Camouflage

Chapter 1: Tacos

It had been almost 3 months since Aelita had joined Kadic Academy. Things were finally settling down. The students were adjusting to Aelita's presence in the classroom, and Aelita was getting used to life on earth. Her friends had been helping her to get over the first rough patch. Now, things were finally becoming the way she had always imagined. She was excelling in her classes, getting along with her friends, and enjoying life outside of Lyoko. Even after discovering that she was still linked to Lyoko and they couldn't shut of the supercomputer yet, her happiness did not dwindle. She was happy to be out of Lyoko even temporarily and to spend time with her friends, even if it meant going back every once and a while to stop Xana's latest scheme.

They were just finishing up with the last attack. Xana had attempted to set the entire school on fire, suffocating the Lyoko warriors in the process. Odd and Ulrich were still stuck in Kadic, trying to stay calm and get as far away from the fire as possible.

"Hurry, Odd! This way!" Ulrich shouted. He motioned towards the doors at the front of the building.

Odd nodded and motioned for the rest of the students to follow Ulrich. "You heard the man!"

Sissi, Nicholas, Herve, Tamiya, Mathieus, and Heidi followed after Ulrich with Odd bringing up the rear.

"Go on! What are you waiting for!?" Sissi squealed, watching Ulrich push on the door to no avail. "Come on, Ulrich!"

"I can't," his voice rang out in desperation. "The door won't budge!"

"Move out of the way!" Odd cried as he ran full force towards the door. They all scrambled as he smacked into the glass. "Oof." Odd hit the door hard, but still nothing. He grabbed his head as he slid down to the floor. "Heh Heh." He laughed awkwardly and looked up at Ulrich. "You're right, Ulrich. It is stuck," he said trying to get onto his wobbly legs. "Got any other ideas?"

Ulrich stared down the hall at the fire raging in the distance. "Let's just hope Yumi and Aelita are having better luck than we are," he muttered. Looking to his left, he saw a row of lockers. "In the mean time, let's see if we can move those between us and the fire."

"Well don't just stand there!" Sissi blurted out after a few seconds, looking at Nicholas and Herve. "Help him!"

-m-

"Hurry, Aelita!" Jeremie's voice came through to Yumi and Aelita who were currently running toward a tower in the forest region.

Yumi and Aelita picked up the pace, almost sprinting. Yumi aimed and threw her fan at the final kankrelat crawling toward them. The fan made an impact right before the bug-like creature could fire its laser.

"Ok, Aelita," Yumi started. "That was the last of them. Go!" She slowed down and watched as Aelita ran forward toward the tower.

"Aelita, look out!" Jeremie's voice rang out from above as the scyphozoa came around the tower blocking her path.

Aelita slowed to a stop and stared at the creature's tentacles, frozen in fear.

"Not this time!" Yumi shouted and threw both of her fans, slicing off the arms that were reaching for Aelita. As the scyphozoa backed away, Yumi approached Aelita. "You ok?"

Aelita gave a quick nod before she ran and disappeared into the tower, fazing through the wall.

Aelita slowly walked to the center of the platform. The lines on the floor began to glow and she was raised to the second level. Placing her hand on the screen brought up the all-familiar words: Aelita. Code: Lyoko. Suddenly all the files floating around the sides of the tower rushed toward the bottom.

Jeremie smiled as he saw the tower deactivate on his screen. "Yes! You did it, Aelita. Are you ready for a trip to the past?" Without waiting for a reply, he pressed the keys and a bright flash of light appeared, spreading out from the factory and reaching all the way to Kadic Academy, where the fire was frozen in its rage. "Return to the past now."

-m-

"Now that the doors were unlocked, do you really think it was necessary to take a return trip to the past?" Ulrich asked as Jeremie walked over to where he and Odd were sitting on a bench in the middle of Campus.

"You can't be too careful with that kind of thing, Ulrich," Jeremie said as his shook his head. Aelita and Yumi were at his side. "What if the firemen couldn't have gotten you out in time? It was just too risky. I wouldn't want something to happen to you guys."

"I don't know, Jeremie," Odd interrupted. "Have you forgotten that going back in time increases Xana's power? We were there. We could have let you know if things got too out of control."

