#code swap 2023

Yumi pauses over the send button for a moment. She had assumed that this was a lunchtime group discussion she missed because she wasn’t on campus today. Deleting the last word of her message, Yumi has a pit in her gut that she can’t seem to get rid of.

Pushing forward, she sends her text, and Aelita replies almost immediately.

“Great! : ) I’ll meet you by the bus stop at Constellation.”

Yumi smiles at her phone, and puts it back in her pocket, still feeling uneasy and not sure why. She fitfully tries to read for another half hour or so before she needs to walk to the bus stop until she gives up. Bookmarking her book, she stands from the floor, sliding her phone back in her jeans pocket. It takes her until after getting her bag, saying goodbye to her parents, putting on her shoes, walking down the street, and seeing a group of two girls laughing with each other to realize what’s bugging her.

She and Aelita haven’t hung out alone practically ever.

One of the girls is teasing the other one about her singing, which she hems and haws at a bit before breaking into a fit of giggles. Yumi passes by them, tearing her eyes off as soon as they could see her. Not that it mattered, she realizes as they pass by – they’re too busy paying attention to each other, too busy having a free and easy conversation with each other. Yumi scowls as they go by.

“Nothing worth worrying about, Yumi,” she mutters to herself, pushing the thoughts away. “Come on, you can handle this.”

Aelita’s already at the bus stop when Yumi gets there, waving. It’s late spring, the first day of the year where you can get away with not wearing a jacket. Yumi’s wearing one – a black leather jacket she picked up off a thrift store rack, falling apart but comfortable – but Aelita isn’t, dressed in a pretty pink coat over a purple dress. She’s carrying a huge, empty bag.

"Planning on buying a lot?” Yumi asks as comes within earshot, and Aelita giggles.

“Yes, actually,” she says, a wicked sparkle in her eyes, “I’m planning on buying a new wardrobe.”

“Oh, what?” Yumi widens her eyes, “Why?”

That was a stupid response, Yumi scolds herself, but Aelita just laugh. Before she can answer, the bus pulls up. They both clamber on board, awkwardly putting money into the machine by the door. The bus is absolutely packed, and there’s only one free seat. Yumi points her thumb at it. “You want it?”

Aelita nods – “Thanks!” – and sits, leaving Yumi holding onto the hanging straps as the bus starts moving.

The bus is anything but silent, between the loud rumble of the bus’s engine to the chatter of people talking to each other. Yumi silences the anxieties bubbling in her stomach by speaking, “You know, I did the same thing when I started at Kadic.”

“Oh, really?” Aelita looks up, still smiling. Yumi sees her put her phone in her pocket quickly, “You mean you weren’t born goth?”

“Haha, very funny. But yeah, my parents were cool about it. Starting a new school, they wanted me to be happy. I’m sure they were more expecting I’d try to wear things to fit in, but I was never a big fan of that.”

“Mmm, yeah,” Aelita’s staring out the window, “I was homeschooled, so I never had to worry about that kind of thing. One time, though, I – this one girl I knew, I think she…” Aelita furrows her brow, her sentence trailing off. The city reflects in her eyes, and her face drops to a dull, quiet look. After a moment, right when Yumi’s considering saying something, Aelita shakes her head and turns back to Yumi, grinning widely. “Well, it doesn’t matter. We’re almost there.”

And before Yumi can say anything, Aelita stands up and walks to the front of the bus. Yumi watches her, and mutters to herself, “What was that all about?” before following her friend’s lead.     

The mall is smaller and smellier than Yumi remembers it being, but, then again, she hasn’t been here in several years. The sparkling-white floor sticks ever so slightly to her boots as they walk through the halls alongside crowds, ignoring stands of people selling knick knacks or eyebrow waxes. Yumi struggles to keep up with Aelita, who is walking determinedly forward, seemingly having a goal in mind. They walk past some of the stores Yumi would usually peg as more of Aelita’s style – preppy, light colored clothing with smiling models in the windows – and she’s trying to figure out where she might be going when Aelita makes a sharp right and Yumi has to hoof it even more to keep up.

“Jeez, Aelita,” she mutters, seeing that she walked into just about the edgiest store Yumi’s ever seen, and that’s saying something. It smells musty, like the employees are wearing a pound of body spray each. They’re older teens, all wearing thick black eyeliner and aggressively trendy clothes. Aelita’s easy to spot with her bright hair among the rows and rows of dark clothing, and Yumi catches up to her.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to give me the slip,” Yumi half-jokes, but Aelita has the decency to look sheepish as she flips through shirts on hangers, pressing a button on her phone through her pocket.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” she says, pulling a semi-transparent black shirt out, “What do you think of this?”

“Not really what I’d call your style,” Yumi answers.

“Perfect,” Aelita nods, hanging it over her arm. “Help me pick out some more stuff like that.”

