Disclaimer: Sissi waylaid me after school so I didn't have time to head to Moonscoop for the ownership rights. No, I don't own Code Lyoko.
Oblivion recedes from Aelita's mind as a hand pushes against her shoulder. "Hey! Wake up sleepyhead. I've been trying for five minutes here." Yumi complains but then smiles. Aelita moans and waves her hand at Yumi to go away before thrusting her head under the pillow. "I see our little minx got little sleep last night, eh?"
That last comment snaps Aelita awake and into another blush. She sits up and tries to blink the sleep from her eyes but fails miserably. Yumi laughs as her barb scored a hit. "Ha! So you did have some fun last night. Good for you, now get ready. Its nearly 10." The Japanese girl heads for the door but stops. "So…what happened between you and Jeremie last night? I'm curious. I've always wondered if Jeremie had the guts to let you know how he feels."
Aelita yawns before answering. "That's for me to know and you to find out. Now shoo so I can get cleaned up." She winks at Yumi before pushing the frustrated girl out the door. 'Sleep is definitely one of my favorite things now. Unfortunately it makes waking up so much harder.' She grabs her towel and outfit for the day before heading for a relaxing shower.
After a good fifteen minutes in the shower Aelita finally feels somewhat alive. 'Not quite as fun as the fountain last night though. Jeremie tends to make everything better. Hey! Snap out of it.' In her excitement for breakfast she almost trips down the stairs. Her imagination conjures all the delicious breakfast items that she could feast on but is sadly disappointed by the simple bowl of cereal put in front of her. Aelita shrugs and digs in anyway. 'It's still good. Nothing on bacon sadly.'
"What are your plans for the day, girls?" asks Yumi's mom. Yumi looks at Aelita and responds, "Probably hanging with friends for a while. Not sure, why?"
"Oh no specific reason. I was just curious. You do spend a lot of time with that Ulrich boy don't you?"
Yumi's face turns slightly crimson. Aelita smirks while finishing off the milk left in her bowl. "I-I…well he's my friend."
Her mom flashes a knowing smile then returns to her knitting. "Alright. Have a good time and be back somewhat early."
Before heading out the door, Yumi lets out a gasp and suddenly storms up the stairs. Aelita starts to follow her but Yumi rushes down the stairs a few seconds later. "I almost forgot! Here is Jeremie's gift for you that I was supposed to give you last night." She hands Aelita a pink cell phone. "He already programmed our numbers in there for you and at least he's smart enough to know that pink is your thing."
Aelita lets out a cry of delight and hugs Yumi. "Thank you all so much! You have done too much for me already."
Yumi opens the door and replies, "Hey, don't thank me. Jeremie's the one who did all the odd jobs to pay for it. I'm sure you already know a way to show your gratitude towards him." Aelita blushes again and nods. "Off we go, we're supposed to be meeting the others at the factory. Actually…you can thank me by filling me in on the scoop from last night."
Aelita sighs and nods. "Oh fine. I'll tell you how it went on the way."
They arrive at the factory after a brisk walk and a lot of conversation. Aelita becomes a little flustered at the thought of being with Jeremie so soon but Yumi assures her it will be perfectly fine. 'I wonder what he's going to do after last night with the group here.' The elevator doors open and as usual Jeremie is frantically typing away while Ulrich and Odd chat. 'Time to be a little mischievous.' Aelita mouths at the others to be quiet and sneaks up on Jeremie while Yumi joins the two boys in the corner.
She tiptoes behind his chair. There was no point worrying about him hearing her since the clattering of the keys drowned out almost everything else, as if his total concentration didn't already blind him to the world. Aelita knew exactly where he was ticklish: right above his kidneys. A chuckle escaped her throat as her hands went around the chair and hit Jeremie's ticklish spots. "Aelita! Wha-aha…what are you doing?" His question fades to incoherent laughing as he squirms in the chair at her mercy.
'Alright. He's had enough.' Aelita retracts her hands after a minute or so. "You really need to pay attention to more than just the computer. Perhaps me?" she teases. Jeremie recovers a little and notices his girl is still standing right behind him. Spinning the chair around, he pulls her by the waist into him. She squawks in surprise but quickly arranges herself comfortably in his lap for a kiss. As usual she loses herself in the sensation until Ulrich clears his throat 30 seconds later. Yumi gives her a wink when Aelita pulls back and fixes her hair. "Thanks for the phone Jeremie."
"No problem at all Aelita. I can't talk to you in the computer all day so we need an alternative method. Besides, if that's the thanks I get for a mere phone…" Jeremie grins and steals another kiss while Odd rolls his eyes.
