Disclaimer: I don't own Code Lyoko or any of the original characters.
Authors Note1: This story was written before the second season and is based entirely off the first season.
Authors Note2: This story takes place immediately after 'The Search'
Key: Scene change
Code Lyoko:After All This Time
By. Tate Icasa
The Okoylans gathered in the town square.
"My peopole," Mela began, "Strangers have been sighted. I have chosen a group to capture them. Baachek, you have command. Jaenen and Maarch, you will accompany him. Do not be alarmed, the strangers will be easy to capture."
Sissi transferred the knowledge she had gathered to the others. And they began to walk.
"Halt!" A voice called. "Don't draw your weapons."
They stopped.
"Jeremie!" Aelita exclaimed as he approached.
He drew himself up straighter. "My name is Baachek of Malo-Swamp. You will accompany us to the castle. The empress wishes to see you."
"You mean Mela?" Odd asked, puzled. "I don't think I want to see her again."
Jeremie zapped Odd with the staff. "Do not speak the name of the empress." He sighed. "Walk, and I will tell you of your fate."
"Is that a good idea, Baachek?" Maarch asked.
"The empress gave me command, Maarch, not you." He said simply. "Walk."
The next day:
"By decree of the empress, these strangers you have captured are now a part of your family. "Jaenen said. "Congrats."
Baachek smirked. "Thatnks. Is it true the empress allowed them to keep their names?"
Jaenen nodded. "She did. All but the pink-haired one. Mintasia."
"Bring them." He said, after looking up at Ritanalia and Aelitette.
Jaenen disappeared and returned quickly with Odd, Sissi, Ulrich, Yumi, Milly, Timiya, and 'Mintasia'. At Baachek's nod he left.
After a long moment of uncomfortable silence, Jeremie walked a few feet, stopped, opened his mouth to say something and closed it again.
Ritanalia stepped forward. "Welcome to our family. I am Ritanalia, Baachek's wife, and this is our daughter, Aelitette."
Everyone shifted nervously, shock evident on the newcomers faces.
"Ritanalia, please take Aelitette inside and begin dinner?"
As soon as the two had cone everyone exploded at once.
"Your wife! Your child?"
When Jeremie began to speak, everyone became eerily calm.
"When I first became Baachek, I refused to follow the empress, or worship the High Lord. I waited for as long as I could, until I believed that no one would come for me. It was then that I met Ritanalia and we became. . ."
"How long ago?" Aelita asked.
"Six years." He answered hesitantly. "You have to understand, Ae-Mintasia, it's been fifteen years."
"Not for us! Okoyl exists on a separate temporal plane from Lyoko and Earth! It's only been one night for us!"
"Earth and Lyoko are fictional places. They don't exist." He turned. "Don't worry, you'll learn. After dinner Aelitette will help you settle." He turned and left the room. "The kitchen is this way."
Cara sat in the caves, in front of the interface. She was working diligently, trying to find the information the Lyokans would need.
A screen popped up suddenly.
RESTRICTED ACCESS
"Restricted, eh?" She moved the screen to make room for another. "We'll see about that."
Another restricted access page, came up, along with a handprint. She placed her hand over it.
CARA
A diagnostic came up.
"Oh-!" She gasped and dialed Mela.
"Come on," Aelitette said, "I'll help you create your rooms."
"So, um, how old are you?" Yumi asked, still trying to wrap her mind around the whole 'Jeremie is married' concept.
"Five." She stopped. "Put your hand out, Yu-mi." She struggled pronounching the name.
Yumi glanced behind her. Ulrich nodded, so she held her hand out.
A strange looking interface appeared under it. Her name flashed across the screen and it disappeared. A door-ish thing flashed into existence.
"The others will have rooms of their own." She closed her eyes. "Split!" She wispered. She began to shimmer before splitting in two. "That works?" She sounded surprised.
"It did." The other said. "I'll stay here. Take the others." She paused. "What am I supposed to call you?"
"I don't know. See you in. . .say, an hour?"
"Alright. Goodbye. Come on in, Yumi."
"What do you want?" Mela said when she answered.
"You have them all, don't you?"
"What if I do?"
Cara chose not to answer that question. "Am I allowed in Malo-Swamp?"
"In the Swamp? Yes. My castle? No."
Cara sighed. "Can you meet me in Malo-Swamp then?"
"No tricks."
"None. Just wanting to talk. It's important."
"I'm free in four hours."
"Then I will meet you in four hours, near the Malo-Swamp Tower. "She closed the connection. "I only hope it woun't be too late."
Aelitette led Aelita to her room, as Aelita wasthe last. As they tepped inside Aelitette said softly. "He named me after you, didn't he?"
"Probably." Aelita said after a second.
"He misses you. I can hear him and mother talking about you at night. She's jealous."
"Why? She's the one who. . ." She trailed off. "Um, nevermind."
"You want him back?"
"Of course I do. It's only been one day for me."
"Don't worry. I don't mind. Mother might, but, I'll be happy." She paused. "We sohould go meet the others now."
"Go ahead. I'm going to have a talk with. . .your father."
"Alright. But you should know, they didn't."
"What?"
"What you were thinking before. They didn't. He refused." She turned and was gone.
Aelita left the room in search of Baachek.
"Where's Ae - Mintasia?" Sissi asked.
"She didn't want to come." Aelitatte said. "I always wanted a sister." She said thoughtfully. "Lets play a game."
