*Zap*
Aelita opened her eyes swiftly, hearing something similar to a lightning bolt striking.
She looked around and saw...Lyoko. Except just a few seconds before she was living her dream, hearing Jeremie confess her love to her.
*Zap*
Now she heard it closer to her. Standing up, she felt a presence close to her. Which was bad, because it could be XANA, killing or kidnapping her in the process. Or because she was so close to the edge, she would get thrown into the Digital Sea.
Aelita turned around and saw a sphere glowing yellow and random lighting bolts coming out of it.
"A...Aeli...Aelita." A robotic voice said, having trouble speaking.
"Who are you?" Aelita asked, scared that she will get pushed off the edge soon.
"M...Me...Fr...Franz." The robotic voice spoke again, this time it sounding like it was coming out of the sphere.
Aelita opened her eyes wide, confused and surprised at the same time.
"Franz...Hopper?" Aelita asked, now quieter and more nervous.
"Y...Yes." The robotic voice said, now sounding much more clear.
"Dad...?" "Swe...Sweethe...Sweetheart." The voice spoke again.
This time, it wasn't like when XANA captured her and made her see her father. This time, she could feel he was alive, not just a simulation.
She needed to talk to him, but hearing he was having trouble speaking, she needed another way of talking to him.
"Supercomputer...message," Franz said again, making Aelita mentally facepalm for not thinking about it sooner.
"Yes! You could message me on the supercomputer, and you wouldn't have to speak, so you wouldn't be in pain." Aelita exclaimed. "But...what if you will get attacked while I'm not here? I can't get back to Lyoko immediately."
"Me...in Digital Sea...hide," Franz said.
Aelita nodded, and smiled, knowing that he saw it. She just needed to find a way to get back to the laboratory. But there was no monster around, and no one outside that could devirtualize her.
"Okay, go hide," Aelita said after making a plan. The sphere flew down towards the Digital Sea, while Aelita kneeled down, and began focusing.
This will hurt like crazy. Aelita thought, as she slowly created a rock on top of her, and then let it fall on top of her, devirtulizing her.
///-///
The scanner opened with Aelita in pain. A large rock squishing someone wasn't the most pleasant thing that can happen.
"Oww." She hissed in pain, holding her head as she walked out of the scanner.
She decided not to wait for the elevator, and even in the massive pain, she climbed the ladder up, excited to talk to her father normally, even if just by text.
She made her way to the computer, sitting down, and immediately seeing a message incoming. She opened the application, it logged her in with her avatar. Soon, the first message came through.
Franz Hopper: Hello darling, I'm so glad you are okay.
Franz Hopper: I would talk to you in Lyoko, but my speech engine is corrupted and it's drawing a lot more energy than it should.
Aelita began typing her reply, her hands shaking from the sudden excitement that her father is really alive. However, she wanted to test if he was real.
Aelita: xana did this once and I believed that it was you
Aelita: what was the color of my door in our house?
Franz Hopper: It was bright pink, just like the rest of your room. But now I think it's all vanished and probably the house was destroyed.
Aelita: it hasnt been destroyed
Aelita: but it brings back so many bad memories
Franz Hopper: The Men in Black?
Aelita: yes
Aelita: and im so glad you sent me to Lyoko
Franz Hopper: It was your mother's choice. She asked me to virtualize you at least for some time.
Franz Hopper: Back then I didn't know what is XANA planning and how strong she is.
Aelita looked at the screen, surprised.
Aelita: she? xana is a girl?
Franz Hopper: Yes. Well, I liked to think she was since she was always persuasive.
Aelita: im really glad that you are alright
Aelita: me and my friend are going to try to get you back from Lyoko
Franz Hopper: Friend? Did you tell someone about the supercomputer?
Aelita looked at the screen, confused. Her father didn't know about how she came to the real world?
Aelita: i was stuck in Lyoko for some time, years to be exact
Franz Hopper: So someone turned on the supercomputer, helped you defeat XANA's monsters, and then brought you back to the real world?
Aelita: yes
Aelita: and the same we are going to do to you
Franz Hopper: What do you need for it?
