Hunter Moebius and I do not own Code Lyoko, Maximum Ride, or Kaitlyn Belpois. We do, however, own our own OC's and the plot.
We spent the rest of the van ride just chatting about all sorts of different things, such as the meaning of our respective wings' color schemes, and what we would do, once we got back to France, while Jeb slowly brought Sam around, and helped change the clothes of anyone who wanted. It was about twenty minutes afterward, that Georgina finally pulled the van into a driveway, with Max and her flock landing nearby, not long after. Putting his various cases into the back, Jeb soon opened the side door, allowing each of us to climb out. We had finally arrived at Dr. Martinez's house.
"Max… it's so good to see you," Dr. Martinez smiled, her long brown hair held up in a headband.
"It's great to see you, too, Mom," Max smiled. "Jeb called us in when he reported one of the victims having a shunt in her arm."
I grimaced and tried to hide behind Ari, knowing that Max was talking about me, and worried about how her mother would react. That, and it was a terrible memory, to begin with.
"It's okay. Your name is Cassidy, right?" Max's mom smiled gently. "You should feel safe here."
"We told her she would," Jeremie remarked, smiling at me. "And I'm Jeremie Belpois."
"You and your friends have been all over the news," a new voice came in, one I remembered from the books—Ella Martinez's.
"Word of abduction spreads fast—especially a mass kidnapping," Angel nodded, standing next to the Scottie she named Total.
"That and those scoundrels are bound to pay for it one day," the dog agreed.
Jeremie's eyes widened, as they shot down to Total. As if the surprise over Kiwi suddenly talking wasn't enough, meeting another talking dog almost bowled him over.
"Wait… you can talk, too?!" the blond genius was dumbfounded.
Sensing his sudden surprise, I rolled my eyes, snorting. "Jeremie, I warned you about Total talking!"
He looked over at me for a second, before blinking, giving the impression that he had to find the memory, again. "Oh, you're right! I'm sorry, in all the mess of getting over here, it must have slipped my mind. I was told about you. Hello there, Total!"
"It's okay, Jeremie," I smiled.
"Hello, Jeremie," Total woofed. "If you'll excuse me, I have a very important lady to see." And just like that, he turned around and walked in the direction of the house.
He glanced over at me. "He has a lady?"
"Total's in love with an Alaskan Malamute named Akila. She doesn't talk, fortunately for you," I smiled. "I told Kiwi that he isn't after that one friend he made at the spa."
Kiwi sighed. "Yeah. Tutu's a very sweet girl. She even laid beside me while we got massaged together."
"How did you figure out her name?" Ulrich scratched his head.
"It was on her collar, and the official called her Tutu, so it makes sense, Ulrich. By the way, sorry about soaking your sheets," he grinned sheepishly.
A blush slowly formed in the German-named boy's cheeks. "Uh… dah—uh… yeah, uhhh… that's okay…"
"Now don't just stand there looking like you want a family portrait. Come on in!" Dr. Martinez smiled.
So, that's what we did. One by one, we followed Max and Dr. Martinez through the front door, into her house. It looked wonderful on the inside, quite spacious and roomy. Definitely much better than the room the whitecoats kept us in, at the School, even before they ambushed us.
"You all have been through a lot," Fang crossed his arms against his chest, still clothed in black.
I looked at the carpet. "Yeah. It's been a difficult time."
"They definitely crossed the line, this time! First, us when they made us this way, then you twelve," Max growled.
"I wonder why they kidnapped us, though." Aelita was curious. "And why bird DNA? Do they just experiment on humans, because they can?"
"They saw the monster, Aelita." I lowered my head. "That psycho told me they all had seen it."
"It's true," Jeb confirmed. "Right after they saw the entire thing, they knew you'd be the perfect targets. But Georgina and I couldn't talk them out of it quickly enough."
My head didn't rise. The monster still left me with two hundred-pound weights on my shoulders and the knowledge that I had possibly wrecked my friends' best-kept secret. And even though it had gotten us preferential treatment back at Kadic, Sister turning from her snobbish ways, and more fans than we knew what to do with—one was even brought along on this journey against his will— I still couldn't help but think about all the horrible things it caused. Just the thought that we wouldn't be in California, in the United States, if I hadn't unknowingly unleashed the monster was enough to trap me in a guilt-filled pit several hundred feet deep, no matter how much I still needed to remind myself that Yumi and Aelita would want me to forgive myself. Somehow, I felt like I couldn't, because deep within me, there was a sinking feeling that not all of them could.
But it wasn't long before Jeremie saw my pose, and slid closer to me.
"Cassidy," not being one to hug and rub backs like his girlfriend, he placed his hand upon my shoulder, instead. "You shouldn't blame yourself for this. It's not like you had any foreknowledge that someone was going to see the monster and then come after us. None of us knew it was going to happen. None of this is your fault."
"He's right," Kaitlyn sat next to her cousin, looking with concern at me. "When I said that 'it wasn't like anyone evil had seen the monster,' I said that to make you feel better, not predict that something like this was gonna happen. Something like that, you really can't control. And besides, you blame yourself for everything, especially when you had nothing to do with it, and it really needs to stop, like now."
"But I unleashed the monster, you two, and you know it. I really should have stopped it, but I didn't," I looked at the two.
"How could you have stopped it?" Kaitlyn challenged me. "You were rapidly losing control of your own body, and you were trying to do something, but you lost control too quickly. Try to tell me how you could have stopped yourself when you had no control over yourself."
"Listen, Cassidy." Jeremie was next. "What happened to you in my dorm room that day was completely out of your control. Even if you had locked yourself in my wardrobe, run into the girls' bathroom, tried to hide in the factory, or the Hermitage, I don't see anything that would have stopped the monster from materializing."
"Your friends are right," Jeb agreed. "Knowing what I've seen about your psychic abilities, even if you had found ways to mitigate it, like when you were in Jean-Pierre's office that one day, what if it only prolonged the time until it was summoned, anyway?"
Their words slowly began to sink in. I knew they were right, that it wasn't my fault, but the fact that I had no control over the monster I summoned didn't make me feel any better. It still happened, and no matter how it got there, I was still the lead actor.
"Hey, Cassidy… It wasn't even your fault. It was more ours than anything," Yumi consoled. "What would it take to make you see that?"
"The fact that it was my fault. I scared the living crap out of all of you—sorry, Angel—and hurt you down to your souls," I challenged.
"That was concern," Yumi tried to correct me. "When your eyes went pure white, you floated in midair, and your voice went raspy, we were more worried about what was happening to you, rather than what you were doing. If that thing had killed you, we would all feel ten times worse than you do, right now."
"Still, I hurt you when I went comatose. I—"
"You didn't hurt us," Aelita interrupted me. "You scared us. We were afraid you were going to die. We were afraid we were going to lose one of the best friends we've ever met. And besides, if anything, we failed you. We had seen every single sign you had shown us, everything that would have pointed us to the monster's summoning, and we ignored them all. How could you possibly blame yourself, for something that was our fault? It wasn't you who should have stopped it; it was us."
"She's right, dear sister," Sister agreed. "You need to stop blaming yourself for something that was out of your control. No one in this room blames you for the monster. Why don't you think of all the good things it's done, instead? It showed me how stupid I was acting. It brought us all a gigantic fanbase."
She gestured over toward Hunter. "It even brought a boy all the way from America, just to go to the same school as us, because we're his heroes! Would that have happened, anyway?"
Several more bricks broke away from my mental wall of guilt. "Possibly not, but you have a point. I just feel unforgiven from you guys at times. Like, I'm sorry—"
"When have we ever not forgiven you, Cassidy?" Yumi shot back. "Go on, tell us."
"Good luck!" Odd challenged. "I'm pretty sure you'll find that it never happened!"
"What about that time in Sector Five? Jeremie chastised me for going along with you and Aelita, Novio," I rebounded.
"Don't you remember?" Odd reminded me. "Princess took all the blame for that one, and you know Einstein can't stay mad at her!"
"That was my fault, anyway," Aelita added. "I needed to make sure my father was still alive, somewhere on Lyoko, and while you were telling me that he was, Jeremie didn't believe it, so I wanted to prove it to him."