"I'll play with you." Milly said. "What games do you have?"
"I'll play with you too," Timiya said, sounding bored.
Sissi, Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd exchanged bored glances.
Aelitette smiled. "Come on, it's fun. It's called H'rosh'tauri, the Rosh'taur use it to fight the High Lord."
"Rosh'taur?" Ulrich asked.
"The Resistance. There are very few of us."
"You've got our attention. What do you want?"
"Help." Aelitte said simply.
Cara sat peacefully, cross-legged next to the Malo-Swamp Tower. Mela stepped out of the tower.
"I am here."
"Good." Cara said, not opening her eyes. "Put your hand on the interface and read the diagnostic."
"You said no tricks!"
"It's no trick." Cara said. "There's little time left. Please?"
Mela sighed. "I'll humor you, Sister."
She stretched her hand out onto the interface.
"Jeremie!" Aelita said. "Listen to me!"
"My name is Baachek." He replied stubbornly.
"Jeremie. . ."
"The person you know has been dead for fifteen years."
"I don't believe that."
"You should."
"I don't think you believe it either."
"He's dead."
Aelita sighed, and switched tactics.
"Do you remember Kadic?"
"Nonsense word."
"It was a school." She continued as if she hadn't heard. "In France. On Earth. You were-"
"Stop!" He said in such a commanding voice she faltered for a second before continuing.
"You were a boarder there. Ulrich and Odd shared a dorm down the hall. Yumi lived at home. Remember?"
"Steop speaking!"
"The factory was on the other side of the canal. Milly and Timiya were the school reporters. Remember!"
Jeremie lifted the zap-stick.
"Xana would attack, and you'd come to Lyoko. You'd stop him. Xana tried to break your group us so many times, but it never worked. Remember!"
"Don't make me do this." He said, bracketing the staff.
"Remember! Remember our names! Ulrich Stern! Yumi Ishiyama! Odd Della Robbia! Remember!"
He took a step toward her, staff raised.
"Remember! Sissi Delmas. Milly Solovieff. Timiya Diop! Remember!"
"All you speak is nonsense. Words, storeis, lies. . ."
"No! Listen to me! Remember who these people are! Remember who you are!"
"I know who I am. I am Baachek of Malo-Swamp. I have been Baachek of Malo-Swamp for fifteen years."
"You're Jeremie Belpois! Or if you're not then he's in there somewhere! Jeremie Belpois." She repeated.
"I've threatened you with the worst possible punishment. Yet you still speak. Explain yourself."
"I don't believe you can carry out your threats."
He lifted the stick to about her forehead.
"I think that there's a tiny piece of you that's still the Jeremie I knew in there. And it won't let you hurt me."
The stick crackled with energy. . .
"And I have faith in you, Jeremie."
. . .and landed harmlessly on the ground.
"I know." He collapsed onto the couch. "Help me. . .?"
"I will." She said, sitting next to him. "I will. I promise. But for now, just sleep. Just sleep. I'll sit here and talk to you, I promise. Sleep, I promise. . ."
Mela had turned sheet white.
"But that means-"
Cara nodded.
"But it's impossible."
"Nevertheless, it is true."
"There isn't any way to reverse it?"
"One way." Cara opened one eye to watch Mela's reaction. "But it is dangerous. There's no way of knowing if we'll come out of this unscathed."
"And if we don't there'll be nothing left to scath."
Cara tensed for a moment then relaxed. "It doesn't appear we have a choice."
"The tell me how." Mela said.
"I'll tell you everything you need to knkow. And then you can decide."
"Help?" Yumi asked. "What kind of help?"
"The Rosh'taur are failing, and my people are dying."
"The Okoylans couldn't be healthier!" Odd exclaimed.
"Yet they are dying. We're missing something. Something that must have been there once. Perhaps I inherited it from Father."
"Aelitette, what are you talking about?"
"There's something missing in us. Or in them. The Rosh'taur are different." She sighed. "Nobody even notices how different we are. That we have what they don't. They don't listen when we try to tell them. I can feel the emptyness is then. We all can."
"Aelitette!" Sissi said crossly. "Stop talking in riddles! I have Telepathy, tell me what they're missing!"
"You won't find it. Even if I told you what to look for. There isn't any left. Maybe, deep inside Father, there's still a tiny bit left."
"This isn't helping us Aelitette. If you want our help you have to tell us. What is severyone missing?"
"Hope." She took a deep breath. "Hope that things could be better. That we won't have to serve the High Lord forever. Everyon'es just given up." She paused. "It must have been a long time ago. Years and years ago, that Meal came. And fear and pain and misery took all the hope away. If you are who and what you say you are, then maybe we have reason to hold onto ours."
"We're who and what we say." Ulrich said grimly.
"Then help us. We're all locked up in a dark room, afraid to turn on the lights because we're afreaid of what we might find waiting for us." She shivered. "It's lonely, being the only ones with hope."
"Come here." Sissi said gently. "You're not the only one with hope. We're all here with you." She knelt and hugged the little girl.
"B-but-"
"Hush." Sissi said, stroking the childs hair. "Hush. It'll be alright. Just be quiet and let me rock you to sleep." She picked the child up and began to rock slowly from side to side. "I'll even sing you a lullabye, just like my mother used to."
And in the silence of the Okoylan night, she sange them all to sleep.
Lullabye, and good night. . .
