The Boy in the Computer

by SepticAbzies

When Aelita Schaeffer discovers a boy inside of a really cool supercomputer, the lives of her and her friends are changed forever. / Jerlita Roleswap AU / Current Episode: Echoes / Full Story: Completed

63. 61: Blue Planet

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 FP7ETDP43

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

"Odd begs Yumi to hide Kiwi at her parents' house for a dorm inspection. Meanwhile, Jérémie gets mail from an anonymous sender."

Episode 61: Blue Planet

(Based on A Space Oddity & Guided Missile)

Jim was walking around the cafeteria with a box full of mail, as the students ate their respective breakfasts. It was the daily mail call, something only boarders who had good relationships with their parents really looked forward to.

"Romain Le Goff."

"Here," Romain said.

After handing the boy his letter, Jim called out the next name, "Aelita Schaeffer."

The pink-ette was sitting at a table with her friends (sans Yumi). "Here, Jim!" she raised her hand. He walked up to her and handed her an envelope. "Thank you."

"Yannick Piranet."

"Here I am." And Jim moved on.

Aelita showed her friends the return address on the letter she just got, "It's from Taelia." The two wrote to each other frequently like pen pals did.

"Lucky dog," Odd complained. "You get a letter from your cousin, William gets a postcard from his father who's on a business trip, and Ulrich gets a letter from his maternal grandparents telling him that they're looking forward to seeing him over Christmas break. I haven't gotten anything! It's not fair!"

"Be patient, Odd," Jérémie gently reassured him. "There's still hope; the mail call's not over yet. Besides, I haven't gotten anything either."

Odd's response was nonchalant, "'Cause you don't know anyone else besides us."

Jérémie's comforting smile immediately turned into an upset frown. As he hung his head, looking down at his tray, William kicked Odd in the shin. The Italian boy glanced up to see the other three all giving him disappointed glares for upsetting Jérémie.

"Oh, sorry, Jer," he promptly apologized. "I-I didn't mean it that way."

The young genius faked a smile, "It's okay." No, it wasn't. The fact that he never got mail always bothered him, and the others knew it, even if he never said anything out loud.

But then, Jim walked back up to their table. "Jérémie Belpois, there's a postcard for you." He handed the boy a postcard with a photo of a moose within a forest on the front, before continuing with the mail call.

Jérémie eyed the postcard with surprise, "For me...?" Sure enough, it had his name on it as the recipient.

The others were surprised too. Ulrich leaned in closer to him, "Well, who's it from?"

"I have no idea," the blonde replied. "There's no signature."

"I bet it's from XANA," Aelita softly joked, looking at the postcard from over his shoulder. "It must be on vacation or something."

"'Hi, Jérémie. Thinking of you in Montréal. Warmest regards'," he read aloud. "It's bizarre. I never get anything..." The nature of his current identity, as well as the reasons for it, made that inevitable and understandable.

"What's really bizarre is that nobody spared a thought for me!" Odd replied, continuing to complain about his own lack of mail. "I wouldn't mind getting something, signed or not!"

As soon as he said that, Jim placed a package in front of Odd. "Finally, this is for Odd Della Robbia! Last, of course, like he is in everything!" He then walked away, the mail call officially over.

Odd immediately smiled brightly, "Well, it's about time! I was wondering how long my parents would forget their favorite son!"

"Aren't you their only son?" William asked, as Odd picked up the package and inspected it from all sides.

"Hush!" the Italian boy retorted. "I bet it's packed with lots of goodies too!" He set it down and used his breakfast knife to slice the tape open. "But don't worry, I'll be sure to share with you guys. As you know, I'm very generous by nature." He opened the box and saw two filled jars and a letter, all amidst some sort of packing paper. He took out a jar and the envelope. "Is that all there is? Pâté for Kiwi and nothing else?"

"Makes you wonder who their real son is," Ulrich amusedly quipped. "You or Kiwi!"

Aelita and William all laughed alongside Ulrich. Meanwhile, Jérémie kept most of his attention on the mysterious postcard.

Odd placed the jar back before opening the envelope. "'Odd, we know we already sent you this month's allowance, but here's a little extra money because we'll be late coming home for Christmas break. Love, Papa and Maman'," he read. He shrugged, "See? They didn't forget about me after all."

The bell rang, signaling that breakfast hour was over.

Odd took the box into his arms. "Gotta go. I want to put this stuff in my room before class." He then walked away, leaving his friends to their own devices.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

As Odd was placing the two jars of pâté in the drawer above Kiwi's, said dog was running around on the floor in a circle, barking with excitement. He could obviously see and smell the food, and now he wanted it. After a moment, Odd decided to open one of the jars. He struggled a bit, but when he got the lid off, he immediately held the jar away from his face, disgusted.

"Whoa, that stinks!" he muttered. "No normal dog would ever eat this stuff..."

Suddenly, someone began banging a fist on the closed door. "Stern! Della Robbia! What's going on in there?" Jim's voice demanded.

It surprised Odd how fast he could move. He quickly closed Kiwi's drawer with the dog inside, before opening the door. "It's just me in here, Jim. Ulrich's out."

The man stepped into the doorway. "Did I hear barking in this room?"

"Of course!" To say otherwise would be lying.

Jim walked into the middle of the room. "It sounded like a dog." He placed his hands on his hips as he looked at Odd.

"It was me."

Jim lowered his stern glance into a glare. "You trying to make fun of me, Della Robbia?"

"No, it really was me," Odd continued. He held up the jar he just opened, "Whenever I eat this, uh, homemade pâté my mother makes, that's what happens." He held the jar up to Jim's intrigued face. "Ruff, ruff!"

Jim sniffed the contents of the jar, "Hm. Well, one thing's for sure: it smells good!"

He liked it?, Odd immediately thought. This was his chance to get rid of the stuff. "In that case, here, take it as a present, Jim."

"Oh, I couldn't do that, Della Robbia," Jim replied. "Your mum made it for you. I wouldn't want to deprive you of it..."

"That's okay," Odd shrugged. "I insist! My mum always taught me to share things. Besides, there's plenty more where that came from." Truth. His mother would likely send him more, whether he asked for it or not.

Jim took the jar with a bright, excited smile. "In that case, that's very nice of you, Della Robbia!" He turned around to leave. "Unfortunately, it wouldn't give you a better standing in the surprise inspection Mr. Delmas and I are about to conduct..."

