Jeremie's POV

I paced around the room. Jim had already set up the military bed for Kaitlyn's arrival (who knew it took only Mr. Delmas's word to make him believe us?). Dad told me to be ready for her.

"Will you calm down, Einstein? You're wearing a track on the carpet," Odd started.

I looked down to see that my carpet had seen better days. "But I haven't seen Kaitlyn in years. What if we end up hating each other at first?"

"Why would she hate you? She seems to really love you from what I've heard. I'm pretty sure she's excited to see you, Jeremie."

I jumped out of my skin and looked behind me. Already, I saw the window with my pink-haired sweetheart. "Aelita…"

"Honestly, I wouldn't worry. From the way you worried about her, you care."

I smiled, taking in a deep breath. "Thank you, Aelita."

She grinned. "You're welcome."

I heard footsteps down the hall. Heart thundering in panic, I waved at Aelita to go offline. Kaitlyn would meet her when the moment was right, but now was not the time or the place. To my relief, she closed her window.

I could hear an indistinct conversation, then the door handle turned. "And this is where you will stay until a room opens up," Jim said.

My eyes widened. There she was, square glasses over her eyes, long blond hair, dark green eyes. She wore a pink shirt and brown khaki pants. The door clicked closed, and footsteps receded to nothing.

"It's like looking in a gender-flipped mirror, huh, cuz," Kaitlyn smiled and giggled.

I stammered, at a loss for words. She looked more beautiful than the last time we saw each other.

"Did I break him?" she chuckled.

"More like caused his .exe file to stop working," Ulrich laughed with her.

She looked at me. "Jeremie, it's me, Kaitlyn."

I gathered up my jaw, taking a deep breath and smiling. "Hi, Kaitlyn." Approaching her, I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her cheek. She got the hint as her lips met my cheek. The Belpois Greeting. It's a tradition passed down from generation to generation. Some of our family members argue about when it started. However, we all agree that it connects us.

Her arms wrapped around my waist. "I missed you, cuz."

"Me, too, Kaitlyn." Then my eyes widened when I looked at my three friends sitting on the bed. "Oh, and these are my friends. The one wearing pink and purple is Odd."

"I didn't know that you had a hot cousin, Jeremie," Odd grinned. "Where have you been hiding her?"

She tensed, a fire in her green eyes. "Better back off or they'll send whatever's left of you in a matchbox!"

He backed into the wall. "Okay, okay. I was just asking!"

"That's what I thought." She sat down on the military bunk.

"This is Yumi," I gestured to her.

Yumi smiled and nodded. "Kon'nichiwa, Kaitlyn."

She looked at me with her right eye squinted and a frown on her face. I only smiled. "She means 'Hello.' Yumi moved from Japan when she was a baby."

"Oh…"

"This is Ulrich." I tipped my head to the earthen-tone wearing boy.

Ulrich bowed his head in greeting. "Nice to meet you, Kaitlyn. Just don't let Odd get your portion if you sit with us."

She smirked, and I couldn't help but smirk back. "Oh, I'm not worried about that."

"You two sure you aren't secretly brother and sister?" Ulrich teased.

She scoffed. "We aren't! I would have known about it."

I swore I could hear a tiny, stifled giggle from my computer as my cheeks heated up, making a mental note to create a program to silence Lyoko on both ends whenever Aelita's window closed. "I s-swear we aren't siblings."

Odd grinned widely. "Oh, lighten up, Einstein. We're only teasing."

"It's all fun and games until someone finds their head w—"

"Okay!" I said loudly enough to be heard. "So, has Jim shown you around Kadic, Kaitlyn?"

She nodded. "I got a little lost trying to find the dorms. I ran into the principal's stuck-up brat."

"Oh, you mean Sissi?" Ulrich deducted rapidly, rubbing under his chin. "I wouldn't worry about her. She's flipped over me."

"From the way things look, you don't like her at all," she blinked.

"She's a brain-dead leech!"

"Look, as much as I want to bond, it's almost lunch time," Odd interjected.

Yumi smiled, rolling her eyes.

"Forgive him. He can be a bit of a black hole," I chuckled.

She shrugged. "Just as long as he doesn't decide to sit with me on a constant basis, I'll be fine."

I grinned, but knew I had one more person to introduce. However, Aelita told me that when it was right, she could meet her. I didn't blame her. Odd's introduction to her was—rough and unconventional—to say the least. Ulrich was busy with something, and Yumi was new to our little secret.

One day, she will find out. But today is not the time, I vowed.

A/N (Teen-Lyoko-Fan7777): I'm so sorry it took so long. Life got in the way for me as well as my friend, and creativity had sunk into nothing. But this fanfiction is not dead. I promise you this.

A/N (LongHairedAelita): Sorry it took so long to update as well. I had my baby back in January and have been trying to adjust to mom life. I'm starting to get in the swing of it now. My son is will be 3 months old tomorrow. I can't believe how big he's getting already. Look forward to more recent updates, I'm so sorry.