Upon waking up, William felt pleasant warmth. He could have slept for longer, let the arms hold onto him.

Wait a second. Arms?

William opened his eyes. He was in Serafina's arms and for a moment he did not understand at all how or why. Then the events of the night returned to his mind. Now there was also a blanket, which warmed him as well, around him. Serafina was fast asleep, and William decided not to disturb the girl's sleep since she had been so gentle towards him. After all, she must have had to stay awake because of him.

He did not dare to turn his head, so he did not see Lyra observing them from afar. The yellow-haired girl tried to ponder what on earth Serafina truly saw in William. She had reacted and been worried and all herself as well when William had become distressed due to his nightmare, but still she would not have gone as far as Serafina, who had held William in her arms all night long and kept the poor boy calm. Serafina had been truly strongly close and soothing. Such could be seen rarely especially now that Serafina had matured from a little girl into a strong teen who did her best to take all the life of a warrior brought with itself.

Lyra was not willing to believe that Serafina would have fallen for that boy. It just did not make sense, let alone fit into who Serafina was. Lyra was a romantic who yearned after boys – if there just had been any on the same side and there on Lyoko with them – but not Serafina, never her. Serafina had sacrificed her heart a long time ago. Not that there was anything left from the community benefiting from it in their fight and current life, but you could not get a sacrificed heart back just like that. No, there had to be something else in William. William was handsome in his own way, but not in a way that made Lyra become interested. Therefore, what was what Serafina had caught her eyes in that amateur Lyoko Warrior? Was it perhaps the innocence Serafina had talked about? Or the wounds left by X.A.N.A., which, in light of the most recent events, had more significance than they had thought? Or was it some kind of a combination, whole or a part of it?

Lyra could not comprehend it. She would have to ask Serafina.

Or was it truly that Serafina had fallen in love after all? Was that truly the case and Lyra just did not want to accept it? The way Serafina had looked at William when he had calmed down and fallen asleep had included love, but was it fiery romantic love or love from Serafina's shared heart, which she gave to any friend who needed it?

Lyra rubbed her temples. Her head would only start to ache if she tried to understand what was going on inside Serafina's head. Even though she did know Serafina better than anyone else, she did not know everything about her. In addition to that, becoming Alex's prisoner had made a rift of multiple months during which a lot had happened. Serafina had been different, perhaps more mature or serious than before, when Lyra and Dan had gotten free. Alicia had been quieter, far more serious and she no longer joked around. She had become very duty-oriented in her own behavior.

Afterwards, they had found out that only a while ago the proximity of the risk of death had prevailed on Lyoko's side as well as a fateful encounter with the Xanafied William had left their marks on in her and Alicia's minds in addition to Serafina's body. Avoiding death by mere millimeters had broken something in Serafina, something else than just her side's skin and shirt. Some innocence and joy had disappeared when the girl had realized how serious this was and that she was not invincible or immortal.

That day, Serafina had told about the incident, I understood that I could die at any time of anything.

William felt good, yet he still could not help thinking that an enemy had held him in her arms through the night. An enemy, not a comrade. Why had Serafina been so kind to him? He had no idea. He no longer trusted Alex, who had led them, the Lyoko Warriors, into this, but he still did not dare to trust in Serafina either. If she was a friend, why had she not told it to them but had started to take them hostage and fight against them?

Was neither party in this conflict on the good side?

At some point Serafina woke up and immediately noticed that William was awake.
"How are you feeling?" the girl asked.
"Much better than last night," William replied. "Thanks for being by my side."
"You're welcome," Serafina said. She stroked William's cheek gingerly. "I'm sorry about what happened at night. I wouldn't have ever even imagined that the chains would cause such a reaction in you."
"I-it's ok," William said, astonished. "You couldn't have known."

No one knew that he remembered everything of his Xanafication and saw nightmares. He had kept it secret to avoid questions and worrying others. He did not want to reminisce the case and relive those events inside of his mind to answer questions.

Serafina loosened her grip on William to let the boy off her if he wanted to take some distance. William moved off Serafina's lap calmly onto the ground that the girl's legs had certainly had had the time to go numb badly under his weight. While moving, William nudged the chains a little and startled upon hearing the cling behind himself. However, no one but him moved the chains.
"I hope you're not going to attack us anymore," Serafina noted. "Chains are no longer a good idea to keep you still after last night, but then we're starting to run out of painless ways to keep a hostage still if he decides to become aggressive."
"I wasn't planning to, really," William replied. Even the mere thought of ending up back into the chains made him feel awful, and he did not want to fight after all the kindness. Plus, he was completely disadvantaged, he knew that perfectly well.
"Good," Serafina said, grateful. "Then we shouldn't have any problems."

Serafina stayed near William and talked with him. The day passed by, the lights came and went. Serafina knew that they would have to face them soon, but not now when William was their hostage.

