can understand that. I was in love once too."

"You were? With who?" Jeremy raises a brow in amusement.

"Who else? With your mother."

The Sterns are still stuck in traffic. "Oh, this traffic's horrible!" Mr. Stern taps the horn repeatedly.

"Getting all tense won't get us there any faster, dear," Mrs. Stern flips through her magazine. Ulrich answers a call.

"That you, Jeremy? You sure? You're right, something must be up. Okay, I'll let 'em know and we'll meet you-know-where. Anything is more fun than this." He hangs up and opens the car door.

"Ulrich! Where are you going?" Mr. Stern demands him.

"To get a little air, to stretch my legs. Besides, I'll get there faster if I walk. See ya!" He shuts the door, to their shock. He moves past the traffic and runs down the sidewalk. "Odd, Aelita's not answering her phone, both of you meet us at the factory!"

"Okay, be right there. Soon as I tell my parents," Odd hangs up.

"Well, are you two flying today or not?" The clerk asks them.

"Just a second. Hello, Adele? It's Odd. Uh huh. Oh, sorry, Pauline. Hey listen. You think you could ask Elizabeth to tell Marie to say to Louise that she should let Mom and Dad know I missed my flight? Uh huh. What do you mean, tell them myself? Hello? Oh, you wanna talk to Ames?"

Amy shakes her head no, but he puts her on the phone anyway. "Oh, hi!" She laughs nervously. "Yes, I exist. No, I'm not making it up, I'm really dating your brother...No, he's not paying me. No, I'm not being blackmailed...uh huh. Uh huh. Yeah, that's me. Oh, thank you! And I heard you have a good taste in music too! Well, I'm sorry we missed our flight, but it was nice talking to you. You too, bye."

She hangs up the phone. "Okay, change of plans. Nothing like sibling loyalty." He walks off with Amy. "By the way, what did they say to you?"

"Well, Adele thought I was imaginary, Pauline thought I was lying, Elizabeth asked if you were paying me monthly to pretend to be your girlfriend, Marie thought you had something on me, and Louise looked me up and found out that I'm part of the opening act for the SubDigitals," She counts off from her fingers. "She congratulated me and said I was pretty, that I dance to good music. And then I apologized to her and hung up."

"See? They like you already!"

She sighs in relief.

Yumi knocks on the door to the sisters' room, opening it to only see the dog family. "Aelita?"

She notices the pink-haired girl's buggy computer. "Expecting you here on Lyoko...?" He eyes wide at the rest.


"No, as long as XANA hasn't been defeated, I can't rematerialize myself," Franz is answering Aelita's questions. "But you, however, should be able to free your young friend. What was his name again?"

"William."

"Yes, of course. I'm gonna send a program to Jeremy via the supercomputer. By the way, how's your fight against XANA progressing?"

"We're hunting him down in the network thanks to our virtual ship the Skidbladnir," She smiles, circling a finger.

"Hmm, the Skidbladnir? Heh heh, what a strange name."

"But you know that name," She points out. "It's in the book of Viking Legends that you used to read to me before I went to sleep."

He turns to her with wide eyes. "Yes, of course, the Skidbladnir. How could I forget?"

She smiles, and then her eyes narrow at him. Something about that statement wasn't sitting right.


Michael arrives at the school and Jeremy rushes onto campus. "Thanks Dad!" He sees Yumi running across from him. "Yumi!"

She stops at his voice, turning around. "Hurry, Jeremy! Aelita virtualized herself onto Lyoko!"

"What?! But why did she do that?"

"Her father asked her to," She explains plainly, and he raises a brow.


Aelita looks away, glaring towards the man again. "Is something wrong, my precious?"

"Why'd you ask me to come to Lyoko, Daddy?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Because I wanted to see you. It's been such a long time."

"It's dangerous, XANA could attack at any time," She rubs her chin.

"not as long as I'm with you."

She stares at him, looking away. "You know...when I said that everything here was the same as I remembered it, I meant it."

"I'm glad you liked it. I wanted you to feel as if it was your home, our home."

"It's true, everything's here, nothing's missing...except for one little thing," She decides to test him and see what he would say.