"Things were already too out of control! The building was on fire, Odd!" Jeremie shouted, catching the attention of a couple students in the quad. "I did what I had to do."

"Alright, simmer down, you two," Yumi interjected, stepping between them. The two girls who had glanced over at Jeremie returned to their conversation. "It may have been risky, but we do take risks every day. I think Odd might be right on this one. We need to use the return to the past only in case of emergencies."

"And I'm telling you, Yumi, this was an emergency!" he shouted then turned away from the group. "Oh, never mind! I'll be in my room if you need me."

"Jeremie, wait!" Aelita called after him, reaching out her hand. She just missed his shoulder as he continued to storm off towards his room. She sighed.

"Don't worry, Aelita. He'll calm down by dinner. You'll see." Yumi placed her hand on Aelita's shoulder almost restraining her from following after him. "Just let him go for now."

Aelita let out one more sigh, watching Jeremie turn in to the dorm building. "Well, alright. We should probably get to class, anyway."

"Oh yuck!" Odd shouted. "Math class again! I knew there was another reason not to go back in time."

"Oh, come on, Odd," Ulrich laughed. "At least you might know some of the answers this time."

"Very funny, Ulrich, but I'll have you know I did know some of the answers already," Odd said with a huff.

"That's not what your quiz grade told me," Ulrich laughed again, causing Aelita and Yumi to laugh too.

"Alright. Alright. This time I can redeem myself. Come on, Aelita. Time to take the quiz again. Although, I'm sure you did great the first time." Odd turned to head towards class. "See you later, Yumi."

"I'll meet you guys at dinner," she said and turned toward her own class. Waving at William who was waiting for her by the door.

Ulrich watched as she walked toward him. Although he wasn't sure, it seemed like William was a little more smug than usual. As Yumi reached him, he gave a sly smile to Ulrich and put his hand around Yumi's waist for a few seconds, allowing her to go into the classroom before him.

"Come on, Ulrich!" Odd called from several feet away.

Ulrich scowled and turned his back on William, starting toward Mrs. Meyer's class for the second time today.

-m-

"Horray! Spaghetti and meatballs, I'm starved!" Odd cried at he entered the cafeteria for dinner. It sure is a disappointment that Xana couldn't let us relive mealtime twice instead of math class."

"Don't you ever think about anything but your stomach?" Ulrich asked as they went through the line.

"No way!" Odd put his tray out. "What do you say, Rosa? How about a double helping?" A huge grin spread out across Odd's face.

"You know the rules." Rosa looked down at him and scooped out one helping, putting it onto his tray.

"Oh come on. Just this once?" He gave her another, more sincere smile. Aelita began to laugh as Rosa scowled at him.

"Keep it moving, DellaRobbia," she stated flatly and turned toward Aelita, placing a helping on her tray. Odd sighed.

The three grabbed their trays and headed over to the table where Yumi was already sitting. "So what's the verdict? Did Odd pass math this time around?" Yumi asked with a smirk as the placed their trays on the table, Ulrich next to Yumi and Odd and Aelita across from them.

"I got a 72, thank you very much," Odd announced with a bite of spaghetti already in his mouth.

Aelita laughed. "Well at least it was an improvement. Although, you'd think after two classes you would have absorbed more."

"Very funny, Aelita, but I'm an artist, not a sponge. I can't be troubled with things like math class. It's not in my blood," Odd announced as if he were actually a suffering artist.

"Well, bravo, Mr. Artist," Ulrich said with a small laugh. "Maybe next time you'll actually study."

Yumi and Aelita smiled at each other from across the table. "So, how's our princess doing today? Getting used to being an earthling?" Yumi asked and took another bite of spaghetti.

"Surprisingly, yes. It's getting harder to believe that I've only been here for a few months. I still can't get over the smells though," Aelita paused to take a big whiff of her garlic bread, "or the tastes." She took a bite, closed her eyes, and smiled before swallowing.

Ulrich laughed. "Well, if you think the cafeteria food tastes so good, you should try some real food sometime."

"Oh, come on, Ulrich," Odd interrupted. "The spaghetti is great. If you don't want it I'll take yours." He looked over at Ulrich's tray with a wolfish grin. Ulrich pushed his half-eaten tray in Odd's direction. Odd quickly grabbed it and began to chow down.

