Hi morf I hope you enjoyed this :D! Though I didn’t hit all of your points, I did my best to do your prompt justice.

This is a bit outside of my normal art stuff but I love road trips myself so. While things like coming up with adult(ish) designs and all the background stuff posed quite the challenge, I’m glad to have had the chance to take it on.

Here are a couple additional images–all the panels together, preliminary designs for the group circa mid 2010s, and an itinerary map of their trip, including some extra locations that I would route them through:

Finally, I could probably write a book on "things I missed and why", so for completion’s sake, if there’s anything glaring you’d like me to add (for anywhere) I’d be happy to do a couple extra panels !

lmk if you have any questions about any of this. I’ve got plenty of notes and details on the whole thing but I didn’t want to blab on here forever.!

---

Hours later, in the comfort of her room. Sissi’s mind kept returning to Aelita’s complement. She growled, throwing her heart-shaped pillow across the room. Huffing when it bounced back off her closest and nearly hit her.

Maybe she shouldn’t have ignored it.

Aelita probably had a barb ready for her if Sissi had reacted. Aelita had been getting better at those. Either she or one of her friends would have been ready with a joke at her expense. They always did.

They’d have laughed at her again.

But at least then she wouldn’t be still thinking about it in the middle of the night. She was going to have such bad bags in the mor-

Screaming.

Sissi didn’t even need to check where it was coming from. Even if she’d just woken up she wouldn’t have needed three guesses to work out who was making the racket. She sighed, swinging her legs out of bed. Crossing the hall and grasping the door handle.

“Hey!”

Sissi watched as the pink blankets flinched, then they jolted as Aelita jerked up. Her red-ringed eyes met Sissi’s and… she flinched again.

Sissi… Sissi had wanted to yell and scream like she’d done every other night. But that flinch. She wasn’t sure what how to feel about that. How did she look to others if Aelita seemed scared? The weary stare she was getting made her shift.

It… She was tired.

She wasn’t sure when she’d stepped forward. Or when she’d sat on the edge of the bed, the mattress dipping under her weight. Sissi wasn’t sure who was most surprised. Her who had moved or Aelita who’d watched her the whole time.

Sissi also wasn’t sure how long they were sat with only the sound of Aelita’s sniffles. Apparently everyone was used to Aelita’s night terrors now, it didn’t seem like Jim was checking anyway.

...It’d be awkward if she just got up and left like this, wouldn’t it?

“So…” Urg, her voice was so scratchy. “What was it about? The dream?”

For a moment there was only more sniffles. Aelita shuffled, bringing her legs up. Hugging them to her chest as she rested her chin on her knees. Her damp, green eyes staring at Sissi the whole time.

Sissi swallowed. This whole thing was dumb. She should have just told Aelita to shut up and gone back to bed. Aelita’s bed creaked under her as Sissi shifted to stand, only to freeze and Aelita’s mumbling.

“...wolves.”

“Huh?” Sissi had barely heard it. If it’d been raining outside, she wouldn’t have. She turned to look. “Wolves? … Like when you called Emily one in the showers?”

Okay. Wrong thing to say because now Aelita was glaring at her.

“I didn’t call her a wolf. I saw a wolf and it started chasing me. Like they do in my dreams.”

“Right…” More silence. Because what was she supposed to say to that? Why would Aelita think there’d be wolves in bathroom? Sissi thought she was smart… But the silence and Aelita’s staring. Sissi couldn’t take it. She looked away, focusing on almost empty desk.

“Wolves huh? Doesn’t Canada have bears? I’d be more scared of them.”

And now Aelita was just giving her that blank stare she occasionally did. The one that made her friends crowd around her and start whispering.

“Bears?”

“Yeah, you know-” Sissi turned again. Holding her hands up and curling her fingers and growled. “Bears. Like- nine foot tall, hair and they get real mad when people wake them up.”

More silence. Great. Maybe she should have stayed in her room. Then she wouldn’t feel so dumb.