Odd immediately halted in his tracks. "Hold on...did you just say 'inspection'?"

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

He found the others in Aelita's room, all chilling out before classes. Aelita was working at her computer on the Skid's programs, Yumi and Jérémie were playing Go on her bed, and Ulrich and William were on the floor, reading comic books.

"This is it!" he announced the moment he opened the door, Kiwi hiding in his drawstring bag attached to his back. "It's the end of the world!"

They all turned to him. "What's wrong?" Ulrich asked. "They run out of meatballs in the lunchroom?"

"Almost as bad!" Odd closed the door behind him. As he set Kiwi free, he explained, "I just ran into Jim! He and Delmas are making a surprise inspection of the dorms!"

Jérémie blinked in slight surprise, "But...didn't they make one a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah, but this time, they're looking for appliances that could be fire hazards!" Odd replied, still upset.

"So?" Aelita asked him, not seeing the problem. "There's nothing dangerous in any of our rooms—no portable stoves, no electric coffee makers, not even an electric kettle!"

"I know," Odd finally revealed the issue, why he was freaking out, "but the problem is: what do I do with Kiwi?!" He gestured to the dog that was curling up on the ground, as if about to take a nap.

"Do we have enough time to take him to the factory before math class?" Jérémie asked.

Aelita looked at her computer's clock, "In ten minutes?"

Well, that idea was out. That wasn't enough time.

"I could take him there," William offered. "Yumi and I don't have class for another hour."

"No! I don't want to leave him alone in that cold factory!" Odd quickly cut in. "He hasn't been himself lately!" He dropped to his knees, begging. "It's all over! He's gonna end up at the pound! Or worse, in some traveling circus, strapped to a rocket and shot out of a cannon!"

William blinked, "That's, uh, oddly specific..."

An idea came to the Italian boy's mind, "Unless!" He began pleading, "Yumi...you and William don't have class for another hour. Could you...uh..." He grinned nervously at her, still in a begging pose.

But Yumi raised a finger, warning, "Don't even think about it."

"Yumi, please?" He gestured to his dog, still curled up on the floor. "You're his only hope...!"

"The answer is no!"

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

Jim and Mr. Delmas were walking along the hallway. Delmas was carrying a large box, a coffee machine, and an electric kettle.

"Ah, good old surprise inspections, I love 'em," Jim was saying. "They make even the cloudiest days sunny! Look: we've already dug up an electric coffee maker, an immersion heater, and a twelve-person fondue set! It's like being on a grand adventure: here, for example, in your daughter's room..."

He opened Sissi's door, and the two men entered the room. It had been cleaned.

The gym teacher continued, "We're like what you would call explorers of strange and mysterious worlds, facing the unknown. Who can say what we'll encounter just behind this door?" He opened up Sissi's closet. "A box of matches? A defective curling iron? Some cooking appliance devised by the degenerate mind of a crackpot scientist?"

There were five Polaroid photos hanging in the closet, attached to the bar via tape, and Jim took notice of them with interest. The first was of four dads carrying their children on their shoulders in what appeared to be a race. Delmas and Sissi were at the front. Everyone in the photo looked happy.

The second was Delmas in a party hat and with a party horn in his mouth, holding a glass of drink. There was confetti in the air around him.

The third was Delmas in a line of men all dressed as penguins, doing some sort of dance and enjoying themselves.

The fourth showed a young Sissi next to her father during a dinner party. The headmaster, glass in hand, was standing up and ready to give what seemed may have been a hilarious toast.

The fifth, and final, photo showed Delmas dressed as Père Noël (the French version of Santa Claus) with a young Sissi.

Jim began chuckling. While certainly sweet photos, they were also hilarious. "I would never have guessed! For a stern school principal, you're a million laughs!"

Delmas just frowned and hummed disapprovingly, clearly embarrassed.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

Odd had not once relented from begging. "Please take Kiwi to your house, Yumi! Take pity of a poor, defenseless puppy!"

"Odd!"

"Yes?"

"You know if there's one thing my father can't stand," Yumi reminded him, "it's pets that shed their hair all over the house, chew on furniture, do their business...!"

"Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty please!"

Yumi blamed her willingness to help her friends whenever they needed it. She gave a disgruntled sigh as she relented, "Okay, Odd. You win. But you owe me big for this."

That was fine with him. "Oh, thank you, Yumi! Nothing can stop me from kissing you!"

He leaned in to kiss her, but she leaned back and held up a hand to stop him. He ended up kissing her open palm instead.

"Well, I can!" she replied.

A rough hand came down on Odd's shoulder and pulled him away from Yumi. It was Ulrich, who angrily muttered, "As can I!"

Yumi blushed in response. The other three could barely hide their resulting snickers.

She managed to hide Kiwi inside her backpack and sling it over her shoulder just in time for Jim to open Aelita's door, he and Mr. Delmas ready to inspect Aelita's dorm.

"Ishiyama, Della Robbia, Stern, Belpois, Schaeffer, and Dunbar," Jim commented. "The whole kebab! Now we just need to find the barbecue!" He laughed.

"Actually, I was just leaving," Yumi said, casually walking past the two men out the door. "See you guys later!"

And Jim and Delmas remained none-the-wiser.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

Yumi recalled Odd's words as she made her way to her house.

"Don't just give him any old thing to eat. Only steamed, organic vegetables and foods high in fiber. And no potato chips! He can't digest them. And no mustard, whatever you do. And by the way, he hates household appliances, like vacuum cleaners. The noise drives him nuts."

The moment she was inside her room, she opened her backpack, letting Kiwi out. "Okay, the coast is clear." Kiwi began running around, barking. "Shh! If my dumb brother hears you, he's bound to say something like, 'what's that ugly mutt doing here?'."

As if on cue, she heard Hiroki ask from her open doorway, "Hey, what's that ugly mutt doing here?" He walked into the room. "You know Oto-san can't stand dogs, right?"

"I know, but it's a favor for a friend, who owes me big time for this," she explained. "This is Kiwi, Odd's dog. Hiroki, promise you won't say anything."

The boy looked from Kiwi, who was wagging his tail, back to Yumi, and smiled, "Okay, but only if you do my math homework for a year."

"A day."

"A week."

"Three days."

"Deal!"