"And I thought I already forgave you for that?" Jeremie queried, sounding almost confused.
"You told me that I should have broken from Aelita and Odd to report straight to you, Jeremie, yelling at me. You didn't say 'I forgive you' when I told you that I was sorry and that I should have used better judgment," I looked him in his eyes.
Jeremie let out a slight sigh. Yeah, I definitely got him, there.
"Okay, you're right," Jeremie's voice fell. "I was still angry at Aelita for orchestrating the entire thing, I… guess I just forgot. Cassidy, I forgive you."
"Thank you, Jeremie. And what about the times we ended up arguing with each other? I practically spread napalm down your back and set it ablaze, and after cooling the fire off, I—"
"How many times have I told you, we're just hormonal and emotional kids. We're going to disagree with each other, and sometimes we'll even get into fights over it. And I admit, at times I'm a really horrible listener. But if I haven't forgiven you for any of those fights, then I forgive you, now. Besides, even if we do fight, and I get angry at you, I could never hate you."
"And I know that Ulrich already told me he was sorry for all the stupid things he said, but sometimes, I felt as though he thought my visions were evil…"
Ulrich raised an eyebrow. "When did I ever make you think that…?"
"'Stop talking right now.' 'Would you stop with your psychic powers?' 'You definitely need to psyche down!' You even slapped a hand over my mouth when I gave information about Franz Schaeffer! At times you looked at me as if to say, 'Predict something, I dare you!' You even challenged me to give Jeremie away when he wrote that postcard to Aelita so she wouldn't feel alone during mail call."
He started to look a bit agitated by that. "Okay, okay! So I've acted stupid about your powers in the past. But even I know that they've saved us more times than they've failed us. And I've apologized before. If you want me to apologize again, then I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry I treated you like dirt and thought your powers were stupid and pointless. Can you forgive me?"
I nodded, letting another weight off my chest. "Yes, as long as you all forgive me for damaging your psyches with that monster."
"Of course," Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, William, Patrick, Kaitlyn, and Sister chorused, each of them giving me a reassuring, calming smile.
I sighed, a new grin gracing my features. "Thanks, guys!"
"Now, how about that rub-down, massage, and bath?" Georgina smiled. "I'll make it even longer than last time."
Dr. Martinez looked at me. "What's all this about?"
Jeremie grinned. "We forgot about her birthday a while back since she was in a coma for three months and it skipped over. We were hoping that you would um… allow us to give Cassidy a long-belated birthday party."
Max smiled. "That doesn't sound too bad."
"Ooh! Can we participate?!" Nudge asked. "I love birthday parties. They're always so much fun, and there's so much cake and ice cream… and the best part is watching them open their presents! So much colorful wrapping paper, and they always look so happy… we've gotta get Cassidy lots of presents, so that way she can be really happy, with all different colors of wrapping paper! Even throw a few party favors and balloons around!"
"Maybe a few of those foil balloons. The rubber ones popping makes me freeze up," I grinned.
Max sighed. She'll still turn Mother Theresa into an axe murderer.
Hearing the leader of the flock's thought flung me into the throes of laughter, as I fell backward onto the couch I was sitting on, cackling like crazy.
She cocked a brow. "What's so funny?"
"Axe murderer!" I got out.
Her cheeks turned a rosy pink, and she let out a sigh. "Let me guess, you can read minds, too."
"Yep!"
Fang, for one who generally kept all his emotions locked inside, popped a smirk. "There are two Angels in this household now."
"Yeah, but I try to keep some of the most perverted minds out of my own head, Fang. It's hard when you have so many thoughts hitting you at one time. It took me a couple months to actually get used to the chaotic minds at Kadic," I muttered.
"So, uh, Cat Girl," Odd glanced over at me, with a slightly uneasy look on his face, "where does that, uh… rank me?"
"You are normal. Don't worry. You may date many girls, but you have interest only about true love, like a mixture of commitment, passion, and intimacy," I smiled, standing from the couch.
Odd grinned as well. "Cool! You know me like the back of my hand!"
"When do I not?"
"Be sure to wipe up the water, Georgina," Dr. Martinez warned. "Ella doesn't like to slip on the floor."
Georgina nodded. "The floor will be as dry as it was before we went in there. You can trust me."
"Did you bring the soap and shampoo you used on me?" I asked.
"I did," Georgina replied, "but I left it in the van. I'll go out and get them for you."
I nodded, smiling. "Excellent."
As Georgina walked out of the house, in pursuit of the van she had driven, Hunter turned to look at Jeremie.
"Hey, Jeremie," he began, seeming slightly worried, "w-would it be okay if I… I mean, do you think I could… help you guys get presents for Cassidy?"
"Of course, you can, Hunter," Jeremie answered, a confident grin on his face.
He grinned, like some of the weight came off his shoulders. "Epic! Now that's galactic dancing!"
Odd beamed, looking over at him. "'Galactic dancing?' Never heard that one before! Cool catchphrase, though, Hunter!"
In reply, Hunter chuckled a bit, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "Uhh… thanks, Odd. I got it from an old video game. It was a funny mistranslation."
"A lot of mistranslations are," I giggled.
Hunter nodded. "Definitely! It's just funny, trying to see some of the Japanese designers trying to use English words, when they don't know how to use the right ones, or put them in the right order."
"Yep," I smiled.
"How are you, gentlemen?" Odd randomly quipped, before laughing. "All your base are belong to us! You have no chance to survive, make your time!"
"Somebody set up us the bomb," Ulrich jumped in, chortling.
Jeremie turned around, his brows raised in confusion. "What are you guys talking about?!"
"Just an old Mega Drive game called Zero Wing," Ulrich clued Einstein in. "Its dialogue was so terrible, it was funny."
"Oh yeah, 'for great justice,' right?" Yumi jumped in, grinning mischievously.
As the three continued to go back and forth, I decided to walk to the bathroom, to wait for Georgina to come back. Even though I saw that "All your base/us the bomb" statement in the Impossible Quiz, I had never played Zero Wing, so I had no idea what any of them were even talking about. Interestingly, as I walked away, I could hear what felt like a sigh of relief, but I wasn't sure where, or who, it would have come from.
I waited for a couple minutes, biding my time by taking my shoes off, before Georgina came back, Dove soap and shampoo bottles in her hands.
"Great to see you, Georgina. I'm just so glad you were on our side," I smiled.
She set the bottles next to the bathtub, before beginning a search for bath towels and washcloths in many nearby cabinets. "I'm glad to see you again, too, Cassidy. I just wish I could have told you beforehand what was going on, but I feared that if you found out too soon, it could have jeopardized things for all of us."
"It's okay. I had a feeling you had good intentions, and man was I right!" I giggled.
"You certainly were!" Georgina agreed, finally finding a few bath towels, which she pulled out, and began to make a sort of bed on the floor, near the bathtub. "I was like Jeb. I had seen too much horror to just want to let my subjects go on like that. That's why I rubbed, massaged, and washed you and Hunter as softly, soothingly, and thoroughly as I did; I hoped I could help the two of you to relax, long enough for Jeb and I to rally the troops, but it ended up taking longer than either of us anticipated."
"I heard, but everything's okay now. We're finally free from the School's clutches," I nodded. "And I'm glad you didn't tip the other whitecoats off."
"Oh, I wouldn't have felt proud of myself if I had done that," she lamented, having finished making a soft 'bed' of sorts on the bathroom tile, before opening another cabinet, which contained washcloths. "Especially after I heard what Mandy and Reilly did to you and your friends. I hated it the first time, when I saw it happen to Max, Fang, Gasman, and her flock. But I couldn't bear to let them get away with it a second time. I knew I should have acted sooner, but at least I know I helped save some this time."
"And we appreciate it." I smiled, wrapping my arms around the older woman. "I am so glad you rescued us."
She returned the warm gesture, giving me a soft kiss on my temple, as she placed the washcloth she was holding on her makeshift towel bed. "It was my pleasure. Of course, I can't take all the credit; it was Jeb who had the connections."
