#her guileless eyes have bewitched me

[normalfem]

Men find Sydney Sweeney hot in a boring and offensive way but I find her hot in a respectable and honourable way.btw

[fuckyeahjerlita]

Code Lyoko Fanfic - Memories Buried in the Snow - Chapter 2 - Memories of Long Ago

The memories the old house contains call out to Aelita. An old box hidden in a closet may contain the final answers she’s been seeking.

He followed the GPS for the rest of the drive, turning where he must… until at last, it sprung into sight: a large wooden chalet, flanked by pines and banked in snow. The house was two stories tall with stairs and a long balcony on the second story.

At the sight of the house, Aelita stirred for the first time since they had switched places. She leaned forward and stared at that building, as one in a thrall.

“Here we are. Kind of a pretty place, isn’t it?” smiled Jeremie, by way of lightening the strange atmosphere.

Without acknowledging her husband, Aelita unbuckled, opened the door and exited the car. She stood in the falling snow, looking all around her, taking everything in. Then, she began walking slowly forward.

“Aelita!” Jeremie called, deeply troubled by his wife’s strange behavior.

He quickly killed the engine and got out to follow her. He watched as Aelita walked up to the chalet’s front door, fished out the key they had been sent, and opened it. Jeremie ran to catch up with her, cursing the deep snow with each step. Finally, he made it through the front door,, shutting and locking it behind him, cutting out the cold of the outdoors.

The inside was a cheerful atmosphere, well furnished with all the creature comforts, yet unmistakably rustic.

Jeremie tried the light switch and thankfully, the overhead light came on.

"I'll make a fire!" he announced by way of dissipating the lingering weirdness in the atmosphere.

Aelita continued to be remote as she walked slowly away without acknowledging Jeremie, as though she were being lured in by the house itself.

‘Like at the Hermitage,’ Jeremie thought vaguely.

He watched after Aelita, but decided to leave her be, for now. She would come to him when she was ready, as she always did. For now, Jeremie concentrated on putting the logs into the fire, then lighting the match. Soon, he had a fire going to chase away the lingering cold.

Aelita walked slowly through the house. With each look at a room, flashes came to her in more rapid succession and with trebled clarity. Though the furnishings were different, the rooms themselves had changed but little. She mounted the stairs slowly, but with purpose. At the end of the hall on the right, was a door, which opened to reveal a small bedroom.

Aelita blinked and suddenly, it was transformed into a child’s room with light pink walls and curtains covering the windows, filled with a little girl's toys: stuffed animals, a few dolls, books, and a small bed with a pink blanket and pillow. Aelita blinked her eyes and the room was back to its present state. Closing the door, she left the room to itself.

Across the hall, another door opened to reveal the larger master bedroom. Aelita blinked and saw the bed and furnishings that had been forgotten to her for almost 20 years. Lying in the bed were a man with a gray mustache and a woman with pink hair and green irises like her own. The woman looked over at her and smiled.

Aelita blinked and the room was empty again. Tears blurred her vision and her throat tightened up, her breath hitching out in a strangled sob. Guided by some unexplained compulsion, she stepped into the room and made a beeline for the closet, whose door she wrenched open with nearly enough force to pull it from its hinges. Through the veil of tears, she looked… until she saw it, a small cut-out in the farthest back corner of the closet.

Kneeling, Aelita pulled at the bit of wall that stood between her and what she was after. It gave way easily enough, revealing a small box ensconced in the wall for over 20 years. She pulled the box out and removed the lid.

Inside were many old papers, cards, and most importantly… photos of either the bespectacled man or the pink haired woman, each taken by the other. The final one she saw was the man and woman posing with each other for a timed shot before the cabin, the woman’s hands caressing her swollen belly, a small contented smile upon her face.

Aelita let the photos slip unheeded to the floor as a fresh wave of emotion broke over her. She lowered her head and sobbed brokenly into her hands, her entire frame shaking with each hitching, broken breath she took.