She walked towards the door. "You're such a little crook, but I don't have a choice. You may not have any classes today, but I still do. So, look after Kiwi 'til I get back, okay?" She walked out the door.

"Huh?"

She stuck her head inside the room again. "Oh, and don't give him any steamed vegetables. It seems he can only eat chips and mustard. Got that?" Part of her was definitely salty at Odd, but feeding a dog only vegetables was not good for them.

Hiroki frowned as his sister left. With no other choice, he turned to the dog, "Don't worry about a thing, uh..." What was his name again? "Lichi." Close enough. "I'll take good care of you."

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

Mrs. Meyer drew diagrams and equations on the chalkboard during her lecture, "Alright now, let's concentrate on this exercise. In a normal orthogonal figure, OIJ, on given points ABC, we first set up the points on a diagram."

Jérémie paused his notetaking to watch Aelita take notes.

"Then, we calculate the lengths, AB, AC, and BC."

Aelita noticed Jérémie leaning towards her and looked up at him. He quickly hunched back over his own notebook.

"Then, on the diagram, we place point D, so that the vector AB equals the vector BC."

Jérémie turned around to talk to Ulrich and Odd, both at the table behind him and Aelita. "I missed the beginning," he whispered. "Is it okay if I look at your paper real quick?"

"But why?" Odd whispered back. "It's all on the blackboard."

"I know, but it tires my eyes too fast," Jérémie quietly replied, before taking a page of notes from Ulrich's side of the table. He smiled at them, before turning back to the front to read it.

Ulrich and Odd exchanged a confused glance, neither of them sure what that was about.

Aelita, being the genius's deskmate, noticed him bring out the Canadian postcard from underneath his notebook. "Hey," she quietly asked him, "what are you up to, Jérémie?"

"Nothing," he replied, just as quiet. "I just want to know who sent me the postcard." Could they really blame him for being so curious? He didn't think so.

"And you think it was us?" Aelita softly questioned. "Just look at the postmark. It's Canada, not Kadic Academy. And besides, I think you'd be able to recognize all of our handwriting at this point."

The blonde sighed, "I guess you're right. It's just a real mystery."

Mrs. Meyer evidently heard that last part, "I don't see anything mysterious about it, Mr. Belpois. You simply have to concentrate."

He ducked in embarrassment, "Uh, yes, ma'am."

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

Odd left the classroom as soon as the bell rang. He ran out into the courtyard and over to Yumi, who was chilling with William by the vending machines. She sipped from her soda as Odd ran up to her.

"There you are, Yumi! Well?" he asked.

"No sweat," she assured him, as Ulrich joined them. "Hiroki's watching him."

That was the wrong thing to say. "Hiroki?! Are you nuts? Did you forget what happened to poor Jean-Pierre?!"

Jean-Pierre was the name of Odd's Tamaguchi, the one he had since childhood. But he was becoming too obsessed with it, and fearing his mental state, the group had devised a plan to get rid of his addiction. Said plan resulted in Jean-Pierre being kidnapped from under Odd's nose one night and given to Hiroki the following day. However, Hiroki ended up tripping and the Tamaguchi fell on the ground, only to be promptly run over by a passing car.

"Jean-Pierre?" Jérémie asked, he and Aelita joining the group. "The principal?"

"No, Odd's Tamaguchi," Ulrich was smiling in amusement. "Sad, we're still in mourning." He and Yumi began to chuckle.

"It happened about a year before we found you," Aelita told the young genius. "I'll explain later."

Odd pulled out his cellphone, "I don't see what's so funny!"

"What are you doing now?" Ulrich asked.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," William stepped in. "Yumi would kill Hiroki if anything bad happened to Kiwi, you know that."

"Not good enough." But Odd still dialed the number for the Ishiyama's landline.

"Sorry, our kitchen's already fully equipped," Hiroki said when he picked up. He clearly thought Odd was salesperson or something, given how he didn't recognize the number.

"Wait a second! Don't hang up, Hiroki! This is Odd!"

"Oh, hi! Don't panic! He couldn't be better!" He heard Kiwi barking in the background, so he was inclined to believe the young boy.

"Listen, I just want to make sure you have a complete list of what he can and can't eat," Odd began.

"Relax, you have nothing to worry about, I'm telling you! See ya!" Hiroki then hung up.

Yumi was unimpressed. "Gee, nice to know you trust me, Odd."

"But you don't understand! Kiwi happens to be very sensitive when it comes to his diet!"

"'Sensitive'?" Ulrich asked, deadpan. "We are talking about the same dog, right?"

"Yeah," William agreed, "your dog will chew on almost anything you put in front of him."

"Because he's a dog!" Odd defended. "You know how dogs are!"

"Relax, Odd, everything will be fine." William suggested, "Why don't you focus on other things for now?"

Aelita's laptop, from inside her bag, beeped. The pink-ette sat down on the nearby planter to pull it out and check out the new alert. She smiled, "Guess what, everybody! The supercomputer has just picked up a new Replika on the network!"

"Things like that," William gestured to the laptop.

"Who's up for skipping afternoon classes to take it out?" Aelita asked.

"That means William and I need to come up with a new excuse to get out of Mirti's class again," Yumi said, sharing a knowing glance with her classmate.

"You won't be missing much," Odd told them, "except maybe a little nap. Everyone sleeps during his classes anyway."

"I've gotta stop by the library first," Jérémie admitted, "but I won't be long."

Aelita closed her laptop, "Well, you all know where to meet up!"

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

And that was the factory.

In the process of virtualizing Ulrich, Yumi, and Jérémie, Aelita said from the controls, "I don't have to remind you all that the more Replikas we destroy, the more we weaken XANA."

Odd and William were waiting in the scanner room for their turn. "Of course you don't, Superstar," Odd replied. "And you don't have to remind us that if we can find the new supercomputer, we might be able to figure out what XANA's plotting."

"Or another piece of the puzzle, at least," William added.

"You'd get perfect grades if you were as good as that in school," Aelita quipped. "Virtualization!"

Ulrich, Yumi, and Jérémie appeared in the sky of Sector Five's Arena, before dropping down to the ground. As they got to their feet, Aelita sent the other two.

"Virtualization!"

Odd and William also appeared side-by-side before landing near Yumi.

"Everybody make it okay?" Aelita asked, as the knight got to his feet.

"I'm good," Odd, still crouched, worriedly replied. "As for Kiwi, I'm not so sure..."

