((A/N: Yay!! Chapter 2! I'm pleased to report that... I'm posting this chapter! Thanks to William's fight for Yumi (Sorry there's no William, I'll try to fit him in somewhere...) and JokerAlchemist24 (Glad you like it! I'll update when I can!) for the reviews! They make me feel so loved!! Please, readers, feel free to review if you like/dislike/don't give a crap about my story! I love hearing your thoughts! In any case, enjoy Chapter 2!!))

((Disclaimer: Still don't own Code Lyoko. Oh well!))

Chapter 2: Secrets

"The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart."—Saint Jerome

Aelita and I had made ourselves comfy in our beds, propped up against pillows in our pjs. It felt a little strange as I began to talk, telling my short story to someone I had only met this morning.

"We were a happy family: me, my daddy, and my mom. We lived together happily in a big house on a hill in Montana. It's not really like a lot of people think it is: I mean, yes, there's horses and rodeos, farms, things like that, but we certainly didn't ride them everywhere. It's a gorgeous place, really; all the beautiful mountains and fields and stuff. I didn't go to a public school, because my mom didn't want me to; she said public schools were horrible, germ-filled environments, filled with money-grubbing bastards. Daddy didn't agree... but he made sure that I was home-schooled by the best. I learned French and Chinese, math, advanced English and literature, all sorts of sciences. And of course I still had a lot of friends, who I hung out with often. We hiked a lot, we went to movies, we hung around and talked like normal friends.

"My family hosted a lot of parties, and all the rich, greedy little families came and danced and ate. They were so boring but my mom always made me play with the guests bratty little snots. They were all spoiled too, the whole lot of them. Of course, I kind of was too... in any case, my mom was always concerned about reputation, which was why I had to deal with the brats.

"Daddy often went out of town for business. He almost always came back with souvenirs for my mom and me. Usually, it was a t-shirt from Vegas, a bracelet from Italy, a traditional kimono from Japan. One day, when he came back, he had this weird computer software. He offered it to my mom, but she refused it, arguing that she was nowhere near tech-savvy enough for it; he offered it to me, but I refused it, saying that it looked creepy and I'd rather not have it. So he said that he would keep it."

"What kind of software was it?" Aelita asked. I furrowed my brow thoughtfully.

"I'm not sure. I thought it was a game, at first, but... now I'm not really sure. I honestly don't know if he ever used it... All I know is that it had this funny symbol on it. I don't really remember how it looked anymore. But Daddy just put away. I don't think that he ever used it. That was a few years ago. I never saw it again after that." I tilted my head and looked at her. "Why?"

"Oh, I was just wondering," Aelita smiled.

"Okay... Well, my dad left again, this time to England. Only this time... he didn't come back. I remember coming home from my friend Tessa's house, and seeing a strange car in the driveway, and then seeing my mom weeping at the dining room table. They said that something had gone wrong with the plane, that it had gone up in flames, even as it was flying over the ocean. That was ten months ago."

Aelita gasped and covered her mouth rather dramatically. "Oh, god! I'm so sorry!" she whispered, tears forming in her eyes. She climbed out of her bed and crawled into mine, taking my hand. "That's terrible! I... I lost my father too, three years ago. I know how terrible it feels." She released my hand and hugged me instead. "You can cry if you want. I cried; but I had all my friends with me. And you've got me."

I nodded; now tears were gathering in my eyes. She was making me sentimental, she was being such a nice girl. And I hated sentimentality. Yes, I'm one of those people. I wiped the tears away and sniffled.

"That's when I started dying my hair."

Aelita blinked. "Oh... I was wondering if that was natural."

"No, I'm a natural blonde, but my hair was exactly the same shade as my dad's." I paused, wondering if Aelita really could understand my pain, understand the magnitude of the loss; could she get how much I'd loved my father, the man who helped make me, who gave me everything I ever wanted, no matter how stupid or selfish or ridiculously meaningless it was; who loved me no matter what stupid or selfish or ridiculously meaningless thing I did; who was always there for me when I was upset or in need. Even the thought of the blond-haired, amber-eyed, six-foot tall man who'd been my father made my heart break in half. "Our eyes were the same color too... but that's a little harder to change."

Aelita was looking at me with a puzzled expression. "Why did you—"

"Whenever I looked in the mirror... I'd see him staring back at me. It was unnerving."

