It's the last chapter ever...
No dedication. Sorry, everyone. But I do love you all. Thank you everyone for reading, you mean so much to me, though I'm sure I've already told you that enough...
Hah, like you can be told you're loved too much.
Ulrich's P.O.V.
"It's okay, Odd," I said, with a small smile curling the corner of my mouth upward as my blond friend walked down the street next to me.
"It's just weird. I don't know if I can forgive myself, even if you do," he sighed, running his fingers across the top of his head and through the slightly unkempt purple spot in the front. "I mean, how many guys try to kill their best friend?" The hint of a nervous laugh tinted the last part of his sentence.
I looked over at him briefly. "You were being controlled, Odd. You can't forget that."
He sighed. "Still…"
"It really is okay, Odd. You didn't do anything wrong."
He shook his head. "I liked Yumi. I envied you for her. That's why he could use me in the first place. Don't you think that's something?"
I coughed, and scratched the back of my head. "Well I still don't think you did anything wrong. It could have happened to anyone."
He hesitated. "…I guess so."
I forced myself to make a full smile. "Hey, cheer up, man. It's really no big deal. Xana's gone now anyway, right? We should be happy."
He returned my smile, though I could tell he was still writhing with discontent underneath of it. "Yeah. We should be happy."
"That's more like it." Then I added, under my breath, "Besides, now you have Rhiné. She's… one crazy piece of work," I laughed.
He gave me a much more real smile, and bumped me in the shoulder playfully. "Shut up, Ulrich."
I was about to say something in response, when a sound cut me off.
"ULRICH! ODD!" distantly, Yumi's voice was heard echoing towards us, and when we turned around, we saw she and Rhiné racing towards us.
"Here they come now," I said.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Yumi asked us as soon as she reached us. She and Rhiné were both out of breath and laughing hard.
I noticed Odd was now blushing in Rhiné's presence, and that would have made me laugh, except for the fact that I'm an awesome friend. So instead, I decided this was where we would split up boy-girl and boy-girl.
"I think I'll walk home with Yumi. Odd, you can go back to the school with Rhiné." I felt like I was giving out orders.
Odd tried to shrug away his obvious embarrassment, and he took Rhiné the other way with him.
"Wait," Rhiné said. "What's a Blumie?"
I looked over at Odd, and then at Yumi, trying to decipher this strange girl's words in their eyes… but they were just as lost as I was.
"You said you'd walk home with Blumie, Ulrich. Who's Blumie?"
OH.
I think I burst into laughter some time before she actually completed her sentence. This girl was more compatible with Odd than I had originally thought…
"You mean Yumi? As in… me?" Yumi was also chuckling.
She blinked, and then finally everything registered, and she began jumping up and down. "Oh, okay! I get it now!" She turned back to an amused-looking Odd, and they began to walk away. Over her shoulder, she shouted, "Well, anyway, I'll see you later, Ulrich and Yumi!"
She giggled, and I waved goodbye.
"Wow. She's not very bright, is she?" Yumi observed with a raised eyebrow and a softened tone as we began walking our own way.
"I guess not. But give her some credit… if she's the one who made Odd happier, so he could fight his virus… then she probably saved both his life, and mine too. Maybe yours as well."
"That's true. But still…" she flashed me a look, and I knew exactly what she meant.
I laughed. "Yeah. Blumie." I nudged her in the arm.
"Hey, shut up!" she laughed.
I shrugged and began to run. "Last one back to your house is a rotten egg!"
"UGH! You SUCK!" she yelled with a grin, and she then took off running after me.
I stopped to turn around and stick my tongue out at her, but then began running again immediately, because I knew that if she caught up to me I was dead. But that's what made it fun.
And that's why I loved Yumi. Sorry, Odd. But I got her first.
Odd's P.O.V.
"…And that one's about this guy who changes into a girl whenever he gets hit with cold water. It's so hilarious!" Rhiné was telling me about a manga or something. I had already forgotten the name. Of course, that's how a lot of our conversations went. But we didn't really care.
"Cool."
"What do you do for fun, anyway, Odd? You always seem so… sad and stuff when we talk."
I raised an eyebrow. "Sad? Really? I don't think I've ever even heard my name associated with that word before."
"Is it because of that computer guy or something? Because I think he's dead now."
"Xana? No. Yes. Well… kind of. It's complicated."
She looked over at me for a moment, and then shrugged. "Well anyway, there's the school."
"Yup."
"I guess I should go now, huh?" she asked.
"You… uh… you don't… have to go… if you don't want to," I said awkwardly. "I mean, you could come hang out with me at my dorm if you want."
