The sun rose, all of the sleeping birds awakening from their nests to alert the Earth of daylight's presence. Jeremie did not show up at the hospital to follow Aelita back to her dorm. Instead, Yumi and her parents drove to pick her up, and Yumi became her personal safety escort for the day. When she asked Aelita where Jeremie was, she rolled her eyes and merely shrugged her words off, not wanting to talk about it. She wasn't sure who to be mad at, exactly; if it should be Jeremie, or herself. Aelita wanted to be able to tell someone. She wanted to trust Jeremie when he reassured that it would only help, not hurt, but nonetheless the sickening power that the frightening stalker held only pushed her farther away from the doors to the headmaster's office.

The morning started off blindingly cheerful. The sun's golden rays shone so brilliantly that Aelita had to stare at the concrete ground for most of the walk across campus. It was truthfully because of the sunlight, but others looked upon her with concern. Students wondered if she was sad, or still ill. Rumors spread from one set of lips to the other, quicker than the speed of light. Whenever Aelita would look up, only for a moment, someone was coldly glaring back at her. Yumi put her arm around Aelita's frail shoulders and friendlily tugged her closer, acting as her private shield. From the corner of her eye, Aelita saw Milly and Tamiya by a small metal rack, displaying their newest edition of the Kadic newsletter. They pulled at the shirts of anyone who walked by, frantically handing them out. She walked over to their miniature news stand, breaking free of Yumi's hover.

"Oh, hey Aelita!" Milly and Tamiya greeted with delight as the pinkette curiously and also reluctantly approached. "Feeling better?" Aelita gave a brief, weak smile, before helping herself to one of the booklets. The very first page exhibited the photograph snuck in her dorm as she writhed against the carpet, her arms wrapped around her abdomen in agony. Aelita dropped the newspaper and cringed, almost tasting the blood that was shown in the picture.

"Why… why did you put that in there?" She stared at the open pages on the concrete, big bold letters highlighting the words 'Kadic Student Aelita Stones Hospitalized After Tragic Accident.'

"Because it's a huge scoop!" Tamiya defended as she continued to hand out magazines.

Aelita clenched her fists at her sides as her face began to flush with heat of both embarrassment and fury. "You can't just go putting stuff like that in the paper without asking me about it first! That's invasion of privacy!"

"Oh," Milly pouted. "Well, we're sorry Aelita. We just couldn't pass up a huge opportunity like this!"

"So my suffering is just some pile of juicy gossip for you to get famous off of, huh? You think this is a joke?"

"Woah, Aelita, calm down…" Tamiya backed away from Aelita who began to tower over them with antagonism. The little girl pushed her hands towards 'Lita, urging her to take a breath, but her actions were meaningless. Aelita's breathing quickened as she glared down at the two journalists. Overtaken with complete wrath, she jerked at her hair before thrashing her foot against the kiosk of papers, letting out a painful shriek of angst. The booklets of Milly and Tamiya's gossip soared all onto the ground, and Aelita furiously stomped on them and kicked them around.

"Hey!" Milly barked as she desperately began to scoop up all of her hard work. "What are you doing?"

"Yeah, what's gotten into you?"

"Aelita!" Yumi rushed over by her side, taking ahold of her shoulders. Students had crowded around and stared at the mess the girl had made, sparking only more rumors to spread. Torn shreds of the newspaper gracefully tumbled onto the grass as wind began to scratch away other small remnants of the newsletter. Aelita didn't know what to do, nor say, and so Yumi gave an apologetic, crooked smile before rushing her away from the horde of chatter and gossips.

"Hey, Einstein!" Odd piped, edging his way into Jeremie's room. "What's happening?"

Jeremie briefly glanced over his shoulder before turning back around to blankly gape at his computer monitor. "Oh," he quietly and plainly spoke. "Hey, Odd."

The svelte boy stood behind Jeremie, stuffing his hands inside his pockets. He noticed there was nothing actually on Jeremie's screen. "You're not working on the diary?" he inquired, pointing towards the stale computer interface.

"I already finished it." Jeremie replied with lack of emotion.

"You did? Really? That's great!"

"Yeah."

The fair-haired boy had yet to even turn his chair around and converse with Odd face-to-face. Odd played with his fingers inside his pockets for a moment, studying Jeremie as he sat casually in his chair with his arms crossed. He decided to ask what was on his mind, as it was clear something was. "Why so glum, Jer? Now you can find Aelita's anti-virus!"

"You can only make an anti-virus if there's a virus." Again, Jer's words were flat.

"What do you mean?"

"Aelita doesn't have a virus."

"But…" Odd rubbed the sides of his forehead in mystification. "What do you mean?"

"XANA didn't give her a virus. What he actually did, is he took something from her."

"Oh…" Odd's brain began to jumble around inside his artistic skull. He was having troubling grasping why Jeremie was delivering all of this sudden, crucial information so nonchalantly. "What?"

"I don't know. A fragment I guess." The miniature Einstein slowly spun his chair to face Odd and adjusted his glasses as he usually did. Perhaps it was time for a new pair that didn't keep sliding down his face.

