Disclaimer: Code Lyoko is copyrighted by Moonscoop.
This chapter was written by me. It was edited by AwesomeFanFictionAuthor.
I only own Lila and Mia. Mary is owned by AeroJester203. Kayori is owned by decode9.
Enjoy!
Echoes
Lyoko's Ice Sector
POV Aelita's
I pull away from Jeremy, he wants to say something but knows my dad might hear him. Instead, he just looks at me, bewildered.
"Your friends Ulrich, Odd, and Sissi have just been materialized," Franz informs.
"Okay dad," I say.
Jeremy goes to pick up his blade and puts it into his sheath.
"Materialization: Aelita, Materialization: Jeremy."
Jeremy and I look at each other, our bodies start materializing.
Sector Five
On the bridge
POV Lila's
Stones and I are sitting on the bridge, waiting to hear back from Franz.
"Lila… can you keep a secret?" she asks, turning toward me.
"Yeah," I nod. "Of course."
"Please don't tell the others… but I, um… do have one uh... side effect, I guess you could call it, from my memory recovery," Stones explains.
"Oh…" I trail off. "What is it?"
Stones sighs.
"While it's true my half of Future Xana showed me everything, filling in the gaps that I couldn't remember…" she trails off. "... I still sorta… don't," she admits. "It's like they're there, in my head. But… disconnected? It doesn't feel like I personally went through any of it..."
I look at Stones for a moment, then pull her into a tight hug. She's surprised by the sudden affection, but hugs me back.
"I won't tell the others. I promise," I whisper.
"Thank you," Stones says.
"Stones, Lila, you two are last," Franz calls.
"Okay," I say, easing out of the hug.
"Materialization: Lila. Materialization: Stones."
Afterwards
Inside the lab
Franz puts the headset earpiece on the keyboard and looks at all of us.
"All of you… you're all so young. You fixed this old man's mistakes," Franz says.
"Thank you, sir," Jeremy says, fixing his glasses to the bridge of his nose.
"So, Aelita," Ulrich says, speaking up. "What did Einstein look like on Lyoko this time?" he asks.
"He was my shining knight in armor," Aelita smiles, blushing a little. I raise my eyebrow.
Did… something happen with them? I think.
"Where did you and Einstein go?" Odd asks.
Aelita and Jeremy look at each other, then at Franz. He nods.
"We went to the ice sector, into this cave that was next to an iceberg," Jeremy starts to explain.
"Inside there was this simulation bubble. I went inside and spent some time with… my mother," Aelita reveals.
"Huh?!" we exclaim, including Stones. I have to wonder if she's jealous.
"It was the least I could do," Franz explains. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you that closure, Stones."
"It's…" Stones trails off. "It's okay, I understand."
"So what do we do now?" William asks.
"I think that should be pretty obvious," Jeremy replies. "We're going to turn off the supercomputer."
"Jeremy… do you think maybe that can wait? At least until tomorrow?" Aelita asks.
"Sure Aelita," Jeremy replies. He knows how important Lyoko is to all of us. We need time to process all of this.
"Franz, Mia, why don't you come back to the house with Stones and I? There's enough room for all of us there," I suggest.
"Sure," Mia says. "After all, I'll need to re-enroll at Kadic Academy."
"Actually, Mia, you're still enrolled. We just need to talk to my father so you can become a resident student again," Sissi says.
"Oh, okay, cool," Mia says.
"And it's not like I can just waltz into Kadic," Stones adds. "It's best that your Aelita and I aren't seen together."
"I agree. Well then, let's head on out," Franz says.
"Great," Yumi stretches. "Then tomorrow we'll turn off the supercomputer," she says, enthusiastically. We nod, not really sure how to feel.
Later
Mary's House
Mia is in her old room. I've just finished catching Mary up on what happened today.
"That's incredible…" she trails off. "It's really done, then. Xana's gone," she says.
"Yes, and now the children can lead normal lives," Franz says.
Stones looks at me, almost wondering if she should ask me something.
"Lila… do you have the time machine necklace from my dark timeline?" she finally asks. I nod.
"It's safe in my room," I say,then raise my eyebrow. "Why?"
Stones rubs her arm.
"Well… five months have passed since my friends last saw me. I can't begin to think how much has changed because of my absence," she says.
"But Stones," Mary says, speaking up. "It's a time machine. The Future Xanas and I were the ones who completed Jeremy's work. We know it's capabilities and limitations. The timelines of this world flow together, yes… but a time machine simply allows a person to move through the timeline they are on. Or… to the original point in time they left, if one chooses," she explains.
