Code: Lyoko
Pass the Ball
By: Chibi
Disclaimer: Chibi does not own the characters of Code: Lyoko. Though she is unsure of the people who DO, she's positive that it isn't her.
Summary: As an end-of-term fever buzzes around every student, the Principal, pressured by Sissi, agrees to throw a sware in honor of the students who would be graduating that year and all of their accomplishments. Everyone has their eyes set on someone but complicated measurements may keep them from going with who they want to go with. These measurements in turn lead to some of the most crazy matchmaking mix-ups possible. More of a social fic than a XANA-attacks-Earth-and-almost-kills-off-an-important-character fic.
Warning: Includes Yumi/Ulriche, Odd/Sam, and possibly Jeremy/Aealita. Also a good amount of Sissi-scheming.
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"...Jeremy..? Jeremy? Jeremy!" The shouts of Aealita's voice brought him to his senses and the gangling, blonde boy jumped in his seat and found himself staring into the familiar face of his data-leagued friend from behind the screen, "You fell asleep at the terminal again." She said it as though she were taking notes.
"I'm sorry, Aealita." Jeremy stated, his apology turning into a muffled yawn as he removed his glasses to rub the sleep from his eyes, "There's just been so much going on at school. I can't help but want to finish your materialization program while I have the chance before..." He broke off. He was still wondering how he would be able to tell Aealita that she would have to spend a whole two months alone while the students went home for the summer holidays.
"Before..?" She asked, curious.
"Before... Before XANA finds some way to ultimately infect your data stream and... And trap you inside of Lyoko." Jeremy replied as evenly as he could, not very happy about having to lie to her.
"Oh, yes." Aealita felt that something wasn't right with his answer but she didn't say anything. Three days ago Jeremy had stumbled into his single dorm room and requested that she send him a dispatch of her entire data format. After she'd done so, she was never given a reason as to why he wanted it so suddenly.
Jeremy had been trying for almost nine months now to figure out a way to bring Aealita to the real world but every time his programs had either been ineffective or, in case of his first victory, been flawed by XANA. So instead, he had tried to download her data format onto a disk in order to continue his research at home rather than wait until next term. He was becoming slightly panicked at the thought of leaving her by herself in Lyoko for all that time on her own.
"Hey, Aealita..?" Jeremy murmured in question, almost forgetting that she was actually there to answer him.
"Yes, Jeremy?"
"Oh! Uh..." He turned red. The sudden thought of having her as his partner, or as some would call it--date, to the dance had sent him into a reverie, "What would you say to a visit from a few friends?" He wanted to give her as much spare time with them as possible before they had to go.
Aealita looked back through the computer screen, and their com link, noting Jeremy's small, almost pitifully sad, smile, "Sure." She nodded and then shut off her Direct Connection while Jeremy woke up the other members of the Lyoko team and ordered them down to The Factory.
---
"This had better have something to do with XANA, Jeremy... Like maybe he's slaughtered half of the school..." Odd stated as he yawned (A/N: God, that looks so cute in my mind...) and stepped up to the teenage boy sitting in front of the Super Computer.
Yumi and Ulriche were barely holding up themselves and were obviously a little more than angry when Jeremy began to explain the seemingly unjustifiable reason for waking them at eight in the morning on a Saturday.
"Aealita needs to see us all as much as possible. When we leave in a couple of weeks, she's going to be the only one on the school grounds without a place to go. And XANA isn't helping with his infectious viruses. I haven't been able to complete another flawless Materialization Program for her and, unless I do by the end of next week, she'll have nothing to look forward to until September." At the thought of their friend staying alone on the school premises for two whole months, the three of them looked slightly less 'violent', "I've been trying for the past few days to copy her data format onto a disk and transfer it to my laptop but, so far, nothing. It'll be even worse off for her if she's stuck in Lyoko while we're gone, her only company being XANA and his little monster friends."
"Fine then, Einstein." Odd stated with a grin, "Load us up and send us in. Keep in contact, just in case XANA wants to send us a physical interpretation of his holiday salutations."
"Right; now head to the scanners, okay?" Jeremy replied, turning back to the Super Computer in his chair and watching the three avatars come up on the screen, "I'm starting the process... Transfer, Odd... Transfer, Yumi... Transfer, Ulriche... Scanner, Odd... Scanner, Yumi... Scanner, Ulriche... Virtualization!"
The three appeared in their usual Lyoko attire and waited for Aealita to appear.
"Hey, Jeremy... What are we supposed to do while we're here?" Ulriche stated, "I mean... I'm up for a trip to Lyoko as much as the rest of them but we've never actually come here without a reason."
There was a slight giggle behind them and Aealita, who was hiding behind a boulder to be absolutely certain that it was them and not a trick of XANA's, stepped out from behind it and beckoned them forward.
"In all of the time you've visited, you've been too busy fighting off XANA to actually see Lyoko." She placed emphasis on the verb, "So how about a tour?" She asked kindly, and the group followed after her as she headed for the Forest Region.
---
"Hey, Princess..." Odd stated as they entered the Desert Region almost an hour later, "If you know so much about everything in Lyoko, how come you aren't getting yourself out of it?" Aealita had stopped for a moment and silence was instilled before Yumi and Ulriche gave Odd a slight shove and they moved on as if nothing had been said.