She’s got a wicked little smirk on her face, and Yumi’s taken aback for a second before laughing, “Alright, princess, if that’s what you want, let’s go for it.”

The nickname feels foreign on Yumi’s tongue, despite having heard it a million and a half times, and it sends another uncomfortable anxious pang through her stomach. Aelita meets her eyes for a fraction of a second, eyes widening, but after a moment, laughs with a smile that doesn't quite meet her eyes, continuing to dig through the racks.

Together, they gather armfuls of the most garish clothing in the store, joking and snarking the entire time. Every item is either pitch black, a garish neon color, or a pattern that hurts to look it. There’s a bucket full of hair accessories – feathers, pins, clips, cheap hair extensions – that Aelita just picks up and carries with her. The employees look at them with judging glances and snicker behind their hands. It makes Yumi want to call them out, but Aelita seems completely unconcerned, moving through the store with a determined look on her face.

Finally, Aelita’s apparently endless desire for clothing satisfied, she heads to the dressing room. Yumi sits on the bench outside, having not picked out anything for herself.

“Thanks for coming,” Aelita says through the door. Yumi can hear the rustle of clothing and the clatter of hangers as Aelita moves around, although she can’t see her friend.

“Of course,” Yumi says to the door. “Though, I’m not sure you’re accomplishing getting a new wardrobe out of these things.”

“Oh, come on, Yumi!” Aelita tuts, “How is… hold on…”

Yumi hears the sounds of a zipper being done and undone and hears Aelita quietly swear to herself, and it makes her snicker. After a moment, the door opens, and Aelita steps out, dressed in a ridiculously overcomplicated mess of zippers, fluff, and belts. Every movement makes the zippers jingle.

“How is this not peak fashion?” Aelita asks with a smirk, and Yumi fails to stifle a laugh.

Aelita looks at herself in the mirror, and Yumi has to admire the calculated look in her eyes. She’s not just doing this to look goofy, she realizes – she’s actively assessing what she does and doesn’t like. Yumi’s heart skips a beat as she realizes Aelita’s not joking around. Whatever she’s looking for, she’s serious. Furrowing her brow, Yumi stands and walks over to the mirror, humming quizzically.

“Well,” she says, “I think the jacket is pretty good, all things considered. The shirt,” she gestures to the shirt, which is bright green leopard print with artsy tears in it, “Definitely not with that skirt,” she points to the checkered black and purple pattern, “Clashes like crazy. I’d pick one or the other.”

Aelita nods, “I think I like the shirt. I wear too many skirts; I was hoping this one would be different enough I’d like it.”

“Really? You, too many skirts? What happened to you asking Jeremie to put that little skirt on over your new Lyoko outfit?”

Aelita laughs, but there’s something forced about it, and, after a moment, rushes back into the changing room. The sound of clothing rustling starts up again, and Yumi’s left looking at the door, mildly surprised. She and Aelita might not be as close as they look to be on paper, but even she can tell the girl is upset about something. It’s the way she keeps smiling after every sentence she says but cuts conversations off. It’s how Yumi keeps seeing her phone screen light up in her pocket. Something happened; she just can’t tell if Aelita is trying to get her to ask about it or is trying to talk about anything but.

“Hmm, Yumi?”

“What?” Yumi blinks, shocked out of her momentary daze.

“Can you get me these pants the next size up?”

A pair of black jeans flies over the top of the dressing room, and, instinctively, Yumi leaps forward to catch it. She goes wide, and her boots screech against the floor as she balances herself.

“You alright?” Aelita asks, “Sorry, should have made sure you were ready!”

“No, no, I’m fine!” Yumi says, “I’ll get it for you.”

As Yumi goes back to the store, she frowns. After a moment’s hesitation, she pulls out her phone and texts Ulrich.

“Hey, did something happen with Aelita?”

While Yumi searches for the right pair of jeans, her phone buzzes.

“Not that I know of?”

“Huh. She’s acting kind of weird.”

“Weird bad?”

“Weird upset,” Yumi texts with one hand and flips through pants with the other, “Do Odd or Jer know anything?”

“Haven’t seen them today. Been at soccer. Do you need me to find them? I can make an excuse.”

“No, I don’t want to make a big deal if it’s nothing. Or if it’s one of them.” Yumi pauses a moment, before texting, “Thanks, though. You’re sweet.”

She knows Ulrich well enough to know his face doesn’t match his text, which just says, “np”. Allowing herself one moment to smile at her phone, she finally finds the pair of jeans she needs.