"So you mean… I could…" she trails off, her eyes widen "I could go back to the original point I left? It would… only be a few seconds?"
Mary nods.
"Seconds or minutes, if you choose to," she smiles, and Stones smiles in return.
"That's fantastic!" she exclaims, clapping.
"Oh Lila, you have to come with me. The others would be so happy to see you! Especially Odd. He, um… didn't let Kiwi return to Kadic after your passing, Lila," she says.
"He didn't?" I ask. Stones shakes her head.
"Mary… what do you think?" I ask.
Mary is about to answer but Franz puts his hand on his daughter's counterpart's shoulder.
"Stones, perhaps we should let Mary and Lila talk about this in private?" he asks.
"Oh, um, right, okay," Stones says. "Franz and I will go check our room upstairs," she says.
Stones and Franz start walking over to the staircase. Once they're out of view, Mary clears her throat.
"Lila… do you want to return to the dark timeline?" she asks. I sigh.
"Honestly… I've thought about it. Long before Stones turned out to be truly alive. I figured one day I would have to tell those Lyoko warriors what happened to her, instead of leaving them without that closure," I explain.
"I see… well that would mean you would have to leave Aelita and the rest of your friends here," Mary says.
"I know. But at least I'm leaving alive."
"True…" Mary trails off. "Well… in that case, if you were to return to the dark timeline… then I think I would need to return to our future world."
"Huh… but why?" I ask.
"The future we left is… in shackles. I have two halves of future Xanas power flowing within me, as well as my own power. I think...with that power...we could finally eliminate the evil half of Xana, still on Earth somewhere."
"Okay… and how long would you be gone for?"
Mary contemplates for a moment.
"Well… if you're in the dark timeline with Stones and the others, then… perhaps until your graduation. Maybe longer."
"So… three years?" I gulp.
"More or less," Mary replies.
"But after that... " she trails off. She closes her eyes, conversing with the Future Xanas. She nods, then opens her eyes again.
"I… think we can save our future, Lila," she reveals.
"But how?" I ask.
"Both of the time machines have our world's coordinates. When I arrive in one of the time machines, I could find a supercomputer somewhere in the world that's just as powerful as ours was. The Replikas were destroyed, but the supercomputers weren't. Once Xana is defeated, of course, the three of us will find a way to restore the original timeline, then me and you will stop Jeremy from reactivating the supercomputer in the original 2019 timeline," she answers.
"Do… you think it's even possible?" I ask.
Mary nods.
"I do. Your father himself theorized that a while back. We just took… the long way around, I suppose."
"Yeah, that's right… I guess we did. But wait, say we do… what if you run out of battery power? I'm sure the evil half of Xana kept one supercomputer up and running in our future world. He would have plenty of security, too," I say.
"That's true.." Mary trails off, then makes a realization. "Although… there is something we could take with us."
I raise an eyebrow then, looking at her, I make the connection.
"Are you serious?" I ask. Mary nods.
"I am."
I mean… it could work… but how would the others feel? I think.
Later
At night
Sissi told her father that I would be staying here for the night again. I'm in my room, and I press a number on the speed dial. I put it to my ear, then let it ring until Kayori picks up.
"Lila?" Kayori asks.
"Hi… do you have time to talk?"
"Sure," Kayori replies.
"Something wrong?"
I tell her the story of the past few days, freeing Mia, discovering Stones, and defeating Xana. The whole story takes about two hours so by the time I'm done, it's almost 12 am.
"Wow… that's a lot to process. But I'm glad you defeated Xana," she says.
"Me too," I say. "Also... do you remember a while back how we talked about me possibly going back to the dark timeline?"
"Yeah?"
"Well… I think I'm going to. Tomorrow…" I trail off.
"Tomorrow?!" she exclaims. I pull the phone back, then put it back to my ear. "Sorry," Kayori says.
"It's okay. But if I do… then it means I won't get to see you. Or have that party with my grandparents."
Kayori sighs.
"I was really looking forward to seeing you," she says. "Wait… if the dark timeline is in the past… then does this mean you'll be further behind your birthday?"
"Huh," I say. "Darn, I guess I would. Getting to September will take an even longer time now."
Kayori laughs a little.
"I guess it would, huh? Well… if you see the other me in the dark timeline, I know she'd be happy to get to know you, even if it's only for a short time before she'll have to leave."
"Yeah," I say. "So… you're okay with this?"
"I… think I am. I just want you to be happy and safe. Okay?" Kayori asks.
"I will. And I want that for you, too," I say.
