"So, how does it look like?" Yumi asked, spinning Aelita in the chair so she would face the mirror. Aelita looked at herself, not knowing how to react.
Yumi did a perfect job. Her hair was straightened up, flushed down, revealing she had hair reaching almost to her shoulders. She also saw a little bit of reflection of light, meaning her hair also had some kind of hair spray to make it glossy.
"I love it," Aelita said, almost crying out of happiness. "Thank you, Yumi."
"Anytime, Aelita," Yumi said as Aelita hugged her, Yumi obviously returning the hug. They both then left the bathroom, and went straight into Yumi's room, closing the door after them so no one would hear them.
"Okay, now I need to know; are you two together?" Yumi asked, obviously implying the friendship/relationship between her and Jeremie.
"I wish," Aelita replied. "I hoped that yesterday he would at least tell me, but no. And when I told him, he was already asleep."
"So you told the sleeping beauty that you love him? Like, nothing more, nothing less?" Yumi asked as Aelita nodded. "Wow, you are really confident."
"Not anymore," Aelita said. "It felt...right. At that moment it was just two of us, cuddled together under one blanket."
"Hold on," Yumi said, holding her hand out. "So you two literally slept together?"
"Yeah, and it was better than sleeping alone," Aelita said, recalling the sweet moments she hopes she will cherish forever.
"Girl, Jeremie is really into you!" Yumi said, gaining Aelita's attention back.
"Hm?" "He wanted to sleep with you, and that's just the icing on top of the cake!" Yumi said, almost screaming. "He wants to help you. He brought you here, and he is willing to do anything to bring your dad here too."
Aelita thought about it, again. It all sounded like valid reasons, but they could be far from the truth.
"And if that isn't a sign of true love, I don't know what else is," Yumi said as Aelita looked at her with a sheepish smile. "What?"
"You and Ulrich are the sign of true love, however, neither of you said something." Aelita implied. "So I don't think that my relationship with Jeremie is hard."
"I...I did tell him something." Yumi began, sweat appearing on her forehead. "I told him that we shouldn't be together at all."
"What?" Aelita said, really surprised to hear this out of a sudden. "What do you mean by that?"
"See, one day we got together, the other day we broke up, and this kept happening for two weeks," Yumi said. "We decided that we won't make it public, not even to the group."
"Oh my." "So on Wednesday, I told him that we shouldn't even try to be a couple," Yumi said, a few tears rolling down her cheek. "And that hurt him too, maybe just as me, but I told him that we would be friends no matter what, and he agreed on that."
Aelita suddenly hugged the other girl, and Yumi let a few tears out while wrapping her arms around Yumi. She felt bad for Yumi since she always thought that she and Ulrich were just the right people to be together.
Then it hit Aelita; she wanted to ask Jeremie to take her to the Hermitage. So it was either comforting Yumi, which was important, or going to a house that was supposedly a house where she lived when she was younger, which was important for getting her father out of Lyoko.
"Yumi, I...I have something planned." Aelita said, hoping she won't make Yumi angry. "But I'll st-"
"No, go." Yumi smiled. "I need to go vacuum the house till my parents come back."
Aelita nodded, hearing that Yumi wasn't angry, and she walked out of her room, waving at Yumi. She made her way out of the house and began running back to the campus, hoping that Jeremie didn't leave and go somewhere.
Soon she was back on campus and stepping into the dorm building, running up the stairs.
"Slo-" Jim began when he saw her running up, but Aelita was quick enough to not get stopped.
"-w down." He finished, shaking his head.
Aelita ran to Jeremie's door and knocked. Without waiting, she opened the door, and stepped inside, only to see that she stopped centimeters from his face.
"Oh my god," Jeremie said, his heartbeat going off the charts. "You are...beautiful."
"Aww, thank you!" Aelita said when she remembered something else. "Shoot, I need to go and clean the mess we left in the laboratory."
"I...I did it already." Jeremie said, handing her back her key to her room. "Here."
"Oh, I didn't even know I left it there," Aelita said, walking out of the room, but being stopped by Jeremie.
"I...Can I go with you?" Jeremie asked as Aelita nodded. They walked down to the lower floor and to Aelita's room. Jeremie was nervous, and Aelita knew that. The problem was, she didn't know why. She pulled out the key and inserted it into the keyhole.
"Wait." Jeremie stopped her just as she was about to unlock the door.
"Hm?" "Don't...freak out," Jeremie said. It confused Aelita, but she unlocked the door, and slowly opened the door.
Peaking inside, she immediately saw Maya sleeping on Jeremie's sweater, with a collar on her neck, and having a strawberry odor.
"I took her to the vet to make sure she is okay, which she was," Jeremie said. "And a couple of other things..."
Aelita turned around, her hair landing over her right eye. "...since you..." Aelita nodded, knowing what Jeremie wanted to say. She didn't have money of her own, and Jeremie made an unspoken promise to him and to Aelita that he will pay for anything she needs, at least till she either decides to do some part-time job or something. Even then he would continue to help her.
"Thank you really much!" Aelita said, hugging the blonde boy.
"Of course, Aelita," Jeremie said. "So, should we go explore the Hermitage?"
/-/-/-/
The two teens walked side by side, holding their hands. The forest began darkening more and more as they proceeded deeper. Aelita was nervously looking around as they were walking towards the Hermitage, which was still not in sight.
She was going to start calling Jeremie a bluff for telling her that he knew where Hermitage was.
"Say, Jeremie," Aelita said, gaining the boy's attention. "Do you think that we should virtualize you?"
"Of course not." Jeremie chuckled. "After I tried to virtualize myself, I don't want to be virtualized. Like at all."
"Oh yeah..." Aelita said, lowering his head. "That was the first time...we really met."
