A/N: Here is the next installment of my Jerlita Roleswap AU. Hope you all enjoy it~
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko in any way, shape, or form.
Note: Remember, any episodes not mentioned either as the inspiration for a chapter or just in passing are not part of the AU, mainly because the roleswap makes them useless, and those only mentioned in passing are just filler and/or would be the same no matter who has what role.
Beta read by swordsdownforreview
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
"Jérémie is given a gift by a mysterious admirer, launching a wave of jealousy within the group."
Episode 21: Be My Valentine
(Based on Saint Valentine's Day & New Order)
Late one Tuesday night, a dark spectre emerged from the hallway light socket right outside a certain dorm.
Inside that room was a certain blonde boy, who was whimpering, "No...please, don't leave me...!" as he hugged his Mister Pück doll ever so tighter.
Jérémie was no longer dreaming about his doll or the story it was the main character of, but that didn't mean his nightmares were over. It frightened him, to be honest. His new nightmares were insanely vivid, not at all surreal like his Pück dreams, but when he woke up, all he could remember was a black hole.
He emerged from nightmare-land when his laptop (a dark grey one; it was a joint gift from Aelita and Yumi) alerted him that he had a new instant message. Grateful for the interruption, he quietly got out of bed, his eyes grazing across his alarm clock as he did so.
11:59 PM.
Who would be messaging him this late at night?, he asked himself as his clocked rolled over to 12 AM. Well, this early in the morning?
His room illuminated by the glow of the cyan background of his laptop screen, Jérémie sat at his desk and opened up the message he got.
It was from 'Anonymous', and all the message contained was the animated image of a present being opened by itself.
His confusion grew even more, when he heard a gentle knock at his door. He opened the door to reveal...
Nobody.
The hallway was completely empty, save for a little box, wrapped in pink paper and a darker pink ribbon tied to it, sitting in his now open door frame. The pink immediately made him think of Aelita...
(But if she wanted to give him something, surely she would wait until daylight as well as give it to him in person, right?)
Regardless, he picked it up and went back inside his room, closing his door softly behind him. He sat down on his bed, lotus style, and opened the gift.
It was a spherical pendant dangling on the end of a thick black cord. A polished, almost shiny, pale blue rock reflected the light of his laptop screen (which was still on).
It certainly was a beautiful necklace.
But why?
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie showed the necklace to Ulrich and Odd the next day during morning showers, and his confusion made the following lecture bleed over into breakfast hour. The three were in their pajamas, standing by the sinks.
Ulrich studied it with his hands, before giving it back to the blonde in blue, "Plain, but not bad."
"But I wonder who gave it to me," Jérémie muttered, his thumb gently grazing the stone. Despite his confusion, he liked the texture, at least. It was very smooth. "And why."
"Oh, I might have an idea!" Odd smiled after spitting out his toothpaste. As he wiped his mouth with his towel, he asked, "You know what today is, right?"
Jérémie raised an eyebrow, "Um...Wednesday?"
"Well, yes," Odd replied, "but it's not just any old Wednesday! It's Saint Valentine's Day! Er...we did tell you all about Valentine's Day, right?"
Jérémie shook his head, "Mm-mm. I mean, I know it's a human holiday through my research, but not much else. Something about 'the lovers' celebration'...?"
"Yeah, that's it," Odd explained. "Valentine's Day is a day where couples celebrate their love for each other, usually by exchanging gifts. The standards include a bouquet of roses, a box of chocolates, or if you're feeling especially romantic, a piece of jewelry."
"So...you think this necklace was given to me by a girl who...loves me?" Jérémie asked.
"Please," Ulrich grumbled, "don't let this be a repeat of 'why can't Aelita be in a boy's dorm with the door closed'..." He straightened up as he led the trio out of the shower room and back to their dorms. "Out of curiosity, Jer, do you know what love is?"
"Sort of..." Jérémie admitted. "Out of the all the emotions I researched, 'love' was the one that gave me the most mixed results." His brow furrowed as he recalled them all. "It was called both a good thing as well as something bad that must be avoided. It was defined in reference to both friends and family, and it also seemed to relate to physical pleasure, to an extent."
"You don't need to worry about that definition," Ulrich quickly cut in. "Here, that gives you a one-way ticket to expulsion." Not a joke. That was one of the rules Mr. Delmas was not willing to be lenient about.
"Yeah, we'll explain it to you when we're older," Odd hastily agreed. He too was remembering the humiliation he and Ulrich went through when explaining the boys only-girls only dorm rule to Jérémie (mostly Aelita and Yumi laughing at them), and he didn't want to go through that again either.
Jérémie, to his credit, merely gave the two a soft smile, "Understood." For his friends' sake, he changed redirected the subject, "Anyways, ironically, 'love' is the only human emotion I actually understand. I say 'sort of' because I know what it is, but I don't how to word it."
Odd slung an arm around Jérémie's shoulders, "Don't worry. A lot of people don't. When it comes to love, I know so many people who struggle with it. Take Ulrich here, for example."
Jérémie immediately smiled, as Ulrich shot back, "Hey!"
"Good buddy Ulrich," Odd was calm as he replied, "you've known Yumi for three years now, and I know you've liked her ever since you two first met. How many times have you failed to tell her how you feel?"
The German boy's face was red as he turned his gaze away from the other two and grumbled out, "A lot..."
"I rest my case," Odd said, and Jérémie could barely stifle his chuckles. "Now back to the matter at hand, Jer, is there anyone whose name immediately came to mind when you first got the necklace?"
"Aelita's."
"And why's that?" the Italian boy asked. He already knew the answer, but he and Ulrich were trying to prove a point to Jérémie.
"What do you mean 'why's that'?" Jérémie gently retorted, his cheeks reddening. "Aelita and I know how we feel about each other." And that was love; but that went unspoken. "It's just...difficult for me to talk to her about it without a screen between us..."
It was a feeling that he both liked and hated. The butterflies he felt in his stomach whenever Aelita approached him now, or vice versa, would always make him forget was he was about to say or make him stutter uncontrollably. He loved her; he knew that, ever since that moment in Virtual Limbo. It was a wonderful feeling, the butterflies, but it could be really annoying at times.
"I know how you feel," Ulrich softly admitted as he gently nudged Jérémie's side.
Odd got quiet as well, which indicated to Jérémie that their jokester was about to get uncharacteristically philosophical, "Oh, Prince Charming, you and Princess both have the same problem, trust me. There have been many times where Aelita's started stuttering just because Yumi or I have said your name. But don't worry about it. This mutual shyness is no surprise given how most of your relationship has been long-distance." Jérémie raised an eyebrow in confusion, so Odd amended, "Behind a screen, you could say," and the confusion was gone. "You two just need to talk things out and settle into a routine you're comfortable with."
"Trust me, I would if I could."
Ulrich cut in as the trio approached Jérémie's dorm, "He means 'take your time', Jer. And until that moment, there are plenty of other ways you and Aelita can communicate without speaking, especially on Valentine's Day, and that is..." He trailed off.
"Giving gifts," Jérémie was smiling. He looked back down at the necklace in his hands, "So you think Aelita gave this to me for Valentine's Day."
