10: It's Friday, Friday!

JEREMIE

It was a sunny Friday afternoon as another week of classes at KadicAcademy came to an end.

Team LYOKO had split up for the rest of the day, but not to search for clues à la Scooby Doo.

Aelita, Bryan and Jeremie were at the abandoned factory. Since no evil virus was trying to take over the world, Ulrich and Odd decided to sit this one out and finish their chemistry lab instead. Of course, they remained on standby should XANA decide to rear its ugly yet largely enigmatic head.

Meanwhile, Yumi was at a university and colleges fair with her parents. The application process was soon and she was still trying to decide on which post-secondary institution she wanted to go to.

Bryan wanted to extract some of his father's files stored in the databases in Sector 5, which also interested Jeremie. After all, there was plenty of time before the premier meeting of the Senior Robotics Club took place; of which Aelita would not be attending, for she had another extra-curricular activity that evening.

Two days ago

Aelita entered English class with Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four in her hands, and a wide smile on her face as she headed for her seat.

Unlike the majority of Kadic's teachers, Mr. Hodgson preferred table groups over individual desks. Given that English was a more interactive course, this arrangement allowed for better open discussions as opposed to written evaluations. He also allowed his students to choose who they wanted to sit beside. Naturally, the five LYOKO warriors chose to sit at the same table.

"So? What happened?" asked Jeremie, who was munching on a granola bar. Fortunately, Aelita was too elated to reprimand him for having another power breakfast.

"I – I got the job."

"Wait, what job?"

Odd's face broke into a grin. "The SubDigitals, right?"

Aelita nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm going to be the opening act for the SubDigitals next year and I'm meeting the rest of the band for practice this Friday. Principal Delmas also wanted me to be the DJ for the upcoming Halloween dance as well," she said breathlessly.

"Wow, that's super awesome," Ulrich remarked.

Aelita beamed. She thought Bryan looked worried, but a moment later he was smiling and offering his congratulations.

"Wait, this Friday?" Jeremie asked sharply.

"Five thirty at their studio. They offered me a ride, but I told them I could get there on my own – to save them some hassle. The only problem is that…"

"You forgot to ask how to get there," Bryan finished. Aelita nodded sheepishly.

"It's somewhere in downtown…about the – wait I wrote it down." She took out her notebook and handed it to Bryan.

"Okay. Ah…I know that area. You want me to take you there? I was going in that direction anyways."

"Sure. If you wouldn't mind, that'd be great Bryan."

"Speaking of which Mr. B, you never seem to be around on Friday afternoons."

"Your boyfriend's worried sick about you. He misses you dearly," said Ulrich airily.

"Um, thanks Odd. Yeah, I always go downtown on Fridays."

"Why's that?"

"I have a job."

"Wait, what job?" asked Ulrich in a flurry of déjà vu.

"Nothing big. I babysit for one of my dad's friends. I stayed there for a couple of days before I came here."

"Cool. Much better than working at Mickey D's."

"I'm sorry?"

"He means McDonalds," said Jeremie who added: "so Aelita, I guess you won't join me at the Robotics Club then?"

"What?" Aelita then recalled that she persuaded Jeremie to sign up for that club, on the condition that she was joining as well.

"Uh…well…"

"It's alright. I see where your priorities lie. You've got more important things to tend to."

"I – I'm sorry…" She disliked it when Jeremie acted like this towards her, even preferring that he yelled at her instead; his cold demeanour only made her feel more disheartened.

Odd stepped in. "Einstein, just let her go. This is I'm pretty sure a once – if not twice – in a lifetime opportunity."

Ulrich nodded. "Besides, shouldn't Aelita have a say as to what she wants to participate in?"

Jeremie sighed. "Fine. You're right. Just…good luck and have fun. This is the opportunity you've always wanted, right? A-and to me…you'd make Mozart jealous," he added.

"Thanks, Jeremie," Aelita giggled.

The computer wizard knew it was the right thing to do. But in his mind, all was not fine. He was hoping to finally be able to spend more time with her. It had been a busy week. While he had managed to complete most of his assignments, he rarely hung out with the other LYOKO warriors.