"I see. It must have been awful."

"It was," I whispered, leaning back into my pillow again. "He and I looked almost identical, except that he was twenty years older than me. My mom has brown hair and green eyes, but I'm five-six like she is. She always wears heels to make herself taller than me." Aelita smiled. "What about your mom? Does she ever do anything weird like that?"

She blushed. "Actually my mom died too. It was a long time ago, though, so don't worry about it..."

"I'm sorry..."

"Like I said, don't worry about it. I don't think about it much now, because I've got my friends, and I've got Jeremie."

"Which was Jeremie?" I asked, feeling a trace of guilt that I didn't know anyone's name but Aelita's.

"He was the blond one in the blue sweater and the khaki pants. He was wearing glasses?"

"Oh, right, okay. I'm terrible with names..." Aelita laughed, then turned somber again.

"So... how did you come to Kadic? You're from the U.S., right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I am." I pursed my lips and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm suffering; you can tell. I'm antisocial, and I'm depressed. I've been on medication to keep myself from getting too blue, and it's helped enough that I don't need it anymore." Aelita looked shocked at that information, but I continued regardless. "I felt like I'd lost a small part of me. But my mom... She was much, much worse. She cried for weeks. She tried to commit suicide once. She tore apart the house. She cracked. Finally, she just decided that we were going to pick up and move. Actually, she sold our house along with everything in it because it all reminded her of him. She wanted to start again, and she randomly chose Saint-Servan, up on the north coast. And then," I scowled and sighed, "and then she sent me away."

"She... sent you away?" Aelita repeated. "What do you mean?"

"Well," I started, grimacing, "I was the last that remained from him. So she sent me away. She sent me to a boarding school, where I'd be safe, but where I'd be... away. Somewhere she couldn't see me. Don't get me wrong," I hastened to add; Aelita looked horrified at the thought of my mother sending away me to Kadic, and I was pretty sure I knew why. "She loves me; she always has, even if she doesn't always show it the right way. And, like I said before, I'm all that's left of him. Of her husband, of my father. She loves me, and I love her too. But I think we both needed the change, the distance."

She nodded, looking at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Hmm..."

We sat (well... lay) in silence for a while. Finally, I said, "I think this is the longest conversation I've had in months."

Aelita giggled and grinned at me. "And do you feel better?"

"Yes. Yes, I do!" I smiled, and Aelita laughed harder.

Yup, we were going to be great friends.

~$**$~

"Gabby, do you want to eat with my friends and I today?" Aelita asked the next morning through a big yawn. We'd stayed up half the night talking, and now we were both exhausted. "Or do you still want to take some time?"

I stopped in the middle of pulling on my sweatshirt and looked around at her. "I... think I still need some time. But I'm getting there?"

Aelita nodded with a smile. "Okay. I'll see you in class then," she said cheerfully, waving as she headed out the door. I was a minute behind her going to the cafeteria.

~$*ODD*$~

"Finally!" Odd cried when Aelita at last joined the other four in the courtyard. "I thought I would starve to death! Come on!" And he was off to the cafeteria for breakfast. His four friends followed sleepily in his wake, getting in line behind him for their food.

When he had his tray, Odd glanced around the cafeteria for a place to sit. He beamed when he saw the unusual head of bright orange hair sitting at a table by herself.

"I think we should sit with the new girl!" he said happily, already walking her way.

"No! Odd!" Aelita snapped, but he was already gone.

Gabby looked up at Odd as he sat down, a baffled expression on her face. Ulrich, Yumi, and Jeremie soon joined him, but Aelita made a point of sitting a table away.

"Hey!" Odd greeted Gabby enthusiastically. Gabby glared at him.

"Good morning," she replied flatly. Odd pretended not to notice.

"I'm Odd Della Robbia. I'm one of Aelita's friends."

"Hm."

The corner of Ulrich's mouth twitched, as if he were itching to laugh at Odd's attempt to make friends. Odd ignored this as well.

"Maybe we could hang out sometime. Like... a date?"

Gabby couldn't even respond to this; instead, she just gaped at him. Yumi snickered from her seat, muffling it with her hand.

"Can I take that as a yes?" Odd asked with the most Odd smile he had in him.

"No."

