The sun was beginning to set as Jeremy and Aelita left Jeremy's dorm room. "Tonight, you're coming home with me." Jeremy's words earlier in the day echoed in both of their minds. The two of them were going to spend the holidays together, a prospect that both excited and made them a bit nervous. Accompanying them in the hall were their friends, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi. They were walking along to see them off.
"Now if XANA attacks…" Jeremy began.
"Relax Jeremy." Yumi interrupted. "XANA's not going to attack while you're away. You two should just relax, you work too hard."
Odd snickered playfully. "Yeah, just imagine it, you two off on a romantic getaway!"
"Odd…" Ulrich scolded his roommate.
Odd turned to Ulrich. "I bet you wish you could run off with Yumi for two weeks."
"Odd!" Yumi exclaimed, blushing slightly.
Odd turned again toward Jeremy and Aelita. "Just make sure you two don't create any new life forms while you're…"
"ODD!" Aelita and Jeremy had stopped in their tracks, their faces were a deep crimson.
"Fine! I can take a hint." Odd shrugged.
After taking a brief detour to Aelita's dorm to make sure she had everything she needed, they left the dorm building and toward the front gate. Across the road, Jeremy's father, Michael Belpois was waiting in his car.
Waving farewell to their friends, Aelita and Jeremy walked across the street to where the car was idling. Jeremy rushed to the passenger car door and opened it.
"After you, Aelita." He said in his most chivalrous tone.
Aelita hadn't changed her pace. She smiled and rolled her eyes, shaking her head slightly in amusement. "Thank you, Jeremy." She laughed and sat down. The car had no rear seats, so Jeremy climbed in the back. Seeing this, Aelita looked a little concerned.
"Are you sure you're alright back there? I could sit back there instead if you would prefer, Jeremy."
Jeremy waved away her concern. "Nonsense, Aelita. I want you to sit up there. It's not a long ride. I'll be fine back here."
Michael shook his head. "So, you're Aelita? Jeremy's told us quite a lot about you."
"Oh? Like what?" Aelita asked with a hint of mischief.
"Dad…" Jeremy protested.
"Oh, enough to know you're very special to him." Michael replied.
Aelita smiled. "He's very special to me too." She turned around to look at Jeremy, who was blushing.
"If you like him, you'll really like his mother. That's who he takes after."
"Dad…" Desperately, Jeremy pleaded to no avail.
"Blonde, glasses, smart as a whip. It was love at first sight for us. Although we had our bumps early on."
"Oh?" Aelita's interest was piqued.
"She had a hard time understanding how important football was to me back in high school. She didn't understand how someone like me could waste time on such a stupid game, but she came around."
"You don't say…" Aelita smirked at Jeremy, who was trying extremely hard to avoid her gaze.
The drive took a few hours, but they eventually reached Jeremy's home. The house was fairly average sized with two stories. Maybe the house was a little on the smaller side, but they weren't a very big family. They pulled up into the garage and got out of the car. After taking her luggage to Jeremy's room, Jeremy and Aelita sat on the couch in the living room.
"I'll go check on the missus. You kids just relax." Jeremy's father went into the kitchen.
Aelita leaned her head on Jeremy's shoulder. "Mmmm. You're right, this is a comfortable couch."
"I told you." Jeremy laughed.
"I almost wonder if you're getting the better end of the deal." Aelita teased.
"Oh no, I'm sure you'll be quite satisfied in my bed." Jeremy's eyes widened and he blushed. "I mean to sleep there. You'll be… What I meant to say…"
"You are such a dork." Aelita put her hand to her face and giggled.
Jeremy's father came back into the room and with him was a thin bespectacled woman with long blonde hair. Jeremy stood up. "Mom, this is Aelita."
Jeremy's mother smiled and greeted the pink haired girl warmly. "Aelita, it's wonderful to finally meet you! Jeremy's told us so much about you, I feel like I already know you. It's like you're family already. It seems only right for you to spend the holidays here with us."
"Yeah…" Aelita's thoughts seemed to drift. "Thank you. You're all so kind." Aelita looked away for a moment. Jeremy seemed to pick up that something was bothering her.
"I'm terribly sorry, but may I be excused, I still need to unpack my things." Aelita asked politely.
Jeremy's mother seemed a little confused and concerned. "Oh, of course, dear."
Jeremy started walking in the direction of his room. "Uh, I'll go help her."
Michael shook his head and laughed. "Kids…"
Aelita was standing in Jeremy's room, staring at her luggage. Jeremy approached her.
"Aelita, is there something wrong?" He asked.
