#code secret santa

I’m sorry I’m not the best with backgrounds 🥲 so here’s a plain background just in case 🙏

In one world, they meet as the amnesiac princess, and the bard who brings her songs of far off lands. Maybe it brings trouble, maybe it doesn’t. But the journey home is a little more lively. The bard doesn’t fight, but she brightens the princess’s day. And everyone serves a role in her life for sure, but the bard’s music lands with her in a way like nothing else.

Maybe she’ll make music like that too, when her homeland is reclaimed, and there’s no more wars to fight. She wants to follow the bard’s footsteps.

In another they meet in port, a team of pirates stopped in, in between to find freedom on the seas, to reclaim the captain’s home. And when they stop in at port, the captain meets the bartender who has  stories and a warm bed for her crew. The captain, who wanted nothing more than to relax and listen to her stories. It’s the captain's favorite place. It's a home away from her ship, and she cherishes it with everything she has.

In yet another, they meet once again by the ocean, with an artist seeking inspiration taking a walk by the shore. And there she meets a mermaid seeking to learn more about the world above, to hear about the humans directly, instead of just from the artifacts lost in the ocean.

The mermaid turns out to be the  inspiration that the artist was looking for. She loved nothing more than to share those stories of the world around them, to share her art with someone who wanted to appreciate it.

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In this world, the world we actually knew, their time together isn’t defined by adventure and conflict. Not anymore, anyway. It’s Peaceful. There’s Aelita, who’s finding her feet in a world that she spent far too much time away from. Not that Lise would ever know that. But it was a relief that she didn’t. Aelita loved her friends, the ones that fought alongside her for years to bring down XANA and, for better or for ill, put to rest the skeletons of her family’s past. Never think that she didn’t.

But when she had met Lise at the same DJing audition, both hopefuls looking to make a name for themselves as the opening act for the Subdigitals. Maybe… Just maybe. Making friends uninvolved with her prior life was the first step to moving on. Because her life didn’t - couldn’t end at middle school. 

And maybe the feeling about the other DJ was right, if the string of decorative vinyls lining her wall were any indication. You didn’t put that kind of effort in for someone you didn’t care about, right?

What to do about it is another question. Aelita here - a princess and a captain, maybe, once upon a time, depending on how you wanted to define her - was a kid. And one who had a lot learning to do. So she’d ask her friends of course. Because that was supposed to be normal classmate talk, right? When she brought it up of course, opinions were mixed. Jeremy just wasn’t much of a romance guy, much as she appreciated his help in other areas.

And asking Ulrich and Odd went about as well as one could expect. “Y’know, if you’re really interested in this girl, I could help set you guys up - I’ve got plenty of experience!” Odd had said immediately, a grin like the cat that got the canary. Ulrich immediately swatted at his arm. “Yeah, if you want a love like his, be my guest. Lise would probably run for the hills.”

Odd pouted. “Oh come on, she’d at least get a first date- You know I’m the master of those-” “That is not the word I’d use, good buddy.” So maybe they didn’t have the greatest advice. But they were supportive where it counted, right? Just listening to the two of them bicker set her mind at ease, at any rate.

Yumi was helpful enough, though she lacked a lot of personal experience in asking someone out. Which. Given her own relationships, it wasn't all that surprising. But even more importantly… “If you need ideas though, I heard William happened to take Laura to the Ice Skating rink that just opened. He says its pretty nice. It’d make for a fun experience, anyway. It’s something new.” And wouldn’t it make memories indeed? Aelita thought she was pretty good at ice skating on Lyoko. And in this world she was just… Aelita now. 

“Thanks for that, Yumi!” 

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With the encouragement of her friends and determination in her heart, she texted Lise to meet up at a little cafe out in town. Lise looked around, seemingly surprised that she turned up without any of her other friends. “Is it really just us? I don’t want to monopolize your time! Not for the holidays!” She wrings her hands. An endearing sight, honestly. “Everyone’s getting ready to head home for the holidays so…” She shrugged. “... I trust you, Aelita!”  The two of them start towards the rink. Neither of them had ever been, as it turned out. (Though, Aelita privately thinks it can’t be that different from her time on Lyoko, from sliding across the ice sector, from that kind of balance.)

(But of course, that’s not her world anymore. That’s not this world.)

(She’s making new memories here.)

“You promise not to make fun of me if I fall, right?” Lise asks, as they get rental skates and are sitting down to lace them up.

“Of course not. I invited you - I didn’t want to invite you just to make fun of you!” Especially not  now. Especially not now.

The waddle over to the rink with the ice skates on was already proving to be a new challenge, but Aelita’s always had a decent sense of balance, and when Lise had to lean a little on her that was pretty nice too.

…

The two of them set off onto the ice together, staying close to the wall and moving slow. They weren’t the only young pair out there making use of the weather and the season to make memories.

And the others they shared the space with were too wrapped up in their own little worlds to notice their silly mistakes. And that suited the both of them just fine really.

It’s not a bad life, in this world. Even if it’s not sailing the oceans and adventuring across the land.