Ulrich burst out laughing; well, until Gabby turned her glare on him. "Er, sorry," he said, still chuckling. "I'm Ulrich Stern, another of Aelita's friends."

"And I'm Jeremie Belpois," Jeremie added with a kind smile. "Welcome to Kadic."

"Yumi Ishiyama," Yumi introduced.

"Why not?" Odd interrupted.

"Because you're a jerk," Gabby replied simply before turning to Ulrich and Jeremie. "I'm Gabby Bursley."

"It's nice to meet you—" Ulrich started, but he didn't have the chance to continue.

"You can't call me a jerk!" Odd shouted, gripping his fork tightly as if he wished greatly to stick it into Gabby's hand. "You don't even know me!"

"Exactly," Gabby snapped, glaring at him prior to snatching up her muffin and storming out. Aelita sighed and joined them at the table.

"Now look what you did, Odd! I told you she said she wanted to be left alone. Do you know how hard I had to---"

"She does think she's too good for me!" Odd exclaimed angrily, ignoring Aelita's indignant scowl. "I mean, she hardly gave me a chance!"

"I don't think that's what she was trying to say, Odd..." Jeremie pointed out.

"I think she only said a total of, like, ten words!" Ulrich stated, laughing at Odd's furious expression. Yumi giggled.

"But she doesn't even know me! How can she say I'm a jerk? We've never even talked!"

"It probably had something to do with that glare you shot her in Biology yesterday," Aelita said matter-of-factly as she continued to glare at the purple-clothed kid.

"Probably," Jeremie agreed, watching Odd stab his waffle viciously. "But I don't think your up-front attitude helped much either."

"She probably thinks you're weird and annoying," Yumi put in with a smile.

"And the fact that that was the first time you've ever talked to her probably didn't impress her much," Ulrich added helpfully.

Odd glowered at his friends. "Thanks guys," he said sarcastically. "You really know how to help a guy out."

"I thought you had a date with Emily tonight anyway?" Aelita asked, suspicion rising in her face.

"I do."

"Not anymore!" Odd whipped around to see Emily standing right behind him. "I saw that! We're through!" She slapped him and stalked away with her head held high. Odd groaned.

"That girl is going to ruin me!" he cried, letting his head fall forward into his syrupy waffle tray.

~$*GABBY*$~

"I'm really sorry about Odd," Aelita apologized in the locker room as we changed for Phys Ed, which was unfortunately the first class of the day. "He's... um, well, he's used to ladies falling all over him; I think it shocked him that you didn't."

"Girls fall for that?" I asked acidly. But I wasn't mad at Aelita. No, I was upset with Odd. Though, admittedly I had hardly any reason to be. I didn't even really know him. Which, of course, was the biggest problem with him asking me out: if he was asking me out after only seeing me, he was only asking me out because of my looks. I hated only being asked out because I was pretty. And rich. FML.

Aelita laughed. "Yes, they do, though it usually doesn't last too long and ends with Odd getting slapped. You'd think he'd learn, but he never changes."

"That's unfortunate. He'd be cute if he wasn't a jerk," I admitted as I pulled on my t-shirt and a pair of baggy shorts over spandex. Like I said: I hate being liked because I'm pretty. Aelita gagged.

"I dunno. He's not that cute. I mean, he's okay, but..."

"You're just saying that because he's your friend and you have a boyfriend," I said knowledgably. Aelita smiled.

"Maybe." I gave her a you-know-I'm-right look, observing the fact that she was wearing a white t-shirt and short dark red shorts. "Come on, we've got class."

I nodded and followed her out to the gym, where our PE class would take place. I was disdained to see Aelita's friends standing in a group waiting for her. Aelita valiantly remained by my side, however, shooting Odd a scathing look. Odd, meanwhile, seemed intent on focusing his scathing looks on me. I glared at him.

"Okay, class," the Phys Ed teacher said loudly. "Today, we're going to play a simple game called... dodgeball. The rules are simple: dodge the ball. No headshots or you're out. Catch the ball, and you get a teammate back and the person who threw the ball is out. Della Robbia, Stern, you two are captains."

I scowled. Dodgeball. My least favorite game.

"Okay! Me first, Ulrich!"

"Whatever, Odd."

Odd chose a short kid with black hair, and then Ulrich chose a girl name Eva with her red curls pulled back from her face. They went on choosing, and I edged back silently, hoping not to be seen. Aelita was summoned to be on Odd's team, then Jeremie on Ulrich's, then Sissi on Odd's, then...