"Face it," Odd shrugged. "There's no other explanation. And since she got you something, it's only fair that you return the favor."
"But..." Jérémie muttered, "I have no money."
"You can always make something," Ulrich replied, as Jérémie used his key to unlock his door. "Aelita has always been a sucker for handmade gifts."
"As long as it's from the heart, Jer, you should be fine," Odd explained, before he and Ulrich let Jérémie slip inside his room to get ready for the day.
When getting dressed, the first thing Jérémie put on was the necklace.
A handmade gift, huh? It would take a while, but surely Aelita wouldn't mind getting her gift a tad late, would she?
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
About fifteen minutes later, Yumi entered the campus through the front gates and joined Aelita at the vending machines. The pink-ette was working on her math homework, her textbook and notebook both spread across her lap.
"Busy night?" Yumi asked, using this as her greeting.
Aelita glanced up from her spot on the ground, and nodded when she saw it was just her friend, "Yeah. I was trying to perfect my trojan detection program." XANA had used codes they had retrieved from Sector Five for its own benefit, and it was still stirring up anxiety within the pink-ette, so she had created a program that would help detect any malicious code before it could reach the group's side. "Don't worry. It still works, and it should work even better now."
The Japanese girl sat down on the ground beside her younger friend, "That's good, but remember, Aelita, that you're still a human being who needs sleep and food. Please, tell me you've at least eaten breakfast already."
"Of course I did," Aelita replied, hard at work on her math homework. "It was Pancake Day. No way would I ever miss that."
"Be careful," Yumi joked, "or else, you'll end up like Odd."
Aelita simply smiled, before turning back to her homework. Yumi, in turn, brought out her Physics textbook and began studying for tomorrow's test.
"You know, Jérémie can probably help you with that," Yumi quietly spoke, motioning to the pink-ette's hastily completed work, "if you need an excuse to spend time with him today."
"Actually," Aelita interrupted, despite the slight blush on her cheeks, "I don't care if he and I don't do anything today."
"Oh yeah," Yumi realized, "Jérémie probably doesn't even know what Valentine's Day is."
"Exactly."
"That makes sense," the elder of the two replied. "But in that vein, if he asks you to explain it, will you?"
"Of course."
"Without blushing?"
"...Shut up."
Yumi giggled, before seeing three boys on the horizon, getting closer. "Speaking of, there he is." Aelita immediately looking up from her math homework so fast, it was a wonder she didn't experience whiplash, and seeing this, Yumi barely managed to nip her laugh in the bud.
The two girls stood up just in time for Jérémie to approach the pink-ette at a run, "Thanks, Aelita!"
Aelita blanked, and Yumi quipped, "You know, Jer, the first time I see someone in the morning, I tend to say 'good morning'. But then again, maybe I'm a little old-fashioned."
As Ulrich and Odd caught up and joined them, everyone dressed for the day, Aelita put up an impressive front as she asked, "Um, for what exactly?"
"The necklace," Jérémie replied, and the two girls quickly took notice of the blue stone pendant around his neck. "It's lovely."
"The, um...necklace?" Aelita asked, obviously confused.
But Jérémie didn't seem to notice, as the huge smile on his face never faded even once. "It's your Valentine's Day present, right?"
The pink-ette's following act was actually pretty impressive. She immediately put on a fake smile, "Oh, of course! Sorry, it slipped my mind. I was up late last night working on a program. Well, you're welcome. It's only natural."
And equally as impressive, Jérémie bought it, despite her obvious nervousness, "I'll get you something, too, I promise. I hope you don't mind waiting until possibly tomorrow."
"Of course I don't. Take your time." Despite the previous lies, this was the truth, the other three knew.
"I have to go. I'll see you in class," Jérémie replied, still with an oblivious smile across his features as he practically skipped away.
A pause of silence, before Ulrich asked Aelita, "You didn't give him the necklace, did you?"
Aelita's fake smile fell into a concerned frown, "Was it that obvious?"
"Oh, yeah," Odd replied, his smile real and wishing to tease. "But lucky for you, love has made Jérémie blind."
The pink-ette began pacing, "What am I going to do? When he inevitably finds out that it wasn't me who gave it to him, he's going to be mad."
"Relax, 'Lita," Ulrich gently cut in. "Remember, Jérémie has a lot of admirers here. Just go down the list."
"Fine," Aelita sighed, before turning to Yumi, "Sorry, Yumes, but I have to start with you."
"And it's understandable," the Japanese girl stoically replied, "but you know I don't subscribe to all that mushy stuff."
That was true. Yumi only tolerated the holiday out of politeness at being given gifts, as well as her unspoken desire to get something from Ulrich.
That and Yumi only saw Jérémie as a younger brother.
So, Aelita put on a genuinely apologetic expression, "Right. One down, a lot more to go."
The warning bell rang, and Yumi offered her friend sympathy, "Good luck," before heading to her first class of the day.
Aelita simple exhaled a deep breath filled with dread and anxiety before following Odd and Ulrich to their first class.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Mrs. Meyer was deep in the middle of her lecture, and Aelita was trying with all her might to focus on what was being written on the board instead of the fact that her Jérémie had a secret admirer.
(Her Jérémie? Where did that come from?)
But it was becoming increasingly difficult to focus on anything but the necklace the more time that passed.
Odd, in front of her, leaned back and whispered, "Are you sure it wasn't you, 'Lita?" Unlike her, he was actually writing Mrs. Meyer's notes with ease.
"Why would I give you guys mixed signals?" she whispered back, her tone indicating how much she wanted to strangle someone. Not Odd, but, y'know, whoever gave her love that necklace. "I wasn't counting on Jérémie even knowing the significance of Valentine's Day, so I let it slip my mind. Then, I got swamped with both homework and programs for Lyoko, so I really did forget."
"Don't worry, Aelita," Ulrich, Odd's deskmate, leaned back as well, his voice just as soft as theirs. "I forgot, too. Do any of you know a good word that rhymes with, uh, tulip?"
"I don't know," Aelita replied. "Flip? Microchip? Paperclip? Why? What are you writing?"
"Nothing."
Odd immediately got that look, the one that indicated he planned to tease you, "It's a poem for Yumi, isn't it?"
"No, it's...biology homework."
Aelita raised an unimpressed eyebrow, "Biology homework that rhymes, huh? Interesting." She then turned back to the blackboard, where Mrs. Meyer was still lecturing about the pythagorean theorem. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the back of Jérémie's head as he sat with Naomi N'Guyen in the front of the room.
Jérémie wasn't her property, she was telling herself, he's his own person.
Even if it pissed her off, other girls were allowed to like him. And given how he was trapped on Lyoko for who knew how long, he was allowed to explore his options, even when it came to love interests, even if she wasn't on the list. She freed him so he no longer had to worry about feeling trapped, and while she had yet to completely fulfill that promise, she had no right to hold him back.
Telling herself this in her head was working, actually. She still wanted to know who gave him the necklace, mostly out of curiosity, but now she had the self-confidence to remain calm and not overreact.
That is, until her deskmate, a girl, leaned over and whispered, "Hey, Schaeffer. Whoever got Jérémie that necklace has great taste."