Through her haze of agony, she didn’t hear the footsteps behind her. Didn’t realize she was no longer alone until she felt those gentle, familiar arms encircle her from behind. She turned, wrapped her arms around Jeremie’s waist and began sobbing with abandon into his sweatshirt while he held her close.

Poor Jeremie was utterly taken aback by Aelita’s present state. He had seen her in the throes of her melancholies and had held her when she cried many times throughout their relationship, but not since finding out of her mother’s death years ago had she broken down this completely.

Closing his eyes on his own tears, Jeremie rested his chin on the crown of Aelita’s head as he began gently rubbing her back and stroking her thick, soft hair with both hands, familiar gestures that he knew would soothe her… eventually. This was going to take a while.

Jeremie remained silent as he held Aelita close and continued his gentle ministrations on her. His heart mulled a thousand questions, but now was neither the time nor the place for them. The only thing that mattered was comforting Aelita through whatever was distressing her.

Finally, after an indeterminate length of time, Jeremie felt the tension begin to drain out of Aelita’s body. Her sobs grew fewer and farther between and her grip around his waist slackened. Finally, he felt her go completely limp in his arms, breath soft and even in sleep, utterly spent.

Only now did Jeremie dare try to take stock of things. She had been acting strangely distant practically since their arrival in Switzerland. With each passing mile toward this chalet, the strangeness of her behavior had grown, until reaching the crescendo they had just endured. When he looked down at the floor, Jeremie saw the pictures lying in careless disarray around the small box.

Moving slowly and carefully, he picked them up and looked through them. He immediately recognized the mustachioed and bespectacled visage of Franz Hopper staring at him from out of the pictures. And the pink haired woman with the familiar emerald irises was unmistakable!

‘Franz and Anthea Hopper!’ he thought. ‘Oh, my god! I don’t believe in fate or anything like that, but somehow… Poor Aelita…’

Moving slowly and carefully, Jeremie shifted their positions so that he was able to pick Aelita up in his arms bridal style, then rose to his feet. Fortunately, Aelita was tiny and very light, so he was able to do so without throwing out his back. Jeremie carried Aelita over to the large bed and gently deposited her upon the mattress.

Jeremie began the careful process of undressing Aelita so she could sleep more comfortably. He moved slowly and carefully as he worked. This proved unnecessary though, as she never stirred, even as Jeremie manipulated her limbs.

‘Wow! She’s totally out,’ he thought worriedly. ‘I just hope she’ll be OK. My poor angel…’

Jeremie covered Aelita in the thick blanket to let her sleep and hopefully recover. This done, he returned to the closet and put all the photos and papers back into the small box. He then picked up the box and brought it over to the bedside table. This was Aelita’s and she should be the one to decide what to do with it.

Finally, he stepped out of his boots and stretched out next to his sleeping princess. Jeremie pulled the blanket over both of them, then wrapped Aelita up in a protective embrace. He then shut his eyes and let his mind drift.

Dreams of days gone by arose unbidden before their minds.

Aelita dreamed of running about in the forest behind the house, of her parents’ admonitions never to wander too far away. Red deer peeked out from among the trees at her. Squirrels peered curiously from their holes.

Snow came and with it, scratching out snow angels in its depths, rolling balls to make snowmen, drinking hot cocoa inside in the evenings. There was a large pine tree decorated with various bulbs and lights with festively wrapped packages at its base.

“Oh, he’s so cute! I love him. What should I call him?”

“How about Mister Puck, which means ‘elf’.”

“Do you like him?”

“Oh, yes! Thank you, Mommy!”

Meanwhile, Jeremie dreamed of switching on a computer in an ancient factory and being gobsmacked by the sight of a delicate looking young woman with bewitching pink hair staring back at him from out of the screen. From almost that moment, he knew he must do everything he could to have her by his side and in his arms.

The scanner opened and there she lay, innocent and fragile as a newborn lamb. Her eyes opened, revealing bright, intelligent, yet entirely guileless green irises as she smiled up at him, face to face for the first time in this world.