"Thanks, Lila," Kayori says.
"Lila… I won't forget you."
"Me neither," I say.
"I appreciate that," Kayori says. "I'll let you go then. Bye Lila."
"Bye Kayori," I say. Kayori hangs up. And just like that, she's gone. I turn the phone off then put it on my desk. I go over to my bed, already in my spare pajamas. I get in bed and put my head on my pillow. Tomorrow is going to be an eventful day.
The Next Day
Inside the cafeteria
POV Aelita's
Odd sighs, he's playing with his spoon. Sissi is sitting on her chair quietly. Jeremy is rocking in his seat. Ulrich is resting his cheek on his hand, his eyes closed. Mia isn't here yet, for some reason. William is holding his head in his hands. I take my croissant, thinking about what life without Lyoko will be like. It's hard to imagine.
I didn't get very much sleep last night. I kept dreaming about the kiss Jeremy and I had. I want to tell the others. I look at Jeremy… it seems like he didn't get much sleep, either.
"Odd, do you want my croissant?" I ask, turning to him.
"Oh, I've got my own," Odd replies, holding his croissant.
"And I'm not very hungry."
We look at each other.
"Yeah, me neither," we agree.
Herb and Nicholas make their way over to our table.
"How's it going, you guys?" Herb asks. "Well, it looks like all of you are depressed today for some reason."
"That always happens when you show up," Odd comments.
"Yeah, so why not leave us alone?" Sissi asks.
Herb looks like he wants to scowl at Sissi. Instead, he walks over to her and puts his hand on her shoulder.
"You know, Sissi-" he starts to say, but then someone speaks up.
"Herb, I hope you aren't planning on doing anything stupid," a familiar voice speaks up. We gasp, and Herb removes his hand from Sissi's shoulder.
I can't believe he of all people is here… we turn to him.
"Cameron?!" we exclaim.
"Hi guys," Cameron greets, then glares at Herb.
"So, Herb, you weren't trying to do anything stupid. Right?" he asks.
Herb steps away from Sissi who looks at him, raising her eyebrow.
"No-no. Of course-not," he stammers a bit. "I was just going to suggest they lighten up a bit. That's all. Let's get going, Nicholas," Herb suggests. He starts walking away from us.
"Er, right," Nicholas says, then walks away with his friend.
"So… what's going on? Where's Lila and Yumi?" he asks.
Outside the cafeteria
POV Lila's
Yumi and I met up at the front gate. Mia and Mary are heading over to meet Mr. Delmas. Mary needs to speak to him about withdrawing me from Kadic, but for some reason he's been meaning to talk to both Mia and Mary for a while now. Now we're walking up the small steps to the cafeteria. The doors swing open, revealing Herb and Nicholas looking a bit frightened.
"Tell him we didn't mean anything by it," Herb says.
"Yeah, what he said!" Nicholas exclaims. The two boys walk quickly away from the cafeteria.
"What was that about?" Yumi asks.
"I have no idea," I reply.
Yumi and I shrug. We open the doors, then go inside the cafeteria. Looking at the table where our friends are, we see… Cameron?!
That explains it… I think.
Yumi and I quickly walk over to our friends to find out what he's doing here.
I knew he said he was planning on surprising Emily and the others, but today of all days? We reach Cameron, and I find myself giving him a hug. He lifts his arms, surprised by my welcoming gesture.
"Good to see you too, Lila," he says. I let go of him, remembering he's with Emily.
"Sorry… it's just.. What are you doing here?" I ask.
Inside Mr. Delmas's office
POV Mia's
"I'm glad to see you are back from your business trip, Mrs. Smith," Mr. Delmas says.
"Please, sit. There's an offer I would like to talk to you about." Mary and I comply.
What offer? I think.
"As a single hard working parent, I understand that there are circumstances when we can't spend too much time with our children. Mrs. Smith, you often spend a lot of time away while on business. Therefore… I would like to offer you a full time job as a faculty member here at Kadic. You won't be teaching, but we have something that I believe you will like, considering your work background. That is, if you accept the offer, and this way you will be closer to your children," Mr. Delmas explains.
Mary smiles slightly, then looks at his desk.
"Sir, I appreciate the offer, but speaking of Lila… she needs to withdraw from Kadic. She plans on going to her gym class today… but afterwards, we'll be leaving France," Mary reveals.
"So I'm afraid I'll have to decline the job offer."
"I see, very well…" Mr. Delmas sighs. "And may I ask why you wish to withdraw, Miss Smith?"