I jumped at the sudden snarl known as Jim's voice. "ODD! WHERE ARE YOU?" he boomed angrily, and I knew I was in for it… for something, anyway.
I hung my head. "Never mind. Looks like that buffoon we have for a gym teacher is after me for something again."
I stood there with Rhiné, waiting for Jim to come find me. But then, totally to my surprise, I felt her grab my arm and yank me across the school campus. I didn't know what I was doing, or what she was doing, or where we would go, or… anything. But thinking about that wasn't really my first priority. All I knew was to get as far away from Jim as I could or I was just a footnote in the history of Kadic Jr. High.
Meanwhile, Rhiné was apparently trying to find a place to hide. Finally Rhiné decided on a spot, and pushed me behind a thick cluster of bushes, which she quickly dove behind as well.
"What are you doing? We're gonna get in even more tr--"
She put her finger to her lips, and I shut up.
"Alright, where are you? Come out or else you'll be in even more trouble, young man," we heard Jim say as he strode around us, thankfully not noticing where we were.
I didn't dare to move a muscle or even breathe… And if my eyes weren't squeezed shut, I probably could have seen through the thick leaves of the bush that he was only feet away.
I heard him give a gruff sigh. "Those kids. Sheesh." And he began walking away.
We waited for a moment before emerging from the leafy hiding spot. I brushed the dirt off of my knees, and then looked over at a pleased-looking Rhiné.
"Why did you…?"
She cut me off. "I just thought… getting in trouble is no fun… but you can do that whenever you want to. You only get so much time to hang out with me though, so why not save the worst for last?" She laughed, and I laughed with her.
"Thanks, Rhiné."
"Not necessary. Besides, I owe you for fast thinking last night. Without you we'd both be in big trouble already."
"No… really, thanks. For everything."
"But there's only one thing…" I could tell I had confused her.
"I mean like… you saved me from that idiot," I nodded my head in the direction Jim had walked off in. "But you kinda… I dunno, you kinda saved me from myself, too."
She put her arms around my shoulders. "You know what, Odd?" she said next to my ear, which I'm sure had turned pink along with my face.
"What?"
"I don't know what the hell that's supposed to mean, but if we just cut to the chase, I'm really glad I met you too," she laughed.
Aelita's P.O.V.
The rough cement that made up the roof of the abandoned factory was cold and hard. Sitting up there, I let my legs dangle down freely off the side of the factory, while holding the guard rails lightly so as not to fall off. The sun was just beginning to sink, casting an orange veil over the world. It almost reminded me of Lyoko. Quiet colors filling open skies with painfully emotionless hues. Emotionless, like I was, once upon a time. But this world was far from emotionless… it just felt that way sometimes.
I was crying, watching this world. I didn't know why. No, that was a lie. I did know why.
But lying to myself was the easiest thing to do now.
Crying was a familiar feeling by now. It always started with a pain in the back of my throat, and then warm water blurring my vision. And then the water would fall from my eyes, cooling fast as it slipped away from me. Sometimes I wouldn't know I was crying until much later when I realized I was. It felt good to cry. But it made me feel weak, too. I wasn't sure if being this emotional all the time was healthy for a human girl or not.
It didn't matter now, though. It didn't matter if it was healthy or not. I had served my purpose now that Xana was finally gone. I felt like an empty shell now that it was all over. I had always thought that protecting the world from Xana was the only reason I was alive. But now my reason was gone… so what was I to do?
Overhead, a v-shaped flock of birds cawed as it soared past me. I rested my head on the cold metal pole that was the guard rail. It smelled metallic, and that scent mixed with a gust of late-autumn wind, which carried the faint aroma of a bonfire with it. It was a good smell. It smelled alive. It reminded me, once again, that I was not alone in the world.
I was startled by the sound of the trap door that led up to where I was on the roof open, but that feeling left me as quickly as it had come when I realized what it was. I knew it was just Jeremie emerging from the hole, though my back was still turned away from him. I could tell just by recognizing the feeling I always get when I was near him.
"Are you okay, Aelita?" he asked me, using a quiet, worried tone.
I turned to glance at him, and a new tear slipped down my face, though I was happy to see him.
"It's cold up here," I said softly.
"Do you want me to get you a jacket or something?" he asked with concern.
My mouth briefly spread into a contained smile. "No, that's okay, Jeremie. I sort of like the cold… it reminds me that I'm alive."
A gust of late-autumn wind brought a silence with it as it swept over us. Jeremie remained standing behind me, and I could tell he wasn't sure what to do.
"Do you remember the first time I felt the cold, Jeremie? It was so wonderful," I recalled with a soft smile.
Jeremie finally walked over to me and sat by my side.