Aelita's grip on her pencil tightened as she glanced over to face the girl. It was Laura Gauthier, Theo's twin sister, who was his polar opposite in every way imaginable. Theo was sports-focused, had brunette hair, a laid-back personality, a lot of friends, and was only decent at academics, while Laura was academics-focused, had blonde hair, an uptight personality, not many friends, and was only decent at sports.
Jérémie was not her property, Aelita tried reminded herself. He's his own person. But Laura's comment soon took over her train of thought.
"Great taste, indeed," Aelita agreed, still whispering. She tried her best to be polite, "Are you saying that because you're the one who gave it to him?"
Laura wasn't dumb. She was one of the smartest kids in school, right up there with Aelita, Hervé, and Jérémie. She was also very perceptive, even if she didn't completely understand emotions and social cues.
That's why the pink-ette knew, deep down, the blonde girl was trying to make a point when she replied, "And what if it was? Jérémie's not your property, as far as I know."
Aelita's green-eyed gaze (figuratively and literally) immediately turned dark, "So, you admit it!"
"I didn't admit to anything, you cretin!" Laura replied, no longer whispering as she raised her volume began to match Aelita's.
Aelita stood up, her fists tightly clenched. She wanted to punch this girl's lights out, "You just said it was you, Gauthier!"
"I thought you were smarter than that, Schaeffer!" Laura stood up as well, matching Aelita's movements, ready to defend herself if the pink-ette actually started throwing punches. "Apparently, I was wrong!"
"Gauthier! Schaeffer!" Mrs. Meyer interrupted at a volume even louder than theirs, effectively breaking up their argument. "Principal's office, now! Both of you!"
Aelita immediately folded into herself, ashamed of herself for her jealousy interrupting class. She ignored Ulrich and Odd's half-sympathetic, half-surprised looks as they watched her and Laura leave the classroom.
She especially ignored Jérémie's confusion. She really didn't want to explain it to him.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The two girls decided to just tell Mr. Delmas the truth, no excuses, both relenting to face whatever punishment he decided to dish out, because Laura and Aelita both had that in common, that is, being goody two-shoes who rarely got into trouble.
Which is why they were surprised that Mr. Delmas's anger wasn't as bad as Mrs. Meyer's.
"I am disappointed in both of you," he told them. "The two of you are model students in all areas. However, since you two were honest about the reason why, and I have more important things to focus my energy on, I'll only give you two one hour of detention each, to be served with Jim in the library after classes. I will not call either of your parents, nor will this be on either of your permanent records, but I'd better not hear a similar story from you two in the future."
"Yes, sir," the two both replied simultaneously.
As the two left the administrative building together, Aelita was quiet as she addressed Laura, "I'm sorry, Gauthier. It wasn't my intention to give either of us detention." She was genuinely resentful of her actions, and ashamed of herself for her jealousy harming someone else.
"That's what jealousy does, Schaeffer," Laura replied. "And I'm sorry, too. I did not give Jérémie the necklace. I thought you did, and that's why I brought it up at all, but I know now that you didn't give it to him either. Your reaction said it all."
"Sorry." The pink-ette's reaction was immediate. She wasn't used to being in trouble, especially when it was her own fault.
"It's okay. I forgive you," Laura replied. "Shall we call a truce?" She held out her hand.
Aelita took it, giving a slightly sad smile, "Truce." The two shook hands. "Do you have any idea who did give it to him?"
"No, but don't worry," Laura gently told her. "I'll keep an eye out, and I'll let you know if I find anything. In the meantime, you just stay out of trouble by keeping your jealousy under control. It will be hard, though, for both of us. After all, Jérémie has a lot of admirers, to the point where he rivals Ulrich Stern's own fan club."
Aelita nodded, unable to deny the truth in that. Ulrich and Jérémie were both very attractive in their own ways. Ulrich was handsome, and a silent and stoic athlete, who was not afraid to help others. Jérémie was very cute, and an innocent and kind nerd (who was borderline oblivious to most things).
Odd had his admirers too, being kind and attentive to the plights of others, and cheering people up with jokes (good and bad) whenever they were down. Yumi was also attractive (Ulrich, William, Theo, and Hiroki's friend Johnny all had crushes on her), being a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk to whenever you needed one, and ready to stand up for any injustice that crossed her path.
(And while she didn't believe Yumi when the elder called the pink-ette 'cute', Aelita knew that she had her own fair share of admirers too, Hervé being one of them.)
"I'll try my best," Aelita replied, before waving goodbye. "I'll see you in detention."
She had every intention of keeping that promise, but it still bugged her. If she, nor Laura, gave Jérémie that necklace, then who did?
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"I always knew Aelita had a fiery side," Yumi commented, after Ulrich and Odd told her the story of Aelita's trip to the principal's office. "But shouldn't we be waiting outside to make sure she doesn't pound Laura's face in afterwards?"
The three were waiting in the school's courtyard, resting on a duo of benches right next to each other.
"No," Odd replied. He was sitting on one of the benches, his laptop in his lap, and he typing away. "I have faith in Mr. Delmas to teach my cousin a lesson."
"If you're sure," Yumi shrugged. She was the only one of the three standing.
"What are you working on, Odd?" Ulrich asked, his eyes on Odd's laptop. He was sitting on the other bench.
"A special Valentine's Day e-mail for Sam," Odd replied. "Since she doesn't particularly like gifts, as you know," they did; the gift giving just made Sam hyper aware of her money situation, "we agreed to just send each other e-mails."
"When did you two get together?" Yumi asked. Their jokester didn't give any hint recently that they were.
"Oh, we're not together," Odd hastily explained, "not yet anyways," he lowly muttered, but Ulrich and Yumi heard him anyways, as evidenced by the smiles they shared with each other, "but neither of us could see spending Valentine's Day with anybody other than each other." There was a notable blush on his face.
Fortunately, the two chose to give Odd some mercy. "That's really sweet, Odd," Yumi told him, a warm smile on her face. "But you should probably file that piece of information away for later. You two only celebrating the day for lovers with each other, that is."
Odd's blush deepened, "I-I know, but Sam doesn't really like talking about her feelings, because she hates being vulnerable."
"That's understandable," Ulrich shrugged. He knew how Sam felt. He hated being vulnerable too.
Odd pressed one last button, and a 'ding!' came from his laptop, making him smile, "All done. It's sent. I'll get Sam's after school." Knowing that, it made sense why he then put his laptop away, back into his bag.
The trio then heard a pair of footsteps approaching them, and, expecting Aelita, they all turned to greet her, only for them to be faced with Sissi.
"Hey, Ulrich," there was a light blush on her face, "can I talk to you for a second?" In her hands was a light pink envelope, with a star pattern.
Ulrich shrugged, "Sure. What's up?"
Sissi sat down on the bench next to Ulrich, and handed him the envelope. "Here, this is for you."
"For Valentine's Day?" Ulrich asked.
"No, it's for Christmas," she gently retorted. "Yes, it's for Valentine's Day. Go on, and open it."