Yumi scoffed, "Chill out, Odd! He couldn't be in better hands!"

Fortunately, Jérémie cut in, gently, "Can we please focus on the mission?"

"Yeah, let's go!" Yumi replied, before following the elf out the passage that just opened for them, the others on their heels.

In no time, they had reached the Skid Hangar and were now on the teleporter spots, with Jérémie in the center like usual.

"We're here, Aelita," Ulrich reported.

"Okay, here we go. Energize!"

The five were all promptly teleported to their respective cockpits.

"Prepare for lift-off. Releasing docking supports."

The support arms withdrew from the Skid, and Jérémie tilted the joysticks back, lifting the ship up. It exited the Hangar out into the Celestial Dome, entering the tunnel Aelita opened up and emerging out into the Forest Sector.

"Ready to dive," Jérémie reported, before plunging the Skid into the Digital Sea.

"Holoweb system, online. Jérémie, I'm entering the coordinates of the new Replika."

"Roger."

The entrance to the network opened as they approached. Once they were on the other side, it closed behind them.

Jérémie pulled a lever, "Rotation," switching the Skid to horizontal mode. "Powering turbo-prop and auxiliary generators." The propeller started up, pushing them through the water.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

Kiwi stuck his head out of the now-empty bag of chips, wagging his tail.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know what you want." Hiroki held up an unopened bag of chips, "You want some more of these! But I've got a surprise for you, this time. These are chips with mustard!"

Kiwi barked happily. As he dug into his treat, Hiroki wandered off.

When the dog finished his chips, he tried to shake the empty chip bag off his head, but it stayed. He took off in fear, before running straight into the leg of a chair, and barked in surprise. He whined, shook his head, and tried to scratch the bag off, but to no avail. He ran around in circles, whining.

He ran out into the living room, where Hiroki was at the table, playing his favorite racing game (Tutur 2000) on his GameBoy Advance. The dog barked, with the chip bag still stuck on his head.

Hiroki didn't look up from his game, "A little patience, Lichi. I'll play with you as soon as I finish this game."

Kiwi soon ran into a cabinet and knocked down a bonsai. Hiroki immediately glanced up when he heard the crash, and finally saw what was going on, as well as the mess. The dog shook his head again, still distressed because the bag still hadn't come off, before running out of the room.

Hiroki quickly followed, just in time to witness Kiwi run straight into the side of the stairs and collapse, back legs in the air.

Here, the boy stepped in, picking up the dog and finally taking the bag off, letting the dog see again. He gently pet the dog's head, "Poor Lichi. Those chips didn't agree with you, did they?"

Kiwi barked and jumped out of Hiroki's arms, landing on the floor.

Not wanting to leave the dog alone again, in fear of making a bigger mess than Oka-san's bonsai, Hiroki suggested, "Hey, what do you say we play ball?"

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

The Skid approached the entry portal of a Replika. "Replika in sight, Aelita."

"Roger that, Jérémie. I'll unlock the portal as soon as you're connected," she replied.

Jérémie addressed the others. "What do you guys think it's gonna be this time around? Last chance to guess."

"No idea," Aelita said, shrugging.

"It might be a Replika of the Ice Sector," Yumi offered.

"My guess is a copy of one we've already destroyed," Ulrich added. "We don't know if there's only one copy per sector." No one could deny that he made a good point.

"Or maybe it's a brand new sector," William cut in, his voice holding a hint of excitement. "One we've never seen before."

"Oh, that would be interesting. What do you think, Odd?" Ulrich asked his roommate.

"I think I should have bought him more tofu kibbles..."

"Stay focused, Odd," Aelita warned. Her cousin was obviously referring to Kiwi, and now, he was just too worried.

Jérémie stopped the Skid outside the portal, switching it to vertical mode. He then scanned his hang on the touchpad in front of him, "Digital Key, activated."

The Skid fired a beam of light at the portal.

"Just give me a minute or two and we'll see what this Replika looks like," Aelita said, working on cracking the access code. In just a few seconds, she pressed the 'enter' key, "Got it! Open sesame!"

The beam of light disappeared and the portal opened. The Skid went inside, emerging out of the water in a pale indigo landscape that indicated it was meant to be the Mountain Sector. But there were no platforms anywhere, which meant no towers to moor to. Instead, there was a large sphere in the sky above them.

"What do you know?" Jérémie revealed. "We were all wrong. Welcome to a Replika of Sector Five."

The Skid flew up to the sphere, before entering the Celestial Dome through a hole in the side.

"I've spotted a tower in the Core Zone," Aelita said. "It can be reached from the north pole. I'll guide you in so that you can get to it."

Jérémie released the joysticks, "Gotcha, Aelita. You're in the driver's seat," not wanting to fight her on this.

Using the remote-piloting program, the angel carefully maneuvered around the top of the dome, before entering through a hole in the ceiling. On the real Lyoko, it was for the Skid Hangar, but here, it was the entrance to a tower room, an exact copy of the one they already knew.

"Nice piloting, Aelita," Jérémie complimented her. "We're in a room exactly like the ones in Sector Five. Tower dead ahead." It was hard to miss. "I'll take over from here."

"Okay, Jérémie, do your stuff."

The elf steered the Skid around the tower, before tapping the touchpad, "Docking." The Skid was now properly moored.

"Perfect," Aelita replied. "Anybody wanna volunteer for Translation?"

"I do, Captain Superstar!" Odd saluted, winking.

"Give the bad jokes a rest, Private," the pink-ette. "Ulrich, William, you two–"

The samurai cut her off, "Stay here and guard the Skid. We know."

"You guessed it. I'm activating the tower...now!" On cue, the tower's halo turned from white to green. "Ready for Translation?"

"Just say the word," Yumi shrugged.

"Translate Jérémie. Translate Yumi. Translate Odd."

The aforementioned trio promptly disappeared from their cockpits.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

She contacted them a few seconds later, "Odd, Yumi, Jérémie, do you guys read me?"

"We read you loud and clear, Aelita," Yumi replied.

"Great! Well, which continent did you land on this time?"

"None of them!" Odd answered, freaking his cousin out.

"What?! You mean you're in the ocean?!"

"Zero for two," Jérémie chuckled. "But we are floating."

The three were floating in zero gravity inside a space station. Yumi and Odd were both laughing joyfully. This was so much fun; they couldn't deny that.