Aelita thought about it, but there was a void. She didn't exactly know what Jeremie used, only about two-thirds of the overall program. She needed Jeremie for this.
Aelita opened a weather app on the side, it displaying that a massive snowstorm was about to hit in some time.
Aelita: im gonna head back to my room, and i could chat with you from there
Franz Hopper: Okay, Aelita. I'm waiting.
She stood up from the chair, grabbed her coat, and ran into the elevator. She needed to be fast, or she will end up in a massive snowstorm with no chance of surviving the cold.
/-/-/-/
The girl quickly ran inside the dormitory just before the storm hit. She was already covered from head to toe with snow.
She knew it was way past the set curfew that Jim informed her about, but she sprinted upstairs in hopes that Jeremie is going to be in his room.
"Jeremie?" Aelita said, knocking on the door. She would open it, but she didn't want to step in on him changing.
The door opened, and Jeremie was in the door, in his pajamas, his eyes adjusting to the hallway light.
"Aelita?" Jeremie asked, stepping aside so Aelita could walk inside. "Where were you?"
But she didn't say anything, and walked to his computer, opening the remote control program, which immediately connected her to the supercomputer.
"Aelita, everything is ok...ay," Jeremie said as he saw the chat box between Aelita and Franz Hopper.
"My dad is alive, I knew it," Aelita said. "I was in Lyoko and found him. Or rather he found me."
"You were in Lyoko? Alone?" And there was it; worried Jeremie, just as she liked him.
"Yes, but XANA didn't come. Like, at all." Aelita explained, typing her message.
Aelita: im here and explaining everything to my friend
Franz Hopper: I'm glad to hear it, Aelita.
"Is it really Franz?" Jeremie asked as Aelita stood up so that Jeremie could sit down. He did, but Aelita immediately sat down on his knee.
"Yes, he knew about a thing that was never digital," Aelita said. "I asked him about the color of my door back in Hermitage."
Jeremie placed his free arm around Aelita's waist so she wouldn't fell down, as he typed a message to Franz with his other.
Jeremie: Hello sir, my name is Jeremie Belpois, and I am a friend of your daughter. We helped her come back into the real world after the supercomputer deleted her DNA sequence.
Franz Hopper: Nice to meet you, Jeremie.
Franz Hopper: What will you need from me to materialize me into the real world?
Jeremie sighed and looked at Aelita, who started at the screen, waiting for Jeremie to type his response.
"Aelita, look away for a moment," Jeremie said as Aelita laid down on Jeremie, her face in Jeremie's neck, making him blush.
Jeremie: I...I don't know to be honest.
Jeremie: I made Aelita look away just to tell you this. I found the log file to the Annex program, and it said that your DNA sequence was completely gone, not like Aelita's. She had the bits just scattered around, and it took me months to put it together.
Franz Hopper: Can you send me the file? I might be able to see what caused the deletion.
Jeremie: Of course, sir.
He sent him the file, but along with that a program that would send him the information about the computer the user uses. If he's not XANA, it won't work.
It didn't, it returned a blank answer.
Franz Hopper: You are right, it seems like my DNA sequence was corrupted and the computer thought it was something bad, so it was removed.
Franz Hopper: Thank you for this information. I'll keep thinking of how to continue.
Franz Hopper: Also, tell my little Aelita that I miss her.
Jeremie: I will, sir. Good night.
Jeremie closed the chat box, and looked down, seeing Aelita was still laying on top of him, quietly sniffing into his shoulder. He didn't want to wake her up, so he gently and carefully slid the coat from her down, throwing it onto the floor.
Slowly, he pushed himself away from the table towards the bed, so he would roll onto the bed with Aelita in his arms. He would carry her, she was light as a feather, but that would wake her up, and he never wanted to do such a cruel thing.
Jeremie then slid down onto the bed, holding Aelita so she would go with him, but kept her laying on his chest.
He deep inside knew he needed to talk to her about everything soon. That these cuddles, hugs, everything they do...he needed to tell her that he loves her more than anything.
And Christmas Eve looked like the perfect time to do it...