Then Aelita gave a snort of laughter, her hands coming up to muffle the noise.

“That… That just sounds like Jim.”

Sissi’s breath caught for a second as Aelita’s hands moved away and she finally smiled. Sissi returned it, leaning back until she was against the wall. Feeling lighter than when she’d been in her room. Even though the sun was beginning to rise and she’d gotten no sleep at all.

“I meant what I said, you know? You really can be nice when you want to.” Sissi huffed, only glancing at Aelita with one eye.

“Shut up.”

Aelita’s smile only widened.

That made Aelita fidget uncomfortably. She was painfully aware of the fact that her friends pulled together all their pocket money and some extra savings too — which, as they’ve quickly figured out, were not nearly enough to buy a whole new life for a person that basically appeared from nowhere.

Well, not exactly from nowhere, but living in the virtual world for over a year, Aelita didn’t have to bother herself with such trivial things like owning a toothbrush. Or a hairbrush. Or whatever other brushes existed out there. She was still doing her research.

Regardless, living required a lot of things and a lot of money to purchase them. At one point Aelita suggested faking a bank account balance while they were doing “creative liberties”, as Odd jokingly said, with her documents and school grants. For a second, Jeremy even considered something, but Yumi quickly shut it down. So, they just pulled their money together and were trying to make it work. Aelita got a few hand-me-downs from her friends: she desperately needed at least some items, since “airline lost my luggage” could only get her that far. Clothes, however, were tricky, shoes even more so. Aelita didn’t mind the ones she had. They were functional and comfortable enough, though she often wished she could just walk barefoot, allowing herself one more way to explore the world around her, but that wasn’t an option for reasons she hadn’t fully grasped yet.

The girls in the dorm had opinions about her shoes as well.

Aelita shook her head, pulling herself from that spiral of thoughts, and focused on her friends. Odd waved his wallet around as he was trying to make a point.

“Don’t worry about that.”

“How did you get extra money?” Yumi hissed, dragging him to the side by the elbow. “And why didn’t you tell me that before I had to re-prioritize our shopping list multiple times?”

Odd smiled, looking both too proud of himself and a bit bashful.

“You’d be surprised how many people can’t be bothered to make the project for Art class themselves. And how many of them are willing to throw around a bit of pocket money to make it someone else’s problem. However,” he said, dragging Aelita closer, so the three of them stood in an awkward embrace near the entrance of one of the shops, “that’s not important. I half-assed a few craft projects so we could get Aelita something fun. So, Princess,” Odd grinned at her, and Aelita felt her muscles finally relaxing, “ready for the day of decadent shopping? And by decadent I mean we might get some cute knick-knacks for your room and maybe burgers and milkshakes to commemorate your first shopping trip.”

“Is there a bookshop here?” Aelita asked timidly. She wasn’t sure what else she could possibly get for her room. She knew others put posters on the walls, but she had no idea what she might want a poster of.

“Was there one with discounted books? One of those that sell misprints and stuff like that,” said Yumi, but she sounded a bit unsure. “I think it’s on the third floor, somewhere in the side corridor, but I’ve never gone there.”

Odd shrugged.

“No idea. But I think we should take our sweet time window shopping and check every store. If it’s there, we’ll find it.”

“That way we’re going to blow through our budget before we even reach the third floor,” Yumi crossed her hands in front of her, frowning. She towered over Odd, lean and intimidating, but Odd didn’t seem to be affected in the slightest.

“I said window shopping, not buying,” he pointed out. “Come on, Yumi, that’s half of the fun!”

“Why are we shopping for windows?” finally asked Aelita, unsure of what’s going on. She glanced at the shop nearby and the large, floor-to-ceiling pieces of glass that separated the shop from the main corridor. “The dorm already has windows… right?”

Odd giggled softly, but before Aelita could feel embarrassed, Yumi explained:

“That’s just a figure of speech. The other word for window shopping is browsing.”