They spend the rest of the afternoon like this, going from store to store, trying a huge variety of fashion styles. Aelita makes a wide breadth from any store of her typical style, and Yumi’s happy to indulge her, even if she knows next to nothing about fashion. The bag on Aelita’s arm increasingly fills with shirts, pants, accessories, and shoes. The one thing Yumi pulls her away from is a hairdresser advertising quick dyes – “No permanent changes on a whim, that’s a rule,” – and, despite her momentary protest, Aelita goes with her.

Yumi becomes increasingly aware that something happened, though. Every time the conversation drifts to the guys, Aelita snaps it back to anything else – her new clothes, school, gossip, dinner plans – with a huge, fake smile. It reaches a point that it’s grating on Yumi’s nerves, but she keeps going along with it.

It’s late in the afternoon and they find themselves in a department store. Yumi’s exhausted, but Aelita’s still looking for something formal, so they decide on the one last store. They walk into the section with dresses, and Aelita walks around the models, arms clutching on the huge bag. Both of them are chattering with each other about nothing in particular but Yumi’s watching Aelita carefully. She walks by a pink dress and grabs at it instinctively, rubbing the fabric between her fingertips. Her eyes sharpen, and she lets go, stepping away purposefully, walking across the room towards a black one. Yumi hesitates, frowning, then follows Aelita. They find a dressing room in the back of the store that a sleepy attendant lets them into; no other customers are anywhere nearby.

“One last one, thanks again,” Aelita apologizes, before closing the door.

“No, it’s no problem, really,” Yumi says, taking a seat. The familiar sounds of clothing rustling begin, and Yumi drums her fingers against her leg.

“Do you remember Ms. Hertz’s unit on titrations?” Aelita asks, “I think she teaches it pretty poorly. I was just saying to J – well – I –,”

Yumi hears her fumble over Jeremie’s name, and, finally, gives in, “Aelita, are you okay?”

There’s a moment where only the muffled music from the main area of the store plays, alongside the clicking and scraping of clothes and hangers in the changing room.

“Yeah, it’s nothing.” Aelita finally says.

“No,” Yumi cuts into the silence that follows, “No, I get enough of this ‘yeah, it’s nothing’ nonsense from Ulrich.”  

“Well, he's emotionally stupid. I’m fine.”

“Aelita,” Yumi insists, standing up and approaching the changing room door, “I don’t appreciate being lied to.”

She gives Aelita a moment to reply, but, not doing so, Yumi continues, voice growing in volume, “You’re completely changing your look, ignoring anything that you see that looks anything like what you normally wear. You keep talking about nothing, directing all conversation away from the guys. You asked me to go the mall out of nowhere, when we basically never hang out. Something is wrong, and you’re refusing to tell me.”

Yumi breathes out, frustratedly. Aelita continues to not reply, but she’s stopped moving around, too. Yumi stands on the other side of the changing room door, wishing she knew how she could reach her.

“I broke up with Jeremie.”

Yumi’s eyes widen at the door. “You – what?” she says dumbly, her mind drawing a blank.

After a long moment, she hears the quiet pat of Aelita’s feet against the floor, the rustle of clothing on a rack. “Yeah,” Aelita says.

The door opens, and Aelita’s wearing the black dress. It’s long and ruffled, brushing against the ground, a few inches too long. She’s staring determinedly at the floor, not making eye contact as she pushes past Yumi to the mirror. Yumi turns, looking at her own reflection in the mirror.

“But… why?” Her heart sinks, and she’s suddenly angry as possibilities flash through her head, “Did he do –,”

“No,” Aelita interjects, quickly, snapping her head up. “No, he’s fine. It’s not that. It’s…”

She turns back to the mirror, staring. Her arms are draped in fabric that looks so unlike her; a choker from several stores ago is awkwardly around her throat, and she keeps picking at it. After a minute, she speaks up, “I… don’t know what it’s like to not be with him.”

Yumi doesn’t understand what she means, and it must be obvious on her face, because Aelita continues, “Like… I woke up on Lyoko, and he was the first person I had ever seen. He was so nice and cared so much about me immediately,” her face is bitter and downcast, “And he liked me, and I liked him back. It was all so easy and perfect. He brought me here. He gave me money and an identity and everything. He even found my father and my past.

“But… just because… I…” she swallows, and Yumi can see tears beginning to form in her eyes, which she angrily rubs away, “I… don’t know who I am. I’ve only defined myself with what you’ve all given me. You’re Aelita, you’re our princess, you’re our angel. You’re my daughter. And don’t get me wrong! I’m super grateful to all of you. You’ve given me a second life and I – I –,”

Aelita trails off, then laughs, shakily. “This dress looks terrible,” she says, with a shaky laugh, “I’m trying too hard.”

She brushes past Yumi to go back into the changing room, but Yumi grabs her arm.

“You want your life to be your own,” Yumi says, her face hard, “You don’t want anyone else to decide who Aelita Hopper – or – Schaeffer –,”

“Stones,” Aelita interjects, pulling her arm free, “Aelita Schaeffer is dead.”