She lay on the cold steel floor of the computer room with the silent machine looming over her. He had to be quick! The machine roared back to life and he pulled her into his arms, praying to the universe that he wasn’t too late.

“Aelita! Answer me! C’mon! Wake up!”

When her pain fogged eyes opened and she took a hitching breath, he held her close and choked back a sob.

“You’re insane! Why did you do that?!”

“To save the world… To save you all…” she managed to gasp out.

“We’ll save it together. Then you’ll have your whole life in front of you; a brand new life!”

“Noooo!” Jeremie cried, watching helplessly as the Scyphozoa drained the last of Aelita’s life from her, before dropping her carelessly to the ground. “Aelita’s deeeeaaaad!!!!”

The four could only watch as Lyoko died along with its keeper, facilitating XANA’s escape to the greater Internet. Just when all seemed lost, a glowing entity appeared, lifted Aelita into the air and restored to her what had been lost. Jeremie’s joy knew no bounds as Aelita began to move again.

He was there at the scanner to catch her as she collapsed into his arms, her humanity fully restored to her, entirely free of XANA and Lyoko.

Happy times. An angel soaring aloft on pink wings and shooting energy from her hands.

The sure and steady captain of an underwater vessel named for Freyr’s great longboat.

Sad times. A young musician not understanding why he would rather spend his days at his computer than come to her debut.

The grand battle. The life of Waldo Schaeffer faded away with the flying mantas’ lasers as he gave his last strength over to power the multiagent program his daughter was trying to launch. As Aelita watched helplessly, her father faded from existence, this time forever.

Jeremie sighed as he felt fingers caressing his head, pulling him from his dreams of long ago. His eyes opened to reveal a pair of soft green irises staring at him.

“Lita…” he asked as he watched her, uncertain of what to expect. “Are you OK? If you want, we can get another place…”

He was silenced by Aelita’s index finger, pressing against his lips. Aelita picked up the box from the nightstand and opened it. Jeremie watched her in equal parts fascination and dreadful anticipation of another emotional breakdown. Aelita glanced up at him and patted the spot right next to her. At this invitation, Jeremie snuggled up next to Aelita, wrapping his arms around her and giving her a comforting squeeze.

Grateful for Jeremie’s support, Aelita once again went through the box’s contents: all the old photos, love letters and other assorted papers. Many times, Aelita would feel her emotions beginning to break again and would need to stop and rest in Jeremie’s arms for a bit before she could start again.

As they did this, Jeremie found himself getting to know Waldo and Anthea Schaeffer in a way he would’ve never thought possible. Their photos and letters were truly windows into the world of their departed souls. The best of all were Anthea’s old diaries, full of love for Waldo, and later on for baby “Lita”. Details of her first time crawling, first steps, and first words filled the pages, causing Aelita to tear up and Jeremie to smile at the thought of Aelita as a tiny child.

“Your mom was so pretty,” Jeremie noted. “I totally see where you got your looks from.”

Aelita fixed Jeremie with a sad smile at that compliment.

When everything had been gone through and put away, Aelita lay still in Jeremie’s arms, face damp with tears, but her lips quirked up in a small smile that gave Jeremie hope after a day spent worrying about her emotional state.

“I’ve come home,” she said, the words barely more than a whisper.

“I was never a believer in fate, but of all the chalets in Switzerland…” Jeremie began.

He was silenced by Aelita’s lips suddenly crashing into his. Jeremie’s eyes widened at this unexpected display of affection, but he recovered quickly and eagerly returned it, wrapping his arms around her waist.

The next few hours were spent in the passion of their gentle and drawn-out lovemaking. Feelings were exchanged physically, vows of devotion, protection, and cooperation were renewed on a spiritual level. When they reached their completion, they lay wrapped in each other’s arms, intertwined until it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began.

The two remained thus for the rest of the night, drifting in and out of consciousness, dreaming of their future together under sunny blue skies, with gentle breezes at their backs and soft grass under their feet; the silent contentment of being together, surrounded by the memories of a distant past.