BRYAN

The Jedi Knight landed right beside the pink angel that was Aelita. They were standing at the edge of the Mountain sector again, only this time, there were no buzzing Hornets or activated Towers to worry about.

"I'm transferring you to CARTHAGE now," said Jeremie as he typed in 'SCIPIO'. A white sphere emerged and swivelled around the two, taking them in before vanishing. It reappeared moments later inside Sector 5.

Aelita and Bryan stepped out as the walls in front of them opened to reveal a large chamber. When they entered the Core Zone, the blue walls shook and transformed into a maze-like structure. A timer showed up on Jeremie's screen.

"Right. Three minutes to find the key."

"Er…what key?"

"It's a switch that grants access to the other areas of Sector 5. If we don't locate and activate it in time, this place rearranges itself and we'll have to start over," Aelita explained as she searched for the button.

"So it's like some kind of security measure."

"Exactly."

"Two minutes left."

Hmm...Bryan closed his eyes. His field of vision instantly turned into a black-and-white grid of the entire Core Zone. And he could see an odd lever sticking out behind a hidden wall.

"I found it," said Bryan, opening his eyes.

"Huh?"

"It's behind that wall over there," he pointed above them, about several hundred metres to the left.

Jeremie understood. Yumi had given him a crash course regarding Bryan's LYOKO abilities that were based off of some manga. He had some sort of field inversion ability that allowed him to see everything, even things hidden from view or in his blind spots.

"I'm on it." Aelita activated her wings and flew to where Bryan pointed. He was right. In front of her was a small red button. She pressed it and the timer stopped at 1:23.

"Excellent," said Jeremie as a wall opened at the other end of the chamber.

Aelita flew back down and regrouped with Bryan, as the two soon found themselves outside of the Core Zone and into a small corridor.

"Get ready to jump," said Aelita. Bryan nodded.

A sideways-moving elevator soon came into view and didn't decelerate as it approached them. They leapt onto it, and it immediately shot upwards, slowing down as it reached the top.

Aelita stepped off first and proceeded towards a standing display screen at the end of a narrow path. As soon as Bryan got off, the elevator headed back down again.

He looked around, now standing outside of the spherical sector and was surrounded by a dark blue skyscape. On either side of him were streams of binary code being emitted from the Core to other parts of LYOKO.

"So, what were you looking for?" Bryan paused, trying to recall the name of the folder.

"Uh, see if there's anything named 'Green CARTHAGE'." Aelita typed it in and ran a search on the database contents, which came up with eight matches. Bryan leaned in and looked with his ripple-patterned eyes.

"I think it's this one," he pointed to the folder entitled: Green_CARTHAGEspec2.

Aelita prepared to extract the contents and forward them to Jeremie when a pop-up appeared the screen requesting an access code.

"Darn," Bryan muttered. He didn't anticipate that the folder had been locked.

"What's wrong?"

"We need an access code to extract the files," replied Aelita, entering 'LYOKO', 'SCIPIO' and 'CARTHAGE', but none of them was correct. Bryan came up with further suggestions, such as 'GREEN', 'PUNIC', 'ROME', and 'AFRICANUS'.

Jeremie was thinking. The access code likely related to the Carthaginian wars – as did the other passcodes; SCIPIO…CARTHAGE. He was also staring at the screen, expecting XANA to show up at any minute. XANA…

That's when it dawned upon him.

"What about 'ZAMA'?" The final decisive battle of the Second Punic War in which Scipio Africanus led the Romans to victory.

Aelita typed it in. It worked. The files were unlocked.

"Nice Jeremie. You should be getting them now," she said. It wasn't that large of a folder, and Jeremie had transferred it all onto his memory stick in minutes.

"Got it. I'll provide you with a copy tomorrow, Bryan."

"Sure."

"Alright, I'm starting the devirtualization process. Just in time too…you guys have a bus to catch."

"Well…that was quite uneventful," said Bryan cheerfully as he disappeared.

Aelita nodded as she too started to devirtualize. However, as she faded awayegan to dissolve, she thought she could see a lone Manta, gliding in the distance.

AELITA

"Here's our stop." Bryan said, wriggling his way towards the front of the crowded bus with Aelita close behind. The doors opened and she welcomed the incoming rush of cool air.