"A family matter has come up, sir," Mary replies. "I… can't go into more specifics. I'm sorry."
Mr. Delmas shakes his head.
"I understand. I will have Miss Smith's withdrawal process begin immediately after this appointment," he says.
"And, um, sir, if it's okay… could I become a resident student again?" I ask.
"There is room for you, yes. But there would be the matter of the bill," Mr. Delmas replies.
Mary takes her purse out and produces a debit card.
"I've got it covered," she says.
Inside the cafeteria
POV Lila's
Cameron is sitting down at the table with us. He sighs in relief.
"I'm happy to hear that he's gone…" he trails off.
"Us too. And now all that's left is to turn off the supercomputer, right?" Yumi asks.
We nod. I think the others might just be happy if I ask them what I need to ask them.
Afterwards
Inside the freight elevator
We're in the freight elevator, including Mary, Mia, and Cameron. It wouldn't feel right if we all weren't here.
The freight elevator stops at the bottom floor, and the doors open. We step just inside the room, but Jeremy goes ahead and presses the button to open the hatch housing the supercomputer power switch.
"Well… it'll all be over this time," Jeremy says. "Do any of you want to say something?"
Yumi puts her hand on her chin, thinking for a moment, and clears her throat.
"We've had our share of ups and downs. Hours of detention, hours of glory. All of us… have gotten used to life with Lyoko. Now it's time for a new life without," she says, looking at us.
We all take a moment to think, to remember the battles, the victories. Yumi closes her eyes, reflecting. After a moment, she opens them again.
"Go on, Jeremy," Yumi says.
Jeremy lowers his hand to the handle, Mary puts her hand on my shoulder. I sigh internally…
"You guys," I say, speaking up.
"What is it, Lila? Is there something you would like to say?" Jeremy asks.
"There is…" I trail off. "But I'm not sure how to say it."
"You can tell us anything," Aelita says.
"I know all of us, including you Jeremy… are hesitant about turning the supercomputer off. So… I have a request," I start.
"A request?" Sissi asks.
"What is it?" Aelita asks.
"This isn't easy for me to say but… I'm leaving," I reveal.
"Huh?!" All of them exclaim.
"But- but why?" Aelita stammers a bit.
"Stones asked me to go back to the dark timeline with her," I reply. "And to be honest… this wasn't the first time I thought about doing that."
"So you were going to leave, anyway, even if Stones didn't show up?" William asks.
"Yes," I answer. "The other Lyoko warriors lost me… and Cameron…" I trail off. "If it weren't for me… you would have never been possessed."
"Don't say that," Cameron says. "Besides… it's my own fault. I know I told you about that story, how I got expelled from my old school."
"You too, huh?" William asks.
"Yes, me too," Cameron replies. "But what I didn't tell you was that I had a choice back then."
"A choice?" Odd asks. "Between what?"
"Owning up and apologizing to my teacher for scaring her nearly half to death," he starts, which makes Odd laugh a bit.
"How'd you manage that?" he asks.
"A robot I built," Cameron replies.
"Really?" Jeremy asks.
"Yeah. Anyways, the other choice was going to France with my adoptive parents. So I chose to go to France and a new school. If I didn't… my life would have been very different."
"But you did get to meet us," Ulrich says. "That was good, at least, right?" Cameron nods.
"True, it was."
Mia turns to me.
"So what was this request, Lila?" she asks.
"Oh yeah, um… well… what if we don't turn the supercomputer completely off?" I suggest.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Sissi asks.
"Later on today we take out the battery," Mary replies. "So that I can have it in case I need a backup."
"Are you going somewhere, too?" Aelita asks.
"Yes. Once Lila leaves with Stones for the dark timeline, I plan to go to my future world. I am going to get rid of the evil half of Xana that plagues it. Then… the three of us are going to find a way to reboot the timeline, and so that Lila and I can prevent Jeremy from restarting the supercomputer in 2019," Mary explains.
"But if you do that- then that's a paradox! What would happen to our timelines?" Jeremy asks, his hand dropping completely.
"This timeline and the dark timeline exist," Mary answers. "Therefore, what already exists, cannot be erased. Lila and I will simply have to live in a world where we may never see you or the others again. But at least it will be a peaceful one."
"Oh, of course… you're talking about the Ontological Paradox. Aren't you?" Jeremy asks.
"I am," Mary replies.
"But Lila… if you leave, then…" Aelita trails off, I look at her.
"I know. But that's why…" I look at Mary, she meets my gaze, then nods. I look at Aelita.
"Mary and I are going to give your father the deed to our house. It's… yours the second we leave," I reveal.