“We’re going to walk around and look at the stuff for sale, maybe try something on,” Odd continued for her. “We don’t need to buy all of that, don’t worry!”

“That’s allowed?” Aelita was uncertain. There were a lot of glass displays, bright lights or shiny things that looked so delicate it took her breath away.

“Well, it depends,” said Yumi. Then she saw Aelita’s confused frown and tried to explain further: “Some stores won’t, especially if it’s pricey. But those are way out of our budget anyway.”

She grabbed Aelita’s hand and dragged her further into the mall, completely ignoring a few stores at the very front, despite Odd’s remarks and whistling.

“But how would I know,” questioned Aelita, still uncertain, “which ones allow it and which don’t?”

“You’ll know,” simply said Yumi and didn’t elaborate.

“The ones where consultants behave like any teenager could blow things up if they breathe wrong,” Odd giggled, “there you probably shouldn’t touch anything, even if it’s not behind a case already. But don’t worry about that. Let’s go!”

Aelita wasn’t entirely sure if he was joking or not.

In the past few weeks she was never able to shake off her worries. All the research she did while staying on Lyoko didn’t seem to even scratch the surface of what it means to be human, to live alongside them. But the stores were extremely distracting and piqued Aelita’s curiosity in a multitude of ways — she didn’t have time to worry that much.

Living required a lot of things, and the shopping mall had more stuff than anyone could ever need.

They drifted from one store to another, looking and touching and exploring, and Aelita’s mind was buzzing with excitement. Some things she recognized; some were completely novel. The moment Odd noticed that, he started pointing out random items and asking what Aelita assumed they were meant for. Then he would give his own suggestion, deliberately making up the silliest things. It was absolutely ridiculous, but even Yumi was amused, though she kept pursing her lips and pretending she wasn’t having fun.

Eventually they had picked some toiletries, though the process took them almost an hour: Aelita was amazed by the fact there were different scents available and insisted on carefully sniffing every bottle. With some things checked on their shopping list, Yumi finally relaxed. The trio reached the first clothing store in a great mood, but Aelita was hit by another wave of uncertainty.

“Are there different sizes?” she asked, flipping through the rack of blouses that, to her, looked exactly the same. She squinted, comparing the letters on the tags and admitted silently that it made no sense to her. “Which one am I supposed to pick?”

“Oh fuck,” mumbled Odd, facepalming. “We should’ve taken your measurements. How did I forget?”

Yumi waved a hand at him.

“It’s fine. The sizing could be all over the place anyway.” She looked at the clothes on a rack with a critical eye. “You want to try this on?”

Aelita hummed noncommittally, rubbing the fabric of the shirt between her fingers. The color was nice and calm, the stormy bluish gray of the rain clouds. The smooth material on her skin was slippery like water.

“You should!” Odd smiled at her, also checking the material. His eyebrow creased a bit, and he fished out the larger cardboard tag, attached with a string to the one sewn under the neckline. He glanced at it once, then with a completely unreadable expression he hid it inside again, before Aelita could read the price. “You have to try things on to figure out what you like to wear.”

“Do you think it would suit me?”

“It looks romantic. Elegant,” said Odd, not answering her question directly, “is that the look you’re going for?”

Aelita creased her eyebrows, deep in thought. Frankly, she didn’t have “the look” in mind. She had no idea what she was going for, actually.

“I think the color is nice, neutral,” Yumi carefully voiced her opinion, “It would offset your hair color nicely. But I think it’s maybe too formal? You don’t have enough casual clothes, really. If you like the color, let’s find something similar.”

Odd huffed and folded his arms across his chest.

“It won’t look the same when it’s not in satin,” he grumbled. “This color would be just dull on anything else.”

“Like you’re the expert on that,” Yumi raised an eyebrow, pointedly looking him up and down. Aelita suppressed a laugh. Odd’s choice of purples and pinks that were borderline eyesore definitely wasn’t dull nor neutral.