Ulrich did so, and inside, he was greeted with two crimson-colored tickets, "Wow! Two tickets to the Subdigitals concert this Saturday!"
Sissi smiled, "Yeah. They are your favorite group, right?"
"Y-Yeah," a light blush appeared on the brunette's face. "Thank you."
"I must be dreaming..." Yumi muttered. Deep down, her own little green monster was roaring to life. Her thought process was interrupted by a hand that fell on her shoulder. She turned around to see her own not-so-secret admirer, "Oh, hey, William."
"Hey, Yumi," William replied with a smile, before holding out a bouquet of roses. "These are for you."
"I must be dreaming..." Ulrich muttered, seething as he watched this play out.
"Oh, thank you, William!" Yumi smiled. "How did you know I liked roses?" She never told him which flowers were her favorite (roses were not her favorite; cherry blossoms were) and which ones she didn't like.
"I didn't," came William's response. "I just assumed you were like all the other girls."
Ulrich missed Yumi's eyebrow twitching at William's stupid response, instead turning to Sissi, intent on getting back at Yumi, "Sissi? I wrote you a little poem. I was going to recite it later when we were alone, but why not share it with all the lovers in the world?" He took out that piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it, as Sissi nodded, getting excited. He then read from his paper, "'To tell you how much I flip, if not with a tulip, how I'm a victim of your charms, and long to hold you in my arms, with you I never feel gloomy, my dear', uh, Sissi."
It was the poem he had been writing in class, but it was for Yumi. Whatever.
"It rhymes!" Sissi was smiling, and she snuggled into Ulrich's neck and shoulder. "Thank you! It's so beautiful!"
Ulrich turned back to Yumi and William, feeling victorious, especially when he saw Yumi's angry frown.
In response, Yumi faced William with a tight smile, "Thank you, William, these roses are beautiful. How about I thank you with a date?"
William immediately smiled, "Great! I'll pick you up Saturday!", earning a glare and scowl from Ulrich.
Just to rub it in, Yumi leaned in and kissed William on the cheek.
Having a front seat to all of this, Odd groaned at what just happened, "I must be dreaming..." Here we effin' go again, he mentally added.
Sissi and William both then left, going back to their previous activities, and Yumi and Ulrich both immediately dropped their acts and sat down on opposite benches, with Ulrich sitting next to Odd. Both ignored Odd's own annoyance with what just happened and sulked, refusing to look at each other.
Not two minutes later, another pair of footsteps joined them, and Aelita asked, "What did I miss?"
Odd groaned again, before explaining, "Sissi brought Ulrich two Subdigitals tickets and William brought Yumi flowers, so they decided to get back at each other by making each other jealous."
"So now both are sulking," Aelita finished, as she rolled her eyes. "Look, it's ridiculous to fight over such a little thing. Ulrich, William had every right to give Yumi a present, and Yumi, Sissi had every right to give Ulrich a present, too."
"Sorry if we don't listen to you, Aelita," Ulrich retorted. "You're one to talk."
He was right. Her fight with Laura was completely out of jealousy. "Touché," she agreed. "Anyways, where's Jérémie?"
Grateful for the subject change, Odd shrugged, "No idea. He disappeared right after class. Said something about not feeling well..."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie leaned over a sink in the boy's restroom. He felt very dizzy, and he didn't know why. He turned on the faucet and scooped up some of the cold running water onto his now glasses-less face. Unfortunately, it didn't make him feel any better.
If he had been paying attention, he would've noticed the pendant around his neck starting to flash with light blue electricity.
The electricity was painful at first, before it then stopped as Jérémie's mind seemed to stumble backwards into a black hole, but he was fully aware of someone else smoothly taking control of his body.
He helplessly watched as his eyes opened to reveal the eye of XANA where his blue irises should've been.
XANA seamlessly put the glasses back on his face before leaving the restroom, as if nothing was wrong.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita had been worried about Jérémie ever since Odd had told her about the blue-clad blonde not feeling well, so she was very relieved to see him take his seat next to her, seemingly healthy, in science class. He was still wearing the necklace, but she immediately removed that from her mind, not wanting a repeat of earlier.
As Ms. Hertz began her lecture on the anatomy of a cell, Aelita leaned in towards Jérémie and whispered, "Hey, are you feeling better?"
He shot her a smile, whispering back, "Yep. Much better. I wanted to talk to you. I think I have an idea of where to look for more data on the anti-virus in XANA's memory."
Aelita blinked, "You do?"
"Maybe," he shrugged. "I mean, it could work, but we'll never know unless we try. Do you think we could go to Sector Five after classes today?"
"I don't think today is a wise choice," she whispered to him. "Ulrich and Yumi are both in bad moods, and I have detention after classes. Maybe tomorrow when this whole Valentine's Day drama has died down."
"I can go by myself," he told her, which surprised her. "I should be fine thanks to the vehicles."
Aelita hesitated. She thought Jérémie understood that going off on his own was a bad idea. Apparently, she was wrong. His words held a deeper meaning, almost as if he was actually saying 'it can't wait until tomorrow'. Why? What idea did he want to try, and why was it so urgent?
Odd, from behind them, leaned forward to whisper in their ears, "I'll go with you. Anything to get away from the two so-called lovebirds." Ulrich and Yumi were still not speaking to each other when they left for their next classes, and knowing how stubborn both of them were, it would take at least twenty-four hours for the two to forget what they were mad about. "We'll just wait until you're done with your detention."
"That works for me," Jérémie quietly agreed.
Stealing a glance at both of them, the pink-ette sighed, "Okay. After everything that's happened today, it'll be nice to get something accomplished."
She ignored how affectionately empty his kiss felt as the blush rose to her cheeks.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
It was just one hour, but spending that hour in the library with Jim and Laura put Aelita in a somewhat sour mood. It felt like forever. Jim was her favorite teacher, and he was mostly focused on regaling tales of past Valentine's Days. On top of that, she didn't like Laura, only tolerated her, but the blonde hadn't found any other suspects as to who gave Jérémie that necklace. Either that was the truth, or Laura was lying and she did know.
But whatever the case, she pushed the necklace to the back of her mind, seeing as how whenever she focused on it, she started losing her grip on her own jealousy.
She was out now, and it was time to focus on Sector 5. She'd have to stay in the lab, because it was too dangerous to be in Sector Five without someone at the controls, but she trusted Odd and Jérémie to keep clear heads.
After traveling to the factory through the sewers (with Jérémie on a second scooter they had placed down there for him), she settled down in the chair in front of the monitor and started up the virtualization program. Something felt off about this situation, but she couldn't put her finger on it. So she chose to ignore it as she selected and scanned two ID cards. "Virtualization!"
Two arrows, one green and one yellow, appeared on the holomap, in the Forest Sector, on her screen right as a window opened, showing a red exclamation point flashing over the wireframe of Jérémie's avatar. Uh oh! Something had gone wrong!
As she hastily typed in commands to look for the bug, she asked, "Odd, is Jérémie okay?"
"Yeah, he's fine. He's made it. Why?"
"There was some kind of bug at the moment of transfer," Aelita explained. "But I can't find it."
"It's probably nothing," Jérémie reassured them both. "We'll need a ride, though."