"Oh really? What's that?"

"My mother and my sister," She smirks slightly, and he slowly turns to her.

"But...you remember, dear. Your mother disappeared, and your sister is on vacation."

"Yes, and I wanna see them again more than anything else in the world, and you know that," She closes her eyes. "You've always known. And since you're a perfectionist, you'd have recreated them here in the simulation bubble. That is, unless you aren't really my father!" She backs away slowly.

"Aelita," He narrows his eyes at her.

"Stay away from me, XANA!" She holds up a hand. 'Franz' flickers as she opens up the door, eyes widening. She backs away as William is gripping her arm.

"Hello, Aelita," He looks extremely sinister this time with the symbol in his eyes.


Yumi and Jeremy arrive in the computer lab. "Something's fishy," Jeremy tells her as they enter.

"What if it was Hopper who contacted Aelita?"

"XANA's pulled this on us before, I don't think Hopper would risk this with his own daughters, let alone just one," He explains while checking Lyoko. "Aelita is somewhere in the ice sector. Huh? In a simulation bubble?"

"She's in a what?"

"A copy of a real world. A sort of ghost channel. Aelita's fallen into a trap," He turns his chair around to look at her. "Get ready, you're going in right now."

She smirks as she presses the button.


Aelita is trapped between Franz and William as the boy is still gripping her arm. "Better give up, Aelita! You can't beat me."

"That's what you think!" She releases him from his hold on her and runs off. William turns to XANA Franz.

"What are you waiting for? Go after her!"

"Transfer Yumi. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization."

Yumi arrives in the ice sector, landing on the platform. "Jeremy, I didn't land inside the bubble," She points up ahead.

"I know, I can't virtualize you directly inside of it. You'll have to find your own way in."

"Any idea how?" She asks as she starts running.

"Not really, but if you ask me, XANA's probably greeting his guest."

A laser flies right past her and she turns around to face the monster. "For sure. He even left a couple of bouncers at the door!"

Two Tarantulas are firing at her from behind. She spins around, fan in hand and then she flips to the side. She hides behind a rock.

Aelita looks over her shoulder as XANA Franz turns into a wolf, sprinting after her. William laughs as he runs after her.

Yumi hears the lasers as they hit the rock and she runs into view of the monsters. She slides to a stop, pulling out her fans and throwing them. The Tarantulas hit the weapons and knock them out of range. Yumi spins around and catches them, getting hit.

"Be careful, Yumi, that's 20 life points you just lost!" Jeremy warns her. The door opens and he glances to see the others standing there. "Perfect timing, you three. Head straight for the scanner room. Yumi and Aelita are in big trouble."

"Sure, but how about a little rundown?" Ulrich crosses his arms.

"Does that matter?! My sister is in trouble," Amy gestures to the computer.

"I'll fill you in later, now get going, huh?"

Amy quickly presses the button and the doors close in front of them.

Yumi runs up to the rock, hiding again. She peeks between the tiny space to see the Tarantulas aimed right at her...

Aelita continues running as fast as she can, the wolf leaping over her. He lands in front of the girl, her eyes wide in fear. William grins as he approaches her.

"Impossible to escape. This bubble is your prison!"

"Virtualization," The others land in front of the Tarantula, and immediately defend themselves from the Tarantulas. Ulrich swings his arms back and forth as he blocks the lasers with his swords. Odd fires his laser arrows and takes off into a run. Amy creates a shield in front of her, sliding back a bit from the lasers hitting the protection around her arm. Odd hides behind some rocks, Ulrich looking over his shoulder.

"Super Sprint!" He runs up to the rock as Amy flies over it. She drops her wings, landing in front of Yumi.

"Good to see you again. How's your vacation?"

"Short," He puts his swords back into place. "Good to be back though! Where's Aelita?"

"Yeah, where's my sister?" Amy asks Yumi in concern.

"Somewhere inside that bubble thing," Yumi points up ahead to the bubble.

"A simulation bubble...?"

"She's always gotta be different, doesn't she?" Odd asks as he gets on all fours. "Laser Arrow!" He comes out of hiding to hit the Tarantula and destroys it.