"Lila… I don't know what to say," Aelita says.
"There's more," Mary says, speaking up. She takes her purse out and opens it. She gets the debit card out.
"This debit card has enough money on it to last you and your father a good ten years. We won it in a lottery thanks to my predictive algorithm," Mary reveals.
"What?!" Sissi exclaims.
"Huh?" Yumi asks. The others look at me, clearly and truly surprised.
"I, uh… never told you because I didn't want money to affect our friendship. Plus… I never was really the spoiled type, so I let Mary keep the debit card after we freed her. She's a grown up, so she would manage it better," I shrug. "It's no big deal, really."
Mary hands me the debit card. I take it and offer it to Aelita. Aelita looks stunned but nods. She takes it and puts it in her pocket.
"Thank you, Lila," she says.
"You're welcome," I say.
Aelita then looks at Jeremy… he looks back, giving her permission to do… something.
"Go ahead… tell them," he says. Aelita looks back at us. She walks over to Jeremy and I raise my eyebrow. When she reaches Jeremy she takes his hand. Our eyes widen.
"Jeremy and I… we kissed on Lyoko after we found out Xana was defeated," Aelita reveals. Everyone cheers.
"Finally, Einstein!" Odd exclaims.
"Yeah, way to go!" William exclaims.
"Oh, it's about time," Ulrich says.
"Like you're the one to talk," Cameron says. "I may have been new, but it was pretty obvious you and Yumi have a thing. You should just admit you like each other already."
Yumi and Ulrich look at each other. They blush slightly, then look away from each other.
"Dork," Yumi says.
"So Aelita… will you accept my request?" I ask her. Aelita nods.
"I'll accept it, Lila. I assume you aren't leaving right away?" she asks.
I shake my head.
"No, I still get to spend the rest of the day with you guys," I smile.
"I'd like that," Aelita smiles back.
Later
Gymnasium
Jim starts doing roll call, this will be my last class today, before I leave this timeline.
"Belpois?" Jim calls out, but there's no answer. "Belpois?" he repeats.
One of the doors behind us, open. Jeremy comes running over to Aelita and I. I move to the left, to give him room to stand between us.
"Present," Jeremy answers, raising his hand. He's all dressed up in his grey gym attire. Jim looks at him, then looks at the list.
"Delmas?" Jim asks.
"Present, Jim," Sissi replies.
"Where were you?" Aelita asks Jeremy under her breath.
"With Cameron," Jeremy replies. "I told him he could stay in my room until we're done with class. Also, Yumi wanted to talk too."
It takes a little while for Jim to finish roll call, but once he's done he puts his hands on his hips, ready to do some serious teaching.
"Right. Today's lesson is RSG," Jim starts. "No, RSG does not stand for rough sports games, or raunchy slobbering gorilla, ranking stank of garlic. RSG means: rhythmic sports of gymnastics, known as today as just rhythmic gymnastics." He starts to go on.
He looks over at Odd and Ulrich, the boys seemed to have been whispering about something.
Probably about Lyoko, I think.
Jim clears his throat.
"Stern, Della Robbia. If this lesson is disturbing your private little conversation, please let me know," he says.
"Uh, we're sorry, Jim," Ulrich says.
"Hm, okay. My first demonstration… one, two," he counts, then starts to turn his body. He tries to lift his leg, then he shouts in pain. It sounds like he's pulled something. He grabs his back.
"Ow my sciatica!" he exclaims. He turns to the other side. "I can't straighten up. It hurts!" he groans.
Many of the students laugh at the spectacle, including Odd and Ulrich. I don't, though.
"Rusty squeaky gym teacher, so that's what that stands for, huh?" Odd jokes.
He turns toward us. Well, hunches really.
"Stern - Della Robbia! To the principal's office right now!" Jim exclaims.
Afterwards
Outside
Class ended early because of Jim's injury, so Sissi decided to catch up to Ulrich and Odd in hopes of persuading her father not to give Odd detention. Mia decided to help Mary pack the rest of my things so it's just Jeremy, Aelita, and me.
"You guys… I can't tell you two how much you mean the world to me," I say. We stop walking.
"We know, Lila After all… we're your parents, right?" Jeremy asks, fixing his glasses to the bridge of his nose.
"You are. And that's why… if the Ontological Paradox does happen one day… it'll be rough never getting to see you guys again," I say.
Aelita looks at me. She pulls me in for a hug, I hug her back.
