Dream of Me

By: Leelei

Disclaimer: I don't own Code:Lyoko

Chapter 2

"You've been awfully quiet."

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. Click-click. Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap… Aelita listened intently as Jeremie's fingers quickly danced over his keyboard while the two were in his room that night. The pink-haired girl had taken up a seat on his bed, her chin in her hands as she leaned her elbows on her knees, staring at nothing within the room as she heard only the sounds of the computer. "Huh?" she replied, lifting her face from her palms and looking over to her friend.

"I said you've been awfully quiet," Jeremie repeated himself kindly without removing his vision from the screen.

"Oh," said Aelita. "I've just been thinking a lot lately…"

"About…?"

"Well…about everything." Aelita leaned back on the bed, propping herself again with her hands. "My memories are so strong…so vivid…but so random. It's just frustrating when they come out of order. Or, when some aren't strong enough for me to remember them completely."

"I see…" Jeremie responded, his eyes still glued to the screen. He was deeply concerned for her, but he was also in the middle of logging a document that he didn't want to lose.

A few more minutes of quiet passed before Aelita spoke up. "Jeremie, can we go to a movie tonight?"

"Tonight?" Jeremie asked. He stopped typing and turned in his chair to face her.

"Yes, tonight," she reassured him. "You have birthday money left over from the ice cream, right? I didn't get seconds…And it's not too late…"

Jeremie sighed and shook his head. "Aelita, I don't know where you got a notion like that. Why don't we just stay in, huh? I've still got a lot of work to do just on this one document. It might take me all night even without going to see a movie."

"Oh…okay," Aelita replied.

Jeremie went back to typing. She went back to listening. He had often declined her requests in the past, always because of his work for her and Lyoko, and she was still understanding of his reasons. Her logic then began kicking in. If they went to a movie, they would get back to the dorms just as curfew would start, then Jeremie would probably breeze through a little homework and then stay up all night on the computer, even as exhausted as she knew he would be. No, keeping him out at a movie wasn't very thoughtful. He needed rest. That's what she should be asking from him. His rest.

But then her memories reappeared in her mind again. She was watching the cartoon on the large screen again, the scene a little foggy due to time. Then, suddenly, a new image appeared. Aelita, in her memory, looked to the seat next to her and saw the faded image of her mother, smiling sweetly at her in return. The woman's mouth moved, yet Aelita couldn't make out what she was saying.

"Jeremie," she automatically called. "Jeremie, I want to go to the movies."

"What?" Jeremie stopped typing and looked to her again. "Aelita…we just went over this."

"I know. I still want to go."

"But I can't take you, I'm sorry. Call Ulrich and Odd. I know for sure that they'll go with you."

"They don't have any money left, remember?" Aelita countered as she stood up from the bed. "Odd even borrowed from you for his third cone!"

Jeremie recalled lending him money earlier that day. And he also knew that Yumi wouldn't be allowed out again that late into the evening. He sighed. "Aelita, I'm sorry."

"Jeremie…" Aelita called his name glumly.

"Maybe…" he tried to think of an alternate. He was obviously using his own computer and had also rigged his laptop to the network for the files he was using, and he didn't want to send her out to the factory, but his mind kept searching. "Maybe…you could watch a DVD in the library. It should still be open a little longer."

"Oh-" Aelita was going to finish responding, but her memories flashed back again. It was the same scene with the movie, but her mother's image was clearer. She still couldn't understand her words. "Jeremie…please," she said weakly, the memory tormenting her.

"Aelita!" Jeremie said in a disapproving tone, moving around to see her again after having just turned back to the computer. "I already said that I can't. I'm really very sorry, please believe me."

"It's…it's…" she mumbled underneath her breath, trying to get the other word out.

"Okay?" he finished, although having not heard her muttering. Aelita nodded. "All right. Now, I have to get back to this work…" he trailed off, turning back to the computer once again.

The memory flashed again. Then again. Then Aelita remembered the ice cream, then the confrontation with the girl, then her mother. Memories were flying back and forth in her head, just as they had been since she retrieved them all. But by then, something was just too much. It had all become too much.

And then she just couldn't take it anymore.

"Jeremie!" she shouted his name sharply.

Jeremie's attention darted back to her, turning just his head to her call. "Yes, Aelita?"

"Let's go to a movie," she said sternly.

"Look, Aelita, I don't know if you're trying to play a game with me or something…" He turned in the chair again to face her.

"Jeremie, this isn't any game. I just want to go to the movies. Is that so much to ask?"

Suddenly, Jeremie became worried at the tone she had taken on. He stood from the chair and stepped towards her. "Aelita, are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine. I just want to go to the movies, please. I've asked you nicely, and no one else can take me. That's all I want."

"And I told you that I simply cannot take you tonight, I'm sorry. Do you want to go tomorrow? I'll check the times right now if it'll make you feel better."

Aelita balled her fists tightly. "I said that I wanted to go tonight. All you're going to do is just sit at that computer. You can take a break!"

Jeremie was shocked at what she was saying. It was totally unlike her! And why was she being so persistent about going to the movie theater? "Look, Aelita, maybe you should go down to the nurse…"

"Why? I feel perfectly fine. I want to go out, remember?"

After that remark, though, Jeremie's brow furrowed. "Of course I remember. You've only been bugging me about it for the past ten minutes."

"Oh, so I'm bugging you?" countered Aelita.

Jeremie shook his head, coming back to his senses after her reply. "No…no, not at all. You're not bugging me. It's just…you're being very…insistent with this going to the movies wish."