"And so far, we don't have any way to get her out of the bubble?" Amy turns to Yumi again.

"No," She shakes her head sadly. The fairy narrows her eyes and runs in the direction of the bubble.

"Luckily for me, I can sense where she is, you deal with the Tarantulas. I'll find her and see what I can do."

"Right," Yumi nods at her.

William laughs as he and the wolf corner Aelita. "Give up, Aelita!"

She just smirks at the two. "You win, William." She kneels onto the ground, touching the bubble. Aelita starts using her creativity. The bubble starts to shake.

"NO!" William shouts before the bubble breaks into pieces. Aelita looks around to see that she's back in the ice sector again, thankfully. Amy slides to a stop in front of her, beaming.

"Aelita!" Then it turns into a glare behind the pink-haired girl. She turns around to see William and a Blok standing there.

"It doesn't matter. You lose no matter what, girls!" His sword appears in his hands.

"Not yet," Aelita prepares an energy field. Ulrich continues running, jumping onto the Tarantula and stabbing it with his sword.

"Impact!"

He leaps off the monster as it explodes. Jeremy's computer suddenly beeps, and what he sees confuses him.

"Huh? The simulation bubble's disappeared, go and help Aelita! Step on it!"

"Okay Einstein," Odd punches his fists together. "Can you call some taxis?"

"Coming up," Jeremy taps enter and the three vehicles appear. Odd and Ulrich jump on, but before Yumi can, she gets devirtualized.

"A Blok," Ulrich looks over his shoulder.

"What was it, Jeremy?" Yumi wonders as she didn't see what hit her.

"A Blok."

She groans at this.

"Guess we better unblock the situation!" Odd jokes to Ulrich.

"The first priority is getting Aelita back," Ulrich speeds up ahead.

"Here we go!" Odd flies after him.

Amy stands in front of Aelita protectively, spear in hand. Both of them are nearing the Digital Sea. Aelita peeks over her sister's shoulder to see the boys arriving.

"Manta!"

A Flying Manta appears behind the two. "Attack!" William points to the duo, turning around to block Amy's spear with his sword.

"Flying Manta, watch out!" Ulrich warns his friend. He skids back and forth from the lasers as they end moving away from William. Aelita swipes her bracelet, trying to fly away, but the Blok hits her wings, knocking her onto the ground. Amy scoops her up and flies into the air. William retaliates by throwing his sword at Amy, hitting her wing and cutting part of it clean open. Amy shouts in agony, dropping Aelita and landing on the ground.

"Amy, no!" Aelita cries out, checking over her sister. She's weak from the rough fall, but she still has some life points. She's literally shaking from the pain as half of her wing is cut, the other part almost about to break.

"Oh!" Jeremy gasps at this. Because Amy's wings are retractable like Aelita's, they can hurt...and unfortunately, she can't retract them back because she doesn't know what that would do.

"You wanna leave? Be my guest."

He lifts them both up with smoke, hovering them over the Digital Sea. Meanwhile, the boys can't help them because they're still distracted by the Manta.

"Aelita, no! Amy!" Jeremy squeezes his eyes shut.

"They're too far away, Jeremy. Better bring them in," Ulrich glances behind them.

"Not with Amy's damaged wing, I can't. I don't know what it'll do to her if I materialize her like that. I don't believe it!"

William tosses them both towards the water, and they fall in. Ulrich comes to a stop to see them disappear. "NO!"

"AMES!" Odd shouts at the top of his lungs.

"No, this can't be happening, not Aelita and Amy!" Jeremy exclaims just as Yumi arrives. "Yumi, the girls are gone."

Her eyes widen at the explanation.

Ulrich drives towards William and the Blok in anger. "Okay Romeo, this is really gonna cost you!" Odd narrows his eyes in anger, flying up to their former friend. Ulrich jumps off his Overbike, throwing it at William. He dodges it with his sword, the Overbike still heading towards him.

"Super smoke!" He dodges it and walks away from Ulrich.

"What's he doing now? Looks like he's waiting for something."

"I don't know...without the girls, it's all over."