"Well, where on Earth are we going to find it? Or should I say, where on Lyoko?" Odd attempted to lighten the conversation with comedic relief, but to no avail. Jeremie sustained his empty glower and shrugged. Odd groaned. "Jeremie, what's wrong? How come Aelita isn't in here?"

"Because she won't talk to me."

"Uh-oh," Odd mumbled. He sat on the corner of Jeremie's bed and rested his elbows on top of his knees. "Okay, what happened, Romeo?"

Jeremie sighed. "We had a fight. And I said something dumb, and now she won't talk to me. I've left her at least 3 voicemails at this point."

"Well, what did you say?"

"I, uh…" Jeremie bit the corners of his lip. "I just… it doesn't matter. It's nothing."

"If it was nothing, she wouldn't be pissed at you, would she?"

Again, Jeremie sighed. He continued to chew on his lip, causing frail bits of sensitive skin to begin flaking off. "She had another nightmare about this guy coming to threaten her. I had gone to use the bathroom, and when I came back she was freaking out underneath her bed. There was absolutely no sign of anyone intruding the room, so… well, I told her it was probably a dream."

"Oooooh," Odd leaned backwards and hissed, as if Jer's words had stung him. "Ouch."

"Yes, but that's not all. She yelled at me for leaving her alone for a brief 5 minutes and so I yelled back and told her to stop being stubborn about the situation and…"

"Oh, boy."

The blonde cringed. "Yeah…"

Odd smacked himself in the forehead, dragging his facial skin downwards as his palms slid across his face. "Okay. This is no big deal. She was being clingy, you lashed out, but it's okay. She'll come around eventually."

Jeremie pressed his lips into a fine line, gazing at the wall. "Are you sure?"

"Duh, she really likes you, you know."

Shades of red flustered onto the blonde's pastel cheekbones. "I… wha?"

"Oh, come on. We don't call you Einstein for nothing, you should've been able to figure that out." Odd playfully bonked Jeremie on the head. "Well, I gotta go. Don't stress about it though, things will work out.

"But… hey! Odd!"

The door slammed in front of him.

"Aelita…" A soft whisper travelled between the crevices of the room. The woman had lied down for a nap after the stressful incident earlier. Her blinds had been shut, forbidding any sunlight from sneaking into her dorm. All lights were off and Aelita hid away under her comforter. The room was dim and cold, the lack of light paler than her own complexion. "Aelita," the voice trailed among her ears and hair; she swatted at her face as the breath tickled her strands against her cheeks, stirring slightly in her slumber. A hand rested against her skull, gently rustling her marshmallow pink locks. The girl's eyelids burst open, and she flung herself out of her bed.

"NO!" She ordered, cornering herself against the wall. "Leave me alone!" She cowered against the corner, holding her fists against her body as protection.

"Calm down, my angel." The voice was calm and soothing; friendly and gentle rather than harsh and demanding. Aelita slowly forced one of her eyes open, and before her she did not see the towering criminal as she had originally thought. He squatted down on the floor, slowly reaching his hand out to her. His long, white coat rested against the carpet behind him and his grey hair was a frizzled mess. But he spoke softly to Aelita and had no intentions of harming her. His thin, wrinkled lips gradually curled into a smile.

Aelita straightened her posture and relaxed her body. She reached her petite hands out to the man until the tip of her index finger touched against his digits. Most of Aelita's days were spent in darkness; spent not even remembering or knowing who she truly was. But at the very moment she touched his hand, she felt everything she had ever known rush into her body, filling her with warmth. Echoes of laughter played inside of her head, flashes of memories in the French Alps and the Hermitage. She, too, smiled in return.

"D…daddy?" The man nodded, and stood before her as Aelita began to break down into tears and flung herself into him. He wrapped his long arms around her, and Aelita burrowed her face against the fluffy wool of his maroon, turtleneck sweater. It was almost similar to Jeremie's, which made her feel even more content. "Daddy, I miss you," she cried into his chest.

"I know, Aelita. But I cannot stay here long."

Aelita looked upwards at her father and sniffled. "But…why?"

"I'm only here to help you, Aelita," he said as he dabbed the corners of his sweater against her wet cheeks. "I am so sorry for what happened to you, angel."

Aelita looked down at the floor before redirecting her glistening eyes towards her father. "I'm scared, Daddy." She clenched her fists together as if she were pleading, looking into his thick bifocals.

"I know. Which is why you have to tell them, Aelita."

"But…"

"Shh," her father gently ordered as he pressed his finger against her lips. "Aelita, my angel. You must believe me when I say this will help you. You must do it, Aelita."

Aelita did not hesitate. She lowered her head slightly, a single drop crashing to the floor as she closed her eyelids. She then raised her head again and stared him in the eyes. When Jeremie asked her to confront an authority, she refused, afraid to even consider it. When Yumi tried, she would shut her words away. When Ulrich or Odd attempted, she merely mocked them as they barely even knew her situation still. But with her father so calmly demanding her actions, she felt she couldn't go against him. "Yes, daddy," she softly obliged.