Yumi’s stomach clenches, and she watches helplessly as Aelita reenters the changing room. After a moment, though, where she can hear Aelita changing again, she purses her lips.

“Good.”

The sounds stop. “What?” Aelita squeaks, bewildered.

“Good!” Yumi reaffirms. She isn’t sure if this is the right thing to do or say, but it’s what her gut is telling her to do, so she presses forward, “You’re not her, then. That’s fine. You don’t have to be Franz Hopper’s daughter or Jeremie’s girlfriend or any of our friends just because we landed in front of you.”

Aelita doesn’t answer, and Yumi barrels forward, “We can go dye your hair, if you want. We can burn your wardrobe. We –,” her voice catches, and she hesitates, “You. You can do these things. I – you don’t need me, if you don’t… Are you going to leave?”

The question is absurd; Aelita’s an eight grader with no family and no money. She couldn’t leave Kadic if she wanted to. But the thought of Aelita just being gone makes Yumi’s stomach drop out from beneath her.

The door scrapes open, and Aelita stands there, back in her own clothes, arms full of the clothes she tried. Her eyes are bright red, but glaring, and her lip wobbles, clutching her vain attempts at being someone else tightly in her arms.

“Yumi,” she whispers, angrily, “I invited you here today, didn’t I?”

Yumi looks back at her, and nods, slowly.

“I’m not… I thought about this,” Aelita sniffs, loudly, “Augh, why – am I –,”

“Here,” Yumi starts going, “I can find a tissue from the bathroom –,”

“No,” Aelita suddenly barrels into Yumi, and Yumi staggers. The bag of clothing hits the ground, and Aelita wraps her arms around Yumi, shaking and crying. After a moment, Yumi, hesitantly, wraps her arms around her too.

“No,” Aelita whispers, “No, I’m not – I’m shouldn't cut you all out. I’m not going anywhere. Not yet, anyway. I’m going to find my own life, but I know for sure I want you all to be part of it. Especially you,” she hugs her, tighter, “We’re supposed to be best friends, the two girls in our friend group, but we really aren’t. I’m changing that first.”

Oh.

The chink of trains passing by in this early spring morning were blending with distinctive rumble of a station, while announcements were fading in and out. Like in every big city, Paris had already woken up and was getting ready for the day, the wagons were full of people on their way to work in the country or planning a short weekend getaway. In one of them, three boys were sitting with their eyes on the big clock of the station, looking for something impatiently.

"They're gonna miss it, if they don't hurry up." complained Ulrich while looking back over his shoulder to the platform through the train's open door and turned his gaze back to his friends sitting across the table. The boy in the purple shirt was picking at his backpack's zip and glanced at the compartment quickly over his blonde friend next to him before answering Ulrich. "They should be there soon, don't worry."

The bag trembled with a rustling sound like something was pawing its way to reach the top, seconds later Jeremy was squinting at a panting dog that appeared between him and Odd.

"My little diggity-dog," Odd squealed while patting his head. "Soon you will run as much as you can." Kiwi licked his owner's hand as an answer, his wagging tail was showing how he was bursting with excitement for this unexpected trip.

"We risk being thrown off the train by bringing him with us." Jeremy addressed a remark to Kiwi, while glancing at his watch. He couldn't help but start to get grumpy, the absence of their other two friends that were supposed to be here a quarter hour ago, was worrying him a little bit. The boy decided to wait five more minutes before calling them.

"Kiwi is one of the other big risks that we take today, Einstein." bantered Odd with him, he knew that Jeremy deep down loves his dog too and it was always funny to him that Kiwi sometimes gets on people's nerves.

"Yeah Jeremy, speaking of that," Ulrich interrupted their conversation while raising his eyebrows "what do we do if our friend X.A.N.A attacks while we're away, huh?" He really loved the idea of showing Aelita around at first but by the time past and the girls continued not to show up, he was sharing the same concerns with Jeremy. He knew that the boy with glasses watches every step of Aelita like they all do and cares for her, wants to show how our world contains some wonders but everything is too new for now. Maybe they should have taken things easy like Yumi said before.

Jeremy crossed his arms, dropping his eyes to the table in front of him. He was very well aware about the fact Ulrich stated but he had his good reasons, so he tried to pick the right words to make the situation clear to them."We'll be only one hour ride away from city, so in case of an emergency we can go back quickly and you know, it wasn't long after his last attack." He tugged at his sleeve like brushing off the memories of recent events, they had a really narrow escape last time. "Besides I really wanted to show her the actual sea that is much more different from Lyoko's digital one." he continued while blushing with his confession.

"Just relax, both of you." Odd assured them while scratching behind of Kiwi's ears. "We'll get to see where Jeremy spends his summers, swim a little bit and then be back at the school by dinner. Just a little vacation and that's all."