"Yeah, that..." Jeremie said nervously, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. "...you remember it?"
"Of course," Aelita said. "I could never forget it. It was sweet."
"Sweet?" Jeremie asked, not understating.
"Yes. But for some reason, if I recall the cute memory, I am unable to see your face in it." Aelita said. "Well, I can now."
"You think it's just because we see each other all the time in real life?" Jeremie asked, looking at Aelita.
"Yeah, it could be because of that," Aelita said.
Suddenly they exited the forest, appearing on an open field, with a large, white house in the middle. Aelita came to a stop when she saw the house.
"The Hermitage." She whispered, scared. Seeing the building made her recall one picture memory, where she saw two men in blank suits looking at them, clearly having no good intentions.
Jeremie felt that Aelita tensed up, so he tightened the hold on her hand to let her know she wasn't alone. It calmed Aelita down, as she looked at Jeremie, and put on a small smile. They both then walked closer to the gate, where there was a sign that said 'Hermitage' and a post box.
"So this was supposedly my home," Aelita mumbled just loud enough for Jeremie to hear. She put her hand on the post box, just to see another picture memory being recalled, this time seeing the same men in black suits looking inside the post box.
"Let's go inside." Jeremie offered, pointing at a gate. Aelita nodded, following Jeremie through the gate and walking on top of the stone path, which was cracked in many places, probably due to the years of unoccupancy.
They both walked to the house entrance, seeing the stairs were also broken, as there was grass growing out of the cracks. Walking up the stairs, Aelita was scared that it would break under her.
"If this is your home, then I'm jealous," Jeremie said, making Aelita chuckle, pushing her anxiety away. They appeared on the front porch, the door being slightly open. Jeremie pushed the door so it would open more, and revealed a hallway, full of things scattered around.
Jeremie stepped inside first, Aelita following him behind. Despite this being probably her home, she didn't know what to expect, like some occupants.
"Jeremie," Aelita said, looking towards the living room. The living room wasn't the surprising thing, it was the bookshelf on which was a single, framed photo, looking like it wasn't touched at all.
Jeremie looked to the living room too, motioning to Aelita that she can go ahead. Aelita let go of his hand and slowly moved to the living room, being careful not to step on any of the glass shards scattered all around the room.
From her current position, she could clearly recognize the people in the picture; a man with thick glasses and a small girl, with almost shoulder-length pink hair. And the man was clearly Franz Hopper if the simulation she was in was real.
She moved closer to the photo and grabbed it off the shelf. This time, it wasn't a picture memory, it was a flashback...
"Aelita, dear, you'll catch a cold," Franz shouted at the girl, standing on the porch and watching her.
"I'm coming, Daddy!" The small girl playing in the snow shouted. She was quickly back on her feet and was skipping towards the stairs leading up to her father. Soon, she jumped into his arms, her father obviously catching her.
"Now, do you want hot chocolate?"
"Aelita!" She heard as she nearly fell down on her knees. Jeremie was faster and caught her mid-air, preventing her from injury.
Once she regained full concussions, she looked at Jeremie, who was worried if something happened or not.
"It's real." Jeremie was even more confused. He helped Aelita back to her legs, holding her hand.
"This is my home, and Franz Hopper is my father," Aelita said, smiling. "Look!"
She put the picture in Jeremie's hands, who observed the picture. He smiled and handed it back to Aelita.
"You were really cute as a child, Aelita," Jeremie said. "The smile of yours and the little red cheeks."
"Aww, thanks for the compliment!" Aelita said. "But once I see a picture of your younger self, I'm not gonna lie and say the truth."
"O-Okay." Jeremie nervously replied. Aelita just chuckled and took down Jeremie's bag from his shoulder. She opened it, and put it right next to his laptop, hoping it won't break.
"Let's look some more, I think there are more photos of me and my father," Aelita said, grabbing Jeremie's hand again. "Maybe even my mother's."
Jeremie nodded, letting Aelita lead him anywhere she liked. She led him upstairs, and they immediately spotted something that no one would be able to miss. A pink door.
"I think this was your room," Jeremie said, as Aelita stopped in front of it. Aelita took hold of the handle, and pushed it down, the door making a scratching sound as she opened it.
When she stepped inside the room, there was the same color which was used on the doors used everywhere on the walls too. Looking around, there was a small bookshelf, a closet, and a single poster. She heard that Jeremie stepped into the room too, probably to see the design decisions Aelita's younger self had.
Soon, she got another flashback, but this time, she fell right onto Jeremie...
"Aelita, you know where Mr. Pück is?" Franz said, looking at Aelita from the doorframe.
"Yes, Daddy." "Then let's go."
Aelita opened her eyes, only to be met by Jeremie's electric blue ones. He was again holding her so she wouldn't meet the ground with her face.
"Seriously, you need to warn me next time," Jeremie said, helping Aelita get up again on her feet. They both giggled, as Aelita's sight landed on the poster. Without any word, she walked towards the poster.
Aelita reached for it, and gently took it down so it wouldn't rip in half. Once she took it down, it revealed a hole in the wall, in which sat a doll. She gently took it out of the hole and into her hands.
"Mr. Pück," Aelita whispered, turning around, and putting it in front of her to let Jeremie see it.
"Aww, it's cute," Jeremie said. "I assume it was yours."
"I think so," Aelita said, looking at the doll again. "I named him Mr. Pück."
Aelita stayed quiet, remembering the flashbacks she had while in this house. It also made her understand that she was technically the owner of this house, since her father was legally missing, and her mother could be dead.
"Let's go back." Jeremie offered, seeing Aelita tearing up. "We can explore the rest some other day."
Aelita nodded, slowly walking towards Jeremie until she had her crying face on Jeremie's shoulder. Jeremie slowly wrapped his arms around the poor girl, whom he just wanted to help.