Aelita sighed. "I'm just… I don't know…"
"You're thinking about *your* family." He said knowingly and sympathetically.
Aelita nodded. "Everyone thinks I'm an orphan, I know your mom was trying to be nice, and I appreciate that, she seems nice, they both do… it's just."
"You don't want to give up on your dad. I understand Aelita. I'm not asking you to." Jeremy put his hand on her shoulder. "I remember what happened last time." He semi-joked.
Aelita smiled and put her arm on his back. He maneuvered his arm so that they were side-hugging.
Aelita sighed. "I suppose I *should* get to know my in-laws." She joked.
Jeremy blinked rapidly. "In-laws? We aren't m-married." He stammered.
"Yet." Aelita smirked. Grabbing his hand, Aelita and Jeremy walked back to the living room where Jeremy's parents were waiting for them.
A few days later, it was Christmas Eve, around midnight. Everyone had gone to bed, but Aelita couldn't sleep. Her mind was too active, thinking about things, and not just the gifts under the tree with her name on them. She left Jeremy's room, went into the living room, and walked over to the couch. Jeremy's eyes were closed.
"Jeremy." She called out to him. "Are you asleep?"
"Wha-?" Startled and blind, Jeremy reached out in the darkness for his glasses. He put them on and saw Aelita staring back at him. "Aelita? Is something wrong?"
"I can't sleep." She replied.
Jeremy shrugged. "Well, neither can I. What's going on?"
"I'm worried." She answered.
"Worried? What about?"
Aelita paused for a moment and then asked. "Jeremy, do you ever think about our future?"
"You mean after we defeat XANA?" He replied.
Aelita shook her head. "After that. Ten years, twenty years, down the line, do you think you'll still love me?"
"Don't be ridiculous! Of course I will, Aelita. I love you with all my heart. Nothing will ever change that."
"What if someone comes along who's even smarter; someone prettier?" Aelita asked in a slightly accusatory manner.
Jeremy folded his arms. "And what if you met someone athletic, more handsome, who doesn't need glasses?"
"Jeremy! That's not fair, you know I love you just the way you are." She protested.
"And I feel the same way about you!"
"It's different…"
"How?"
Aelita exhaled sharply. "When you turned on the computer, found me, and materialized me, it was like being reborn into the world. Even with my memories, much of my past life is gone. You are my foundation. Without you, I'm lost, alone. I can't bear the thought of being alone again."
Jeremy frowned. "You have lots of friends, you're incredibly talented, you have a life that you built entirely on your own. That's all on you, it's not because of me…" His tone gained a bit of regret. "…sometimes it was in spite of me."
"Yes, it's wonderful what I've accomplished, but at the core of it, there's us. I could be performing on stage in front of millions of fans, but at the end of the day, there's only one fan I care about." She looked directly into Jeremy's eyes.
Jeremy looked away from her. "Before I met you, I was totally alone. Nobody wanted to talk to me, nobody liked me. I didn't have a single friend. Then I met you, the only person I could really relate to. Someone who could talk to me and understand me and not be weirded out by how smart I am or the words I use. Meeting you was like a rebirth for me as well. At the core of my new life, the one thing that matters most, is you." Jeremy's voice was trembling slightly.
Aelita looked at him sympathetically. "Jeremy…"
Jeremy turned toward Aelita. "Of course our lives will change Aelita, but it will change on our terms. Our lives will change together."
Aelita sighed. "I guess I've just…been at war for so long… I'm afraid of peace."
"We both have, Aelita. We've been fighting for so long; I think I might be afraid of what happens after XANA too. Whatever it is though, when we get to it, we'll get through it, together." Jeremy took Aelita's hand in his and stroked it gently. They sat there on the couch for a few minutes in thoughtful silence.
"You know in a week, we'll have to go back to it, XANA, school, everything." Jeremy said. "We won't be able to spend time like this together for a while."
"I know." Aelita responded with an air of sadness.
"Hey, we still have our days at the factory, just the two of us." He poked her in the leg, trying to cheer her up.
She smiled slightly. "Yeah. You know… I'm sure Odd will give us a hard time when we get back with whatever story he's concocted in his head of what we're 'really doing' here."
"Without a doubt." Jeremy chuckled.
A mischievous look crossed Aelita's face. "Well... let's give him a 'fantasy' worth imagining." She grabbed Jeremy's face and started enthusiastically kissing him.
The clock in the room struck midnight. Jeremy broke off the kiss. "Merry Christmas, Aelita."
"Merry Christmas, Jeremy." Aelita replied, planting another kiss on her blonde beau.
They greeted the new day together. It didn't matter to them what was under the tree. What both of them really wanted, they already had.