"Jeb will be thanked, too." I felt a sensation I hadn't felt since I was only an entity; the feeling of being loved. Only this time, I was actually in my physical body when Georgina kissed my forehead.
"That's great," she smiled. "I'm sure he'll love to hear your praises, as well. He and I worked pretty hard to get you all out of there. I'm only sorry we didn't get to you before they injected the avian DNA into your bodies."
"It was so strange, but I forgive you." I started to get ready.
She smiled, nodding appreciatively. "I appreciate that wholeheartedly." She then giggled, slightly, as she watched me undress. "That reminds me, having wings might make it harder for you to wash your entire body, as now you'll have to worry about your wings, as well. I know you won't like the idea, but someone might have to go into the bath or shower with you, either just to wash your wings, or to help you wash, as well."
"If you're available, I choose you," I blinked. "And I hope that didn't sound bad."
"Of course not," she shook her head. "If we have to meet somewhere, anytime you want a bath, we could always set something up, even though I don't know how hard that might make things. If anything, I could wash you, and all of your friends, as well. That might make things easier."
Suddenly, a look of concern overtook her face, as a thought hit her. "Only… I worry about how Hunter would take that. I know he'd enjoy having his whole body rubbed and massaged, and probably even wiped as well, and I'm sure he'd be fine, once I get him into the water, but the question then becomes, how I would get him into the water…"
"Maybe he could be talked into it until he gets used to it. On the subject of wing care, yeah. Because I'm still not used to these things yet," I muttered, the two newest body parts flicking out as I took off my bra. They weren't big, but they were well beyond the goofy-chicken-wings stage the flock had.
"It will take time to get used to them, but there's no rush at all. Everyone learns at their own pace. But I'll probably have to cut slits into the back of your shirt, as you're bound to feel uncomfortable if you keep them pressed against your back for extended periods of time."
"True, but I still don't know about flying, yet. I still have bad memories about that fighter j-jet…"
Even the mere thought of it made me cringe, stopping me from finishing my sentence. But Georgina was sympathetic, as she wrapped her arms around my now completely unclothed body, softly rubbing my bare back, in an attempt to help me relax.
"You won't have to worry about flying until you're ready," she cooed. "Besides, your wings aren't big enough to be able to carry you, yet, anyway. But when they are big enough, when you fly will still be up to you. You could even choose to never fly at all, and nobody will think any different of you if that does become your choice."
I nodded. "I guess it's ironic, in some respects. A bird-kid who doesn't fly."
"You could say your wings are just for show, like an accessory." She giggled a bit.
"I guess," I smiled.
Releasing me from her warm embrace, she crawled over to the washcloth she had pulled out before. "Now, then… would the belated birthday girl like to have her whole body softly wiped with warm water, from head to toe, before she gets a body rub, or would she just like to start with the body rub, instead? The wipe will really help you relax, too."
"Sure," I nodded. "Plus, they could be on their way, getting the stuff—"
Oh, how right I was! As I stopped to draw breath, while Georgina got down on her knees and turned the taps in the bathtub, the two of us heard the van's engine turn over and pull out of Dr. Martinez's driveway before speeding off, a whoop from Odd emanating as the Subdigitals' song Break Away blasted through its speakers.
"Eeyup," I giggled.
Georgina laughed as well, as she felt the water that gushed from the bathtub taps, before looking over at me. "Want to feel the water, to make sure it's warm enough before I wipe you? Don't want you to freeze instead of relaxing, after all."
I crawled over to the tub, before sticking my hand under the water. The first time it felt a bit too hot, making me flinch back, so Georgina turned the cold tap. That made the water a bit cooler than I would have liked, so she slightly turned it back. After the water's temperature had changed, it felt perfect.
"That feels great!" I smiled.
"Wonderful!" Georgina replied, before sliding the washcloth under the water, and thoroughly soaking it. "And how about the towel bed I made? How soft does it feel?"
I laid my body on the bed, smiling. "Just perfect."
She crawled back over, the wet washcloth in her hand. "Wonderful. Now, I'm not sure how long your friends will be, but I thought I could spend at least an hour on each task. I'll wipe you for an hour, then rub you, massage you, and then give you the most soothing, invigorating, relaxing bath you've ever felt. I'll wash you in places you didn't even know could get dirty, and you'll sparkle after the hour is up. But you won't turn into a prune, so don't you worry about that."
"Great. I would love that."
She smiled warmly, as she knelt down by me, and gently placed the warm, wet washcloth against my belly, starting a soothing, slow and gentle wipe from there. Oh, if I could just tell you how incredibly relaxing it was, as she wiped every inch of skin on my body, scrubbing me everywhere, front and back. It was just so incredible. The spa that Sister had paid for us to go to had absolutely nothing on Georgina's technique.
I wish I didn't have to say that the hours flew, but they did. Of course, my eyes were closed most of the time, as I was sent into deep relaxation. After she had wiped me everywhere, she began her soft, soothing full-body rub, which felt even more relaxing. Just feeling her soft, slightly wet hands exploring my body was so incredible, that I wanted it to keep going on and on. But if she had, she wouldn't have had time for the massage.
And the massage! Oh, the massage… it felt just as good as both times she did it to me, only thankfully I was in a much better-looking bathroom, instead of the generic "washroom" of sorts in the School. She worked nearly every muscle in my body with such a wonderful, gentle touch, I was amazed.
The only thing that disrupted the relaxation was when I had to get up and step into the bathtub. As she got halfway through the massage, I had heard Georgina turn the taps on the tub faucet once more, and surprisingly, I a bottle top pop open, as I listened to the tub fill. That by itself was quite relaxing, but it left me curious about the bottle top pop I heard. But I would soon find out. As she had me stand up, and step into the bathtub, I realized she had filled the tub about halfway, and there was a thick layer of bubble bath sitting on top. Naturally, I couldn't wait to step in and sit down, so nothing stopped me from doing that. In a few seconds, she had soaked my entire body, and the washing began.
With a different washcloth than the one she had wiped my entire body with, Georgina began to softly, slowly, thoroughly, soothingly and invigoratingly wash every inch of skin on my body, getting all around every part, washing into every opening, up into my underarms, down through my toes, all over my belly and back, and absolutely everywhere in-between. It was even more relaxing than the wipe, and twice as relaxing as the body rub and massage. Each arm got a soft, gentle, thorough scrub for at least a few minutes, not to mention my belly and chest. My feet were washed at least three times over, just like my legs, and up. She spent a generous amount of time on my back, my sides, and every inch of my neck, and was extra gentle on my face, and behind my ears. Then came my wings, something I had nearly forgotten about, in the wake of the soothing relaxation, from everything up to this point. And as Georgina began to soothingly, slowly, and thoroughly wash them, it actually felt a lot more calming than I had imagined. She washed them up and down, going all around their edges, making sure she didn't miss a single feather. It made me feel a bit better about having them, especially if having someone wash them felt this good.
By the time she started on my hair, my entire body, and both of my wings were caked in at least two inches of suds. And she even gave me a soothing scalp massage, as she transformed my head full of hair into a giant loofah. After she had finally finished washing thoroughly every inch of my body, she ended up turning on the shower, just to be able to rinse off the sheer amount of suds on my skin, hair, and wings.
With my entire being rinsed clean, she helped me out of the tub, opened the drain, and helped me back onto the towel bed, where she gave me an incredibly soft, gentle, thorough drying rub. The whole experience was just simply phenomenal beyond words, and I would give anything to be wiped, rubbed, massaged, bathed, and dried like this, every single morning. Sister has got to get her way when we get back to Kadic.
It wasn't long before we heard the van door open, the engine turning off. Our friends were home.
After Georgina had finished drying every inch of my body and hair, I decided to weigh myself, just as Jeb had suggested on the van ride over. Stepping onto Dr. Martinez's scale, without even a towel to weigh me down, the number that appeared on the display surprised me, and definitely not in a good way; it read "seventy-three." How had this happened? Was this from the food that Jeb had fed us? Did I lose weight from all my worrying or the tests?! Was I going to lose even more, just by thinking about this?!
Before I could ask Georgina her opinion, I heard mi novio call to me through the closed bathroom door.
