A/N: Behold, a collection of side stories for my Jerlita Roleswap AU—an alternate universe where Jérémie and Aelita have swapped roles, if you need a refresher. These are the stories that didn't quite make the cut for the main story "The Boy in the Computer", but are still canon to the general AU.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko in any way, shape, or form.

Chapters of TBITC to Read Before Reading This One: 1 – Ignition (Part 1), 38 – Jérémie

!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!

"An alternate perspective on Jérémie and Aelita's first meeting."

The Girl From the Outside

Episode 1.0: The Girl From the Outside

One moment, he only exists as numbers and codes within a shut-off supercomputer—barely existing at all. The next, he sleeps in a cylindrical structure located within a virtual mountain pass, the memories of his meeting with two parental-like figures now just a faded dream, gone just like them...

(To be honest, this is the most peaceful sleep Jérémie Périn has ever gotten. No memories and being completely alone means he can finally rest without a care in the world.)

"Wow! What is all this?! A video game?!"

Unfortunately or fortunately (he is unsure at the moment), this shout arouses the blonde elf boy from his slumber. He frantically looks around at the navy blue walls filled with windows of binary code—he doesn't know where he is. He briefly looks down at himself, his strange attire not phasing him at all—he doesn't know who he is.

He then looks out in front of him and is surprised to see a window showing a pink-haired girl sitting in a chair amidst a dimly lit room, with her beautiful green eyes framed in a surprised yet awed gaze—he doesn't know who she is either.

What is going on?!

"W-What?!" he asks. "Who are you? W-Where am I?" She must have the answers, right?

"Huh?" Apparently, she doesn't expect him to say that. "Well," she starts with his first question, "my name is Aelita Schaeffer, a student from the nearby Kadic Academy. As for where you are, you appear to be an artificial intelligence within this supercomputer. I-I just turned it on and you were there, sleeping."

Artificial intelligence? As in a computer program designed to act as a human but not actually a human? Interesting. And this supercomputer...she is right, he can feel the boundaries of it.

(They are vast, but he can feel, almost intimately, that this world he is currently occupying is indeed a virtual one, yet very special.)

"I see," he replies, grateful for her answers. "But I do not know of this...Kadic Academy that you speak of. Nor do I really understand your name. Could you please explain?"

"Well, I am a human being," she tells him, "and we humans really like naming things, you could say." Like files within a computer database? "'Schaeffer' is my family name, given to me by my father. 'Aelita' is my personal name, and these differ from person to person." Interesting. Does he have a name too? "As for Kadic, it's just the school I go to, because human children, like myself, are required to learn various life skills to prepare us for adulthood."

"And you go to a school to learn them? Interesting," he replies. "Do all humans have the same hair that you possess, or is everyone different in that aspect as well?"

A faded red color stains her cheeks, "N-No, e-everyone has different appearances. I-I got my pink hair f-from my mother." Her verbal glitch concerns him.

But his intrigue about her world easily overpowers it. If he is indeed an artificial intelligence, then she is the first human being he's met. And if every human is just as interesting as her, then he wants to know all about her world.

(But he doesn't feel comfortable being referred to as an 'artificial intelligence', and he doesn't know why. If he had his memories, he'd realize that it's because he's actually a human being, just like her.)

That is why he continues to ask her questions. He can't hold back his interest, and he can only hope that she doesn't mind explaining everything to him.

"So, only you have your appearance," he continues. She nods, her cheeks still a light red. "Interesting." He finds her pink hair...intriguing isn't the right word here, but he doesn't know any other word for it.

(He finds it cute. Same with her green eyes. He's attracted to her.)

"But I do not know what you mean by 'mother'." He really doesn't. "And earlier, you mentioned your 'father'. What are those exactly?" His confusion manages to overshadow the mild ache in his virtual heart when he thinks of those two words...

"Well, 'father' and 'mother' are, specifically, the two types of parents one can have," Aelita explains. "When a human male and a human female form a relationship, they can produce another human being. That human is then called their 'child'. In my case, my parents created me, a perfect mix of both of them. That's why my mother and I both have pink hair, but no one else. Together, the three of us are called a 'family'."

"I see. Is family only parents and their child?"

"Sometimes, yes," on her face is a smile, "but most children have siblings, as in other children produced by the same parents. I don't; I'm an only child. Some families also have pets. There's also the siblings of our parents and their offspring—aunts, uncles, and cousins. And grandparents, the parents of our parents."

He understands all of that, except for one part, "What are pets?"

"Oh, we humans aren't the only living beings here. Many animals live here too. Most are wild and live in their natural habitat, but some have been domesticated and live with humans. For example, my cousin has a dog."