"Right, of course," Aelita typed in a few more commands. "Two taxis, coming up." The Overboard and the Overwing materialized in front of the pair. "The edge of the sector is due east of your current position. Better hurry, before XANA realizes what we're up to."
Jérémie suddenly protested, "Negative. I'm heading north."
"What?" Odd asked, surprised. "Why do you want to go–...?!" He just cut himself off, alarming Aelita.
"Odd? Jérémie! What's going on?!" she asked.
Jérémie replied, "I've got a rendezvous. Sorry, Odd." On her screen, Odd's green arrow suddenly went flying into a tree, and Jérémie hopped onto the Overboard and took off.
"Jérémie! Jérémie!"
But Jérémie didn't give her an answer, his yellow arrow only zooming past the trees of the Forest Sector.
So she turned her attention to her cousin, "Odd? Odd!"
But Odd didn't answer her either.
Concerned, Aelita continued trying to find the bug, this time from a different angle: what the scanned person was wearing. Thankfully, she immediately got a result. She knew it. She was right to be so concerned about that thing all day, and it was her mistake to keep putting it in the back of her mind.
She dialed in Ulrich's number, and she was surprised when he picked up on the first ring, since he tended to ignore phone calls and texts when sulking, "Yes, Aelita?"
"Come to the factory," she cut right to the chase. "You'll be transferring to Lyoko immediately."
"Something went wrong." It was a statement, not a question, but Aelita still answered it.
"If you call XANA finding a way to possess Jérémie 'wrong', then yes. Something went wrong."
"I'm on my way," he replied. He didn't hang up, but he addressed someone else, "Sorry, Sissi, but my friends need my help."
Sissi's response was soft. Aelita could barely hear it, due to Ulrich not putting this on speakerphone, "Okay. Good luck." She sounded a little sad, but she didn't speak anymore as Ulrich opened a door and then closed it, before Aelita heard his footsteps pounding as he ran down a hallway.
"Thanks, Aelita," Ulrich said. "You got me out of a boring date with Sissi."
"You're welcome," Aelita replied, before sternly ordering, "And whatever happened today with Yumi? Leave it on Earth."
"Yes, ma'am. One trip through the school's boiler room, and I'm in the sewers."
He then hung up, allowing Aelita to type in Yumi's number. Yumi took a bit more time to answer, waiting until the fifth ring to pick up, "Yes, Aelita?"
"Get to the factory now!" the pink-ette ordered.
"What's wrong?" Yumi asked.
Before Aelita could answer, she heard William on the other end of the line, soft like Sissi was, "Where are you going, Yumi?"
"Sorry, my friends need my help. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay," and then William's voice was never heard again, just like Sissi.
Yumi turned back to Aelita, as the pink-ette heard Yumi's footsteps hitting the ground, as she ran to one of the passages. "Sorry about that. What's the emergency? A XANA attack?"
"Yes, but not with a tower, which makes it so much worse," Aelita explain. "That pendant that someone gave Jérémie was apparently not a gift from a secret admirer." She would've much preferred that from the reality. "It was actually a gift from XANA."
"What?! Why?!" Yumi demanded answers. It was understandable as to why.
"Remember that XANA can't possess any of us directly," Aelita reminded her. "According to the data in front of me, the pendant has a microchip in it, and it's currently working overtime, no doubt possessing Jérémie to bring himself straight to the Scyphozoa."
"That's bad. Don't worry, Aelita, I'll be there soon," Yumi replied. "You just focus on finding a way to reverse the effects of that microchip."
"I'll try my best," the pink-ette vowed. "You put your deal with Ulrich behind you and don't drag your feet."
"Right." And then Yumi hung up.
Aelita then turned her attention to Odd, who still had moved or responded yet, only to be interrupted by the superscan.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi hung up right as she entered the boiler room attached to the gymnasium. To her surprise, Ulrich was already in there, having arrived just seconds before she did. The two paused when they laid eyes on each other, clearly remembering their fight earlier.
"Oh, hey, Yumi," Ulrich greeted. He was being a bit awkward, not that she blamed him; she was contributing to the feeling just as much. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier."
"I'm sorry, too," she replied. "But let's talk about that later. Right now, we have a friend under XANA's control."
The brunette quickly agreed, "Right."
Before any of them could do anything else, Yumi's cell phone rang again, and she picked up on the second ring this time, "Yes, Aelita?"
"You and Ulrich be careful," the pink-ette warned. "XANA's just activated a tower and I don't know what it's planning to do with it."
Getting a bad feeling, Yumi immediately went to the door to the sewers. She went to turn the handle, only for the door to be stuck in place. Ulrich immediately joined her and tried his best to help her move the door.
The door behind them, the one that led back to the rest of the school, suddenly slammed shut, and the two saw the heat gauge on the boilers themselves begin to rise.
"XANA!" Ulrich breathed. "We'll be cooked alive if we don't get out of here!" Of course. XANA was trying to prevent them from helping Odd and Aelita rescue Jérémie from its possession.
"Aelita!" Yumi remembered that she was still on the phone with their group's female genius.
"I heard him," the pink-ette quickly replied. Yumi could hear rapid-fire typing on the younger's end. "But I'm sorry to remind you that I don't think Jérémie will be accomodating right now."
"Find a way!" Ulrich yelled out, feeling desperate. "Deactivating that tower is our only hope!"
"Odd and I will try our best, but no promises!" Aelita retorted. "You guys hang in there!" She then hung up.
This left Ulrich and Yumi alone in the boiler room.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"Odd! Odd, wake up, we have an emergency!" is what Odd woke up too.
He groaned as he pushed himself up off the ground next to the tree Jérémie had side-swept and then kicked him into. "Aelita? How long was I out?"
"A couple minutes," she replied. "Are you okay?"
"I'd be lying if I said I was," he answered, before looking down the north path. "Man, what's gotten into Jérémie?! He kicked me into a tree while I was recovering from a vision!"
It was a sepia-toned image of Jérémie giving himself up to the Scyphozoa right outside of an ice cave.
"It's that necklace, Odd," his cousin explained. "It has a microchip in it that's allowing XANA to possess him. He's not far. If you take the Overwing, you should be able to catch up to him pretty quick."
"He hijacked the Overboard?!" Odd took notice of the only vehicle in the area. "That's definitely out of character!" While it was phrased as a joke, it was true. Jérémie, under normal circumstances, only felt safe on the Overwing, mainly because it reminded him of his scooter on Earth. If he had to, he'd take the Overbike, but he tended to steer clear of the Overboard at all costs.
Odd hopped onto Yumi's vehicle without hesitation, leaning over the side to get a better view as he quickly caught up to Jérémie and the Overboard.
"Got him!" he relayed to Aelita. "He's in my sights."
"Good," she replied. "Ulrich and Yumi are trapped in the school's boiler room by XANA, so whatever you do, don't delete Jérémie. He's needed to deactivate the tower."
"Joy," he quipped. "At least, we won't be around to hear them argue more."
"Tell me about it," she agreed. Then, a quick pause, before she warned, "Watch out. XANA's sending two Krabes to stop you!"