"Outer space?" Aelita asked, amazed. "You guys are in outer space?!"

"That's more like it, Superstar!" Odd exclaimed. "We knew you'd figure it out sooner or later! For that, you've won a prize: a vacuum cleaner!"

"Amazing..." the pink-ette muttered to herself, referring to them being in space, not her cousin's jokes.

Jérémie floated up to a nearby window. "Hey, guys, come look at this." He beckoned his two friends over. Yumi and Odd both joined him, with the cat upside-down. "It's unbelievable..."

Through the window, they could see more parts of the space station, but most incredibly, Earth down below. They'd seen many pictures of this kind of view, but actually seeing it in person was a vastly different experience.

"It is," Yumi agreed, in awe at the sight. "It's beautiful, and yet, it seems so fragile..."

"To think that," Jérémie quietly said, "once upon a time, I never thought I'd be able to visit the world beyond my room..." That's right; him being deathly ill was the main reason he was so obsessed with space. "I'm thinking of taking the year between graduation and university off. Just to travel and explore the world..."

Yumi offered him a bright smile. "I'll be more than happy to tour you through Japan."

He returned her smile with one of his own, before turning back to the window to observe the planet in silence for a while longer.

But then Odd continued his earlier thought, upset, "...He gets sick even though I only feed him good healthy food. I wonder if he's coming down with something serious, or if there's something seriously wrong with him..."

"Well, what do you expect when you feed a carnivore on a vegetarian diet?!" Jérémie couldn't help but ask.

"Odd, you're looking at the most beautiful sight you're ever going to see," Yumi promptly scolded, "and all you can think about are your stupid cans of dog food?!"

"Kibbles!" Odd corrected. "I never Kiwi canned dog food." He then added, "And don't worry, Jer, I'll be your tour guide throughout Italy. And New Zealand. My family has a vacation home there."

Jérémie cracked a smile, "Thanks, I appreciate it."

"According to your coordinates," Aelita cut in, "it looks like you guys are on the International Space Station, four hundred kilometers above the Earth."

"That's great!" Odd joked. "We can meet some astronauts and get their autographs!"

"I wouldn't bet on that," Aelita, though unseen, was shaking her head. "The station is uninhabited right now. A new team is coming in about ten days."

"Good," Yumi replied, she and the two boys floating around in very relaxed poses. "That'll give us time to find the supercomputer and destroy it."

"Be on your guard, all the same," Aelita warned. "We can never be sure what XANA has up its sleeve..."

Odd pushed himself off the wall, pushing himself towards a doorway. "Up, up, and away! To infinity and beyooond!"

Yumi and Jérémie both followed him, laughing.

They quickly came upon an airlock door. Odd opened it and floated into the next room, with the other two not far behind him. Inside the room were many troughs, one of which had a production line of silver spheres rolling along it.

"Wow!" Odd exclaimed.

"Aelita, there's a line of little metallic spheres here," Yumi reported. "Like mini Megatanks."

"You think XANA's manufacturing those things?" Odd asked his two partners.

Jérémie just shrugged, while Yumi replied with, "No idea. Anyway, they look harmless enough."

"Maybe XANA's taken up bocce ball!" Odd jokingly suggested.

"If it is behind this," Jérémie warned, staring at the silver orbs with caution, "I wouldn't trust getting so close to them."

"Whatever the case, they're definitely not made to serve mankind," Aelita cut in. "Forget about them for now and go find that supercomputer."

Odd reached out to touch one of the spheres, but Yumi grabbed his arm, "No, Odd! Don't touch them! Jérémie's right, you never know!"

"Come on," said elf said, before he grabbed Odd's other arm. He and Yumi then pulled Odd away, causing him to cry out. They swam through the air and went through another door.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

Kiwi wagged his tail and raised his paw, waiting for Hiroki to throw the ball.

"Okay, ready?" He held up the ball, "Fetch! Go on!" He threw it.

Kiwi barked, running and catching it in mid-air. He then returned it to Hiroki, who applauded.

"Good dog! You did it again!"

Kiwi placed the ball at Hiroki's feet and raised a paw, ready to go again.

Just then, he heard a sound coming from the front of the house. The boy quickly ran over to the front window and peeked out of the blinds. Great. Just his luck.

His parents were home from their counseling session, having met up after his father was done with work. They were currently getting out of the car. Was it that time already? Why wasn't Yumi home yet?

Hiroki turned back to the living room in shock. He still hadn't cleaned up that bonsai, but now, there were also books, chip bags, and chips all over the floor as well. "Oh no!"

He would be at least busted for the mess, but he could still hide Kiwi.

Making his choice, he promptly scooped up into his arms and ran up the stairs to Yumi's room.

Outside, Takeho and Akiko walked up to the front door. Takeho put his briefcase down and pat all his pockets, "Now what did I do with my keys?"

"They're in your attaché case," Akiko amusedly replied.

"Of course," he playfully teased back. "Where's my head?"

"Maybe you left it with your keys," she smiled.

Their marital counseling sessions were working. They had done Takeho and Akiko some good, and had greatly improved their communication. They still fought, but it was now more along the lines of bickering rather than outright arguments that scared their kids.

Hiroki pushed Kiwi through the door to Yumi's room. "Stay here!" he instructed. Kiwi barked, so Hiroki put a finger to his lips, as he whispered, "Don't move and don't make a sound!" Then then closed the door.

He raced down the steps and began picking up the chip bags and a Go board that had fallen down during Kiwi's frantic attempt to get the bag off his head, along with the pieces, just as his parents unlocked the door and entered the house.

Hiroki froze as his parents entered the room. Takeho gave him a disapproving look, "Look at this mess. What's the meaning of this, Hiroki?"

"Welcome back," the boy forced a smile. "I wasn't expecting you so soon. Don't get stressed out, I-I'll have this all cleaned up in no time!"

"Mm-hmm," was his father's response.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

Ulrich and William stood side-by-side on the only platform in the room. They were keeping an eye out for any threats, but so far, nothing had shown up.

"It's weird," the samurai muttered. "Usually, XANA would have attacked us by now..."

"I know what you mean," the knight replied. "Things are a little too quiet around here."

Hearing something, the two looked up at the Skid in anticipation. A glowing, red ring formed several meters around the submarine and began contracting.

"Uh oh," William said. "Aelita, we've got a really huge problem!"