"Don't worry, Cat Girl," he reassured me, "stay right where you are! Let Georgina wash you a bit more! Surely she hasn't scrubbed your whole body, yet!"
"Okay, Odd," I giggled, putting on my clothes. "Take all the time you need." Turning to Georgina, I rubbed my arm. "What does this mean? That Yolanda—"
She smiled, disarming my worried stance. "I'm sure it's just your metabolism, and you had been in a coma for a while. So you probably lost some weight during it."
"I've said it once, and I'll say it right now: Pity my own backseat," I sighed, looking at my tiny belly.
"Don't feel that way. You're perfect, no matter what," she smiled.
In response, my new wings started flapping, as though they were responding to my inability to take praise. Thankfully, they weren't big enough to pull me from the floor or carry me aloft. "Uh… That's gonna take some getting used to." I grinned uneasily, tittering.
"It definitely is," Georgina nodded.
She then turned to picking up the bath towels she had spread out on the floor, and setting the washcloths over the bathtub faucet, while making sure to wipe up whatever drops of water came off me, as I stepped out of the bath. "Besides, having a little pride in your own beautiful body isn't anything to be ashamed of. There's a very broad line between thinking you're ugly and acting like your boyfriend."
"Odd tried to give me self-confidence lessons, and they didn't stick too well," I shyly stared down at the floor, pretending to paint a picture with my shoes.
"Oh, sweetheart," Georgina blinked. "You just need some time. Learning how to think more highly of yourself, your abilities, and your body don't happen overnight."
Deep down inside, I knew she was right. Changing the way you think about something usually takes quite a while, depending on how long you've thought about something a certain way. Of course, I've always thought about myself like this, no matter how many times people like her and mi novio keep telling me I'm beautiful, gorgeous, pretty, wonderful… sheesh, I could feel my cheeks heating up, just from thinking about this… The problem was, it wasn't the easiest thing in the world to teach myself to think better of myself, and aside from Odd and Georgina, I wasn't getting very much help in that department. So, what was I to do?
"It's okay to think of yourself as beautiful sometimes. I'm sure Sissi could give you some help and tips, too," she smiled.
I nodded. "Plus when I look at Aelita, Yumi, Sister, Kaitlyn, and Sam, I see them as more beautiful than I am, more often than not."
"You're always hardest on yourself; everyone is," she gently interjected. "But did you ever think about it like this, sweetheart? How do you think they see you? Do you think Aelita, Yumi, Sissi, Kaitlyn, and Sam think you're ugly? Or do you think they think of you, the same way you think of them?"
"I really never thought of that. I felt like they deserved the prize more than I did," I blinked.
"The six of you could easily share that prize. It doesn't have to go to only one of you. I never even thought of it as a contest. They take good care of themselves, as you do yourself; they even take good care of you, as well. I would think that they would want nothing more than to share that prize with you."
I nodded. Georgina was right. It should never have been thought of like a contest, especially since Sister wasn't the same snobby girl she used to be. We were all beautiful girls, and even though some of us were more upfront about it than others, it didn't mean any of us were any less pretty. This whole entire time, my friends had been trying to get me to not be so hard on myself. When even Georgina was reminding me of this simple fact, that had to mean something.
A smile grew on my face. "Thanks, Georgina."
Odd shouldn't put that streamer over there! I suddenly overheard Ulrich think, causing a small fit of giggles.
Georgina turned to me after she hung the towels up to dry, and her smile increased as she heard me chuckle, even though I wasn't sure if she knew why I was laughing. "I take it you just thought of something funny, sweetie?"
"Not this time," I grinned. "Ulrich's mind was saying something about a misplaced streamer."
Even she let out a slight giggle after that. "They're thinking about the decorations they're hanging in Dr. Martinez's living room, aren't they?"
"I think so…" I sighed happily.
Ow! Jeremie stepped on my foot! William moaned in his head.
"I know your friends really know how to throw a party," Georgina walked over by me since she had finished everything else she was doing, "as I remember the first birthday party they threw for you."
"And it was a momentous occasion. They even woke me up with one of Cher's songs. 'Emotional Fire,' I remember. That was the best!" I smiled.
She grinned as well. "You certainly did enjoy it, from what I remember seeing. And from the sounds of what you're hearing them think, this one's going to be another one to remember."
Fang is doing a great job with the foil balloons, Yumi's thoughts carried a smile.
A small squeal filled the air, causing my eyes to widen, and my mind to leap into overdrive. Did something happen?! Are there other Erasers?! If the whitecoats had recovered from the attack so soon, I worried that they would do worse to us.
No, Cassidy, someone scared me a little. No big deal, Angel replied sweetly. Ari's the only Eraser here.
My eyes relaxed to normal size. Okay. Thanks for the update, Angel. Carry on.
Even though she was oblivious to everything that had just taken place, Georgina still gave my back a soft, soothing rub through my shirt, hoping to help me relax. "It's okay, sweetheart. I'm sure everything's fine out there. Probably somebody scared someone else or dropped something that made a loud noise when it hit the floor. We're far away from the School so you can relax."
"Someone accidentally scared Angel a bit, so everything is okay now," I nodded, feeling better.
"That's wonderful," she replied, warmly. "I'm sure they'll have the living room set up soon, and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised to see what they've done with it."
"Yeah! I'm glad that they are doing this."
Georgina kept softly and soothingly rubbing my back, as she watched me listen to each and every thought from the others, as they continued decorating. She knew they were going to do a fantastic job, even if she couldn't read minds like I could. That alone was keeping me quite entertained, while we waited.
Ari's doing a great job of guarding the cake, Kaitlyn's thoughts rang through my head. Odd would have downed the thing in one fell swoop.
"Darned straight!" I said out loud. "He almost ate all of Aelita's birthday cake when she was still on Lyoko."
Georgina chuckled, not even surprised at my sudden outburst. "Ah, yes… Jeremie called him a 'glutton,' didn't he?"
"Yeah, he still has tendencies, but he's at least learned a bit of self-control, since then. But not by much."
"It must've been because of his high metabolism," she giggled. "Joseph told me how high it was, and imagine how far my jaw dropped when he did."
"Probably went to China?" I guessed.
She couldn't help but laugh at that. "It nearly did! It certainly went through half of the entire Earth, that's for sure!"
"I think I share a high metabolism, too, if Rosa's words to me are to be believed," I blinked.
"Maybe you and Odd are quite similar in more ways than you think."
"But I have weird habits every now and then," I told her. "I ate macaroni and cheese for breakfast once. The strange thing was, no one commented on it."
"They're probably used to Odd doing it," she ventured a guess, "that seeing you do it doesn't faze them. They probably figure that Odd's been rubbing off on you quite a bit."
"Odd never ate Mac and Cheese for breakfast. He always ate what's on the menu."
She brought her free hand up to her face, caressing her chin. "Maybe they thought it was your time of the month? Or you had come back from a Lyoko mission, and were behaving strangely? Something like that?"
"I probably was being visited by Aunt Rose that day, because the last Lyoko mission had possessed bikers after Yumi. And I wasn't doing too good after the attack. William suddenly knew my nickname," I remembered, "and I had a panic attack after reading my third book, keeping Aelita up all night with me."
"Oh yes," Georgina nodded, understandingly. "I remember things didn't go too well, but at least Aelita was there to help you keep calm. I got the feeling she didn't mind losing sleep if it meant helping you recover."
"True, plus she had Yolanda bring up a cup of tea with her grandmother's recipe. I slept well through the week," I smiled. "I guess I had a hankering for some macaroni and cheese when I woke up. Then Odd enacted a bet with me the day before I ate the thing."
"The Spanish bet; I remember that well." She giggled. "But you've taught your friends how to speak it well. You probably could have spent an entire week doing that to your buddies, and it would have been as though nothing had changed."
I chuckled. "But the bet was only for twenty-four hours. Even Odd knew that it was going to be a struggle for me to keep it up for a week."
"I could see it being a problem for your teachers, as I'm sure they expect you to speak either English or French, but aside from that, I don't understand."
"Oh, believe me, when I talked to my teachers, I spoke regularly. English or French, but when I was away from them, I flipped the tape, so to speak, and went into Spanish. I told Odd that I would do it differently around the teachers," I smiled.