In that moment, two Krabes virtualized between Jérémie and Odd and they immediately started shooting at Odd.
The Overwing came tumbling to the ground after two shots, and Odd fell with it. He immediately took cover behind a tree.
"Apparently, XANA wants to stop us too."
"Of course, it does," Aelita explained. "Us being here proves to XANA that its plan has a chance at failing. Hold on, Odd, I'll try to program you the Overbike."
"Be quick about it," Odd replied, cocking one of his arms the way one would a gun. "In the meantime, I'll show these Krabes how we roll."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Ulrich and Yumi, now starting to sweat thanks to the rising heat, sat down on the floor next to each other.
"I'm sorry," Ulrich repeated, thinking that they had the time to talk now. There was no way XANA would let them go so easily. "It was childish of me to try and make you jealous."
"I'm sorry, too," Yumi quietly replied. "But you wrote that poem for Sissi, so I had no right to be jealous. It was a pretty poem, though. I'll give you that."
"Au contraire, the poem was actually for you," the brunette revealed.
She glanced back at him surprised, "W-What?"
"Do you really believe that 'gloomy' and 'Sissi' actually rhyme?" he gently shot back. "Or do you think 'gloomy' goes better with 'Yumi'?"
She softly smiled. He had a point, and thanks to that, she was starting to believe it.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd emerged from his hiding spot and out into two lines of laser fire. He used his paws to climb a nearby tree, before flipping back and firing at one of the Krabes in mid-air.
It exploded as he landed, "One down!"
"Good job, Odd," Aelita replied, right before the Overbike materialized on the other side of the second Krabe. "Now don't waste any time getting out of there. Jérémie's getting farther and farther away from you."
Odd quickly dodged the laser fire of the second Krabe and hopped onto the Overbike. Revving it up, he continued down the north path.
"Jérémie's changed sectors," the pink-ette relayed.
"To the Ice Sector," Odd finished. "I know. My vision told me that's where he was going."
"Glad that power still proves to be useful," Aelita muttered, before speaking up. "The superscan indicates that, coincidentally, the activated tower is in the Ice Sector as well. XANA's fault, definitely."
Odd chuckled. That was a bad move on XANA's part.
Aelita continued, "The way tower he took is north by northwest, Odd. You should see it pretty soon. It will be the first one on your left. I'll meet you in the Ice Sector, okay?"
She was going to try and stop Jérémie herself, Odd realized. "Okay. Good luck."
"You too," she replied, before logging off.
Sure enough, a tower soon came into view on his left. Odd entered the way tower on the Overbike.
He went down below the first platform, and let the data stream carry him to the connecting sector, only taking over again when the Overbike reached the platform on the other side.
Emerging from the tower, Odd was greeted with the Ice Sector.
And he smiled. For once, things were going right.
He continued on, towards the ice cave he saw in his vision. He didn't Aelita to lead him. He knew right where it was.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita landed in the Ice Sector a few meters beyond Jérémie and the Overboard, having set it up that way, to meet him at the right time. Sure enough, the Overboard soon came into view and Jérémie sped right past her. Aelita activated her wings and took off after him.
Thanks to the speed of her wings, she caught up to him in no time. Now that he was constantly in her sights, she formed an Energy Field and threw it at the Overboard. It disappeared from underneath Jérémie, sending the blue elf tumbling to the ground.
As he got back to his feet, Aelita landed in front of him, dissipating her wings as she did so, "Listen, Jérémie, you have to wake up! Stop obeying XANA!"
"Go away," he sneered. "Leave me alone."
It sounded an awful lot like something Jérémie would say, actually. That made her think twice about how that microchip really worked.
"Listen to me," she urged, choosing to double check her new theory. "Ulrich and Yumi are in danger! XANA has trapped them in the boiler room! I'm sure your rendezvous can wait a little longer, right?"
Jérémie paused, and she could see, in his eyes, an inner debate. Of course, mentioning that XANA had activated a tower would be sure to do that. No matter what, the Jérémie she knew would always put stopping XANA first.
Her enhanced hearing, on top of that, was picking up something interesting, as his eyebrow twitched.
'I have to deactivate the tower!' That was Jérémie's voice. 'My friends are in danger!'
'They can wait.' That was also Jérémie's voice, but it reminded Aelita of XANA's imperfect copy in that simulation bubble. The same inflections, the same tone... She was right. 'Your rendezvous is more important.' A pause. 'Stop fighting me! I know what's best!'
The real Jérémie didn't respond to that, making Aelita believe that XANA had done something to regain control.
Jérémie suddenly shouted, "I said leave me alone!" He then held out his hand, and the ice underneath Aelita's feet suddenly disappeared.
The pink-ette fell through it, having nothing to hold onto. She saw Jérémie leap over the hole and continue on his way, prompting her to reactivate her wings. Safe from the Digital Sea for another day (for now, at least), Aelita continued chasing Jérémie down.
She was right. Even with that microchip, XANA still wasn't possessing Jérémie directly. The AI had learned from its previous mistakes apparently (the Ulrich clone, plus the simulation bubble) and adapted by sabotaging Jérémie's moral system rather than hijacking his brain completely. Well, that, or direct possession of the Lyokowarriors was still out of XANA's league.
Either way, the real Jérémie was still in there, and he was completely aware of what was going on. XANA was twisting around whatever people told him into something to accomplish its own agenda, and Jérémie was powerless to stop it. Whenever, he tried to regain control, XANA would always overpower him.
Aelita understood that now, and she was mentally beating herself up for not realizing it before.
"Aelita!"
She turned back to see Odd on the Overbike, speeding up to settle in beside her. "Hey, Odd," she greeted him, turning her eyes back to Jérémie. "I managed to destroy the Overboard, but he's still ahead of us somehow."
As if on cue, Jérémie stopped and turned around. He held up his hand and soon, ice spikes shot out from underneath the Overbike, making Odd fall off and slid backwards across the ice towards the hole he had previously made to stop Aelita.
Odd fell down the hole, but Aelita was already there and grabbed his hand before he could even fall past the glacier that made of the ground of the Ice Sector.
Now without vehicles, save for Aelita's wings, the two continued to race after Jérémie.
"There!" Odd pointed to the nearby ice cave. "That's what I saw in my vision!"
With that, Aelita lowered herself and Odd to the ground, both preparing for the inevitable one-sided fight.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Ulrich and Yumi weren't doing much better. The heat was really getting to them. They now sat back to back, as Ulrich took off his jacket and undershirt.
Yumi tugged her own sweater, but hesitated, until he softly reassured her, "Go ahead. I won't look..."
She offered him a smile, even if he couldn't see it, before taking off her sweater.
The relief was only temporary. The temperature was only continuing to rise. But they had to hang on. Deactivating the tower would definitely be a while, given the current situation on Lyoko. So they had no choice but to survive.
To pass the time, Yumi decided to humor Ulrich, "You say you wrote that poem for me..."
"You still doubt me?"
"Recite it again," she requested. "But this time, exactly how you wrote it..."
He smiled softly and tiredly, even if she couldn't see it, and spoke from memory, "'To tell you how much I flip, if not with a tulip, how I'm a victim of your charms, and long to hold you in my arms, with you I never feel gloomy, my dear Yumi'..."