"I see it," she replied. "XANA must be trying to wipe out the Skid."

"If you have a solution, I'm all for it," Ulrich nervously commented.

"If this Replika is an exact copy of Sector Five," Aelita explained, "then it should function exactly like it did on Lyoko when XANA was still in control of it." A pause. "Ha! I was right! You have to trip a key to stop the mechanism! Do I have a volunteer to take care of it?"

"I'll go," Ulrich stepped up. "I'm the fastest."

"Good luck," William told him.

"You too."

"The key is directly across from where you're currently standing."

"Roger that. Supersprint!" He then sped out the open doorway, turning right and disappearing from William's sights.

He quickly came into a room, and started running across the single pathway to the next doorway. The blocks on the ceiling started descending, causing him to stop briefly.

"Oh, don't expect me to bow down to you, XANA," he growled, before Supersprinting the rest of the way, rolling through the door just in time to avoid getting crushed.

As he wiped his brow, he heard Aelita say, "Well done, Ulrich."

The samurai smiled before taking off again.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

Odd, Yumi, and Jérémie floated into a circular room, with several computer terminals in a ring in the center. The walls were covered in all sorts of pipes and cables.

"Aelita, I think we just found the supercomputer," Yumi reported.

"Perfect timing, because XANA's trying to wipe out the Skid," Aelita replied, sounding a bit stressed. "Be careful, though, to make it look like an accident. The space station is too well-known. We don't want any rumors about sabotage or accidentally cause an international incident."

Odd took on a thinking pose, one leg crossed over the other and chin resting on his hand.

"An accident..." Jérémie muttered.

"How do we do that?" Yumi asked.

"I hope your brother remembered to give Kiwi enough to drink..." Odd mumbled, still thinking about his dog.

Yumi frowned, "Seriously?! We're facing disaster and all you can think about is your dog?!"

"Water!" Jérémie suddenly interrupted. The two looked at him and saw that he had just got an idea. "Of course! We'll create some water damage!" He floated away to a nearby pipe, "There has to be water flowing through one of these things."

"Water damage?" Odd asked, not really following.

"We'll make it look like a pipe burst while the astronauts were gone," Yumi explained. "Nice thinking, Jérémie!" As Odd (now understanding the plan) floated over to a large pipe and pressed his ear to it to listen for water, Yumi floated to a different pipe.

"Don't thank me," the elf replied. "Thank Kiwi."

A computer screen nearby flickered to life, displaying the eye of XANA. Three metallic spheres rolled to the bottom of a ramp. After a moment, they started spinning and flew up into the air, going out the door the Translated trio went through.

"Guys, over here!" Yumi called the boys over to the pipe she was next to. "There's water in this one."

The eye of XANA was still on the computer screen, unnoticed by the teens.

"We're lucky the pipe is directly above the supercomputer," Odd said. "But I couldn't find a hammer to help us smash it open."

"Leave that to me," Jérémie said, before focusing in concentration to form a normal-sized hammer.

But before anything could form, the three silver spheres floated into the room. Yumi noticed them first, then Odd, and finally Jérémie who was pulled away by Yumi. The trio gasped with worry, as the spheres spun on the spot for a while. One of them suddenly grew spikes and moved towards the trio.

Yumi kicked Odd out of the way, "Watch out!"

"Hey! What'd you kick me for?! I didn't say anything!"

The spiked sphere stuck into the wall right where Odd had just been.

"Oh. Thanks, Yumi."

"Guys..." Jérémie warned, pointing at the other two spheres as they floated into the middle of the room and also grew spikes.

"Let's get outta here!" Yumi declared.

The trio pushed off the wall with their feet and swam to the next door. The sphere stuck in the wall retracted its spikes and the three spheres chased after the teens.

Odd was the last one inside the room they had retreated to. They all looked back in fear as the three spiked orbs came racing towards them.

"Odd, give me a hand!" Yumi ordered in a panic.

Together, the two pushed the door closed. Odd twisted the handle to lock it, just as the three spheres ram into the door on the other side. The cat and the geisha exchanged a worried glance.

"Great. Now what?" Jérémie asked.

The supercomputer, after all, was on the other side of that door, where the spike balls were.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

Takeho and Akiko watched Hiroki vacuuming the floor. He was almost done cleaning up the mess in the living room, when Kiwi began barking from Yumi's room.

"That's strange," Akiko turned to her husband. "It sounds like a dog..." And as far as she knew, her husband didn't care for dogs.

"Uhh..." Hiroki paused, thinking, before pressing the power button on the vacuum cleaner, changing it to a higher setting and making it noisier. He grinned nervously at his parents as his attempt to drown out Kiwi's barking failed.

In fact, it had just gotten worse.

Kiwi was pawing desperately at the closed door, almost howling. He didn't like vacuum cleaners; he hated the sound. Eventually, he gave up and covered his head with his paws, growling.

Takeho hummed, suspicious, and used his foot to switch off the vacuum cleaner, allowing Kiwi's howling to be heard clearer. Hiroki smiled nervously as his father frowned, before following the sound up to his daughter's room.

He opened the door, his wife at his heels. He looked around the room in confusion, because there was nothing. Kiwi then barked at his feet, and Takeho looked down to see the dog raise a paw.

He turned to his son for answers, "Hiroki?"

Said boy was hiding behind Akiko. "Heh...funny story, actually..."

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

Ulrich ran into another room, where there was a path all the way around the outside with a huge gap in the middle, and several doorways to choose from.

"Make the next left," Aelita told him.

The samurai ran in that direction, heading for a doorway, but he suddenly stopped and cried out in surprise, jumping backwards to avoid a laser from the Creeper on another part of the path. He dodged another shot.

Meanwhile, William had been teleported to the main cockpit of the Skid, typing a sequence into the keypad. The ring had contracted a fair bit, but was still a few meters away from the Skid. There was still time.

"Okay, Aelita," he reported, studying the nearby status screen. "I've finished typing in what you told me to. All of the Skid's energy has been transferred into the shields."

"Good job," she replied. "Let's hope they hold up..."

"They seem to be okay for now," he said, reading off the screen.

The Clone, in its Aelita mask, suddenly ran into the room and skidded to a stop at the edge of the platform.

"William! The Clone just showed up!" the real Aelita warned.