"We're definitely glad to have you here, Aelita," Yumi said with a smile, "and Ulrich's right. We really should go out sometime to a real restaurant. We could get some real noodles, or we could get something completely different. Is there anything you've wanted to try?"

Aelita took a second to think of the different foods she had tried and others that she had only heard of. Her mind wandered from pasta to seafood to sushi to other cultures and cuisines. Eventually her mind strayed even further, back to Lyoko and a late night conversation with Jeremie.

-m-

"I'm sorry, Aelita. I missed dinner," Jeremie said through a mouthful of food, his face glowing in the screen.

"What are you eating?" Aelita asked.

"They're tacos: a concoction of beef, lettuce, tomato, and cheese served in a tortilla. Sometimes they're hard and sometimes they're soft. These ones are soft," he explained.

"Are those better?" she asked again, her questions genuine. She knelt down in front of the screen anxious for more information about Earth.

"I like them better," Jeremie said after another bite. "They aren't as messy as the hard shells. These ones are easier to eat." She smiled and nodded. "When I finally find the key to materialization, you can try them both and see which one you like better."

"That sounds wonderful, Jeremie. I can't wait to taste all of the food your world has to offer."

-m-

"Tacos," she said finally. "I think I want some tacos."

"Alright," Yumi smiled, "we can get some tacos for dinner tomorrow." She turned to Ulrich and Odd. Odd was finishing Ulrich's tray of spaghetti while Ulrich watched. "Do either of you know a good taco place?"

Before Ulrich of Odd could answer, Aelita jumped in. "I think Jeremie knows of one." She glanced around as if just now noticing that he wasn't there. "Have you seen him?"

Both of them shook their heads. "Not since he stormed off before class," Odd muttered through his last bite of food. "Didn't he say he would be sulking in his room? Funny, because that's usually your job, Ulrich." Odd laughed.

"Very funny, Odd," Ulrich said sarcastically with a slight glare.

Upon hearing their negative response, Aelita got up and pushed in her chair. "I think I'll just go check on him." She grabbed her tray and walked it over to the belt with the rest of the dirty dishes before anyone could stop her or offer to go with her. After several months at Kadic, she knew the way to Jeremie's room by heart. She exited the cafeteria and entered the dorm building, heading up the stairs, down the hallway, and stopping at Jeremie's room. She paused at the door and knocked. With no answer, she knocked again. After hearing no response a second time she tried the handle. The room was unlocked, so she opened it slightly.

"Hello?" she asked hesitantly through the crack in the door.

"Oh, it's you, Aelita," Jeremie replied without turning around. "Come in. I was just working on research for your antivirus. You'd be surprised what Franz Hopper has in his diary."

"You missed dinner, but there's still time if you want to go get some. It's spaghetti and meatballs," Aelita said, switching the subject.

"That's ok. I'm really deep into this right now. I don't want to lose my train of thought. There's a whole section here about the materialization process. There has to be something about the antivirus. I'll send you the data and you can help me. That would really speed up the process."

"Aren't you hungry? I'm sure the antivirus can wait."

Jeremie paused for a second and spun around in his chair. "Xana doesn't wait. Don't you want to be free from the supercomputer?"

Aelita sat down on Jeremie's bed. She grasped the covers in her hand, what had become almost a nervous habit for her. "You know I do, but that doesn't mean you need to forgo eating."

"I'll be ok," he said with a small smile and turned back to his screen. "I'll get something out of a vending machine later. I'm not really hungry right now. Go grab your laptop. I'll send you the data."

Aelita sighed slightly and got up to leave. She paused at the door and turned back around. "Yumi suggested going out for tacos tomorrow night for dinner. Do you remember where you got those tacos you were telling me about?"

"Hmm? Tacos?" Jeremie murmured without turning around. "What are you talking about?"

"Do you remember? You were working on the materialization program a couple months ago and had skipped dinner. You had soft tacos."

Jeremie continued typing for a beat or two. "Hmm, probably El Patron, but I don't really remember."

"Well, would you go with us tomorrow night?" Aelita asked.

"Sure," he said absentmindedly and continued typing, his hands moving furiously across the keyboard. "I'm sure it's here somewhere," he muttered under his breath.

Aelita turned to the door and headed back to her room.

It's been a while since I've posted anything.

Let me know what you think - Please Review.