Starlight
The stars shone brightly against the quarter moon. William and Giana were slowly sneaking back to Kadic after another successful Lyoko mission, having abandoned Jeremie and Aelita in the lab. Everyone else had gone back to bed as soon as they were devirtualized, but the couple wanted to continue chasing their latest research theories to defeat XANA.
But he'd decided to stop at the bridge, taking her hand and pulling her to the side. Tilting his head upward toward the sky, he asked her, "Can you see the stars?"
She matched his stance. "No." She laid her cane on the ground in front of her and leaned on the side of the bridge, focusing on the sky again. "I don't think I'll ever be able to. The moon looks like a little white dot to me, anyway."
He stole a glance at her, tentatively draping an arm across her shoulders. He felt her relax and lean into him. "They're not as beautiful as you."
She blushed. They had only been seeing each other for about a week, and even then, it was in secret, but this felt different. She felt happy, which was a lot more than she could say for the situation she'd left back home. He didn't know about her baggage just yet—about the ex that had caused her so much pain. "If you say so," she replied lightly.
He smirked, running a hand through her long, dark hair. "You're getting better on Lyoko."
She smiled. "Thanks. I think I'm finally getting the hang of it." He noticed her expression falter. "It's weird, though."
"The virtualization process?"
She nodded. "And the part where we have to come back."
"Yeah, it…" He stared back out at the stars. "It can be a lot."
Giana bit her lip, debating on whether to tell him that she secretly dreaded going to Lyoko.
He shifted his attention back to her. "What is it?"
"I don't really like going," she admitted. "I mean, the first two or three times I thought this was some weird fluke, but…"
"You can tell me."
"When I'm on Lyoko, I can see. Like, perfectly. Nothing's hazy, or a big wash of color. In the real world, I can see things clearly if I'm close enough to them, but the first time I went to Lyoko and saw those Bloks coming at us from miles away? It was jarring." She paused a beat. "It takes a second for my brain to adjust once I'm there, and then when I come back…"
"That's why your first devirtualization was so bad," he realized.
She nodded. He pulled her closer. "Jeremie doesn't know."
He kissed the top of her head. "You don't have to tell him."
She turned her attention back to the sky. It still looked black to her, with the moon serving as a small focal point on the dark canvas. It reflected off the water of the Seine quite nicely, just barely illuminating the night. "You're right," she realized. "The sky is pretty."
"You're all I think about." She shifted to look up at him, and he continued: "I see you when I close my eyes. When I'm feeling down, about all I lost when I was under XANA's control, I think of you, and it brings me back up from that dark, desperate place."
Giana's emotions were starting to get a bit too much for her. Blinking back tears, she whispered, "I feel the same way about you."
He kissed her, slowly. "You're my starlight."