"You have a cousin?" He'd like to meet them, if they are just as interesting as Aelita is.

"Yes, I have cousins galore!" she lets out a laugh. "My mother's sister has six children, while my father has four siblings and all of them have, between them, five children. The cousin I was referring to is from my mother's side. His name is Odd."

"'Odd'? Isn't that another word for 'strange'?" He's not mistaken. He knows he's not.

Aelita giggles, "Well, yes it does, but it's also a name common in Norway." He raises an eyebrow in confusion. Seeing this, she quickly explains, "Norway is a country here on Earth. Anyway, his name is Odd Della Robbia."

"He has a different family name than you do?" They are family, right? Why don't they have the same one?

"Yes. It's quite common with extended family, actually. When they get married, siblings take on the family names of their spouse if they so choose." She's leaning ever so closer to the screen—he notices here. Almost as if she's trying to close the distance between them. She changes the subject, "Anyway, Odd's dog's name is Kiwi. He brought Kiwi to Kadic with him because he said, and I quote, 'I couldn't just leave him alone'."

The elf boy finds himself chuckling in amusement, "They must have a strong bond."

"They do," Aelita explains. "Kiwi was Odd's very first friend, and Odd's family lives in Italy. Kadic is a boarding school located in France, a completely different country. Kiwi would likely suffer without Odd there so, even though pets aren't allowed at Kadic, I haven't sold Odd out yet. Besides, Kiwi considers me as a friend too."

That word baffles him. "'Friend'?"

(He's never had any. He's always wanted at least one. Someone, anyone, who understood him.)

"Oh," she seems to remember here how she found him, what he is. "That's right. You've never had friends before, have you?"

He shakes his head. He just woke up, after all. But he doesn't know why that word makes him sad, like he's lost all hope he's ever had...

She offers him a gentle smile, "A 'friend' is a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of romantic or family relations. Odd and I are cousins, yes, but we're friends, because we hang out all the time and we get along, most of the time. We also have two other friends we enjoy the company of, Ulrich Stern and Yumi Ishiyama." Her expression and voice both go soft, "Now, this doesn't apply to all friend groups, but for the four of us...well, you could say we are the school outcasts. There's something about each of us that doesn't really fit the status quo. Odd and I love all the music everybody else listens to, but I'm one of the top students of the entire school, much less my grade, and Odd loves to test how far the rules can bend before they break. Ulrich and Yumi both know martial arts and have their fair share of admirers, but neither are particularly big on socializing with other people. The four of us have all bonded over being the only ones who really understand each other."

(She's lucky, he thinks. He'd love to have her life. Not that he'd foist his own on anybody else, of course. But he just wants to be...normal.)

"Would you..." he almost backs out in fear of her answer, "consider us as friends too?"

To his relief, her smile remains as she shrugs, "I don't see why not." And with this, he feels a warmth bubbling up in his chest as his smile grows. He has a friend.

(Finally.)

She glances down at something in her hand, and what she sees makes her panic, "Oh, it's getting late! Sorry, but I have to go now!" She then gets out of her chair.

"Wait!" he cries out, unsure why he doesn't want her to go. She stops, fortunately, and turns back around to face him. "Y-You'll be...coming back, right?" He has to make sure.

Aelita smiles at him and nods, "Of course! I'll be back tomorrow, I promise. I have a free period after my Chemistry class."

He returns her smile, "I'll be waiting."

And he does. He counts the minutes and hours precisely until she returns.

At the moment, his existence is a simple one. Neither of them know that her next visit will reveal the existence of something else, something far more malevolent than he will ever be, and lead to the greatest adventure five teens will ever have in their lives.

But for now, it's just Jérémie and Aelita. And that's enough for him.

!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!

A/N: If you have any ideas for side stories of this AU, please let me know in a review or a PM.

Chapter Notes: It seemed appropriate that this be the first side story I posted, even if just to explain the title "The Girl From the Outside" and where it came from. If you didn't figure it out by now, it's a mirror of the title "The Boy In the Computer", because this story specifically provides another view of Jérémie and Aelita's first meeting. In TBITC, we saw Aelita's perspective. In this, we see Jérémie's.

If you haven't figured it out, the lines in parentheses are Jérémie Périn's thoughts. Everything else is Jérémie Belpois's thoughts (known at this point in time only as 'artificial intelligence', soon to be 'Marin'). The two thoughts are separate because Périn remembers (and is currently lost, so to speak), but Belpois doesn't.

And the thing in Aelita's hand that she looks at is her watch, in case you haven't figured that out yet.