"Gabby."

"Gabby? Who's—Oh, right, the new girl. Miss Bursley, right? Well, I'm Jim Morales, but you should just call me Jim. Welcome to Kadic." I nodded and thanked him, trudging to Ulrich's team's side of the gym.

"Hey, Gabby," Jeremie greeted as I joined him behind the rest of the team. I nodded to him to acknowledge the greeting. "Don't like dodgeball either?"

I shook my head. "In fifth grade, I tried to catch a ball that one of the guys threw, and it broke my finger."

"That sounds like a good reason to hate it to me," Jeremie replied, his eyebrows raised in what I assumed was alarm. I smiled.

"Me too."

"So how's rooming with Aelita going?" he asked after a few seconds silence.

I shrugged. "Good. She's a nice girl."

"Yeah. She's great." He looked across the gym at the pink-haired girl in question, who was still glowering at Odd. "Sorry about Odd this morning. That's actually the way he always is..."

"Really? That's terrible." Jeremie laughed.

"Okay, now that we're in teams, let's play!"

And so the game began. Everyone darted for the balls, but Jeremie and I hung back, along with a few others. Odd was almost like a cat, the way that he dodged the first line of fire. Ulrich and Aelita dodged almost as well. Quite a few people were hit during the first barrage before they could retreat, but most were able to get away unscathed. And then chaos ensued.

I was suddenly hit by the image of a battlefield, cannons firing cannonballs across the field to hit the soldiers on the other side. Explosions, fire, the works. People dodging to avoid being killed, and the wounded limping from the field with sorrowful expression on their faces. And then that faded as a red dodgeball flew towards me. I easily evaded it, my eyes attracted to the one who'd thrown it. Odd grinned at me as he jumped over a ball that was aimed at his feet. I would have thought that he had randomly thrown it my direction had another one not soared my way a minute later. I glared at him as I dodged the second ball. What the hell was his problem?

Things were becoming a bit more violent in the other portions of the gym. Sissi was nursing a likely bruised shoulder, Eva a twisted ankle; Aelita had nailed Jeremie in the gut with a ball, only to be hit with one by a boy named Nicholas. I was really getting annoyed with Odd, who would not aim at anyone else. If this was his way of saying he still wanted a date with me, he had to be more messed up than I was. I was dodging pretty well, but he seemed to be getting frustrated; he was throwing the balls harder and harder. One whistled past my ear, hitting the wall behind me with a terrifyingly loud thud. I snatched it up, finished messing around. If Odd was going to be a jerk about it, well... I was too! I straightened up—

And was hit solidly in the face with a ball. It rebounded and was picked up by someone else. For a second, I saw spots and I vaguely felt a hot liquid running from my nostrils. But now I was infuriated.

"Oops..." Odd called, but his tone implied that he wasn't sorry at all. I looked down at the ball that I'd grabbed, and then up at Odd. The spots were gone; I could see him clearly as I threw the ball as hard as I could at him. It hit him... well, let's just say, I hope he didn't plan on having children. Odd groaned loudly and fell to the ground.

Did I mention I have a bit of a temper?

"Oops," I said smartly, though the warm blood flowing from my nose rather impeded the sarcasm.

"Della Robbia, Bursley, you're both out. Bursley, you might want to head to the infirmary. Stones, escort her there. Della Robbia... well, suck it up, I don't think there's much Nurse Perraudin can do for you." Aelita hurried over to me, taking care to avoid the blood. I heard Odd moaning as she lead me from the gym.

~$**$~

"There, that's better. Dodgeball... it's such a retched game," Nurse Yolande Perraudin told me as she gave me a rag to wipe the blood off my face. "I'll have kids in here for bruises later on. I even told Jim..." she trailed off with a scowl. Then she sighed. "Well, the bleeding's stopped, so I suppose you can go. Now you know where to find me, come visit anytime you need to. Hopefully, the rest of your days at Kadic won't be quite as exciting."

"Hopefully," I laughed. "Thank you, Nurse Perraudin. It was nice meeting you."

She smiled at me and waved as I left. I walked slowly back to the locker room, wanting to change from my bloody Phys Ed clothes to my jeans and half-sweatshirt (it covered all of my torso, but none of my arms; that's why I also wore a long-sleeved white shirt underneath).