Ulrich turned his gaze to look out of the train, the first glimpses of daylight were reflecting the boy's shade to the window and making it difficult for him to see the platform. "Let's hope he doesn't spare us a break." he sighed. The idea of a X.A.N.A attack while they're away was giving him shievers, he couldn't stress enough what a mess it might be.

The other boy sitting across from him nodded in agreement, staring off into the crowd on the station and taking a stroll down of his memories from Aelita's first night on earth that he walked her to Yumi's. Not just great to see her heal and hearty by his side but the thought of how even that little walk made her really happy had given the idea of today's trip to him. He really worked hard to make her real, to bring her to the earth but they couldn't managed to make X.A.N.A get off her tail, he is still with her, still theardening her life and Jeremy's hearth sinks everytime he catches the look on her eyes like a feral youngling scaring everything. He hates to let her make sacrifices to save the world and knowing this situation could go for a while drives him crazy. The boy wants her to be in safe, to make her feel safe forever and to tell her that he would never let X.A.N.A hurt her again but the so far he could only make her smile and that's enough for him to face to whole world. If this little trip would make her happy, then it worths to take the risk, he thinks. X.A.N.A can play all the tricks as he wants today but he won't back off to try to brighten up Aelita's day, not even a little.

A huge rumbling from the left disrupted his inner call-out to X.A.N.A. He scowled at Odd and Kiwi trying to decide who's making that sound while Ulrich bursting into laughs of Kiwi's confused look and Odd's querulously protests against Jeremy's judgemental glance.

"You should have let me have breakfast." grumbled Odd looking annoyed and folded his arms on his stomach. "A man has his needs"

"More like a dragon based on the sound that you made, if you ask me." Ulrich teased him.

Odd has just opened his mouth to answer him but his offended response was suppressed by a cheerful shout.

"Then it is a good thing that we brought all the snacks to feed up this dragon." a girl in black waved at them stepping into the train and followed by another girl with pink hair. Despite looking like two opposite ends of the color spectrum, pink sakura flowers on Yumi's shirt were matching perfectly with Aelita's hair.

"Finally!" squeaked Jeremy with a huge sigh of relief and continued his scolding "We were starting to worry".

"Good morning to you, too." Aelita responded to the boy half-mockingly and sat next to him.

"I'm sensing some Hiroki influences." Ulrich remarked, giggling at the girl's cynical answer and inched over to make room for Yumi.

"My kid brother's rich vocabulary is irresistible, I'm afraid." laughed off black haired girl while settling down and trying to get comfortable with her long body on the train's narrow seats. She took a paper bag from the inside of her bucket bag and threw it at Odd. "Here," girl said while Odd catching it on the air and lowering down to sniff it with Kiwi. "something to calm down your stomach."

"Someone with sense, thank you!" cheered the boy when he saw what the bag contains. He grab one of the croissants and took a big bite and immediately passed it down to his dog to split the difference. "Ulrich," then he called out his friend between his gulps "you should really go o-"

"-what took the two of you so long?" Ulrich interrupted him with a rush and on purpose, trying to ignore Jeremy and Aelita's gigglings, of course he knows what Odd is about to say.

"Well, Aelita worked so hard on our fruit salad." answered Yumi his question for the room, pointing out the tupperware that the pink haired girl is holding.

Aelita uncovered its lid and served it around. "Isn't it fascinating that fruits have all these different flavors and beautiful colors?" asked she mesmerizingly, you could tell about her excitement from her shining eyes. Finally, she took a lumpy and russet fruit from the inside and showed it to everyone. "I've never seen such a thing like that before."

"Having a hearty appetite runs in the family, as you can see." Odd determined, about to take the last bite from his apple. "We didn't make her my cousin for nothing."

"Yeah and may I ask why you bring a raw potato here?" questioned Ulrich, pointing to the fruit in Aelita's hands.

"It isn't a potato, it is a Jerusalem artichoke." Jeremy corrected him out of patience, while Yumi breaking into laughs. " and it is a species of sunflower native to-"

"Please give us a break from biology at least on the weekend, Einstein." Odd shutted him up and gave his biggest smile to Jeremy's glaring before changing the subject. "Speaking of fruits, you can't believe what Kiwi did this morning-" he started to tell Yumi.

"So it is a rare one, then?" Aelita turned to Jeremy, still examining the Jerusalem artichoke with other's chatter in the background.

"Yes, in this region I mean." gave the boy a quick answer to her before getting to the point. "Is everything alright at Yumi's?" Jeremy asked anxiously. He has no doubt that his Japanese friend is doing her best to host Aelita but he just wonders if their formally virtual friend is doing okay here.