Odd squeezes his eyes shut, sobbing.

Jeremy rubs a temple and something beeps. He looks up and notices it.

"...Huh?! Einstein, something weird is happening!" Odd stops crying as he looks at the water.

"Yeah, hang on. I think I get the picture."

A blue sphere with a purple aura rises out of the water. Ulrich looks over the edge and sees it. William pumps his fists.

"VICTORRRRRY!" This was his plan all along, throw the two into the Digital Sea to draw out this sphere...and destroy it.

The sphere rises out of the water.

"Hey, what is that thing?" Yumi looks at the screen.

"It's what I thought. I was right."

The sphere reaches William and the two Bloks, which prepare to fire. "Fire!" William orders and they do, knocking the sphere all the way to the other side. They continue firing at it.

"Jeremy, XANA's trying to destroy a kind of brightly lit bubble!" Ulrich reports to him. "What do we do?"

"Protect it! That bubble is...Franz Hopper!"

Franz Hopper floats over the platform. "I'll handle William," Ulrich pulls out his swords.

"Okay, then I'll go and do a number on that Blok! And Ulrich..." Odd gives him a look and Ulrich understands, nodding. He'll do his best to avenge Amy for Odd. The cat boy fires and destroys a Blok. William turns around to see Ulrich running towards him.

"Super smoke!" He reappears in front of the samurai, swinging his sword at him. They clash swords as the other Blok continues attacking Hopper. Hopper floats backwards, dropping something on the ground.

"It looks like he dropped something off," Yumi stares at the screen.

"You're right, he did. It was the girls!" Jeremy smiles in relief.

The Blok fires at Hopper again. The two girls sit up, Amy's wing repaired thanks to Hopper. "Daddy..." Aelita murmurs as they see him.

"Dad..." Amy whispers slowly. The Manta comes around to attack him. The two sisters stand up, looking on in concern.

"Laser arrow!" Odd destroys the Manta, the two smiling up at him.

"It's great to see you again, princess and my favorite girl!"

He flies towards the Blok.

"Hopper's losing energy! Take out that Blok, and make it snappy too!" Jeremy urges the blond.

"We're doing all we can, Einstein!" Odd flies past the Blok as Ulrich and William are still fighting, until William devirtualizes him. He looks around for Odd, seeing him fighting the Blok. He fires a sword slash that devirtualizes Odd from behind.

"You. Jerk," Amy growls at him, clenching a fist.

"Energy field!" Aelita opens up her hand, firing at the Blok and missing. Amy continues the attack by opening up her hands, firing a single ice arrow. The Blok freezes it in mid-air, while also freezing the girls' lehs.

"Super smoke!" William travels over to Hopper. "It's all over," Jeremy closes his eyes.

Hopper floats towards the edge. William appears nearby.

"You get away from him!" Amy screams at William.

"Daddy, you have to get away. Hurry!" Aelita and Amy distract William by hitting his sword. Hopper flies into the Digital Sea, and the girls get devirtualized by William. He stabs his sword into the platform, having failed.

"NO!"

The two sisters return to see Ulrich and Odd standing nearby. "Saving you gave us a scare is an understatement, princess."

"I know someone who's gonna be really happy to see you. Let's go," Ulrich nods at her.

"I hope this time he gives us the rundown he promised us because I don't know what's going on," Odd comments as Ulrich helps her up. Odd rushes over to Amy and hugs her tightly. Amy returns it, closing her eyes as he sniffles.

"Ames, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," She whispers into his ear.


"It's pretty obvious," Jeremy states in the girls' room.

"There he goes again," Odd slightly rolls his eyes, laying on Amy's lap.

"You see, when Lyoko was destroyed, Hopper wasn't spread out over the network. He managed to escape."

"He disappeared on purpose, is that it?" Yumi asks him.

"That's right," Jeremy pushes up his glasses. "To get away from XANA, which is why he's constantly trying to throw the girls into the Digital Sea all the time. He knows that's the only thing that could get Hopper to come out of hiding."

"That must be why this didn't happen when Amy fell into the Digital Sea," Ulrich speaks up. "In order to destroy him since she knows the truth about being Aelita's half-sister now."