I looked over at him. "But now I feel… numb."
He coughed, and awkwardly snaked an arm around me. Without hesitation, I scooted close to him and leaned onto his shoulder, which I was sure would embarrass him, though his timidity seemed too trivial to care about now.
"I already have you as a family, Jeremie. You and the others. I don't… I don't want these other people," I said, softening my voice at the end so I wouldn't choke on my words. "And I feel… so terrible for not accepting them like they want me to."
"It's okay, Aelita. You don't have to accept anything."
"They can adopt me legally, though… can't they?"
"No."
I lifted my head off of Jeremie's shoulder to look him in the eye. "They can't?"
"Well, I did some checking… it's true that you were once Dr. Bachelder's daughter, but after you were sent to live in Lyoko, I think Xana tried to convert you into a whole computer program… for what, I don't know."
"So he basically tried to erase my genetic data."
"Right. But it didn't work all the way, and that's why I could materialize you. That's also probably why you feel emotions and such. But it also means that the portion of your genetic information that was deleted will never come back to you… and so technically speaking, you have no biological parents. Your DNA is completely unique."
"I see…" I responded. "Jeremie…"
"What?"
"Is it wrong that I find that information relieving?"
He smiled. "No… I don't think so."
I wiped some of the tears off of my cheeks, and suddenly felt much lighter. I didn't have to worry now. Dr. Bachelder was a wonderful woman. And her daughter, I was sure, was a brilliant individual as well. But they weren't… the ones I would consider family. I never would.
And then it hit me like a rock; the fact that I didn't want them… that was perfectly fine.
A new cool but gentle breeze glided over us, pulling at our hair and clothing, caressing our flesh calmly, and sending waves of electricity up and down our spines. I remained silent, looking out at the world beyond this great height, and found myself once again marveling at the astonishingly overlooked beauty of this world I had come to love so much.
Suddenly, Jeremie broke the silence. "Uh… oh, Ae… Aelita?"
"Yes, Jeremie?" I responded, turning my head to look at him.
"I, um…" he stammered, and then finally gave up on words and simply reached into his pocket, and a second later his hand reappeared, this time clutching a small, black book, which he handed to me.
"My diary…?" I asked, questions beginning to seep into my brain.
Embarrassed, he coughed, and tried to explain. "I found it in the hallway by my dorm…"
"Oh, I see…"
"Aelita?" He looked up at me guiltily.
I already knew what he was about to confess. "You read it, didn't you?"
His eyes returned to his lap.
I sighed. "How much?"
"A few entries…"
I looked down at the tiny book in my hands, and then back up at Jeremie. A small smile appeared on my lips.
"Are you angry?" he asked, dreading the answer.
I hesitated, and then shook my head. "It's alright, Jeremie."
He looked relieved. "I'm really sorry I read some of it, Aelita. It really wasn't my business at all…"
I laughed. "Don't worry about it."
An awkward silence filled both of us up. Feeling the need to do something, I watched myself bob my legs up and down off the side of the factory, while trying to decide what to say to him.
I took a deep breath, and turned my smiling face at Jeremie, searching for something to say in his expression. But I found myself studying his features for a moment instead… his boyish face, pale from showing it daylight so little, was so… so perfect. Jeremie's face was as wonderful as his spirit… and that thought linked back to an old one… Did I have a spirit of my own?
Yes, I thought. I do. I didn't need to be re-assured by anyone about that. I could simply decide for myself.
My mind wandered back to the boy in front of me, and suddenly I was overcome by a strange urge.
"Jeremie?" I asked, shattering the silence between us.
"Uh…um, yes, Aelita?" I could tell he was startled that I had suddenly spoken. And he was even more startled at what I said next.
"Can I kiss you?"
I watched as Jeremie's already flushed face became darker than I had ever seen it.
"I…" he coughed, and sort of shook his head, as if to jar free some words. "Um, sure… I…yeah, okay…"
I laughed, and leaned forward, closing my eyes. Gently, and hoping that I was doing this correctly, I brought my lips onto his, and began to kiss him slowly. For a moment, there was no movement in return. But then, awkwardly, I felt him kiss back. A warm feeling gathered in my stomach. Kissing Jeremie was… bliss.
I broke my lips away from his, and withdrew my head. Jeremie was still blushing furiously, but in the midst of all his embarrassment was a small, sincere smile.
"Ae…" he squeaked. Coughing to clear his throat, he tried again. "Aelita… I, um… that was really…"
"Jeremie?"
"Wh…what?"
"You don't have to try to say anything."
He closed his mouth, and nodded, though he was unable to suppress a huge, boyish grin.
I laughed.
And then I kissed him again.
Fin.