She smiled again, and despite their backs being to each other, he could feel it. "You're right. My name does make everything fit so much better."
"I told you..."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The two cousins cornered Jérémie at the entrance of the ice cave that Odd saw in his vision. With her enhanced senses, Aelita could both hear and see the Scyphozoa within that cave, waiting for Jérémie to be completely alone.
Jérémie turned around and held up his hand. Odd leapt over the wireframe that was forming right before an ice wall formed, extending all the way to the top of the ice cave to prevent Aelita from using her wings to fly over it.
Aelita saw this, and told her cousin, "Don't worry about me. Just stop Jérémie!"
Odd ran forward, only for Jérémie to freeze his legs with ice. Odd tried to break the ice, but it wouldn't budge. Turning back to Jérémie, he quipped, "Hey! That's cheating!"
Jérémie just lowered his glare before turning to the entrance of the ice cave. Seeing the Scyphozoa emerge into the light of the Ice Sector, Aelita fired a couple of Energy Fields at the ice wall, only for both of them to bounce off.
Meanwhile, Odd fired a couple of Laser Arrows at the Scyphozoa, only for the giant jellyfish to continue on its business unfazed.
"Aelita," Odd sounded defeated, "we're not going to make it."
The pink elf shook her head, "We can't give up now. We have to think of something..." One thought was running through her mind; it was awfully risky, but it was the only way. "Odd, aim for Jérémie."
"What?! Are you crazy?!" Odd looked at her as if she were nuts. "If Jérémie loses all of his lifepoints, he'll be permanently deleted!" That was the only reason they hadn't fired on him yet. They knew the risks and were afraid of things going wrong.
But that was why it was their only hope. Aelita explained why, "XANA wants his memory. It won't risk losing that. It always avoids shooting directly at him, because it needs all of his lifepoints intact, as stealing his memory has the side effect of draining his lifepoints. If we deplete his lifepoints ourselves, soon the amount of memory he has will be unequal to the number of lifepoints he has left."
Behind them, the Scyphozoa wrapped its tentacles around Jérémie, who unsurprisingly didn't fight back.
"Translation?" Odd asked, his voice holding a slight fear.
"If we do this, then Jérémie will die before XANA can retrieve what it needs," Aelita completed her explanation. "Then, XANA will have no choice but to stop, because it needs Jérémie alive as much as we do."
"Are you sure?"
"No," she chose to be honest. "But I can't think of anything else."
Three of the Scyphozoa's tentacles turned red, indicating that it had begun the retrieval process. Odd took a deep breath, and fired one single Arrow.
The Arrow hit the blue elf in the back. Jérémie gave out a small cry of pain, and the Scyphozoa immediately retreated its three most important tentacles. It seemed that XANA now seemed fully aware of their plan.
Seeing this, Aelita urged, "Keep firing, Odd."
Odd obeyed her and fired three more Laser Arrows. They all hit Jérémie dead on, and Odd's heart squeezed with hesitation and guilt as each one meant Jérémie letting out a whimper of pain, because the purple cat and pink elf both remembered that getting hit on Lyoko was different for Jérémie. Again, unlike them, he actually felt the pain.
The purple cat paused in his firing as he and Aelita both watched the Scyphozoa gently lower an unresponsive Jérémie back down to the ground. "Yes!" Odd softly celebrated.
But he spoke too soon, as the jellyfish stopped right before releasing Jérémie and promptly resuming its theft.
"Looks like it was too good to be true," Odd quipped before firing, on his own, three more Arrows.
They all hit Jérémie, causing him more pain with each one, giving Odd more guilt, but Aelita admired how her cousin didn't put down his paw just yet, instead carefully watching the Scyphozoa and staring it down until it finally retreated back into the ice cave without attempting the retrieval process for a third time.
Once the Scyphozoa was gone, Jérémie stirred. As he sat up, he turned to his two friends, his face indicating to them that he was still feeling the pain of all seven of Odd's Laser Arrows. "You're lucky that worked," he told them. "It was very risky. I only have ten life points left." That shouldn't have been a surprise, him reading his own ID card that is, given how he still had an innate connection with the supercomputer.
"We are lucky," Odd replied. "But you were aware of what was going on?"
"The whole time," Jérémie nodded. "XANA wasn't possessing me directly, just...hijacking my moral compass to twist everything you guys said into something that suited its agenda."
As Aelita previously theorized. "Well, we're glad you're okay," she told him.
"So am I," Odd added. "But we have to hurry and deactivate that tower. Otherwise, Ulrich and Yumi will end up like dim sum."
After Jérémie used his Creativity to break down the ice around Odd's feet and the ice wall, Aelita used her memory of where the superscan said the tower was and led the other two there. It was 87 degrees west, 13 degrees south from the ice cave. Jérémie also felt the pulsations, so they closely followed those.
The tower was located at the end of an isolated path and was surrounded by a high, circular wall of ice (they'd been here before; it was the tower XANA activated to lure the group to Lyoko in order to launch its plan with the simulation bubble).
Interestingly enough, the trio met no monsters on the way, or in front of the tower. Of course, it made sense, though, given how Jérémie only had ten lifepoints left, so XANA didn't want to risk accidentally hitting Jérémie.
Aelita took the easy accessibility to this tower as a sign that XANA was giving them this one.
Jérémie entered the tower at a run.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The heat was really starting to get to them. Ulrich felt very dizzy as he asked, "Yu-Yumi...please tell me...you're still awake..."
Yumi was panting as she responded, "I am...but I can't hang on...for much longer..."
JEREMIE_
CODE_
Ulrich was about to respond to Yumi, but he passed out before he could say another word.
Beside him, and her back still to his, Yumi passed out soon after.
LYOKO_
The boiler room's temperature quickly went back to normal, and both doors unlocked themselves. Yumi's phone also began to ring, but no one was awake to notice any of these things.
Neither Ulrich nor Yumi had to worry about much else, though, as a white bubble engulfed them.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The Return in time brought them all back to this morning. Without the necklace, Aelita and Jérémie were there too, sitting on the same bench as Ulrich and Odd sat on the other, with the latter typing on his laptop his Valentine's e-mail to Sam.
Like before, the moment he finished and sent the e-mail, the group was approached by Sissi. She was, again, lightly blushing as she asked, "Hey, Ulrich, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure," Ulrich replied, letting her sit down next to him.
She handed him the same envelope from before, "Here, this is for you."
"For Valentine's Day?" Ulrich asked. This time, he was joking, and he conveyed that to Sissi by giving her knowing smile.
"No, it's for Christmas," she gently retorted with a smile of her own. "Yes, it's for Valentine's Day. Go on, and open it."
Ulrich feigned surprise as he was greeted by those two tickets. "Wow! Two tickets to the Subdigitals concert this Saturday!"
Sissi smiled, "Yeah, VIP tickets. They are your favorite band, right?"
"Yeah, they are," Ulrich said. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Sissi replied. "You can take to the concert whoever you want. I just wanted to give you something that showed how much I appreciate our friendship."