"You're going to be okay, Lila. Stones and the other Lyoko warriors deserve some extra time with you, just like we had," she says. We let go of each other. It's so weird to see how… brave she's being about all of this. We've become so close over the two and a half years since our first adventure started.
"I want you guys to promise me something," I say, speaking up.
"What's that?" Jeremy asks.
"That no matter what, you're always going to remain friends. Even if you fight, I want it to be worked out. You all have a special friendship… it's hard to describe," I reply.
Jeremy and Aelita look at me.
"We promise, Lila," they say in unison, and we smile at each other.
"I was wondering Lila… is there anything, if you could pick one thing, I mean, that you're going to miss about Lyoko?" Aelita asks.
I think back on my time on Lyoko, the action, the adrenaline...but mostly...it was scary but being there made me feel powerful, like I could make a difference. There was one thing that helped the most through my battles...
"My powers, definitely my powers," I answer.
The three of us go to sit on the steps of the administration building, since we're there already.
"You know… I'm glad you're letting Mary and I take the supercomputer battery," I say.
Aelita is about to say something, but then her eyes widen. We look to see what she's looking at. Emily is marching her way over here, and Cameron is trying to talk her down.
What did you do, Cameron? I think. Cameron is still trying to talk to her, but she isn't paying any attention to him.
"You? We're done!" she exclaims. She looks down at the three of us.
"And all of you… I.. know, EVERYTHING!" she yells. Our eyes widen.
"I'm sorry guys, it's my fault. She must have followed me on our way over to you know where," he says.
Not good, I think.
"The principal is going to want to hear about this!" Emily exclaims. She passes us, running up the stairs quickly, then we get up to try to persuade her to stop.
Lila and Aelita's room
POV Mia's
Mary and I continue packing, she brought the suitcase of stuff from her old house, which I guess will belong to Franz and Aelita now.
"It's too bad, you know…" I trail off.
"What's that?" Mary asks.
"Stones didn't know me… that means I'm technically in eternal sleep forever in that dark timeline…" I sigh.
Mary seems to think about something then accidentally drops the suitcase, making a realization.
"Of course… Mia please tell me you still have your copy of your laptop?" she asks. I nod.
"I do, why?" I ask.
"When Lila and I first entered this timeline, we had the copy of Jeremy's laptop. We didn't use the superscan program right away, but the laptop realigned itself with the supercomputer's network," Mary explains.
"It did?"
"Yes," Mary answers. My eyes widen.
"Of course! But Mary, what about the supercomputer's battery in that timeline?" I ask. Mary sighs.
"It might take me a bit longer to get back to the dark timeline, but I'll find the supercomputer where Xana is hiding out. Wherever that is, I'll use that battery or another one I could find as my backup. Thankfully, there's energy that is supplied by Future Xana inside the time machine itself, too. So as long as I find a battery before the current one runs out, then that energy won't die. It'll last forever if it can, but without a battery in the time machine itself, it'll be useless," she explains.
"Okay! I'll be right back!" I exclaim. I start heading to my room, thankfully Mr. Delmas gave me a new key.
All I need to do is press the reset button on the bottom of my laptop. It'll revert back to the way it was, locked with a code. When Lila enters the code in the dark timeline, and the supercomputer is turned on… then she can save me in that dark timeline. It's still too bad their version of Lila died, though… I trail off.
Mr. Delmas's Office
POV Sissi's
"Please, daddy darling, you just have to forgive him. He doesn't know when to stop making these bad jokes," I explain.
"If I understand correctly, Odd said that RSG stood for "Rusty Squeaky Jim?" he quotes incorrectly.
"No, that wasn't it," I tell my father.
"It wasn't?" Mr. Delmas asks.
"No sir," Odd answers, lifting his finger up. "Gym teacher with a G. Not J for Jim."
"Thank you for the clarification, but that's… just as bad," Mr. Delmas says, his hands folded.
"Mr. Della Robbia, Mr. Stern… I know that you and my daughter are on good terms. You especially, Mr. Della Robbia, considering that you are dating her," he says, looking directly at Odd.
Suddenly, the door swings open. It's Emily. Ulrich, Odd, and I look at her.
"Principal Delmas!" Emily exclaims.
"Huh?" the three of us ask, looking at her.
Emily runs up to us. She pushes me out of the way and then she slams her hands on my father's desk.
"Miss Deluc, what is the meaning of this?" Mr. Delmas asks, bewildered. "You interrupted me as I was scolding Stern, Della Robbia, and my daughter."
She points to us.
"You shouldn't scold them, you should lock all of them up! They're lunatics!"
Ulrich, Odd, and I look at each other, shocked.