“For your information,” said Odd with a tone that could had been mildly offended, if not for a smile on his lips, “I have five sisters. I can talk about outfit silhouettes and fiber composition for days on end.”

Yumi stepped closer to the rack and fished the cardboard tag out of the blouse's neckline. After a moment, she turned and silently stared down at Odd with all the menacing height the platform boots gave her.

“I’ve never said we should buy that one,” said Odd, completely undisturbed. “I agree that this price for a polyester is absolutely abhorrent. But Aelita has to figure out what colors and materials she likes, then we can hunt for something on the sales rack. Or in a thrift store.”

“We have to narrow the search,” Yumi nodded, finally getting his point. She still didn’t look excited by the prospect of the whole day in the shopping mall, but she didn’t look as annoyed at Odd as she was before. “So, Aelita?”

“Princess, state your wish,” proclaimed Odd with a dramatic bow, which got a laugh out of both girls.

“Actually,” carefully said Aelita, turning this thought inside her head, examining it, as she let go of the sleeve of the blouse and took a step away from the rack. “I was thinking something… Pink?”

Yumi, much to Odd’s surprise, actually giggled.

“I thought you’d say so.”

“Paying it safe, huh?” Odd playfully nudged Aelita with his elbow. “What happened with ‘expanding my horizons’ and all that?”

“Says the guy whose wardrobe is fully purple,” Aelita, unexpected even to her, sassed him out.

Odd momentarily stumbled, before grinning wildly. Yumi also laughed and threw a hand over Aelita’s shoulders.

“Then pink it is. Let’s go, we have a lot to do.”

They had walked through shops that by the second hour blurred into endless rows of glass windows and posed mannequins. Aelita lost count of the racks of shirts and tables with jeans folded in neat rows, of tall displays of sunglasses and cheap jewelry. She touched countless of items, trying to memorize the fascinating variety of textures and the whole rainbow of colors, the way metals glinted brightly under artificial lights. It was just as overwhelming as her first night on Earth when she walked the dark streets by Jeremy’s side, and a whole new world washed around her, like the ocean waves that wash around a stone. Her head was buzzing, and there was tingling in her fingertips that she associated with information overload.

Luckily, before the world became too loud and too much, Odd called for a break.

“I’m starving!” he whined, accentuating each syllable.

“You have a black hole for a stomach, you’re always starving,” said Yumi absentmindedly. She put their bags on a bench and started rearranging items, trying to save space. “But a snack sounds nice.”

“Perfect!” Odd grabbed one of the bags that Yumi had just finished reorganizing, and took Aelita’s hand. “Then, to the food court we go!”

Aelita barely managed to grab another bag with her free hand before Odd dragged her to the elevator. Yumi, grumbling, took the last one and followed hastily.

“So, Princess,” said Odd after the doors of the elevator closed behind them. “Any wishes? Preferences? Special requests?”

Aelita frowned. Her period of life outside of Lyoko was still brief, but she had been methodically going through the list of available cafeteria food, figuring out what she likes and what she doesn’t. But Aelita knew that she barely scratched the surface. The smells, the taste, the textures, even the colors — everything was novel and unexplored.

She had no clue what was included in the food court options.

The ding of the elevator pulled Aelita out of her thoughts. Odd was still staring at her, awaiting. She shrugged.

“Okay,” he nodded and drew his eyebrows together, “okay… So, trying a bit of everything?”

“We can get three different milkshake flavors,” suggested Yumi. “You can take a sip and decide what you like.”

“Yes!” Odd smiled enthusiastically. “Oh, I know! We have to get a few different sauces for the fried potatoes! We just need to decide which burgers to pick…”

Aelita relied on Odd's recommendations for that decision and let out a breath she didn't noticed she was holding. She tried to focus on the things that felt familiar: the tile floor, the rows of tables and plastic chairs, the trays of food that customers picked up. But the process was completely different, the phrases said and the proper order of things was unknown, so Aelita allowed her friends to make an order and listened carefully. But she completely relaxed only when they took a table on the far end of the floor, waiting for their food. They put the bags on the floor under the table, where they wouldn't be in anyone's way, and soon Odd and Yumi left to grab the food, leaving Aelita to keep and eye on the stuff they've bought.