She beamed. "You definitely have quite an interesting set of friends, and I know you cherish them. Once Samantha and Hunter fall into the groove, I'm sure you'll treat them like part of your big family, as well."
"Oh, I'm sure they already fit," I giggled.
"I'm sure you're right. From what I've heard, Samantha seems like quite an interesting person, and I know Hunter will be a wonderful friend. After all, he looks up to you and the others."
"That's true, plus I could tell he needed some friends, seeing how he was just sitting there tightly wound, like a spring. He didn't have anyone to soothe him as I did. I just didn't want him to feel so alone in the sedan."
She smiled warmly. "I'm glad you took to him as well as you did. He's really not as fragile as he sometimes appears. When I watched him undergo his mental tests, he seemed really at home, like he was in his element. The last one was quite horrible, though, and I was afraid he was going to take it the way he did."
"Oh, that day was horrid. I ended up—"
I felt her walk her fingers up and down my back in a very soothing way as if she didn't want me to go any further. "I do remember. I'm sorry you had to see him in that state, though. But don't worry. That's all in the past, now. I helped you relax, and I can easily help him relax as well if the need arises. But let's not focus on anything terrible, sweetheart. You're going to have a wonderful belated birthday party, and I'm sure you'll be quite excited to see what presents everyone has bought you."
I giggled, reminded about that. "True. I can't wait!"
Almost ready, Jeremie announced in his head.
Georgina chuckled warmly. "I'm sure it'll be another one to remember for a very long time. Have any of the others told you how much longer they'll need to redecorate Dr. Martinez's living room?"
"Jeremie had thought in his mind that everything is almost ready!" I nodded.
"That's wonderful! Now, let's have a little fun, while we wait. Can you think of what presents you'd like to see out there?"
"I'd rather be surprised," I giggled. "What fun would it be to be expecting something so much, then opening all the presents to find the item desired not there, face falling?"
She let out a slight giggle of her own. "I see your point. Alright, then… what would you like to do while we wait, seeing as this is your belated birthday party?"
I smiled. "Ever heard of 90 Second Alphabet?"
She glanced up at the ceiling for a moment. "It sounds familiar… refresh my memory, just in case."
"I got it from this comedy show called Whose Line is it Anyway? Sometimes my friends and I would use that to pass the time. We start with a random letter from the alphabet, and the sentence must start with that letter. Then the next sentence must start with the next letter, and so on until we circle back to the letter we started. Usually, my friends and I would take out the time limit, but restart with a new starter letter."
Her gaze returned to me, a smile on her face. "That sounds like it could be lots of fun. What letter should we start on?"
We decided to start with the letter "C," and the two of us launched into an enjoyable round, making each other laugh with different sentences. I almost lost track of time, again, but as we got back to "A," in the second round, we were suddenly interrupted when the door opened. Behind it was none other than Ulrich, who gave me a knowing grin.
"It's time, Cassidy," he announced, in a slightly sing-songy voice.
I jumped to my feet. "Awesome!"
He then walked in, with an ambitious grin on his face. "But you gotta let me blindfold you before I take you out there."
"Sure, why not?" I smiled, getting super excited as I took off my glasses and closed my eyes.
His grin got even more mischievous as if Odd had given him a challenge to swap personalities, as he walked up behind me, pulled a blindfold out of his pocket, and gently wrapped it around my eyes, making sure to tie it behind my head somewhat snugly, but not too tightly. I then felt him place his hand into mine.
"Thanks for being my guide," I said, keeping my glasses clipped to my pocket.
"Don't mention it," I heard Ulrich reply. "And I'll go slow, so don't worry."
"Yeah, the last thing we need is to explain why several of Dr. Martinez's photos on the wall just suddenly sank to the ground."
"We can just say Odd wanted to redecorate the place," he quipped, holding back a chuckle.
"Um…that wouldn't be fair to Odd." I took my free hand and rubbed my other arm with it.
"Nah, I wouldn't really do that," Ulrich reassured me, as he gently tugged on my hand, ready to take me out of Dr. Martinez's bathroom. "I'd take the blame for being a terrible navigator."
"This time, it would be justified, considering my behavior around you the last time I got angry at you," I giggled, remembering the time he allegedly posted a photo and video file to the Kadic Herrald.
"That whole thing was dumb, anyway," he retorted, even though I could somehow feel he was still grinning. "I don't know what Odd thought when he did that. Of course, we both know how bad he is, with computers."
"Don't remind me. That vision, plus Mr. Delmas putting Aelita and me on Lyoko, possessing us both…" I shuddered.
His other hand softly rubbed my arm, as I felt him gently pull me out of the bathroom, and down the hallway. "At least that's over and done with. And with XANA being as weak as he is, who knows when he'll strike next, or even how strong he'll be."
"True. That was an exciting day, I have to admit."
"Yeah. He's not coming back from that one for a long time."
I nodded, still blinded. "I was so psyched when Franz told me he was still there."
"Oh yeah…" His tone dipped a bit, and I could tell he was thinking about something. At least he didn't die, like in her vision… there was no way I was gonna let Princess live with that in her heart. Did I ever tell you how much I enjoy your visions, Cassidy?
"Every day, now," I smiled. "And I wasn't either. Let me tell you. Sometimes when I went to the girls' room before I unleashed the monster, I would make sure I was alone before sobbing for a while, scared Aelita would lose her father. Plus, I felt as though I would be a terrible psychic friend for letting that happen."
He kept gently pulling me down the hallway, so I didn't see his face fall, only to be replaced with a look of concern. I sometimes knew my reading his mind would catch him off-guard, but he learned to hide it better, each time. "I didn't know you did that… but hey, at least we don't ever have to worry about it happening for real. Franz is here to stay, and so is Aelita's mom, too. Compared to what the monster showed happening before you turned up, I call that a win-win."
"And I don't have to be blamed for any 'murder by inaction,' either," I beamed.
I felt him gently pull me down another hallway. "You never had to. In fact, no one was ever going to. Odd and I would've made sure of that. And you and I both know that neither Yumi, nor Aelita, nor even Einstein would do that."
"True. I just couldn't stand idly by while that happened. I just didn't know what to do." I felt my cheeks heat up, following him.
"Well… sometimes, there's just nothing you can do. When you've done everything else you can think of, and the enemy still boxes you in at every corner, sometimes you really can't do anything at all. And your real friends will never blame you for that."
"I just couldn't let him do that to Aelita, but suddenly, I unleashed the monster, and look at our lives now," I half-sang.
Even his mouth couldn't resist curving upward at that. "Exactly. Odd was practically in heaven, during the assembly. It was cool to be a samurai again, even if it wasn't on Lyoko."
"And suddenly, his words after we took Peter Duncan to jail made sense: 'That's how it is for unsung heroes like ourselves. We've gotta act and win, and remain in the shadows. I guess that's what being a true hero is all about! But someday, everybody's gonna know just how brave we are! And we'll reap the benefits and rewards true heroes deserve!'" I tried to mimic mi novio, but bits of my own voice kept coming in.
For my efforts, Ulrich chuckled. "I always knew he'd rub off on you someday, Cassidy."
"But what do you think?"
His breath hitched, as he rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. "Well, uh… to tell you the truth, I… uh… didn't know we'd have that big of a fanbase… I mean, the entirety of Kadic wanted our autographs… and one of our fans even came all the way over to France, just to go to school with us… I, uh… some days, I, uh… feel like I'm… dreaming."
"At first, after the teachers, only about four students wanted my own John Hancock. Suddenly, a bunch of students flooded me," I giggled. "I still remember Camille's gentle touch."
Ulrich's smile returned to his face, as he closed his eyes. "Couldn't let you be by yourself, now could we? After all, next to Einstein and Princess, you're practically the tactician. You don't play just a tiny role in our group."
"And sometimes, I still think I'm in that coma, suddenly dreaming of our newfound fame," I nodded.
"I know that feeling," he reassured me. "Even with our wings and everything, I mean, we gotta be, right?"
"If that earthquake was supposed to wake us up, it failed," I giggled.