They had been on the bus for over thirty minutes. The skies were already starting to get dark as the noise of city life filled the atmosphere.

Aelita looked around. There were plenty of old closely-knit buildings towering above her. Across the street was a plethora of tiny boutiques. People were hustling about and occasionally, some passers-by would take notice of her distinct bright pink hair.

She didn't notice that Bryan had already started walking. He stopped and turned around to find his friend taking in the view and smiled.

"We'll come earlier next time," he said.

Right. Aelita caught up with him; her mind going back to the real reason she was here.

The SubDigitals studio was right under a tall office complex that wasn't that far from the bus stop, and they arrived with five minutes to spare. The front window had a panoramic image of the band performing in one of their concerts. In addition, there was a bunch of albums arranged in towering stacks of various heights. There was also a piece of paper taped to the window, with big letters scrawled in black ink: 'U GUYS ROCK', and right below: 'MARRY ME CHRIS'.

"Here we are."

"Thanks Bryan."

"Anytime. You're done by seven?" She nodded.

"Perfect. I'll be here waiting for you then. I'd better hear some awesome tunes when I return."

Aelita laughed. "And I'd better not see paint all over your clothes."

"How'd you know the kids and I were painting today?"

"What can I say? I'm psychic," Aelita shrugged.

"Bet you can't guess what number from one to ten I'm thinking of."

"And if I can?"

"I'll treat you to dinner tonight."

"Okay. Five."

Bryan grinned and shook his head.

"Well?" Aelita wasn't sure whether she had gotten it. Statistically speaking, she had a one in ten chance of guessing right, provided that Bryan didn't cheat.

"You should go in now. See you at seven," said Bryan as he turned around and headed back to the bus stop.

Aelita took a big breath and began feeling nervous. What if I'm not good enough? What if I make a mistake? I don't think I'm ready for this, she thought. Her mind then sprang back to what Jeremie said.

"Good luck and have fun. This is the opportunity you've always wanted, right? You'd make Mozart jealous."

It was definitely one of his more humorous moments; corny but humorous. And it gave her confidence. She headed inside, where the sound of music greeted her with open arms.

BRYAN

Bryan arrived fashionably late. He always did.

It was 7:01. That one minute was because the kids had latched onto his legs, not wanting him to go despite their parents returning home. He didn't get any paint on him though. As it turns out, he took the two toddlers to the park instead, as the frigid weather would soon remove this activity from a babysitter's list of fun.

"Hey you. How was rehearsal?" he asked when Aelita came outside to meet him.

"It was great. By the way, you have leaves in your hair," she grinned.

"Eh?" Maybe that's why people were looking at me. I should've brought my Maple Leafs cap...

Aelita reached to pluck out the yellowish leaves from Bryan's blue hair, her arms brushing his in the process.

"Thanks," said Bryan as they started walking in the opposite direction of the bus stop.

"Hey, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise. You'll see. But…a promise is a promise," he added with a smile, which earned him a playful punch from Aelita. You could never get a straight answer from him.

They walked on for several minutes, before stopping in front of a small Vietnamese restaurant at the corner of the street.

"You hungry?"

"A little. Wait…does this mean–"

"After you then," said Bryan as he held the door open for her.

It was a small cozy restaurant, with no more than fifteen round tables, with the kitchen situated at the back.

"Hello again, Mr. Green!" came a booming voice from an elderly man dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans. Apparently, Bryan was familiar with this eatery.

"Hello Charles."

"And I see you've brought a little lady friend this time," the man named Charles added with a wink, giving a slight bow to Aelita, who blushed a little.

"Uh…no…she's just one of my friends from school."

"Ah. That's how they all start out though eh, Mr. Green? Anyways right this way."

Charles led them to a small table near the back and gave each of them a single-paged menu. He winked again and headed into the kitchen.

"You've been here before?" Aelita said casually.

"A couple of times before heading to Kadic. I arrived a little earlier than expected so I explored downtown Paris for a bit and stumbled upon this place. Turns out the manager – Charles – also knew my dad quite well.

"Really?"

Bryan nodded. "He's been in charge of this restaurant for over forty years. And my dad often came here after work since it was close to where he was staying."