The top floor, where the food court was located, ended in a wide balcony with glass panels that allowed one to look at the wide corridor of the floor below. Aelita, sitting in a mildly uncomfortable plastic chair, leaned closer to the barrier. From that angle, the people who scurried below were absolutely fascinating. The crowd got denser as the time got closer to the evening, flowing in a pattern of movement that Aelita hadn't deciphered yet. It felt like the ocean waves crashing, incomprehensibly grand and constantly in motion — though she only saw that on a video so far. And while it was beautiful in it's own way, like a force of nature, it also made Aelita feel somewhat lonely. The waves were moving below her, and she was standing on a rocky shore, alone.

Luckily, that all-encompassing feeling of loneliness didn't last.

“Special delivery for our Princess!” singsonged Odd, placing a tray in front of her. He was practically beaming, clearly excited to have a snack after a few hours of shopping. “Don't go anywhere, I'm going to pick up mine,” he waved a hand in the direction of the pick-up counter, where it was waiting. Yumi was standing nearby with her own tray in her hands and tapping her foot impatiently. Aelita smiled, watching her friends as they walked to the table. They were arguing about something, but Odd kept smiling, with a spring in his step that looked like he was about to start jumping, and while Yumi rolled her eyes, she didn't look genuinely annoyed.

If the vast mass of people flowing around Aelita were ocean waves, then her friends were the shore behind her feet, supporting her when the world wanted to crush her down.

That unconditional support took many forms, including the three milkshake flavors and the selection of food put on the table in front of her. Aelita tried a little bit of everything, while listening absentmindedly to Yumi's complains (apparently, the sauces that Odd picked had too strong of a flavor, overpowering everything else), and watching the flow of the people below. There were a lot of shops they hadn't visited yet, and Yumi expected them to spend a few more hours shopping, but Aelita had already been thinking about going to the mall again, hopefully with all of her friends together. She wondered what milkshake flavor Jeremy would pick and if Ulrich would like to get anything in the sportswear shop they've noticed. She wanted to go to the record store that was hidden in the far corner of the first floor and listen to all the albums her friends had recommended. She wanted to go to the arcade and to the rollerskating rink. She wanted to not just try on clothes herself, but to help her friends too — or suggest something objectively horrendous just to make them laugh.

-Additional Credits-

Faves:

Music to Soothe The Savage Beast - I absolutely love the music in the background of this episode. It really gives us a superhero movie feeling while watching. I also really like the idea of Aelita going for her dreams, even though she's scared. I do wish Jeremie wouldn't have missed her show the first time, but I'm glad he figures it for the return.

Wreck Room - I really like watching William chase Ulrich and Sissi around in this one. Also, Jim and William playing ping pong is so funny for some reason.

I'd Rather Not Talk About It - Jim. That's all. I just love him, and he really steps up for his kiddos. Also love his and Jeremie's talk, and the fact that Jeremie is willing to continue his training. Sort of feels like a filler episode, but in the best way.

The Lake - Another filler-ish episode, but I really like this one. Aelita and Yumi figuring out things pretty much themselves is top tier. A super scary xana attack, but the vibes of this episode make me happy. Also, I don't know why, but they're back in their original clothes, and I just love that. Bonus points for Odd sneaking Kiwi with him to the lake.

Least:

Echoes - Hear me out. I don't (typically) like clip shows. Like, I know what happened, I watched the show. You don't need to recap this for me. I completely understand why clip shows happen, but I really don't like them. I don't mind a flashback here and there, but the whole show? No thanks.

I do like how this season wraps up, generally. Do I wish something could have been done for Franz Hopper? Absolutely. Do I wish we saw more about Aelita's mom? Of course. Did I want this show to end? Never. But alas.