He chuckled, as well. "I'll bet you I'm wearing my earplugs, that way Odd can't wake me up with his snoring. I must've lent you a pair I had lying around, too."
"Wouldn't that make us deaf to anything?" I would have blinked.
"Yeah, I hadn't thought of that… but this whole experience does sure feel like a dream. Getting kidnapped, taken on a trip, tested, pampered, experimented on, becoming ghosts… I almost feel like I'm going to wake up, and Jeremie's gonna call me, telling me XANA's activated a tower."
"Slightly nightmarish at first, and slowly climbing upward to the light," I muttered.
Before Ulrich could reply, I heard another voice come in, as I felt him pull me around another corner.
"There you two are!" It was unmistakably Odd. "Any longer and the balloons would've deflated!"
"Sorry about that, Odd, honey…" I reached out for him.
I felt him wrap his arms around me, pulling me into a warm hug, at the same time Ulrich let go of my hand. "Don't worry about it, mi novia… Ulrich was probably heightening the tension! You know him!"
"I know most of you like the back of my hand, Novio." I would have winked.
"At least you've got enough hands!" He chuckled. "And Sam and Hunter are like thumbs! That's because they're always there to help the rest of us!"
"True, I guess… But that doesn't matter," I giggled.
I heard Yumi chuckle a bit, as well. "Besides, we've all got something big to show you."
"Yes!"
I felt someone's hand grab the bow on the back of the blindfold Ulrich had wrapped around my eyes, earlier.
"Get ready for a big surprise, Cat Girl!" Odd declared from nearby, which led me to think the hand was his.
In a few seconds, the bow was gently undone, and the blindfold was whipped off from my face, restoring my vision, as everyone threw their hands up into the air.
"HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, CASSIDY!" they shouted.
I put on my glasses, smiling in glee. "Wow! This is incredible! Thanks, you guys!"
"You deserve it after skipping it over," Jeremie grinned.
"You know we weren't gonna go a whole year without celebrating it," Aelita added, one of her famous soothing smiles on her face.
"And it would be a shame not to do something for you," Yumi giggled.
"Jeremie, Aelita, and Yumi are right!" Ulrich agreed. "So that's why, while Georgina was pampering you in Dr. Martinez's bathroom, the rest of us got together, and we got you a few things."
"I thought I could hear Odd whooping and hollering as though he was on Lyoko," I chuckled.
Odd grinned at me, mischievously. "Well, what if I was? I'm sure you'd love to spend the day on Lyoko, too, wouldn't you, Cat Girl? Without XANA, it's like a walk in the park!"
"Just as long as I have my DNA sequence code and the towers don't lock me in," I shot back at him playfully.
Yumi jumped in, a playful grin on her face, as well. "Don't worry about that, Cassidy. Jeremie would make sure that didn't happen. XANA's probably not powerful enough to bring another Schyphozoa over, anyway."
"Considering a lot of the monsters were destroyed when we weakened him, that's a fantastic point," Jeremie nodded.
"Now come on, belated birthday girl!" Ari announced. "Wouldn't you like your cake?"
"Of course!" I giggled. "I haven't had cake since a week and a couple days ago."
Yumi placed her hand on her forehead. "Wow, has it really been that long?!"
"We all fell asleep in different beds in Lyoko HQ after Aelita's parents went to the hotel," I nodded. "You woke Jeremie up the next day by accident that time."
Yumi chuckled, remembering that day nearly vividly. "I didn't mean to accidentally tickle your foot, Jeremie. When I woke up, I didn't know where my hands had fallen."
"That's okay, Yumi," Jeremie replied, grinning as he adjusted his glasses. "I'm sorry I almost yelled at you, thinking you were Aelita."
"It wouldn't be the first time you mistook one person for another," I deadpanned, almost cackling.
Jeremie folded his arms, grinning mischievously at me. "Like right now; I can't help but mistake you for Odd!"
"Well, they are boyfriend and girlfriend," Hunter jumped in, chuckling a bit. "He's bound to rub off on her, and vice-versa. Next thing you know, he'll be styling her hair, the same way he styles his own!"
"Hey… my scalp hates hairspray and hair gel in it for more than a day," I said.
His eyes widened, the happiness on his face swiftly replaced with worry. "Oh… I didn't know that…"
Odd grinned at him. "Oh, relax, Hunter! I'd probably just give her a third pigtail, that's all!"
"It's not as though you knew that part at all," I reassured. "Now, come on. As misquoted by Marie Antoinette: Let us have cake!"
Hunter's grin slowly returned to his face, while Odd's smile increased. "Now that's the Cat Girl I know and love! I'm starving!"
"And the belated birthday girl gets the first slice," Angel announced. "We got a white cake with sugar frosting, with flowers on it."
"Oh, that's fantastic," I smiled, seeing a plate with the flowers slide my way.
"After cake and presents, Max and I will make dinner," Dr. Martinez grinned. "We're thinking about making enchiladas."
Right away, Angel's, Gazzy's, Nudge's, Iggy's, and Fang's eyes widened. Yumi and I understood why but knew that with her mom's help, the leader of the flock could come up with something delicious.
That was followed by the sound of a stomach growling. While we all expected that noise to come from Odd's, most of us were surprised to see Jeremie react sheepishly to the sound.
"Sorry," he lamented. "I don't think any of us have had anything to eat, since our surgery. So enchiladas sound fantastic."
"Actually, he's right," Hunter added, putting his hands over his own stomach. "That sounds really good, right about now."
"That's true," I muttered, passing the untouched plate back, the thought of dessert before dinner making my tummy uneasy. "Maybe we could wait until after dinner to have cake."
"That's a good idea," Angel agreed.
"I agree," Aelita seconded.
Even though Odd was the only one to object, we all decided to wait until after dinner to eat the cake they got for me. And dinner didn't take very long to make; only twenty-five minutes later, did Max and Dr. Martinez call us to come get our food. Odd hurriedly ran to fix his plate, while the rest of us leisurely followed behind, even though we were all equally hungry—well, maybe not as hungry as mi novio, but close enough. Once we had all grabbed ourselves two enchiladas each and poured on the sauces of our choice, we gathered in Dr. Martinez's living room to eat.
I couldn't begin to tell you how tasty the meal was. Even if it was the first thing any of my friends and I had eaten, since our out-of-body experiences, it didn't make it any less delicious for any of us. While we ate, we talked about our different experiences, harrowing escapes, and everything else we had been through, before and after our weakening of XANA. Max and her flock were quite impressed by everything we had done, even though they, like the whitecoats, already knew about us ahead of time. Still, it was fun to bring those stories back up, as even Sam and Hunter were amazed by our post-monster adventures.
After dinner, then it was time for cake. Taking the flower slice again, I dug in, happy that it was so good. Naturally, Odd couldn't wait to sink his teeth into the next slice, and once he did, he enjoyed its texture and flavor as well. Soon everyone had gotten at least one piece, and I could tell they enjoyed theirs as much as I did.
Angel giggled, looking at Fang's face. Turning my head, I saw the equivalent of Ulrich had somehow gotten frosting on his cheek, sending me into a fit of cackles with an empty plate in my hand. Regaining my composure a little bit later, I took a napkin and gave it to him. "Here, Fang… You got a little something on your cheek there."
He gently took it from my hand and wiped his face, catching where it landed. "Thanks."
Max began to get a little jealous, as she watched Fang and I. "Hey…"
"It's okay, Max. I was giving him a napkin." I turned my attention to her. "I know you two are an item. Plus I'm with someone, too."
Realizing this, the leader of the flock stood back. "R-right…"
"Besides, I'm not that kind to take other people's loves," I nodded.
"That's right!" Odd walked over, placing his hand on my shoulder. "She's in love with me, and I know she'd never make me think something was going on, between her and something else. I trust her!"
"Yeah, she's definitely not that type of girl," William agreed, coming up on my other side. "When she was my girlfriend, I made the mistake of thinking that she was planning to take another boy to a dance and that one bit me big time. She was never unfaithful, at all."
"Not to mention the fact that he yelled at me one time in American History. For a week, things went sideways, but once I got back into that class, the balance had shifted back to normal," I nodded. "But still. The point is, as far as relationships go, I'm not stealing anybody."