Suddenly Aealita spoke, "Well... For one, I don't know nearly enough to remove myself from the program. And two... I suppose you could call it a fear of what's outside." They stared at her and she blushed before continuing, "Thinking about it, Lyoko has been my home since I was... Born. To be taken and given a new one, just like that; it would frighten anyone." She sighed, "I know that my experiences on Earth were positive ones last time, (you know, besides the XANA attack), but that didn't make the dangers any less evident. I hear your news reports going on everyday about hostage situations, murders, war... It's just a little overwhelming." She looked at them, "And I don't know if I'd be able to take it."
"But, Aealita, you're able to handle a lot of things, and you know that we'd always be there to help you when or if you need it." Yumi attempted to coax her, acting like quite the sister figure, "Jeremy only wants to do this to help you. Before, you sounded so excited about it, and there's nothing like living on Earth accept actually experiencing it." She smiled widely as they walked onward.
"In a way, you know, without XANA attacking us, Lyoko is really nice." Ulriche commented as he let an artificial breeze whip the loose end of his hair band behind his head.
"Yeah." Yumi commented, kneeling down beside a couple of flowers and shocking herself when actually picking up a scent, "It's so beautiful; you almost forget everything is only a mess of data... It's like it's all real." She smiled as if she were joking.
"In a way, though most won't believe it, Lyoko is. It's a world outside of our dimension." Jeremy commented through their Direct Connection, "And therefore isn't considered that way, like most other worlds that aren't able to be seen through a telescope. You look at it this way; Lyoko has a sun, a moon, stars, plants, different forms of land, and life." He added graciously and Aealita smiled, "It would be an insult to call it fake, just because we can't chart it on a space map."
"I know what you mean." Ulriche commented. He walked over to Yumi and attempted to pluck one of the flowers in order to inspect it, "I mean, all of our senses work here as if we were still on Earth." He held the small daisy in his hand and then turned to Yumi, "Everything here is just as real as we are." He smiled at her and handed her the plant, "I'm thankful that we can have this 'resort' to escape from Earth to, even if it is just to battle XANA."
Yumi took the flower without a word, blushing, too busy trying to find words to think of anything else. That was, until...
"Jeremy, it's nearly one in the afternoon. Don't you think you should bring these three back and let them eat some lunch?" Aealita asked considerately.
"Good idea, Aealita. And if XANA tries anything while we're gone, be sure that--" Jeremy was interrupted.
"--I let you know; I've got it." Aealita grinned, "I've grown to know you far too well."
Jeremy blushed scarlet and started tapping the keys of the Super Computer again, "You three all ready to come back? I'm not using the Time Reversal program so this may be a little more jumpy than that..." He pressed the 'enter' key and watched as the Lyoko team avatars were sent back to their 'save' file and heard The Factory doors open to reveal all of the members safe and sound.
"Let's head to the cafeteria. I was having such a ball in Lyoko, I didn't even realize that I was hungry." Odd stated, holding his stomach as it growled.
"Impossible." Ulriche stated, and they all headed up to the ground floor of The Factory together with a goodbye from Aealita, and then out the front door towards Kadek Academy
---.
Just as they were entering said eatery, Ulriche grimaced at the sound of a screechy, high-pitched voice.
"Ulriche dear!" Sissi started heading in their direction in order to confront him, yet again, about her invitation to be her date to the dance. Ulriche, not wanting to see another bout between Yumi and her, like the one a couple days before, decided to evade the entire situation.
"Run." He stated and jogged swiftly back out the doors before anyone could interrupt. The others followed him.
That day, the four of them ate lunch AND dinner at Yumi's house. (Hey, she's a day student; she can't live THAT far away!)
While they were finishing up their meal, Ulriche, looking slightly edgy, as though worried that he might be overheard, walked up behind Jeremy, took him by the shoulders, and steered him from the room.
"What's up with you, Ulriche?" Jeremy stated, once he'd shaken the taller boy off, "Is something wrong?"
"Yeah, sorta..." He smiled nervously before patting his friend on the back, "But, dear Buddy, it's nothing that a simple trip to the past wouldn't cure." Jeremy was about to object before Ulriche continued, "You see, I tried to ask Yumi to the, er... To that thing happening next week, but I kinda... I kinda messed up and I know that that Theo guy all ready asked her to go with him as thanks for showing him around when he was new." He sighed, "She probably all ready accepted his offer and so I need to go back to the past, just far back enough so that I can actually ask her before she makes any plans with Him. You get what I'm saying?"
"Yeah, Ulriche, I do, but... I'm sorry but we both know that the 'Time Reversal' program was only built to be used in the event of a XANA attack on Earth in order to clear up any damage on innocent people. We're not able to use it on things like the troubles in our romantic lives--" Ulriche hurriedly placed his hand over the boy's mouth to muffle his sentence and prevent Odd or Yumi from hearing him.
"--Please, Jeremy, can't you work something out? ...You're a genius, after all; remember..?" Ulriche asked, all ready sounding hopeless.
"Look, I'm sorry that you made a mistake and all but... Ulriche, you're gonna have to fix it on your own."
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A/N: I know, I know... This chapter had absolutely nothing to do with the actual plot until the end, which was still pretty pointless. I just had to put a little something about Lyoko and Aealita since there is a slight conflict about how she'll 'survive' in Lyoko while the group is gone for summer vacation. I just couldn't help but add a bit of Lyoko terms and drama into it. I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you next time!
PS: Please review and tell me what you think of it so far.
Chibi ending transmission.