Early August

Setbacks

Aelita hummed a little tune while she worked. She was calculating the parameters for the virtualization of a tuft of hair from a chimpanzee. She smiled slightly, remembering how excited Jeremy was when he first managed to materialize one of her own hairs.

"That's a nice melody," said Dr. Singh quietly, startling the young genius. "What's it from?" Getting over her surprise, Aelita opened her mouth to respond, but realized she couldn't place the song.

"I don't really know," she relied honestly. She thought for a few more seconds before she realized that it felt like another fragment of a lost memory. She sighed and made a mental note to talk to Jeremy about it. He was always willing to listen, and sometimes he could even help her coax more detail out of resurfacing memories... but not always.

"Well, it's lovely," the doctor responded absently. The two of them sat in their own thoughts for a minute before Aelita looked up and saw that Dr. Singh seemed to be troubled herself. Putting the thoughts of her memories aside, she turned her full attention to her mentor.

"Is something wrong?" Asked Aelita. The older scientist sighed.

"I just got back from a meeting with the director..." she trailed off and spent a moment fiddling with a bracelet while a pit started forming in Aelita's stomach. "There have been some budget cuts..."

"Oh no..." groaned Aelita

"One of the places the board of directors made cuts is our department..." the Indian woman started tearing up as Aelita's suspicions started to make her blood run cold. "They're laying you off!" She suddenly wailed and rushed forward and threw her arms around her pink-haired protege, who suddenly felt numb. Aelita stiffly hugged her back for several seconds before she pulled away and found a nearby chair and sat down, staring at the floor.

"I... I don't even know what to say..." she muttered when she finally found her voice.

"They're giving you a week, but if you need the rest of the day off you take it."

"I think I'll do that, Thank you," Aelita replied, still flabbergasted.

"If there's anything else I can do to help... letter of recommendation, anything, just ask!"

"Thank you... I think I'm going to go home," the young woman excused herself and left the lab.

The wait for the bus and subsequent ride went by in the blink of an eye. When she arrived at her and Jeremy's apartment she sat on the couch and started going over their finances in her head... and didn't like the numbers she was coming up with... she slouched and stayed there for the next couple hours until she heard the door opening.

Jeremy opened the door and no sooner than he walked in he found his fiance's arms wrapped around his waist and her face buried in his shirt. Having no idea what was going on, he pulled Aelita closer while she continued to squeeze him tightly.

A few minutes later, he walked her back enough to close the door behind them, and guided her to the couch and both of them sat down.

"What's wrong, Aelita?" Asked Jeremy when his fiance seemed to have calmed down a little.

"I'm getting laid off..."

"Uh oh."

"I've got just one more week at the institute." Jeremy took a deep breath. "I've been running the numbers, and without me working I don't know how we're going to make ends meet with all our wedding expenses, much less the Lyoko Warriors' reunion next month!" Aelita wailed with tears starting to form in her eyes, and was taken aback when Jeremy lit up slightly.

"I completely forgot!" Aelita looked at him sideways in complete surprise. "I meant to tell you yesterday. Now that I've got my Doctorate, I'm getting a promotion... and it comes with a raise!" Aelita gasped and held her breath while Jeremy continued. "A hefty one." Aelita let out her breath. She felt slightly relieved, but still apprehensive.

"That's good... that's very good... how hefty?" She asked slowly.

"About twenty five percent, that'll definitely help!" Jeremy replied with a proud grin. Aelita quickly ran the adjusted numbers through her head and smiled slightly.

"It'll be tight, but I think we'll be ok."

"Yeah, and there should be enough for the wedding expenses too!" Exclaimed Jeremy, but Aelita sighed.

"But not for the reunion..." Jeremy's face fell.

"No..." the young genius reached over and pulled his fiance close. "We'll be ok," he whispered, and she buried her face in his shirt again and allowed herself to be comforted by his scent for the next several minutes.

"You know how I came to bed late last night?" asked Jeremy, after the two of them had separated. Aelita nodded, prompting Jeremy to continue. "After I got some more work done, I decided to start digging into Dr. Schmidt." Aelita's eyes widened slightly.

"What did you find out?" She asked slowly. The look of apprehension on Jeremy's face, had her feeling very nervous.

"That there's no record of him beyond 26 years ago..." A pit grew in Aelita's stomach that had unfortunately started becoming familiar.

"That's around the same time my father went into hiding..." she trailed off.

"I know," confirmed Jeremy. "He must have changed his name, and with it being that far back there aren't any records in any online databases of what he changed it from." Aelita sighed.

"So there's a good chance that he knew my father then. They're both German, Physicists, and left their homes and went into hiding around the same time." Jeremy nodded. "But we don't know the connection between him and my father, if any."

"No, but he's squeaky clean. There isn't even a parking ticket to his name, so I've got the feeling that even if we shouldn't trust him, I don't think that he means any harm."

"You're probably right," responded Aelita, seeing the logic in Jeremy's words. Thank you for looking."

"You're welcome, Aelita." The young blond genius kissed he fiance's forehead. "I think I'll make dinner tonight," he offered. "You've had a bit of a rough day." Aelita smiled at his consideration.

"Thank you, Jeremy." The young man got up from the couch and had just started heading to the kitchen when Aelita remembered something.

"Jeremy," she called out softly and he turned around. "I think I remembered something."

"What was it?" He asked, not needing to ask to know what his fiance was referring to.

"It was a melody. I think it was something my father must have played for me when I was little."

"How about you hum a little bit of it," suggested Jeremy and Aelita started to sing the slow, sweet song that she had been at work. While she sang, Jeremy looked at her thoughtfully until she was done.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that wasn't of your father," he said, surprising Aelita.

"Why would you think that?" She asked.

"Because every time you get a memory of your father playing music, it's always a happy, jumpy tune. This one's different," explained Jeremy.

"You're right!" Gasped Aelita.

"I'd guess that this is a memory of your mother." No sooner had the words come out of her fiance's mouth, Aelita vividly recalled a memory of being gently rocked on her mother's lap. She sweetly hummed a quiet lullaby while running her fingers through her hair.

"You're right... it was my mom." Tears started forming in Aelita's eyes. Memories of her mother were extra special because they were much more rare than ones of her father. She got up and wrapped her arms appreciatively around Jeremy. "Thank you, Jeremy."

You're welcome, Aelita. I love you... and we're going to get through all of this." The young woman smiled and was very glad that at least something good happened that day.

"I love you too Jeremy, I know we will."

A/N: Again, I'm sorry about the late update. Work has been a nightmare. While my chapter updates may be sporadic, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am dedicated to finishing this series. I refuse to cancel this story!