"I see. So, anything you'd recommend?" asked Aelita as she looked down at the menu, which was covered with images of large bowls of noodles and rice. She flipped her menu to find smaller dishes, desserts and drinks.

Aelita never had Vietnamese cuisine before. In terms of Asian gastronomies, she only had tried Japanese, once, at Yumi's place. She rarely ever left Kadic and whenever she did, dinner would typically be at either a pub or a fast food restaurant.

"I usually get this one," he directed her to a noodle dish. "It's their specialty and it's got a bit of everything."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it."

"Great," said Bryan as he flagged down a waitress to take their order.

"I guessed right the right number then?"

Bryan's eyes twinkled. "Indeed you did. So, tonight's meal is on me."

"Thanks. But I didn't know you were actually being serious."

"Well, I was kind of worried it would be really late by the time we get back to school and Odd would've eaten up all the food."

Aelita laughed. "So, tell me about the kids you take care of."

"Sure. They're twins, four years old and good...really good. A bit too energetic at times, but I've never had any trouble with them. How was rehearsal?"

She told him what had happened back at the studio, how she started mixing songs and even getting some advice for the upcoming school dance. On the other hand, Bryan told her that despite stepping into fecal matter, all of the swings being taken and having a massive leaf war, it was just another walk in the park for him.

AELITA

Their meals arrived within fifteen minutes. Aelita looked curiously at the large bowl that had been set in front of her, a steaming medley of rice noodles with thin slices of meat, tofu and fresh vegetables in a reddish soup base. And it smelled amazing. Saliva began to accumulate in her mouth.

"Well, give it a try!"

Aelita dipped her spoon into the bowl, brought it up to her lips and took a small sip. It was unlike anything she had ever tasted. The soup was full of flavour, with just the right amount of saltiness and a pinch of spice that tingled her senses.

"It's…delicious," she said as she used her chopsticks to pick up strings of white translucent noodles. Bryan chuckled as he dug in as well. The two ate contentedly in silence for a while.

Charles stopped by and asked whether everything was alright; to which Aelita beamed and replied that it was really – for lack of a better word – yummy. That elicited a large smile from the manager, who gave her a twenty percent discount VIP card.

He also spoke with Bryan about how things were back in Canada and how he was faring at Kadic. However, it wasn't long before more hungry customers came in and so, with a small bow, Charles left the two to finish their dinner.

Aelita suddenly remembered something that Bryan had said during their first encounter on LYOKO.

"Bryan?"

"Mmm?" Bryan looked up with a mouthful of noodles.

"The first time we were on LYOKO together, you called me by another name…Schaeffer?"

He finished chewing and nodded. "Yeah, that's your surname."

"Isn't it Hopper?" Aelita asked, perplexed.

"Right. Hopper…I think that was your mother's last name."

Aelita froze. Mother.

Around her, the restaurant was getting packed with people coming in for a hot tasty meal after a long week of school or work. Servers were running around with large steaming dishes and yet, none of that fazed her in the slightest.

"My…my mom? Do you – you know her?" This was it. Aelita's heart was beating rapidly and her hands were getting clammy. He knew all this time and he never told her?

Then again, she never asked. She assumed that since Bryan didn't know how she and her father ended up on LYOKO, he wouldn't know anything else about her family.

"Not in person. Uh…do you…remember her name?"

Aelita shook her head sadly. More missing memories.

"I – I don't know anything. There was nothing in my old home or on the supercomputer," she said, looking down at the white plastic table cover. She didn't feel as hungry anymore.

Bryan truly felt sorry for her, but he didn't know what to say or do. He most certainly couldn't say 'I understand' or any of that reassurance nonsense, because he simply didn't understand her pain. He knew what had happened to his parents. On the other hand, Aelita was uncertain of her mother's very existence.

But then, why were these specific recollections removed? Unless…

He tried to cheer his friend up. "Well, for starters…she looked a lot like you," he said truthfully.

That seemed to lighten her mood. "R–really?"

Bryan smiled. It was working. "Anthea Hopper. She had pink hair…just like you. And from what I've seen, she was always smiling; always happy. Especially–" Bryan pulled out his laptop from his backpack. He logged in and browsed through his documents before opening a JPEG file: ws_ppics_xmas89. He turned the screen around so Aelita could see.