"It couldn't be better, her family are really hospitable people." smiled the girl at him, put her hand on his shoulder to assure before continuing, because the boy still seemed unconvinced. "Everything is fine, don't worry."

"Just checking." murmured Jeremy with a warm smile and little blush on his cheeks.

"And what were you saying about what this tastes like?" she asked mischievously about the fruit that she was still holding, trying to drop the subject.

"Erhm, I'm not sure if you like it, but there is no harm in trying, I guess" shrugged the boy.

Aelita took a small bite from it and Jeremy examined amusedly her facial expressions of grimace while she tried to chew it.

"Let's say I'll stick with the berries." she commented while exchanging smiles with each other, its somewhat bitter taste isn't her style.

The station master's whistle alerted the gang that their train was about to leave. "Sun, sea and sand, here we come!" Odd yelled with joy when the doors closed and the train started to move. The classic clickety-clack sound was getting louder and riveting the train's acceleration.

"Do you know how real sand looks like Aelita?" asked Yumi and continued after the pink haired girl shook her head as a no. "It is kinda like the Desert Sector, but the pigmentation and the texture are a little bit different. Right, Jeremy?"

"Affirmative." chuckled the boy with glasses, confirming his friend's scientific attempt for the definition.

"Maybe we teach you how to surf this time," Ulrich waved his hand and paused before getting to the punchline of his joke with a deadpan expression. "since you know how to do it on the Internet."

Other's collective groans at his bad joke blended in with Aelita's laugh. "Seriously, Ulrich-" breathed Yumi a sigh while Odd completed her sentence. "You are better than that-"

As their chattering continues, the train had left the city as a beautiful meadow view is streaming from the windows. Jeremy settled back and breathed deeply meadow's scents filling the compartment, listening his friends' chitchat. Maybe it is what peace looks like; watching the pink haired girl next to him laugh with the people that means the most to him, seeing how the sun beams reflecting the perfect green of her eyes as she twinkles and realizing she is finally a real human being just like them. And when the girl suddenly holded his hand like she was reading his mind, the boy's heart missed a beat. That is what he is fighting for, he thought while smiling back at her. She is worthy to face the whole world.

—------------------------------------------------------

"Now, pass it over Aelita!"

Yumi stepped backwards to return the girl's pass, tried to lighten the volleyball's momentum with a couple of flip shots before delivering it to Jeremy.

The sun is blazing down on the beach on this hot spring day, blurring their vision while heated sand is burning their feet a little. Their wet hair had dried long before they started goofing around that begin with Yumi and Ulrich's martial arts demonstration and right now everything looks about to boil away. Even though they've only been here for a few hours, all of the kids look a few tans darker.

Jeremy setted the ball hardly enough to reach Aelita and let out a heavy breath. Sports is never been his thing but Aelita had insisted a lot and he couldn't turn down her request. Besides they need more than one person to teach her how to play volleyball before this big match between girls and boys but righ now, Odd and Ulrich are too busy trying to do chartwheels like Yumi showed them before next to the court with Kiwi running around.

"It's all on the fingertips, Jeremy." panted the black haired girl, seeing his struggle and lifted the ball little more to Aelita before shouting. "Bump pass, now!"

Aelita took the right position for an underhand pass as the ball was speeding up towards her and bumped it to Yumi.

The tall girl cheered for her friend's great pass and let out a rallying cry as she was kicking the ball as hard as she could, like she does all the time in Lyoko.

Jeremy barely found the time to run to the side, not even trying to catch the ball and yawping at the same time.

"Sorry, sorry. My mistake." chuckled Yumi, moving towards the side where the ball escaped. "I'll go and get it."

The boy doubled up, trying to gather his breath in this time-out while hearing the sound of Odd's laugh in the distance, making fun of Ulrich's bad fall.

"Are you okay, Jeremy?" the other girl came closer and asked. Her cheeks look in red a few shades darker than her hair from the effort she put in, while the sun brings out her green eyes even more.

The boy nodded his head and straightened up. "You learn fast." he complimented her. In the morning she had picked up so quickly all the swimming moves that Yumi showed her. It was just the basics though, unfortunately the sea had become rough as the time passed by and despite all the insistence of the other boys, Jeremy and Yumi had decided to call it a day. The open sea isn't a right place to mess around and it is so much different than their swimming lessons with Jim at the pool. Not to mention the amount of salty water all of them swallowed.

"I kind of like it here." Aelita smiled at him. She closed her eyes and tossed her head back as if she wanted to feel the sun even more. Its warmth was feeling like little kisses on her cheek, a feeling that she has never experienced before, almost like life itself. A breeze was carrying constantly the briny, enveloping, warm smell and every time as she took a breath of salt, seaweed and iodine; it was surprising her to have this much and kind of sensations. It is a stimulus-rich environment as Jeremy described her earlier today but to be honest, she would probably never get tired of being overwhelmed by her new three senses. They were sometimes talking about how good and realistic three-dimensional Lyoko is, but if they ask her now, it is nothing compared to what she experienced in such a short time here.