Resting her head on his shoulder, she watches the group gather around the supercomputer. 'I could relax here forever.' As though something was determined to prove her thoughts wrong, the super computer let out a shrill whine. Jeremie spun the chair back around and brought up the super scan. "Looks like our good friend X.A.N.A. activated a tower. No wait, two towers! It's a trap! But which one…"
"Head for the scanners. We'll decide on what to do once I finish the monster scan in the surrounding area." Jeremie puts his headset back on and initiates the virtualization program he was so familiar with now. The other four sprint into the elevator and descend into the scanner room.
Aelita bids the Earth farewell as the light surrounds her and the familiar surroundings of Lyoko encompass her once more. She immediately notices the jarring loss of touch and wonders how her friends manage. Jeremie's panicked voice reaches her ears. "Aelita! Do you feel any different right now?"
"No, I'm normal besides the loss of touch. Why?" A sense of worry starts to build in her.
"The computer picked up a serious error in your transfer procedure. Hold on, I'll try to locate the source." The clacking of keys accompanied her friend's concerned glances. "Here it is. Apparently X.A.N.A. sent you a gift during the materialization. He inserted a virus into your code and I have no idea what it does. We'll examine it later, for now get to the Ice Sector tower. Both towers have equal protection but this one is closer."
Dropping her worry about the virus for the challenges ahead, Aelita runs with the group towards a glowing tower on the edge of the Ice Sector. "Alright Jeremie, we're here. What do we have facing us?"
Jeremie runs through the monster scan. "Three Krabes and two Megatanks. Be careful, you know the drill." The Lyoko warriors nod and run towards the tower while Aelita observes from an icy hill. 'Looks like I hang back as usual. I hate being helpless.' The Megatanks turn and open their impenetrable armor to release a deadly wave of energy towards the oncoming threat. Odd and Yumi dive to the side while Ulrich shelters behind a glacier.
Alerted by the Megatank fire, the three Krabes charge the defensive warriors. Ulrich yells as a Krabe releases a laser burst into his chest. "80 points left Ulrich." Jeremie calls while looking over the virus. Odd shoots three silver arrows at the Krabe battling Ulrich and laughs at the resulting explosion. "One down! There's more of my joy where that came from!" Distracted as usual, Odd is sent skidding along the ice into a wall from a Megatank beam. "Odd, you know those things hit insanely hard. 40 points left for you now." Jeremie warns.
The second Megatank gives Odd no time to react as another beam strikes him a second later. Odd flickers out of existence and back onto Earth with a scream of frustration. Yumi's fan gets a taste of revenge from slicing a Megatank in half. The remaining Megatank closes itself up and rolls straight towards Ulrich, who actually jumps over it. Not realizing how slick the ice is, the Megatank is unable to stop and falls into the Digital Sea. "Nice dodge Ulrich! Now let's have some seafood for lunch." Yumi calls while flicking two more fans towards the advancing Krabes.
Seeing their impending doom approaching, the Krabes release a barrage of laser fire on the duo. Three shots strike Ulrich and Yumi in the chest before the fans eradicate the two beasts. "Ulrich you're down to 50 and Yumi has 70. Stop taking risks!" Jeremie commands.
Aelita, engrossed in the battle on the nearby glacier, receives a rude awakening in the form of an icy beam freezing her in her tracks. Two Blocks stealthily snuck up on her while she cheered and worried for her friends. Their combined lasers shatter her icy prison but inflict massive damage as sparks play around her form. Aelita dives between the two Blocks as they fire again, taking each other out. 'At least they're still stupid.' The elfin girl tucks a stray hair back into place and runs for the cleared tower. "Jeremie, how many points did that ambush drop me by?"
"Umm…you're now at 40. Ulrich and Yumi will escort you to the next tower. If need be I'll come to Lyoko to fight."
"Really? But why after a year would you come now?" Aelita asks.
"I'll do anything for you, princess." Jeremie replies without hesitation.
Aelita laughs in joy and runs into the activated tower. "How sweet. I'll thank you for that later. For now I'm going to get the first tower out of the way." She flips up to the top platform and accesses the tower interface. AELITA. CODE: LYOKO. The tower deactivates and its aura changes to the peaceful white of inactivity.
"I look forward to it." Aelita could hear the smile in his voice and smirks. 'Oh, he's going to like it indeed.' "The second tower is in the Mountain Sector. There's a waytower about a couple minutes to your east. Get going and I'll study the virus a little more." The three remaining warriors sprint into the tower and surf Lyoko's code into the next battle.