"–with you around," he finished.

The image was of a much younger Aelita, hugging what must be her mother – Anthea Hopper. It must have been Christmas. She was adorable in a cute red dress with pink trimmings. And in her hands, was a medium-sized present with bright magenta gift wrap and a shiny green bow on top.

Tears started welling up in Aelita's eyes. And it wasn't because there were raw onions lying nearby.

She placed her hand just over the screen – over her mother's cheek. And for a second, she could almost feel the soft, smooth pearly white skin.

A picture was indeed worth a thousand words. And this one was priceless. To be presented with proof of her mother…it was so surreal.

"Bryan. I – this is amazing."

He grinned. "You looked real cute back then. I mean – in the professional sense, of course. And, not that you don't look cute anymore, that is," Bryan quickly added.

Aelita cupped her mouth with one hand and giggled, looking down at the computer screen once more – just to make sure the picture was real.

"How did you get this?"

"That's one of the photos your dad sent to my dad."

"And you don't know what happened to my mom?"

Bryan shook his head. "Sorry, the only thing I have is this photograph. But I think there should be more details stored in Sector 5."

Aelita nodded. "Perhaps they're in the folders that required access codes, like the ones we found today."

"Probably. The reason why I wanted to get those files was because they're the missing half."

"Huh?"

"I only had half of the files my father left behind for me…guess it was for security purposes in case mines were compromised. The other half was in Sector 5."

"And now they're in…Jeremie's hands."

JEREMIE

The Senior Robotics Club wasn't all that bad.

Although it was another typical meet and greet session, it was great conversing with the upper-year students about automation and general engineering principles. A good portion of the meeting was on programming and its effectiveness and efficiency within society.

In addition, Jeremie was interested in hearing about different career plans, and how being a member of an organization such as this one was an asset in future endeavours.

Nevertheless, it wasn't the same without Aelita. Who was out with Bryan, of all people.

Not that Jeremie was afraid of those two sharing something more than basic companionship. Surely Aelita was still his partner; Ulrich, Odd and even Yumi talked about it all the time. And although he kept telling them to shut up about that matter, he actually appreciated their reassurances.

There was nothing to worry about.

Jeremie turned on his desktop and inserted his memory stick, copying over its contents onto his hard drive. He scrolled down to one of the folders that caught his attention back at the factory. The folder was quite old, having last been modified back in the late 1970's. But it was the name of the folder that intrigued him the most:

NATO Executive Order X – ANAA.

BRYAN

The bus headed away from Kadic / College Station, after dropping off Aelita, Bryan and several other students returning from an evening of fun. When the two reached the boys' dormitories on the second floor, Aelita turned around.

"Thanks for taking me to practice, I had a really good time," she said politely.

"Same here. Would you like to do the same next week?

Aelita's eyes widened. "Can we?"

"Why not? I've got to babysit two toddlers and you've got rehearsals. Not to mention you'll need someone amazingly brilliant like me to navigate you through downtown Paris," Bryan added as an afterthought.

"Shush, you," she smacked Bryan's shoulder. It was becoming a recurring gesture.

"Ow. Anyways, sounds good?" Aelita nodded.

"Yes. That would be nice. But I'll pay next time."

Bryan chuckled. "If you insist. Goodnight Aelita."

He headed into the hallway when he heard someone calling his name. He turned around to see Aelita approaching him timidly.

"Huh?"

She placed her hands on his shoulders, leaned in and brushed her lips against the side of his cheek.

"Thanks again. For tonight," she whispered into Bryan's ear.

"No problem. But why the kiss?"

She looked flustered. "I – I thought friends did that after a night out together. I saw it on TV once."

"…I see."

After bidding her goodnight once more, he touched the spot where Aelita had kissed him and smiled.

Jeremie must be one lucky guy to have her as his girlfriend…

Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 010:

At some point in this story, every main character will break the fourth wall (some more than once), for good old-fashioned comedic relief.

A|N's:

This is also going to be as fluffy-corny-mushy as this story's going to get – partly because I'm quite bad in the relationships department =P. But never fear Aelita x Jeremie fans. Guess who ends up going out with the Princess? (hint: it's not Odd, Bryan or Haley Joel Osment)

Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)