Mr. Delmas's Office
POV Lila's
Jeremy swings the door open and we all rush inside.
"You can't go in there-" the secretary starts to say, but Jeremy interrupts her.
"We have to!" Jeremy exclaims.
"They put the whole world in danger," Emily says, glaring at us.
"Ha ha! Jeremy, Lila. Who's the smart one now? Now that I'm onto your little secret?" Emily looks at Odd.
"You should have thought about not making fun of me, huh Odd?"
Mr. Delmas gets up.
"Miss Emily Leduc, that is enough!" he exclaims. Emily looks up at him.
"Listen, Mr. Delmas, I'm serious. For years they've been fighting a dangerous computer program in a virtual universe. They put their own lives in danger and ours too," she starts to rant.
Our jaws drop. Cameron can't help but look guilty.
"Because of them, the school was invaded by Samurais with swords. Killer crows. And even a deadly giant teddy bear," she continues to rant. We gasp.
"Mr. Delmas," Emily points to him. "Even you, yourself. sir. was possessed by the program. You had to fight against Ulrich and your own daughter who joined them that day to help protect you! And worst of all, I mean worst of all… Lila Smith is A TIME TRAVELER!" she yells. I groan.
"You understand what I'm trying to tell you right?" Emily asks Mr. Delmas. He looks at her with concern.
Well… we're going to need another return trip, I think.
Afterwards
POV Ulrich's
With Mr. Delmas literally dragging Emily to the infirmary, I meet up with Yumi in the courtyard. She looks up at me.
"Where did you run off to? Where are the others?" Yumi asks.
"At the factory. Jeremy is going to launch a return to the past," I reply. "The last one."
"It's pretty weird, huh… Lila's not going to be around for much longer," Yumi says.
"Yeah, I know. It was brave of Jeremy and Aelita to tell us they kissed on Lyoko," I say.
Yumi gets up. She looks at me.
"I know what you mean. Do you think we should tell Lila and the others about our kiss?" Yumi asks.
I clear my throat again, remembering that time when I got her out of range of Lila's attack, then following that we kisses… and...That was already at least a year and a half ago.
"Maybe we should keep that to ourselves," I say.
Yumi smiles at me.
"I think you're right," she agrees. She puts her hands around my neck, I look up at her.
She really is beautiful, I think.
Yumi and I start to pull each other in for a kiss.
Inside the lab
POV Lila's
All of us are here in the lab, William included.
"Guys..." Cameron says, trailing off. "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen. I think she just doesn't trust me with you, Lila."
"It's okay, Cameron," I say.
"Maybe you should think about finding someone else," William suggests.
"Maybe, but I didn't come here to break up with her," Cameron says.
Jeremy finishes typing then puts his finger above the enter key.
"Return to the past now," Jeremy says.
A big white bubble comes out of the holosphere, sending us back in time one last time.
Earlier
Inside the cafeteria
POV Aelita's
Lila and Yumi should be on their way here. Mary and Mia have to deal with Mr. Delmas again, but this time we're happier. Some of us have our croissants in our hands. I take a sip of my tea, then put it on the table.
Herb and Nicholas make their way over to our table.
"How's it going you guys?" Herb asks.
Jeremy takes a sip from his bowl, we turn to them.
"You want my croissant, Herb?" Odd asks.
"No thanks, give it to your dog," Herb replies. Herb walks over to Sissi, we watch him walk over and put his hand on Sissi's shoulder.
"You know, Sissi-" he starts to say, but then someone speaks up.
"So Herb, you weren't trying to do anything stupid. Right?" Cameron asks, glaring at Herb.
Herb steps away from Sissi who glares at him.
"No-no. Of course-not," he stammers a bit. "I was just going to suggest they lighten up a bit. That's all. Let's get going, Nicholas," Herb suggests. He starts walking away.
"Er, right," Nicholas says, then walks away with his friend.
"So… Lila and Yumi are on their way here?" he asks. I nod.
"They should be," I say.
Outside the cafeteria
POV Lila's
We're back in front of the cafeteria, the door swings open again, and here comes Nicholas and Herb.
"Tell him we didn't mean anything by it," Herb says.
"Yeah, what he said!" Nicholas exclaims.
"Okay, but on one condition," I say.
"Will you guys just please give us a break already?" Yumi asks.
"And tell Emily not to follow Cameron around today. Despite what she might assume, I'm not into him anymore, okay?" I ask.
I'm not sure if that's completely true, to be honest, but it'll get them off our backs. The two boys look at each other. They nod then resume walking quickly away from the cafeteria, to find Emily, I suppose.