Yumi spoke up, surprising everyone, "They're your favorite band, too, Sissi. Why don't you go?"
"R-Really?" the principal's daughter was surprised. She wasn't expecting that reaction, apparently.
"Absolutely," Ulrich replied, with a soft smile. "I appreciate our friendship too, Sissi." He held up the two tickets. "So, let's rock out together."
Sissi's smile returned, "Okay. I'd like that." She accepted the ticket Ulrich gave her. "I'll see you Saturday."
"See you then," Ulrich waved, as Sissi skipped off. Once she was gone, he turned to Yumi, "Are you sure about that?"
"Yeah," Yumi calmly replied. "Sissi has every right to give you something on Valentine's Day."
"And William has that right, too," Ulrich told her. Yumi raised an eyebrow. "He's behind you."
Yumi turned around and, sure enough, was greeted by William approaching her, in his arms that bouquet of roses. "Hey, William."
"Hey, Yumi. These are for you." He held out the bouquet.
This time, Ulrich managed to hold back his own green-eyed monster as he watched Yumi take the roses with a smile, "Thank you. They're lovely. How did you know I liked roses?"
"I didn't," came William's response. "I just assumed–" He cut himself off, seemingly debating, before he corrected himself, "I mean, it's just for tradition, because today is Valentine's Day." Good, Odd told himself, he didn't make the same mistake as before. "Maybe next year, I'll actually give you your favorite flower."
"If you can guess what my favorite flower is, of course," Yumi playfully retorted.
"Challenge accepted," William winked, before waving goodbye. "I have to go do some homework. I'll see you later."
"Bye," Yumi waved in return.
Once William was out of sight, Ulrich asked, "Are you hoping he actually guesses correctly? Or are you just messing with him?" Judging by the look on his face, he already knew what her favorite flower was.
Yumi shrugged, as she sat down next to Ulrich, "I just want to see if he's able to get them. Why? What do you think my favorite flower is, Ulrich?"
The brunette answered without missing a beat, "Japanese cherry blossoms, because they're a symbol of your homeland."
There was a blush on Yumi's face as she smiled. He actually remembered the passing comment she had made two years ago.
Ulrich smiled when he saw her smile, and he asked, "I wrote you a poem, y'know, a different one that last time. Would you like to hear it?"
"Sure," Yumi replied, and closed her eyes to listen to his soft words.
"'If I steal from you, like a thief of hearts, the scents of all sorts of flowers; If I do it stealthily, it's because I'm captivated, I wouldn't dare get too close; But your smile is a weapon, you whose charms I desire; I know I'm on borrowed time, oh you, pretty Yumi'," Ulrich recited.
On Yumi's face was a deep blush, "Ulrich, that was...beautiful..."
"And it's all for you." Yumi promptly gave him a kiss on the cheek, and Ulrich's blush mirrored hers.
The other three were smiling. "I'm glad you two chose to be honest this time," Odd admitted. "See how much better it is when you don't try to make each other jealous?"
Yumi and Ulrich both sent Odd glares.
"That was a beautiful poem, Ulrich," Jérémie admitted. "And speaking of gifts," he dug into his school bag and brought out a small, flat, rectangular box wrapped in blue paper, "this is for you, Aelita. Sorry, it took so long."
Aelita frowned, "But, Jérémie, I didn't give you the necklace."
But the blonde genius's smile never faltered, "I know. I started suspecting it when you and Laura Gauthier were both sent to the principal's office. You two were being very loud." Aelita ducked to hide her blush of shame. "But you did get me a gift, Aelita. You saved my life." From the Scyphozoa, he meant. "And that's the best Valentine's present I could ever hope for."
Smiling, Aelita took the present from him and took off the wrapping paper, revealing a CD, "This is a CD of..."
"The Rolling Stones," Jérémie confirmed. "Your father introduced them to you." It was something she let slip last year during one of their many chats from her computer. "It's the same album you were talking about, the one your father wouldn't let you take to Kadic with you. But now, you have your own copy."
This was very sweet. He actually remembered that little detail about her, one that she only mentioned once. It wasn't the CD's monetary value that matter to her; it was the gesture of him remembering that it was important to her.
Because of that, she smiled, before suddenly wrapping her arms around him in a hug.
"I'll take that as a 'thank you'," Jérémie softly quipped.
Aelita nodded, "Yes, thank you!" She loosened the hug to look at him in the eyes, "But I thought you didn't have any money."
"Odd helped with that," Jérémie admitted, and her cousin smiled at the deserved credit.
Odd confirmed, "I just paid for it. It was all Jérémie's idea."
"Still, thank you," the pink-ette said, before seeing out of the corner of her Hervé and Laura both approach them. Knowing what they were about to do, and not wanting a repeat of the fight between Ulrich and Yumi during the first take (just with different characters), she stood up from the bench, "But I don't think a hug will suffice as proper gratitude. Follow me, Jérémie."
Confused, Jérémie stood up and followed her to a place in the courtyard that wasn't far from the others, but also where Hervé and Laura could clearly see them. "What's up?" he asked.
She didn't respond with words, but rather with grabbing both of his cheeks with her hands and then placing her lips solidly on his. Jérémie immediately froze upon contact, but that didn't bother Aelita at all. She only focused on Hervé and Laura's shocked faces as they chose to accept defeat and retreat.
Feeling victorious, she turned back to Jérémie, "That's better. Thank you for the CD, Jérémie. Um, Jérémie?" He was frozen in place, his face a deep crimson. She poked his cheek, "Jer, you still in there?"
He seemed to snap out of whatever stupor he was under, "Uh, y-yeah! I-I j-just–!" But he was stuttering, uncontrollably at that. Aelita smiled as she remembered that Jérémie just had his first kiss, and this was his reaction.
So Jérémie was just naturally shy around girls, especially girls that he liked.
The others, apparently, learned this too, as they were grinning widely. "Looks like Prince Charming should be called 'Shy Boy' instead," Odd joked.
Aelita just giggled at Odd's joke as she slung her arm through Jérémie's, "Come on. Let's go sit down."
Speechless, Jérémie nodded and let her lead him back to the others, where more teasing undoubtedly awaited him.
Personally, Aelita didn't care. He was now known as hers, and hers alone.
His shyness was just a nice little bonus.
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
Next Episode: 22 - Favorite Hobbies / When the topic of personal hobbies comes up, Jérémie is naturally torn between finding one for himself and focusing solely on XANA.
A/N: Episodes Referenced: "A Great Day" (again)
February 14, 2007 was indeed a Wednesday. I checked (unlike the show). Also, with this, you guys now have a solid idea of the date (more specifically the year).
Yes, this Laura is the same one from canon's Evolution, and what better introduction in this AU than to emphasize Aelita's jealous tendencies when it comes to Jérémie? But don't worry; Laura will appear in later episodes and her purpose won't be to just emphasis Aelita's jealous side. Also, the situation here between Theo and Laura is very similar to Aelita and Taelia. They're confirmed to not be related in canon, but in this AU, they are.
You're welcome for putting in the Ulumi boiler room scene. I know it's a fan favorite. Also, Ulrich's poem in the end scene is his poem in the French dub.