Max closed her eyes, pivoting her head downward, slightly. "Okay, okay, I get it. I'm sorry I suspected you."
"It's okay."
With that little squabble out of the way, it wasn't long before the entire cake had been eaten, and it soon became time for me to open the presents the others had bought me. Naturally, this made me incredibly excited, so I wasted no time diving in, head first.
A lot of wrapping paper later, and it turned out that the majority of my friends found a lot of pony plushies, recognizing each by name. "Aw…"
Another gift had a new green stuffed TY bunny. Curiosity piquing, I looked at the tag attached to its ear and gasped in awe. "It's a Hippity…b-but..."
I looked at the box, and near the bottom of the front portion, the words "To Cassidy, from Sam" had been written.
"I knew you missed your own Hippity, so why not have a replica?" she asked, a warm, calming smile on her face.
Hugging it close, I felt a sense of safety enter my heart. I was incredibly taken aback by Sam's kindness. It immediately reminded me of the day, back in the School, when we were plotting Plan 120, and how afraid I was of bursting in on her, during her rub, massage, and bath, as I feared what she would do to me if I were alone with her. Odd was right; she wasn't out for my blood at all. She just wanted to be good friends. "Sam, thank you…"
Then Sister handed me her gift, grinning excitedly as I took it from her. Without wasting any time, the wrapping paper was off in a flurry of ripping and tearing, and the box underneath was soon revealed. To my immense surprise, it was a beautiful necklace with a heart charm, similar to the one I wore at the Subdigitals concert.
"I couldn't make up my mind, so I chose that," Sister giggled, gently whisking it from my hands and placing it over my head, around my neck. "And would you look at that! It matches that streak in your hair."
Aelita smiled warmly, as she noticed how well the necklace complimented my hair. "She's right; it looks beautiful on you, Cassidy."
My cheeks heated up. "Wow…" Her words of praise started to erode away my consciousness, as I fought to keep myself awake and upright. But luckily, I remained standing.
"Here, Cass!" William was next, offering me a gift with blue and purple wrapping paper. "Open mine, next!"
Taking the gift, I made quick work of the wrapping paper, before my face rose when I noticed the first part. It was a brand-new portable CD player, complete with headphones and batteries. It was a really nice brand, too, with excellent anti-skip protection.
"And look underneath it!" William prodded me.
Gently moving the CD player's box out of the way, I beamed when I noticed there were four CDs underneath: Panic! At the Disco's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, one of Bon Jovi's Have a Nice Day album, Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell, and the fourth was Journey's Greatest Hits album from 1988.
"Wow…" I murmured in awe.
Then Hunter offered me his gift. "Here's one you can open next if you like."
I nodded, accepting the gift. It was a little big, but nothing stopped me from opening it. Wrapping paper aside, I found it to be a soft, fuzzy blanket, and my eyes widened when I noticed its design and the wrapper that surrounded it. The blanket itself had a mostly purple design with pink streaks, decorated with pink snowflake-like stars, each of which was surrounded by smaller, white snowflake-like stars, as well. There was no mistaking it; it was based off from Twilight Sparkle.
My joy caused my breath to hitch. "Hunter… Tha-thank you…"
Hunter beamed, warmly and excitedly. "Odd told me you liked My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and that Twilight Sparkle was one of your favorites. So I thought I'd get you something that'd really come in handy."
I immediately set the blanket down, leaped up, and wrapped my arms around the black-haired boy, hugging him excitedly. I heard him giggle as he returned the hug, softly rubbing my back as well.
"I'm glad you like it!" I heard him whisper.
I nodded. "Yes! I do…"
He kept softly and slowly rubbing my back, glad that I had enjoyed the gift he got me, and I could hear him think of how pleased he was about it. You were right, Odd. That was the perfect gift for her!
But I kept that to myself, as I didn't want to ruin the moment. "Thanks, Hunter," I smiled.
"It's my pleasure," he replied, smiling equally.
Shortly after, we broke the embrace, just as Kiwi trotted up to me with a gift in his mouth. "Hmm! Mmph gph…"
"Kiwi," I giggled, taking it from him, "you shouldn't speak with your mouth full."
Kiwi yipped, sounding as if he let out a slight chuckle. "Sorry. Cassidy, that's for you!"
I opened it, to find a funny thing inside: He had gotten me a pink dog dish. "Uh…"
"You licked my own bowl when we were merged together, so I'm giving you your own," he grinned.
Jeremie shot me a surprised look. "How does he remember that?!"
"How in the hay should I know?" I rebounded.
Aelita looked like she had a bit of an idea. "Since Jeremie sent you both to Lyoko when both of your DNA were merged together, the Supercomputer must have made Kiwi immune to Returns to the Past, just like you."
"That could be. Or, and this is a different theory, the monster showed Kiwi that I did," I blushed.
That surprised Aelita a bit. "That's true. I didn't think of that."
"It's okay, Aelita," I smiled.
"Either one could have tipped off Kiwi," Jeremie admitted. "I did have to create an additional, temporary virtual envelope to virtualize you onto Lyoko, and that could have left lasting effects on the exceptions for the Return to the Past program. However, since Kiwi did see the monster, along with the rest of us, there's always the possibility that he has more brain power than we give him credit for…"
"Ya see, Einstein?! I told you Kiwi was special," Odd agreed. "He can sniff out XANA's ghosts, and even find me halfway across Kadic!"
"I was surprised to see him making a beeline to the gym with socks in his mouth," I giggled, "at least at first."
"I thought he just followed the smell of Odd's feet," Ulrich remembered, "but after that lotion you gave him, now I don't know what to think."
"It's okay, Samurai," I grinned. "We've all made mistakes."
"Remember that day we swapped bodies?" Yumi recalled next. "It's almost like he knew that it was you in my body, when he woke you up, first."
"And that was before I could read animal minds," I smiled.
"That settles it, then!" Odd jumped back in, picking up his diggity-dog, and nuzzling his face with his own. "When we get back to Kadic, the next time we go to the factory, whether we scan Sam and Hunter once, or send them to Lyoko with us, I say we finally send Kiwi to Lyoko, with them! If we ever need to find anyone on the Internet, I'll bet you my little diggity-dog can sniff them out easy!"
"That sounds fair," I nodded.
Jeremie adjusted his glasses, staring at the floor. "I don't know… I've never actually tried testing the Supercomputer to see if it can create virtual envelopes for animals, before."
"Ulrich seemed about ready to try one time." I winked at the boy in question.
"Hey," he folded his arms. "That was because Einstein needed a guinea pig. I wouldn't do that again, now. If Odd really wants Kiwi to go, we oughta make sure it's gonna work, first."
"True, Samurai. Plus, I think you were also thinking about avenging your room and bedsheets, too," I giggled.
"Well, yeah… but at least you don't have to worry about sleeping in wet sheets, every time you or Odd forget to take him out for a walk!" Ulrich retorted.
"Don't forget," Yumi jumped in, grinning knowingly at her boyfriend, "you also didn't know him nearly as well as you do, now."
"Uh—duh—um… Yeah, you're right," Samurai found himself rehearsing his vowels after that one.
"Anyway, Cat Girl. Now you can finally sleep in peace tonight," Odd smiled.
"Yeah, with all the ponies and a new Hippity, you can bet the ranch that I'll sleep peacefully." I beamed from ear to ear, like I was floating on air.
"And you'll have a soft, cuddly blanket that'll keep you warm, too," Hunter added, grinning.
"Oh, most definitely. I didn't like the feel of that blanket that we slept in, when we were in that big room at the School," I shuddered slightly, but smiled all the same.
"I remember feeling that, when we were having our out-of-body experience when I first realized where I was," Yumi added, looking a bit unsettled. "Maybe it was because they took our hospital gowns off before they put us under them."
"I was referring to before they transferred us to that bigger room, Yumi," I muttered, getting the feeling that she went way off the mark.
She blinked, surprise overtaking her features. "Oh, you're right. That bigger room was better, but it still felt a little strange. But I agree, the room we were put into first did have terrible blankets."