"Oh, there you are!" Aelita exclaimed when I walked in. "Are you okay?"

"Well, my nose isn't broken, and it isn't bleeding anymore, though the nurse says I'm gonna have a bad bruise later; so I suppose that, yes, I am okay. Not great, but okay."

"That's good. I think... you sure hit Odd good, though. I think he was actually crying, and he was bemoaning the fate of his 'manhood' when I got back. I made sure he knew that he deserved it."

"Good. 'Cause he did."

But whether he did or not was beside the question. The fact was that hitting Odd where I did with the dodgeball did what my angry looks and snarky words could not: infuriated Odd enough that, now, he teased and insulted me, glared at me, and basically sent me physical rays of hate and anger. And I did exactly the same to him; mostly because I don't particularly like bloody noses. And because he was a stupid asshole.

I was immensely relieved when it came time for bed. Between talking all night with Aelita and focusing so hard on sending Odd my hatred, I was completely wiped. I fell asleep the minute my head hit the pillow.

~$**$~

I was surrounded by white: all around me was pure white. Like being in a room with blinding white walls, floors, and ceilings, but different because there were no walls, floors, and ceilings. No, it was more like being encased in a giant glowing ball of bright white light. And it was weird. And, standing a few steps away from me, hands in his pockets and a big smile on his face, was him. But...

It couldn't be him. No, it was impossible. After all, since when did people come back to life? It had to be a dream.

But my father looked so real... I could hardly force myself to believe that he wasn't. Because he couldn't be. But then he spoke, and it erased all thoughts of reality from my mind.

"There's my dear girl!" he said, striding forward as easily as if he'd been standing on solid ground instead of weird lights. I stayed where I was, afraid that if I moved, this dream world would shatter. He reached me and pulled me to him, pressing my face into his chest and hiding my shocked expression. He felt so soft and warm, so... real. What was going on here? My dreams were never this realistic and yet surreal, and I certainly never thought that those dreams were dreams. But this one did. My dream-father smiled down at me as we pulled apart slightly. "My dear girl, my little princess, it's been so long! I've missed you so much!" He kissed the top of my head lightly.

I was struck by the way he took the words right out of my mouth. Because it had been so long, and I did miss him so much. I was still consciously aware of his warmth, and increasingly aware of the fact that he was dead, and horribly aware that this dream was much too realistic for my own good. Maybe I was finally cracking under the pressure and the grief.

He ran a hand through my long orange hair and sighed. "Look what I've done to you. You had such a gorgeous head of golden hair. But... I suppose this new color has its charms."

I stared at him. What kind of dream was this? My own father insulting my bright orange hair: brilliant. It was exactly what he would have done but had never had to do before he died.

"You don't think I'm real?" he asked, a knowing smile on his face. I slowly shook my head and his smile got wider. "My dear princess, how can I prove it to you?"

I sighed and looked down at our feet and past them into the light. "I don't know. I suppose you'd have to... tell me something I don't know. I mean, you can't dream about something you've never known."

"I see..." he said thoughtfully. "Well then, how about this: peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite."

I stared at him. "Well... I certainly didn't know that... That was a little random, Daddy."

"That's what I was aiming for. Now, I have something important to tell you, Gabrielle." His face had become very serious all of a sudden, and now that I knew he was real, I worried about what he would tell me. "I know that you won't believe me, but what I'm going to tell you is true. I'm not dead." Seeing my dumbfounded expression, he continued. "During the plane ride to London, I was sucked into my computer, and then downloaded as a file to the Internet. I don't understand it, but it's the truth, Gabby, do you understand?" I slowly nodded, though I still wasn't sure that I fully believed him, as much as I wanted to believe that he wasn't dead. "I'm trapped in the Internet, but there's a way that you can free me. Once I'm free, I can come back to live with you and your mom, we can go back to the way it used to be."

I saw that pretty house in the hills of Montana. I wanted to go back, I really did. I wanted my Daddy back too. I was tired of being depressed all the time and of being by myself. I wanted my dad and my mom and my old friends back. "Okay," I said, looking up into my father's amber eyes. "What do I need to do?"

Daddy smiled at me proudly. "Excellent. I need you to follow these directions exactly, do exactly as I tell you to. While no one's looking..."