XANA-Aelita smirked up at the Skid before forming a large Energy Field, and then throwing it at the submarine. The cockpit shook on impact.

"Does this AI ever give up?" William muttered, before typing on the keypad. "Here we go."

He disembarked, teleporting down to the platform behind the Clone, just as it was forming another large Energy Field. He summoned his Zweihänder in a flash of light, before charging up and then firing an energy slash.

The Clone buckled briefly at the hit, before looking up at him, growling in anger.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

The metal spheres, still embedded in the door, began to turn red hot. To the teens' surprise, they started melting their way through the metal door.

"XANA's really having a ball!" Odd exclaimed. "And lots of them!"

"Stop the joking, Odd!" a panicked Jérémie immediately replied. "Those things can reverse the Translation!"

"He's right!" Yumi agreed, purposefully placing herself between the elf and the door. "And if we fail this mission, XANA wins!"

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

The ring grew smaller around the Skid. Lightning flew out of it and struck the submarine, damaging its shield.

"The Skid just lost one shield layer!" Aelita warned. "Ulrich, William, hurry!"

William ducked to avoid an Energy Field, "We're doing all we can, 'Lita!"

XANA-Aelita ran towards the edge of the platform and jumped off, to William's surprise. He quickly ran up to where it bailed, just to make sure the Clone was actually gone, only for it to fly back up using its devil wings and fired an Energy Field at him.

He attempted to use his Zweihänder to block the attack, but the force of it knocked him onto his backside and made him drop his weapon. He slid along the floor on his back, his Zweihänder far out of reach.

The Clone landed, de-summoning its wings, and ran up to his weapon, planting its foot on it as he sat up.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

The door was red hot and almost melted now.

"C'mon! Think!" Yumi urged the other two. They had to get out of this somehow. A supercomputer awaited destruction.

Odd rested his chin on his hand, thinking. That's when he spotted a lever on the wall. Quickly turned around to check what was behind them, he grinned. "It feels pretty stuffy in here. Let's air the place out."

This was the airlock. The lever, when pulled, would open it and depressurize the room.

"Odd, you can't do that!" Yumi immediately protested, looking horrified at the idea.

"That's dangerous!" Jérémie added, just as hesitant. "We could end up out there!"

The door had now melted, creating a gaping hole for the spiked spheres to get through.

Seeing this, Odd retorted, "If I don't, we're gonna be bowling pins!" He then pulled the lever, "Hang on tight!", as they all grabbed onto the walls of the room.

The airlock opened, as an alarm sounded. The air in the room and plenty of loose objects went rushing out into space.

"Hold on!" Odd screamed, as he, Jérémie, and Yumi desperately clung to the walls.

"That's all we're doing!" Yumi yelled back.

All sorts of objects and devices flew out the open door. The spheres struggled against the pull, but one by one, they were eventually flung out into space. Once all three were gone, Odd pushed the lever, closing the door.

"Ah, that's better!" Odd exclaimed. "Smells less like an astronaut's dirty socks in here now!"

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

The Creeper roared as it drew closer to Ulrich and fired again. The samurai ducked to avoid the laser and unsheathed a katana.

"It's time you stopped drooling over me, pal!" he said as he threw the katana across the room. It stuck into the Creeper, destroying it.

Ulrich activated his Supersprint again, running through the door that Aelita pointed out earlier.

"Not much further, Ulrich!" the pink-ette told him.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

The ring was less than a meter away from the Skid now, its lightning battering the shield. XANA-Aelita took notice of this and glanced up to check its progress. While it was looking away, William held out his hand and concentrated.

In a flash of light, his Zweihänder was back into his hand. The sudden disappearance of it caused the Clone to lose its balance and knock it over, making it land flat on its back.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

Ulrich entered a new room and stopped.

"The key's on the other side!" Aelita told him. "Better hurry!"

"I see it..." he muttered.

The key was in an alcove on the other side. Unfortunately, there was a huge gap between it and the platform that Ulrich was on. He didn't have a choice. He had to do this.

"Well, when you gotta go..." he hopped backwards several paces, "you gotta go...! Supersprint!"

Using his speed, he leapt off the platform and soared across the gap. Fortunately, he managed to catch onto the edge of the next platform. As he slowly pulled himself up, the ceiling and floor of the alcove started to close together. He Supersprinted to jump into the gap, before crawling along his stomach.

He pressed the key just as he was crushed.

The red ring around the Skid glowed white, before exploding with a flash.

Back on Earth, Ulrich reappeared in one of the scanners, on his knees. He was exhausted. "Now that's what I call..." he was breathing deeply, "being really pressed for time..."

"Good job, Ulrich," Aelita told him from the lab. "You did it."

The brunette managed a tired, yet accomplished smile.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

The Translated trio floated back into the supercomputer. Jérémie formed a hammer with his energy powers as he floated up to the water pipe.

"Hope they've got insurance," he quipped, before smashing the pipe, rupturing it.

He, Odd, and Yumi smiled as they watched the water float out of the pipe and into the air, like dozens of bubbles. Water splashed onto the computer screen with the eye of XANA on it, and it started to fizzle.

"It's working, Miss Einstein!" Odd reported.

Purple electricity crackled over the wet keyboard.

"Yeah, it's gonna blow," she replied. "I'll bring you all in! De-translate Jérémie. De-translate Odd. De-translate Yumi."

The supercomputer exploded in a bright flash.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

Odd, Jérémie, and Yumi all reappeared in the Skid, unconscious in their respective cockpits.

William tightly clutched the handle of his Zweihänder as the Clone quickly got back to its feet. It formed an Energy Field, but paused before being able to throw it. The energy weapon faded as it looked at the Skid, before glancing back at William. To the knight's (slight) surprise and relief, the Clone seemed to know that the Replika's supercomputer had been destroyed, and the fact that, once the other three regained consciousness, it would be severely outnumbered.

Accepting defeat, the Clone jumped off the platform a second time, but this time, it didn't activate its wings.

"Hey, Jérémie," Aelita called out to him, startling him awake, "I don't want to be a pain, but if I were you, I'd get out of there. And fast."

Right. The Replika was disappearing.

So Jérémie typed in a sequence, which embarked William, teleporting him back to his Navskid. Once one of the status screens showed him this, the elf said, "Okay, everyone's back on board."

The Skid disconnected from the tower—which turned back to the neutral white—before leaving through the ceiling. The submarine soon exited the Replika, which exploded behind them.