"Then take me!"

"Aelita, I can't. There's too much work to do here."

Aelita closed her eyes tightly as another memory flashed through her mind. In the foggy scene, Franz Hopper had just stood from a seat at a dining room table, looking to her and saying, "I'm sorry, Aelita, I can't take you today. Ask your mother."

"Jeremie!" she cried desperately. "I just want to go!"

"Aelita, stop. No means no. Gosh, what has gotten into you tonight?"

Then it all unraveled for Aelita. She lost control, yet by then she couldn't distinguish when she even had it. "Nothing has gotten into me because you're the one who's making this so difficult!" she snapped.

"What's wrong?" Jeremie asked. "Are you mad at me?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong…just the fact that all you do all day is work on those files. Why can't you ever take a break? It's not like they're going anywhere!"

"Aelita, you understand as well as I do that decoding those files could be the key to re-materializing your father. We could shut down X.A.N.A. and Lyoko for good if I could just find all the right answers. Every second I spend brings us closer to that…and you know it."

"Every single second? Jeremie, you need to start sparing those seconds more often!"

"I…I don't want to. I want to solve the puzzle for you…"

"Well, I don't want the solution," snapped Aelita. "Not now. Live now! Find the solution later. This is Earth at the moment, not Earth under a X.A.N.A. attack. Enjoy it while it's here."

There was a brief pause. "Shut the door," he said simply.

She complied and returned to their argument. "You haven't been spending enough time with me."

"Aelita, I know, and I truly care about you very deeply, but…I…I just need the time right now, that's all. Time to work on this for you."

"Well, as the person you're doing this for, I say take a break."

"Ugh!" Jeremie cried, raising his own balled fists into the air and quickly dropping them. "What are you trying to do? Is this a X.A.N.A. attack? Are you some kind of Aelita clone here in her place?"

"Of course not! I'm just a simple girl that wants to see a movie tonight."

"Then why are you being such a spoiled brat?" The words flew from his mouth and immediately Jeremie would have given his life to catch and burn them for eternity. There was no way that what he said was what he thought he had just said.

Aelita was fuming. "I'm a spoiled brat because you've made me one! This is your fault, Jeremie! I wouldn't want to do these things if you hadn't taught me them!"

Jeremie couldn't believe this was happening. It was like time was slowing down around him and would collapse if he couldn't sustain it. "Aelita, please…"

"No, Jeremie. I…I just can't take this…" Suddenly, she began to calm down. "This…this is just too much for me. X.A.N.A., the attacks, the memories, my life here…it's just too much to balance."

"Well, you know I'm always here for you, Aelita. I'll help you straighten them out in any way you need to," Jeremie said in a comforting voice. "Would you like me to start by taking you to see a movie? If we leave now we might just miss the opening credits…"

Aelita looked to him, her eyes finding true peace in his, yet her mind making up a different decision. "No. No Jeremie, I wouldn't. I need time away from all of this. I only wanted to go see a movie because I had a memory that I was with my mother in a theater when I was a little girl. I guess…I guess that I just wanted to recreate that time."

"I'm sorry that your memories are bothering you. I'll do anything you want to help," Jeremie offered again.

"No, Jeremie, I can't ask that of you anymore. Actually, I think it would be best if we didn't spend any time together for a little while. I…I'm the one that needs the break."

Jeremie felt as if he had just been stabbed. His stomach even felt that it was turning circles slowly inside of him. "Aelita! Please…"

"I just want to try and put my memories back together. Maybe if I'm surrounded by different people it will help."

"Wait…" Jeremie shook his head. "Do you mean that you're leaving the group?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, but it's the only way I can feel comfort."

"But what are we going to do about X.A.N.A.?" Jeremie suddenly panicked. "Aelita, you're the keys to Lyoko! We can't deactivate the towers without you!"

"I'll still go to Lyoko for you. And I'll help you when you need it," she replied. "It's just that I can't keep living my life like this. Not this new one I've been given, at least. I need to remember how to be normal again, Jeremie. I want to remember how to be normal again."

Jeremie still couldn't believe what she was saying. His hands began to shake and tears were forming in his eyes. "Aelita, it doesn't have to be like this. How long are you planning on staying away? How will we keep in contact?"

"Yes it does, Jeremie. And I have my cell phone if you need me, and I'm in most of your classes. But as for how long…" she trailed off briefly. "As for how long…I don't know. Until I can get things sorted out again."

Jeremie started to reply, but his voice was nearly failing him. Tears were forming his eyes, then just brimming over his lashes. "Please, Aelita…"

"I'm sorry, Jeremie. I just need to feel like a normal human girl again. I have nothing else to say. Good-night." Before turning to the door, she reached behind and lifted her sweater hood over her hair again, like she had done earlier at the mall. Then, without even a glance back, she left.

Jeremie couldn't help but reach out to her as he watched her go. His hands shook and his stomach continued to churn as he saw the blurry door close behind her. "Good-night," he whispered, and a tear fell down his cheek.

He was experiencing that same terrified feeling like the day when he thought he had lost Aelita and X.A.N.A. had taken control, but as he stood in his room that night, he wasn't the least bit afraid of X.A.N.A. This was a different feeling.

This time, he had actually lost her.

Okay everyone, please stay with me for this –I'm going to ruin it now and promise that there's a happy ending, because you know me. It all ends happy…you just gotta get through the drama and angst first to see how. : ) Chapter three coming soon. Thank you for the reviews! (and more always kick ass:D)