"I'm really glad that you like it." responded Jeremy slowly, trying not to disturb her little tribute to the Earth.

"I wish you would play with us too." the pink haired girl turned to him and requested for the little match that will take place soon.

"Are you kidding?" the boy chortled, he had already seen this movie before. "In sports that require a tall stature, Yumi can match both of them." pointed he at the trio in striking distance.

"I guess you're right." Aelita chuckled, while looking at the other girl circling around Odd and Ulrich that was now standing on their hands and reviewing their posture. From there, the boys looked like a couple of clumsy baby bats, trying to learn how to headstand while Kiwi sniffing them and with their hair that lost volume when wet, they made Yumi look even more taller.

"And now when you are on her side, they have no chance." continued Jeremy proudly. "I'd rather stay out of this bloodbath." He added on quickly after the girl gave him a confused and worried look. "It's a figurative expression, of course."

"If you say so." said Aelita, giving him the biggest smile she has and the boy got a feeling that he has butterflies in his stomach.

"Are you ready to wipe them out, Princess?" Yumi called out to her as she came closer and winked.

"uh-huh" nodded 'the Princess' with a grin on her face.

—------------------------------------------------------

"Both teams have a single time-out." reminded Jeremy standing next to the volleyball net with Kiwi. "Anyone want it before the game ball?"

"Yes, we are." Ulrich uttered gaspingly, trying to raise his hand as he doubled over.

"Okay then, 3 minutes." announced Jeremy. "It's 2 to 1 in favor of girls, if they win this set, they win the game."

"Yeah, yeah we know. Stop mocking with us." grumbled Odd also pantingly. He is feeling too tired to correct Jeremy's officiation terminology.

"Take as much as you want," Yumi trash talked with them as boys gathered together to discuss their strategy. "We have all the time in the world."

"You wish." snarled Ulrich at her but Jeremy could swear he was smiling before he got into a huddle with Odd.

"You play really great." Yumi turned to her teammate and addressed a praise, watching the boy's heated discussion in the meantime.

"Thanks," smiled Aelita, trying to catch her breath with a hand on her chest. "I wish we could do something against Odd's services though."

"Don't worry, it will end soon." assured black haired girl while trying to understand what the boys are up to, while Ulrich demonstrating some moves to Odd.

Jeremy clapped his hands loudly to draw their attention from the courtside. "On your positions." he called out and referred the end of the break.

Yumi took the ball from the ground and handed it over to Aelita. "Would you do the honors?" she asked the girl if she wanted to serve the ace that might be the last.

The girl took the ball and stepped back until her feet touched the field markings that can barely be seen on the sand. She casted a look at the boys through the nest that were waiting impatiently for her to start the game while trying to decide which one to target might help them to get the winning point.

Then Aelita took a deep breath, threw the ball into the air and sent it to the other side as fast as she could.

"I got it!" Ulrich informed his teammate and received the shot successfully, then delivered the ball to him, which Odd returned back to the girls' side with a blast.

"Yumi!" cried out Aelita after she bump passed it to the back, hoping she could catch it.

The Japanese girl took a step back and jumped up high, looked like for a moment that she froze in the air, then kicked the ball in force while letting out a yell.

"LYOKO STYLE!" Odd screamed at the top of his lungs and rushed at Ulrich as he went down on his knees and folded his hands to help his friend jumping higher.

As the ball touched ground on the left, both of the boys fell down on the right, tangled with each other, because Odd misstepped and Ulrich couldn't lift him enough to catch the ball.

"Game, set and match!" declared Jeremy the result with girls' screams of joy in the back. "Maybe I should have told them sooner that the gravity in here works differently than Lyoko." he muttered to himself and giggled as boys were lying down and groaning while Kiwi was licking his owner's face.

Yumi gave Aelita piggyback ride and started touring the field as a victory parade while the boys were wrangling with each other about whose fault it was.

—------------------------------------------------------

His muscles that tired from a hectic day protested again when the boy's hand slipped a third time from the cliff's rocky surface and put his weight to one arm. Ulrich looked up at his blonde friend on the way ahead of the group and snorted, they were climbing quite a while but by time the boy had started to feel dizzy due to his acrophobia and he isn't sure if he can keep this up any longer.

Yumi stopped to help him and as Ulrich took his offerend hand, she pulled the boy to her side safely. "There you go." the girl smiled at him softly while making sure he was holding on tightly this time. The boy gave a thumbs up to her and smiled back.

"Since when you became an athlete, Jeremy?" Odd made a biting comment from their left like he read his friend's mind while panting heavily because of carrying an additional weight to his own. Kiwi barked from his backpack to show his disgruntlement of this situation.