"They felt itchy, at times," I nodded.
Aelita shrugged, raising an eyebrow. "I thought they felt okay, but I barely felt mine brush up against my skin. It did keep me warm, which was nice."
Georgina walked over a concerned look on her face. "I'm sorry you felt that way. I'll admit, the School didn't have the softest blankets, at least not in your first room, but they were mainly picked because they were functional. At least you won't have to worry about them, anymore."
"I don't know what felt worse to me," Hunter added, shrugging as well, "having to sleep under that, or having to sleep with my clothes on."
"Odd's pants were comfy to sleep in, I give him that," I smiled.
"Better believe it!" Odd grinned, happy that I liked them. "They always feel good when I wear them, so naturally they'd make you feel good, too, Cat Girl!"
"Such a nice texture, too. I'm still surprised that they fit me, despite the fact that I'm older than you and have no waist," I blinked.
"It's simple," Jeremie theorized, holding out his hands. "They probably have a stretchy waistband that has a soft inside layer, that way they don't squeeze your body."
"That's not the case. I checked that out when I forgot to give Odd his pants back," I pointed out. "Plus, I'm taller than him."
Jeremie blinked. "Oh. Then I don't have any other theories. Maybe they're just special pants."
"It could be," I shrugged.
"Ulrich, Aelita and I went out to buy them, the week before we went on that first flight with the Skid," Odd commented. "Maybe it's because they were on sale?"
"You used to wear these pants every day," I protested. "I 'borrowed' them, remember?"
"So? Maybe I stretched them out for you?" Odd suggested, next.
"It could be, but I just don't know," I blushed.
"He could have bought a girl's pair, by mistake," Yumi chuckled lightheartedly, with a grin.
"These are boy sized." However, I couldn't help but giggle.
"Maybe it's because you're both scrawny," Ulrich jumped in, grinning mischievously.
"Well, both of you are similar in size," Aelita added. "Maybe some of your clothes might fit Odd, too, Cassidy."
The thought of what Aelita and Ulrich said made me harken back to my weight on the scale. "No soy flaca, soy esbelta," I muttered uncomfortably. While I knew Ulrich was just joking, especially since that was something he loved saying to Odd, after being scared by how much lighter I had gotten, I didn't need to be told that.
That was when Yumi slowly wrapped her arm around me, softly and slowly rubbing my back at the same time. "Cassidy, are you okay? He didn't mean it like that, you know. None of us know why Odd's pants fit you so well."
"I found out how much I weighed today, and let's just say that I'm surprised at and scared of the results," I muttered.
Concern washing over her, she leaned in closer, still softly and slowly rubbing my back. "Do you wanna talk about it here?"
"Uh… no…" I trembled.
"Let's go to the bathroom," she replied, calmly, as she led me back down the hallway. "We can talk in there."
"Thanks, Yumi," I nodded.
Before we could go too far, Sister walked up to us.
"Can I come, too?" she asked, looking concerned.
"Sure, Sissi," Yumi replied. "Cassidy won't mind."
"No, I don't mind at all," I agreed.
The three of us walked down the series of hallways to the bathroom, silently. As we walked in, Yumi turned on the light, before Sister followed me in, closing the door behind herself.
"Okay, it turns out that I'm seventy-three pounds, very underweight for my age," I muttered, bracing for impact.
Instead of gasping, freaking out, or even chastising me for my diet, something I'd probably expect out of either Yolanda or Rosa, Yumi and Sister were comforting and supportive. Yumi put her arm around me again, just like she had done in the living room, and gave me a gentle smile.
"It's okay," she soothed. "Maybe you lost weight during your coma, or from everything we went through, back at the School."
"Those theories are sound, but when Ulrich made that joke, I felt terrible—"
Yumi began to soothingly rub my back, stopping me in mid-sentence. "Ulrich didn't know you had lost weight. None of us knew until you just told Sissi and I. If he knew what had happened, and how it's bothering you, I don't think he would have said that."
"I got distracted by our other conversations that I didn't even get the chance to say so," I nodded.
Sister walked up to my other side and began to softly rub my back as well, in time with Yumi. "It's okay, dear sister. We can tell them as soon as you're ready to. But they won't get mad at you, either."
"Okay… I just hope that that joke doesn't get said at me," I nodded, relaxing.
"C'mon, Cassidy," Yumi reassured me. "Ulrich's better than that. Odd, too. If they know it bothers you, they won't make it into a joke."
"True," I agreed.
"It seems to me that everyone will be more concerned about your sudden weight loss, than anything else," Sister added. "You know Odd might try to make you laugh, but as your boyfriend, he of all people should know what makes you laugh, and what offends you."
"Yeah. He only forgot one time," I blinked, "and I spent the entire day angry at the wrong guy."
"Odd has his moments." Yumi started walking her knuckles up and down my back, between my wings, next. "At least he told you the truth, later on."
And then a thought hit her. And to think, that could've been an embarrassing picture of me, that Milly and Tamiya published...
"To this day, I don't know what made him switch women," I said.
"Maybe he thought it'd make you laugh?" Yumi's tone became a bit lighthearted before it returned to normal. "Anyway, after you got your revenge, I'm pretty sure he's never gonna do that again, especially after what Ulrich almost did to him."
"Plus it was the most logical. I don't know how you would have gotten a photo of them coming out of the shower. So many questions…"
"I probably would have paid one of the boys to do it," she replied. "Jim would've caught me for sure if I had walked in there."
"Not to mention what your parents would have thought. I—"
Yumi closed her eyes, shaking her head. "My parents would've thought the worst. If they knew I was doing that, they'd wonder what had gotten into me."
"I know that the movie I'm referencing took place in China, but I think that they would have told you, 'Dishonor on you! Dishonor on—'" A hand clapped over my mouth.
"Shhh…" Yumi's brows lowered, slightly. "I don't even want to think about how much honor my family would lose if I were caught doing that."
Behind her hand, I nodded. I was being ridiculous. I didn't realize Yumi was going to take it that way.
"Lucky for you, dear sister, you had a better revenge. I laughed when I saw the video of Ulrich and Odd," Sister giggled.
That softened Yumi's face, as well. "So did I. I never knew Ulrich was that good of a singer, not to mention Odd."
"Especially with songs sung by women," Sister agreed.
"When Ulrich hit that Cher song," Yumi started giggling, "I almost wasn't sure if I was hearing Ulrich, or Cher, singing."
Behind her hand, the corners of my mouth curved upward, feeling like cackling.
Sister nearly started cracking up at that thought. "And what about Odd? His voice was even higher than Celtic Woman's!"
Yumi chuckled, removing her hand from my mouth. "Who knew he could sing in Gaelic!"
"Don't forget Ulrich's solo with Faith Hill," I cackled.
That got both Yumi and Sister laughing.
"Hearing 'Love is a Sweet Thing' never made me laugh so hard until I heard Ulrich try to sing it!" my geisha friend tried to squeeze out, in-between laughs.
"I was amazed how high Ulrich hit that note with 'Be My Lover' before the rap breakdown and before the bridge into the final chorus," I smiled. "If it weren't for the fact that I was recording the video in the first place, I would have dropped my camera."
"I'll bet!" Yumi laughed. "Maybe I should ask him to sing 'Sweet Dreams' to me before I go to sleep. I'm sure he would."
"Or 'These Dreams' by Heart? It's a beautiful song. I heard that the sisters wrote that for a fan with cancer. Sadly, unlike your cousin, Sister, the patient met her end," I tried to be tactful.
"That's terrible," Sister's voice lowered a bit, before bouncing back up. "But it is a beautiful song. I have it on my Walkman."
"Maybe he could do a duet with Odd," Yumi tried to lighten the mood once more. "He can play guitar, after all, so he could be Nancy."
"True," I smiled.
"Now, come on! We still have a party to get back to," Sister smiled.
So, we did. With the thoughts of our first visit to the Ice Sector Replika fresh on our minds, the three of us left the bathroom and returned to the living room, where the party continued. And let me tell you, that whole entire day was one of the best belated birthdays I've ever had. But that moment of happiness was great, as things were about to get even more interesting, from the next day forward.