Work Text:
The computer lab was quiet, save for the consistent duet of keyboards. The space was dark, the empty center console lacking its normal illumination. The only sources of light were the two screens where code was being input.
Aelita sat on the floor near Jeremie, typing just as furiously as he was. Her posture was a mimic of his, both hunched over their keyboards. They were working to reconstruct Lyoko. They had been typing for hours, hardly a word passing between them. Aelita wanted to rest for a moment, but she couldn’t. Jeremie wasn’t taking breaks.
William was gone. Lyoko was gone. Her connection to her father was gone.
So she carried on, matching Jeremie’s pace, eyes swimming in code.
If there wasn’t so much riding on this, she might have found peace in the quiet moment between them. But the stakes were much too high for enjoyment.
Aelita reached the end of her string of code just seconds before Jeremie did, a total silence falling over the lab for a moment.
Neither of them had spoken in hours, so Aelita jumped when Jeremie asked, “Ready?”
“Yeah,” she nodded, closing her eyes to rest them after staring at the bright screen for so long. Aelita rolled her wrists out and cracked her knuckles. “I hope this works.” She stood, body stiff as she moved to look over Jeremie’s shoulder.
“Me too.” Jeremie removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He replaced them and took a deep breath. “Here goes everything.”
Jeremie’s fingers returned to the keys.
“Wait.” Aelita briefly touched his shoulder.
He paused, fingers ready to input the final command. “What’s wrong?”
“What if this doesn’t work?”
Jeremie met her eyes. “Then we’ll start over. We’re going to find William, and I’m going to do everything I can to find your father, Aelita.”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
Jeremie turned back to his keyboard. He typed out one more command and pressed enter.
He reached for her hand as a progress bar appeared. The lab was completely still as they watched it crawl across the screen.
The bar froze. Aelita held her breath. Jeremie squeezed her hand and she relaxed.
The progress bar began moving again, and continued steadily across the screen.
When it reached its final destination, the screen changed. The holomap sprung to life next to them. The lab was suddenly bathed in light.
Aelita glanced over just in time to see the heart of Lyoko re-appear on the map. She watched the walls of Sector Five appear around it.
“Jeremie.”
He moved his eyes from the screen to the map, gripping her hand tighter as the familiar sphere took shape.
“We did it,” he breathed next to her.
“We did.” She threw her arms around him, pulling him in tightly. “You’re incredible.”
Jeremie held her, his cheeks tinged pink. “I couldn’t have done this without you, Aelita.”
“Thank you, Jeremie. For everything.” She sighed deeply, enjoying the warmth of his hug.
“You did amazing,” he spoke softly into her ear.
“So did you.” Aelita pulled away begrudgingly and collected her laptop before sliding it into her bag. She was surprised to find herself sad that their work seemed to be at an end.
Jeremie turned back to the computer, and began typing again.
“What are you doing?” She watched his fingers fly across the keys.
“Trying to localize William.”
“Do you think he’s still on Lyoko?”
“I don't know. We’ll find out in a minute.” He hit enter, and a scan appeared on the screen. They both watched it process.
Aelita took advantage of the stressful moment to reach out and hold Jeremie’s hand again.
A large red exclamation point appeared and started spinning on the screen.
They both sighed.
Jeremie shook his head. “Nothing. I think it’s time to start looking over the network.” He let go of Aelita’s hand and began typing again.
“How are we going to do that? We can’t touch the digital sea.”
“Not outright, no, but maybe with a ship? A submarine?”
“What?”
“I’ve had this crazy idea for a while, for a submarine-type ship that can enter the digital sea.” Jeremie shrugged.
“Is that even possible?”
“Only one way to find out.” Jeremie kept typing.
Aelita placed her hand on his shoulder. “But not tonight, Jeremie. We’ve already been working for days on recreating Lyoko. Why don’t we take a little break?”
“What about William? And your father?”
She gave him a soft smile. “You’ll find them. I have faith in you. But tonight, let’s rest.”
He hesitated for a moment before sighing, “Yeah, okay.” Jeremie pushed back from the keyboard. He gathered his things and followed Aelita out of the lab.
They rode the elevator in a comfortable silence. When they exited the factory, the night was dark. There was a slight chill as they walked, making Aelita want to press closer to Jeremie.
“What time is it?”
Jeremie glanced at his watch. “Almost nine. We missed curfew again.”
“Listen, I know I said we should rest, but do you want to sneak into town and get a treat? For finishing Lyoko?” She gave him a hopeful look.
Jeremie smiled. “That sounds nice.”
They emerged from the quiet woods and turned away from the school. The streets were mostly empty as they walked towards a familiar bakery.
The smell of sweets overwhelmed Aelita when they entered. The lights were soft, and the building was warm. The employee behind the counter was kind and cheerful as she helped them.
They settled on a chocolate croissant, a regular croissant, and two cups of hot chocolate. Even though it was late, they took a moment to sit, enjoying their treats in the quiet shop.
“So, tell me more about this ship. You really think we could enter the digital sea?”
Jeremie sipped his hot chocolate. “Maybe. There has to be some way to travel on the network. Franz Hopper escaped Lyoko and is somewhere on the net. He must be using some type of digital shell or body.”
“And you think you could make something like that for us?”
“I don’t see why not. I would obviously need to study how that would work, but I bet I could program it, with a little time,” he sighed. “And that’s time we just don’t have.”
Aelita frowned. “I know. I'm sorry this is so much.”
Jeremie shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I actually really enjoy the challenge. I just wish it wasn’t so much all at once.”
Aelita nodded, knowing how many sleepless nights Jeremie was about to put in. “Well, should we head back?”
Jeremie pushed his chair back. “Probably.”
The air was cooler now, a gentle breeze surrounding them when they exited the shop. They made their way back to campus, holding their hot chocolate as they walked.
Aelita broke the silence. “What are we going to do about William?”
Jeremie’s shoulders were heavy. “I’ll call the principal with an excuse in the morning. We can say he’s going to visit his parents for a while or something.” He stopped walking.
With her free hand, Aelita reached for Jeremie’s. “Thank you for everything.” Her voice was softer now. She needed him to know that all his efforts weren’t going unnoticed.
He was taken aback. “What do you mean?”
“For recreating Lyoko. For working to find William and my father.”
“Of course. We can’t let X.A.N.A. win.”
“Yes, but you didn’t have to materialize me. You could have just shut the supercomputer down when you realized what he was capable of.”
Jeremie was quiet, studying the way her fingers were laced with his own. “I would never do that, Aelita.”
“I know. Thank you.” She leaned her head onto his shoulder. “You didn’t have to do any of this. But, I’m very glad you did.” The glow of the street light silhouetted her, making Jeremie’s heart race.
“Me too,” Jeremie pressed his lips softly to her cheek, a crimson blush spreading across his.
“Should we get back? It really is late now.” Jeremie looked at his watch again.
“Probably. And then tomorrow we’ll start on this ship of yours.” Their hands stayed linked as they started walking again.
They both clung to their cups of hot chocolate and each other. Neither wanted to let go.
“Do you think it’s possible?”
Aeltia flashed him a smile. “I think anything’s possible with you.”