In the lab, Aelita leaned back in her chair, relieved. "That's one less Replika. Mission accomplished."

Beside her, Ulrich commented, "Not complaining, but that was...surprisingly easy."

And that was usually a sign that XANA had been holding back in order to surprise them the next time...

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

There was one more class to attend, but afterwards, the group was able to relax. Ulrich and William had both retreated to the library to complete today's homework. Aelita had gone to her room to work on programs. Yumi and Odd had gone off-campus to the elder's house. Meanwhile, Jérémie wasn't sure what to do to pass the time, but he had something he needed to get off his chest, just to make sure.

Jérémie knocked on Aelita's door. "Aelita? I think we should talk about everyone's plans for Christmas break..." There was no answer. "Aelita?" He carefully opened the door and stuck his head in through it, slightly worried. "Aelita...?"

He walked inside the empty room. Where was she? Was she getting a soda or something? Or the restroom? Very likely, meaning that she'd be back soon. But the possibility that XANA had attacked lingered. Knowing his former friend, it was unsafe to assume anything else.

As he looked around, his gaze passed by something on her desk, right behind her CPU.

It was a stack of blank postcards, as well as stamps, all from various countries, including Canada. That meant...

Just as he picked up the first one from the stack to study it, a voice came from the doorway, "So I've been found out, huh?"

He didn't look to see who it was, but he didn't have to. It was Aelita; her voice was very familiar to him.

Jérémie softly smiled, "Yes, you have, Miss Mysterious Postcard Sender."

"I can see that," the pink-ette replied with a knowing smile as she walked inside her room. "The hardest part was changing my handwriting. Like I said before, you recognize all of our styles by heart. And I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but if you do take a year off to travel the world, I'd be more than happy to join you for it all." She paused for a moment. "Was it worth it?" She was referring to the postcard.

"Of course it was," he softly replied, taking a step closer and finally looking into her eyes. "It reminded me that I'm not alone in the world, that someone cares about me."

He approached her, getting closer by the second, as a particular silence filled the room. It didn't take the pink-ette very long to realize what was going on: he was initiating a kiss (for once; it was usually her). And she let him.

The two just barely made lip contact when Jim entered the room, "Schaeffer!"

Jérémie and Aelita both immediately separated from each other with reddened faces, embarrassed at being caught. Especially since a boy and a girl alone in one room together, doing what they were just starting to do, was against the rules.

Fortunately, Jim didn't seem to notice, "I've been looking for your cousin for hours now! Have you seen him?!"

"Um, no," Aelita replied. "What has he done?"

"Nothing at all," Jim smiled, holding up a now empty jar. "I was just wondering if he had any more of that homemade pâté left." Jérémie and Aelita gave him blank stares, both knowing that it was dog food meant for Kiwi. "It was really delicious!"

The two geniuses stole a knowing, amused glance at each other, as Jérémie let loose a laugh.

On Aelita's face was a wide smile, "Sorry, Jim, but Odd's not here right now. He's out with friends. When he comes back, I'll tell him what you said to me."

"Thank you, Miss Schaeffer," Jim turned to leave, but he paused. "By the way, were you two...when I entered the room?"

The embarrassed blushes returned, as the two teens both wordlessly nodded.

Jim just smiled, "I knew it. Just keep the door open, don't do it at night, and don't take it any farther."

He then left, to the duo's shared relief.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

'Out with friends' meant Yumi taking Odd to the Ishiyama house so that he could pick up Kiwi. Knowing her friend was worried, she had offered to let him come with her.

As they approached the house, they noticed a car parked out front, and Yumi's own worry for Kiwi grew. "Uh-oh, my parents are home!"

"Yeah. And?" Odd asked, casually.

"Well, let's just say I wouldn't like to be Kiwi right now," she quickly explained. "Remember, my dad doesn't really like dogs."

Yumi opened the door, only for her and Odd to be faced with a pleasant surprise.

Takeho was on his back on the floor, laughing happily as he juggled Kiwi with his feet. "Nice little doggie. You love playing with your uncle Takeho, don't you?" He then laughed.

Apparently, Takeho Ishiyama was turned off by the amount of money required to take care of a dog more than the general idea of owning a dog. He loved dogs; he just wasn't sure a pet was in his family's budget.

And this made Yumi smile, before she cleared her throat. Meanwhile, Odd was also smiling, because it seemed like he had nothing to worry about; Kiwi was indeed just fine.

Takeho turned to them and caught Kiwi in his hands. "Oh, back already?" he asked, as he sat up.

"Uh, yes, Mr. Ishiyama," Odd replied. "I don't want my dog to be a bother to you, so uh...I'd like to take him home."

Takeho stood up, petting Kiwi's head, as Odd walked up, ready to take the dog from him. "Really? If you like, I could take care of him for a few days. Maybe a week or so..."

"Thank you, sir, but I missed him," was Odd's response.

Takeho handed Kiwi over. Odd cooed happily as he embraced his dog.

The man smiled, "I can understand that."

The two teens left the house, their new destination being Odd and Ulrich's dorm, when Akiko held them back, "Just a minute, Odd!" They turned back around, and Akiko offered the boy a tray of assorted kinds of sushi. "Here, take some sushi."

"Thank you, ma'am," Odd replied, "but I-I'm not crazy about raw fish."

Akiko smiled, "But it's not for you. It's for Lichi! He loves it, especially when it's got lots of mustard on it."

Odd smiled in return.

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

Next Episode: 62 - Distant Memory / Jérémie is forced to stay at Kadic alone over the holidays in order to keep an eye on XANA, to everyone's disdain but the AI's.

A/N: One thing from this chapter that should stand out to you is the fact that I've mentioned that Christmas break is coming up, more than once. That's on purpose; it's setting up the next chapter. There's also a hint as to what's going to happen. Also, the placing of this chapter being ahead of 'Distant Memory' is on purpose too. Trust me, it was originally after, but I got an idea concerning Kiwi in the midst of writing this AU's Season 2.

The XANA attack from 'Guided Missile' will be used in a side story that's on my to-do list, by request of someone. I originally left it out due to it being filler, but I chose to keep in the 'Jérémie-giving-Aelita-the-postcard' plot because it's incredibly sweet. Also, the kiss was inspired by a deleted scene (possibly the one that I wish they had kept in the most).