"You're grumbling just because you lost the game earlier." Jeremy brushed him off and secured himself on a big rock to see how others were doing. "We are almost at the top and it has a really great view. It's well worth it, trust me. My father and I come here all the time." he continued.

"We are a little tired, that's all." stated Aelita trying to lighten the mood, following the steps of him.

When finally Jeremy reached the peak, he waited at the rear and gave a hand to everyone until all of them safely stood up there and listened as each person let out a shout of astonishment when they saw the view.

"Jeremy, it is-" stuttered Yumi, not being sure how to describe this breathtaking beauty of the landscape, while other boys let out a gasp. "Just wow." murmured Odd as he placed down his dog on the ground.

Jeremy, being pleased with himself, turned to the pink haired girl. She is the person whose opinion he is most curious about. "What do you think, Aelita?" he addressed her a question.

Yumi took a frisbee from her bag after she saw that look on Aelita's face and showed it to other boys. "Wanna play?" she asked them while they were cheering up on her offer. "Go Kiwi, fetch!" she threw it away and drew the others further to give space to Jeremy and Aelita.

They had arrived just in time to catch the golden hour before sunset and right now, the setting sun were painting in a goldenly orange everything on their sight, while it was washing the clouds in candescent red, as they were standing on the large cliff above the sea and watching this riot of colors' reflection on the water with sound of waves hitting rocks below. The light breeze from morning had started turning into a stronger one and still was carrying the scent of salty water as the daytime smell was changing into the night while caressing Aelita's hair. The girl couldn't take her eyes off the scenery lying ahead where the sun looked like slowly melting into the sea and was dissolving its colors through the water surface.There was something about this moment like every single thing bombarding new sensations to her, evoking some experiences hat she thinks she never had this kind of before. It felt so strange and yet hauntingly familiar as if deep down the girl knows that she has already been there, already had watched the hundreds of sunsets in the past. The pink haired girl was thrilling with the realization of being a human and its luxury of getting used to the times like this, while her heart was pounding in her chest and wondering how this can become a normal for someone or if she will ever be able to normalize it one day.

"It is- I mean this is," Aelita stumbled over, when she could finally talk. "I have no idea there are so many colors like that." she trembled, trying to give meaning to her desire to cry. She didn't know until then that people's eyes form tears not just from sadness but also when they see something so beautiful.

Jeremy gave her a warm smile, watching the last sunbeams of the day flickering in her eyes and forming reddish halos on her sun bleached hair. He didn't bother himself to say something, the moment itself was already speaking for him and accomplishing his purpose of making Aelita happy.

"Watch out!" then he heard Ulrich's cry for warning from the distance but unfortunately it was too late to get away from a frisbee coming towards him at full speed.

Seconds later Jeremy was sitting on the ground, rubbing his head while Aelita was asking him if he is okay.

"Sorry Einstein!" called out Odd and took the blame, trying to stop himself from giggling.

"It is a miracle that you guys can take aim in Lyoko." Jeremy complained, still massaging his forehead.

"Yeah, that tells a lot about Odd's hit rake." laughed Ulrich at him.

"Hey!" his friend protested him by pretending to be offended. "First of all, without me-"

"Give it a rest." Yumi chuckled and stopped them. "Are you guys coming?" then she asked Jeremy and Aelita.

"Be right there." responded Aelita, took the frisbee from the ground and offered her hand to the boy while smiling at him.

Jeremy took her hand as he stood up and let her drag him to their friends where their chattering and Kiwi's excited barking filled the air with the little taste of joy.

—------------------------------------------------------

Rhythmic rail squeal blended with Jeremy's keyboard clicking was singing sweet lullabies to them while the minty smell of the meadow that they were passing by, was refreshing air of the compartment and making the pink haired girl shiver, but she likes it anyway. Street lamps of towns were twinkling at her from afar and she couldn't help but wonder how these people's day was going there.

Aelita glanced at her other three friends napping on each other across her. The boys' heads had fallen on Yumi's shoulders who was sitting in the middle, while their taller friend was slightly leaning on Ulrich. Kiwi's snoring coming from somewhere under the table, occasionally was drowning their slowed breathing. Maybe this is what peace looks like, she thought to herself, watching her loved ones sleep in quietness after a feverish day.

The boy next to her was still working on her antivirus, as if he hadn't done enough for her today. She wasn't sure how she could truly express her gratitude to him, so Aelita decided to keep it simple.

"Jeremy," she addressed him quietly, afraid to wake the others. "Thank you for this vacation. It was my best day on Earth." completed the girl with a soft smile.

The boy stopped typing out for a moment and turned his gaze away from his laptop to her. "So was mine." he responded, returning her smile.