He smiled at her, pleased with her response. "Aelita. I know that I may not always be here in front of you like I am right now, but never forget that I will always be with you here." He pressed his hand against her heart. Aelita clasped her hands over his and smiled as she looked up at him. The words 'never forget' echoed inside her ears, and she knew this wasn't the first time he had spoken that phrase.

And just as soon as he had come, he was gone. The soft tune of '12 Variations' played inside of her head as she stared at the emptiness before her.

Her knuckles tenderly scraped against the door. "Jeremie?" she whispered against the hardwood. "Are you in there?"

Immediately, the door flung open, revealing a shocked and enthused blonde boy. "Aelita?" he beamed, relieved to see her. Her tiny lips quirked into a smile in return, and she stepped inside his room.

"I came to apologize for last night."

"No, Aelita," Jeremie uttered, stopping her, "I'm the one who needs to apologize. I shouldn't have said any of those things." He shyly kicked his feet against the carpet, shaking his head in regret.

"But you had a right to be angry," she defended. "I shouldn't keep being so stubborn about this."

Jeremie walked up to her and took her icy palms into his own. "Aelita," he said with a serious yet friendly look on his face. "You don't have to tell anyone until you feel like you're ready. I promise I won't yell at you again." He leered at her with reassurance.

"I am ready, Jeremie."

"What?" He titled his head at her.

Aelita let her hands fall out of Jeremie's and she folded them behind her back. She closed her eyes and smiled before looking back into Jeremie's eyes. "I'm ready to tell, Jeremie."
Jeremie's mouth slightly gaped open, but quickly morphed into an enthusiastic grin of relief. "What made you change your mind?" he queried.

"I just…" Aelita looked over Jeremie's shoulder and thought of seeing her father earlier. Not just seeing him, but feeling him and even smelling him. What she didn't need, though, was Jeremie thinking she was hallucinating again. She thought that perhaps this was best kept to herself, and so she lied. "I don't know," she gave an uneasy grin as she redirected her glimmering eyes towards Jeremie's fair face. "I just did."

"Oh," Jeremie chortled, an eyebrow slightly rising with skepticism. "Well, okay. Do you want to go right now?" He walked over to the door and placed his hand on the solid metal of the doorknob, examining Aelita, waiting for confirmation.

"Well…" She hesitated, and Jeremie understood straightaway.

"Okay," he said, removing his fingers from the handle. "We can go tomorrow morning, how about that?"

Aelita smiled and nodded.

"Would you like to stay here for a while?"

"Yes. I would like that," Aelita smirked slightly and sat down on Jeremie's bed, pulling her legs up to sit Indian-style. Jeremie joined her side and dragged one of his fluffy white pillows behind him, leaning backwards against it.

"I finished the diary," he said. Aelita stared at the wall, slightly distracted before turning to face Jeremie.

"You did?"

"Yes. And as it turns out, you don't have a virus after all." Jeremie delivered the information very confidently and calmly. He appeared neither ecstatic nor bored.

"I don't?" Her voice piped up with curiosity and one of her thin, pink eyebrows rose upon her wrinkling brow.

Jeremie sneered smugly and cracked his knuckles. "Nope, XANA didn't give you anything. Instead, he took something from you."

"Oh," she quietly said as she zoned out in the direction of Jeremie. She heard what he was saying, and it was good news of course… but for the moment, something else was on her mind. She stared intently at his facial features, exploring the depths of his blue eyes, the perkiness of his nose and the structure of his jawline. The way his round glasses so keenly slid down the bridge of his elfin nose. The way his thin strands of blonde hair that was never properly combed fell into his eyes and rested against his nose and cheeks, and how quickly his pale, white skin could turn into the color of a beet just from Aelita's glance.

Jeremie raised an eyebrow at her as he took note of the reflection of himself in her sea of green. "What are you staring at?"

Aelita blinked, realizing she had been caught in the midst of her daydream. "Jeremie, will you kiss me?" She asked, quietly and bluntly.

"I… what?" He backed away, dumbfounded.

"Well, I would just like to know what it feels like. You know, from someone I like, instead of… when I don't want it. I want to know what a real kiss is like. You know?" She blushed and looked away. "I'm sorry, that was a silly thing to ask, wasn't it? I'm sorry, I'm just-"

"Hey," Jeremie stopped her and rested his hand on her jawline, delicately titling her head towards him. "No, it's not stupid." He smiled at her, and the steady line of her nervous lips curved into a smile in return as the pink hue on her cheekbones drifted away. They stared at each other for a moment in silence until the blonde bravely leaned in and interlocked his lips with hers. Her eyes shot open and she gasped into his mouth, surprised at first, but quickly adjusted and relaxed her body. Her eyelids fell shut and she worked her lips against Jeremie's, resting her arms on his shoulders and tangling her fingers behind his neck. Jeremie lightly clutched her hair in-between his fingers and they both beamed against each other's lips.