"As long as our father's alive, he'll always be a big threat to XANA," Aelita opens her eyes.

"And our friend XANA knows it," Jeremy adds in.

"Well, before we blow XANA away for good, why don't we give each other our presents, huh?" Odd sits up.

"We said we'd wait till after vacation," Ulrich tells the boy as he holds up several boxes.

"Yeah, I know. Here, Einstein, this one's for you. Since XANA made us come back earlier than expected, why wait, right?" He hands out his presents to everyone. Jeremy squeezes his rubber ducky.

"That's cool, Odd. Thanks a lot, but, um...what am I supposed to do with it?"

"Nothing at all, that's what makes it fun, don't you think?" Odd asks as Aelita holds her fork/spoon taped together. "You're not opening your presents?"

"No, in Japan, you never open a present in front of the person who gave it to you," Ulrich explains to him, blushing towards Yumi. She smiles, winking at him.

"Thank you, Jeremy," Aelita smiles at the large pink scarf around her.

"And that isn't all, Aelita!" Jeremy holds a book that was given to him. "Tonight, you're coming home with me! My parents want you to stay for the holidays."

"But I don't wanna bother them..."

"It's no bother at all, they're the one who insisted!" Jeremy tells her. "I'll give you my room, and I'll sleep in the living room. We've got a really comfortable couch!"

"What about XANA?" She couldn't help but ask.

"You know, I'm sure that XANA could use a vacation too!" He chuckles and notices Aelita's look as the others are opening their presents from Amy. "Whatcha thinking about?"

"About my father. When he saved us, even in his virtual form...I could feel his presence. Like he was holding us in his arms..."

"Same," Amy smiles softly and gasps sharply at the silver ring in front of her. "Oh...Odd, you got me a ring?"

"It's a promise ring," Odd holds up his hand to show a silver band similar to Amy's. "So that we'll always be together."

She blushes bashfully as she puts it on. "Show that to his sisters, and they'll be begging for you to stay!" Yumi states, to which the brunette laughs.

"Thank you, Odd. It's beautiful," She kisses his cheek, suddenly groaning as she pinches her nose. "Forgot that my mom arranged for us to leave later on a private jet since she had a feeling XANA would interfere."

"Whoa, we're leaving on a private jet?!" Odd pumps his fists. "If XANA cuts our next trip short, I'll take it!"


"Thanks again, Mom," Amy waves to her mother from the door of the plane. She and Odd are preparing to leave for his house…inside, she's sort of relaxed since she's talked to his sisters, but she has yet to meet his parents. That right now was the major milestone.

"It was really cool of you to have us leave on a private jet!" Odd gives her a thumbs up. "You're the best, Ms. Johnson!"

"Call me Lydia," She smiles softly, waving back to them. "Take good care of them, Frank!"

Frank, the pilot, tips his hat to her, walking off to start the jet.

"Say hello to your family for me, Odd!" Lydia calls out and Amy smiles at her mother one last time before closing the door. They sit in massage chairs side-to-side, looking out the window to Lydia. They wave as the jet slowly takes off into the sky.

"Now this is flying in style!" Odd puts his hands behind his back.

"Hello again, Amelia," Carmen, one of the stewardesses, stands nearby. "I have something for you. I was told to give it to you when we took off."

She hands the girl a case and leaves. Odd sits up as she opens…

Seeing the violin she had as a child.

"What…?" She murmurs slowly in shock. A note is nearby and she reads it.

I know this won't make up for things, but…it is the holidays. No tricks, no catch, just…something for you to remember him by.

Stan

Amy pauses at the name, looking back at the violin. All she really had to remember Hopper was the picture of her being a newborn from the Hermitage and Aelita…

"…Are you okay?" Odd asks softly.

"I'm not going to forgive him, but…for once he did something for me that didn't involve his company or trying to make me his heir…it's actually…different." She lightly touches the wood. She can tell that this was genuine.

"Would you ever thank him for it?"

"…In a different world, maybe…" She looks out the window, knowing fully well that this is reality… and there isn't a world where she's not Hopper's daughter.