Suddenly the whole base swung and a shrill and fierce alert sound started to come from the crystal ball. At once, everyone was at it to see what was going on.
"A huge attack is coming at us now," Serafina noted. "This'll be intense."

The group scattered a little to see if the cave would hold up. Nothing seemed to crack yet, although trees fell and the ground opened up in the forest.

Suddenly the ceiling crumbled.
"Watch out!" Lyra screamed. Serafina got a picture of a rock falling towards her and William into her mind from Alicia and quickly grabbed the boy's arm, yanking him just in time out of the way with herself.
"That was close!" William gasped.
"We can't stay here," Serafina said. Now she saw the break which rose towards the ceiling. "We have to get out of here right now."

Alicia took the crystal ball and hurried towards the end of the cave. Lyra and Dan left to the same direction, watching rocks that now started to rain down more.
"C'mon, up!" Serafina exclaimed at William and tried to lift him up more. William stumbled on his feet, alarmed, and followed, pulled from his arm, the black-haired girl who ran behind the others towards the end of the came through which the rest of the group already disappeared. They raced against the rocks falling down and barely got out only to fly into the surface of the Ice Sector painfully. Serafina let go and remained on the ground to lie next to William, panting.
"William! William, do you read?" Jeremy shouted.
"Jeremy?" William asked. "Are you there?"
"Yeah, I am. Are you all right?" Jeremy asked.
"Who or what is attacking that base right now? I almost got crushed under falling rocks!" William exclaimed, sitting up. Jeremy did not answer. "Jeremy? Jeremy? Jeremy, are you there?"
"Alex said something, that he'd free you now, and told us to wait here. We tried to stop him but he managed to virtualize himself on Lyoko," Ulrich explained.
"Well that explains it," Lyra scoffed. "Oh well, he almost did get you free. Free of us. And your life."

William looked at the ground. How had they ended up to this?
"William, I can't materialize you," Jeremy told.
"Of course you can't! I didn't have time to restore William's virtual body in that hassle!" Serafina exclaimed. "One can see that our hard work with the base is appreciated." She stood up and gave her hand to William to help him on his feet, calmer now that they were not in acute mortal danger.
"We'd better go to a tower," Dan said, becoming huge suddenly. "There's one over there."
"Let's hurry," Alicia said. She gave the crystal ball to Lyra, who climbed on Dan, and turned into a horse herself. "Get on, you two."
"Me too?" William asked, astonished.
"Yeah, you too. You don't have Super Smoke in use right now, so get on now," Alicia blurted. She knelt. "Hurry up now!"
"Do you have experience at riding?" Serafina asked.
"No," William answered.
"Then go to the front. Keep your legs tightly in contact with Alicia's sides and hold onto the hair. I'll try to keep you aboard from behind," Serafina said.
"O-okay," William said. He did not like the idea that Serafina would be behind him, but he did not have a choice. He climbed on the horse and felt Serafina coming against his back and putting her hands on his shoulders from the sides.
"Keep the legs tight so that you won't fall," Serafina advised.
"Okay," William said. Alicia stood up as carefully as possible. "Whoa!"
"Here we go," Alicia said and set off calmly after Lyra and Dan, hastening her pace.

Eventually they galloped and William did not know how he stayed on the ride. Serafina dropped off Alicia's back, accustomed to it, but when William tried the same, he fell down back first. Serafina caught him from under his armpits, upon which the impact of the fall was focused at William's legs and read instead of back and head. The sudden weight yanked the girl on her knees so that she hit her forehead and nose into the back of William's head. Alicia neighed as she laughed.
That went well, she noted to Serafina.
Shut up, Serafina replied. Literally.
"Thanks," William said and rubbed the back of his head when Serafina let go of him. "What will happen to me now, then?"

Serafina looked at Lyra, who shrugged.
"We'll see," Serafina remarked. "Alex is on the move and the base is broken, so at least for now we'll be here, the whole gang."

William turned to look Serafina in the eyes.
"Couldn't you let me go this once?" he asked, his eyes begging.

Serafina's face petrified strangely. The girl turned her back on him and walked to Lyra to inspect the tower's interface. Lyra recognized the expression; Serafina was suddenly upset. Lyra turned to look at William and saw his eyes, understanding then why Serafina had reacted like that. The boy managed to evoke sympathy in her as well, so Serafina, who was already more sympathetic towards the boy already, surely felt it even more strongly. The will to give in to the plea fought against the effort made and the goal.

Lyra shook her head at William and turned back to the interface. Dan growled at the view he had opened to the base from the crystal ball. Everything was broken. Alex would tear everything apart. That powerful his anger was now.

/Code Lyoko (c) Moonscoop, Foes & Friends Remastered duology and its OCs (c) Me/