Later
In the woods
We made sure no one was following us this time. Mary gave the deed to the house to Franz before she left. All of us are in the woods, all packed and ready to go. So now Franz and Aelita have a new home to live in. Mary managed to get the battery in a safe lead box, that's sitting on the ground next to us. After that, she used herself as an energy device to lower the supercomputer all the way into the floor. When the floor closed up, and she came back up... I couldn't help but feel the other's story ended right there. Aelita and everyone else decided this course of action would be better rather than having the supercomputer remain above floor. The memories for the others, more so Aelita, would be too much. In retrospect, it does make more sense this way.
Mary also told me about her and Mia's plan to save the dark timeline's Mia. Suffice to say… it could work. I'm not too happy about the possibility of having to wait even longer for Mary.
"Well… I suppose this is it," I say. The others had hugged me earlier.
"It is," Jeremy says. "You take care of yourself, okay?" he asks.
"I will," I reply.
"And tell the other me to get you to binge watch Hospital of Horrors," Odd adds.
I laugh a little.
"I'll try to," I say.
"You know, Lila," Ulrich says. "Yumi and I owe you a lot."
"I know," I say, knowing what he means.
"We'll be thinking of you every day," Yumi says.
"Thanks, me too," I say.
"When you see Mia, tell her I'm proud of her," William says.
"I will, and I know the both of them know that already. Right?" I ask.
"Right," Mia replies.
"It's hard to believe you're leaving, Lila… if it weren't for you treating me so nicely when I first entered the group…" Sissi trails off.
"You deserved the truth, Sissi. I was happy to treat you like that because I knew the potential you had in you," I say.
"Thanks," Sissi smiles slightly. I look at Aelita.
"You and Jeremy take care of each other, okay?" I ask her. Aelita nods.
"We will," she says. She holds Jeremy's hand again, and we all smile. Including Stones.
I take the dark timeline machine necklace off, leaving mine on my neck.
"Cameron… about Emily?" I ask him.
"Yeah?" he asks.
"Try to give her some time, she'll come around," I tell him.
"Thanks. I'll try," Cameorn says.
The others back up then I put the time machine necklace on the ground. I press the red button and it starts to uncompartimentalize and glow. Once the glowing dies down, the time machine stands before us.
Mary goes over to the compartment near the top. She presses the button and, with a hiss, the metal supports contract, leaving an opening.
Mary puts the small lead box inside. She then puts my original suitcase in there. My backpack is on me, holding a lot of extra stuff. Stones is holding Mia's backpack with her laptop in it, and some leftover stuff as well. Mary presses the button again, the compartment closes.
"There. That's done. Lila, hold your cell phone out," she says. I take my cell phone out and hold it out as she requested.
"Everyone… I want to thank you. For protecting Lila, and freeing me. It means a lot to the both of us," Mary says.
They nod.
"We'd do it again if we could, Mary," Yumi says.
Mary smiles. She turns into her white smoke form and flies over to me, then enters my cell phone. I put the cell phone away.
Stones goes to the front seat. She touches the non broken part of the panel to bring up the coordinates, as well as the date and time. Seems Mary in her timeline must have taught her how to use the time machine.
"I've got it, Lila," Stones says, finishing the preparations.
I nod. I go over to the side that's free. I put my hand where the door should be, then get in. I sit down. It's a tight squeeze with the two of us, but it'll work. I take one last look at my friends.
"I love you. Each and every one of you," I tell them.
"We know that, Lila," Aelita says.
"And we love you, too," Jeremy adds.
I smile. I look at Stones, and she nods. Stones pulls the seat belt over to my side. I shift closer to Stones, so that I can make sure we're safely in.
She presses her hand on the panel where it reads enter. There's a click, and the seat belt is secured.
I look at my friends once last time. I wave them goodbye and they wave back.
Stones and I disappear in a flash of yellow.
TO BE CONTINUED:
IN:
New Adventures Timeline: Conclusion
Author's Note: Well it's done. All canon episodes have now been completed. The fanfiction isn't over yet though! Now it's time for the epilogue… which will be part 3. Part 3 will contain four special chapters. The next time we'll see Lila and Stones will be in our second chapter of part 3. The next chapter will pick up immediately where we've just left off.
Undeadmonkey8 owns Cameron and gave me permission a while back to use his OC. But please remember if you read Undead's fanfictions, their version of Cameron was made out of character purposely for Lila's Journey, out of my own telling.
Don't forget to review!
LyokoWarrior1994