Paint Me A Memory
A/n: Something that's been floating in my brain. For Jeni, for making fun of me and getting her revenge, and for Kat, who makes constant dirty jokes with me.
Aelita moved silently through the halls of Kadic at the ungodly hour of three AM. Her third nightmare in three nights had awaken her from an otherwise peaceful sleep. She slipped more gracefully than most could into the dorm of her constant guardian, Jeremie Belpois. She had half hoped he'd still be pounding away at the keyboard, working on codes and programs. At least that way she wouldn't have to wake him up. She shut the door behind her and knelt next to his bed, eyes adjusting to the darkness.
"Jer? Jeremie?" She touched his shoulder lightly and he jumped.
"Wha!- Oh, Aelita. You startled me. Is something wrong? Is there an attack?" He rubbed his eyes with one hand, reaching for his glasses with the other.
"There's no attack… I.. I had another nightmare." Suddenly, this seemed ridiculous; she should have just stayed in bed. The blonde's face fell.
"Oh, Lita. I'm sorry. Would you like me to sit up with you awhile?"
"I'm sorry to wake you.. It was a memory again. The same one as before, with the men." Jeremie sat up, moving his quilt so she had room to sit as well.
"It's fine; I'm glad you woke me up. If you have a nightmare, talking about it helps sometimes." She sat next to him on the bed, leaning against the wall.
"It's not the nightmare that bothered me, Jer." She sighed and looked out the window into the darkness, lit only by street lights off the campus. "It's just.. I hardly remember anything at all. Glimpses. I have no everyday memories. What did my mother make for breakfast in the morning? What were holidays like? Vacations? I don't remember anything! Just Xana, and Lyoko." Jeremie wrapped an arm around the girl.
"You'll get them all back one day," he reassured her. She shook her head.
"Won't I be a different person? Memories shape a person.. What if .. What if I'm different? What if you don't feel the same about that Aelita?" Her eyes moved back to his in the darkness.
"Don't you ever think that. You're my Aelita. Memories of your past or not. I'll never feel any different about you." She leaned against him, sighing deeply.
"Thanks Jeremie." He smiled, kissing her cheek gently. Very quickly she realized how tired she was, rubbing at her eyes. "Can I stay in here the rest of the.. Morning?" She remembered the time. Jeremie blushed involuntarily.
"Oh! Of course." The girl collapsed on his pillow.
"Would you laugh terribly at me if I asked you to tell me a story?" He laid down next to her, slipping his glasses off.
"A story?"
"About when I was little." Jeremie smiled sadly.
"Aelita, I don't know any stories from your childhood. There weren't any in Franz's diary, and I didn't know you then." Aelita didn't miss a beat, back to the blonde genius.
"Make one up." Jeremie laughed, letting his arm fall around the girls waist.
"What?"
"Make one up. I want a memory; even if it isn't real."
"I'm not very good at making up stories, much less memories of a person's life." Aelita sighed, leaning back into him.
"Please? From when I was little, too little to remember anything yet. Just one normal memory. It doesn't have to be amazing."
"Any memory?"
"I'm not picky." She shut her tired eyes.
"Alright. It was Christmas Eve.. And you were three years old." Aelita grinned hugely. "And your mother was trying to get you into your Christmas dress while-"
"My mother?"
"Yes. Your mother."
"What was her name?" Aelita rolled over to look at him.
"Uhm.. Her name? Elise. Elise Hopper. She had the same eyes as you. Her hair was a bit lighter pink, though. You were very much her daughter."
"Elise is a beautiful name."
"May I continue?"
"Please."
"Being the stubbornly adorable child you were, you wanted nothing to do with the dress, all the while your father was trying to get the lights on the tree to work." Aelita smiled, painting the picture in her mind.
"Pesky things, those lights."
"So you finally gave in and were loaded into the car for your grandparents house; that's where you spent every Christmas Eve." The girls eyes lit up again.
"I have grandparents?"
"Of course. What kind of Christmas memory do you think this is?"
"You're really giving me the works," she teased.
"Naturally. And before you ask, their names are Charlotte and Henry. They were your mother's parents and lived just outside of Kadic. So you got to your grandparents house and-"
"What did it smell like?"
"…What?"
"The house, Jer. What did it smell like?"
"Right. The house.. Gingerbread and pine. They always got a real tree. You and your parents were the first ones to the house and your grandmother immediately stole you away into the kitchen to-"
"Wait, wait. First ones there? Who else was coming?"
"Your aunt and her husband, of course."
"I have an aunt and uncle?!" she whispered excitedly. She felt like any moment she may cry.
"Yes. You're mother's sister Annabelle and her husband Michel. They live just north of Paris. She looks more like your grandfather though, with red hair. Anyways, before interrupted, you were stolen into the kitchen; first grandchild and all. She let you eat gingerbread cookies while your parents and grandfather sat in the living room." Aelita laughed, imagining it playing out in her mind. "So then, your aunt and uncle showed up a few hours later with your gifts. They only one you have the attention span to open was teddy bear as big as you; your first love before Puck. Before the night was over you had fallen asleep on top of it in the middle of the living room floor. Adorable really. So, your father finally scooped you up around eleven and put you in the car while your mother tried desperately to find the shoes you had flung off the second you walked through the door."
"Thanks, Jer." Aelita was almost asleep.
"Anytime."
"I mean it. You don't know how much that means to me. What you did." She snuggled closer into his chest, yawning. "You gave me more than a memory; you gave me a family. A blood one."
"See? You now have a memory, and you haven't changed a bit." Aelita yawned.
"Imagine that." Jeremie chuckled.
"Night, Princess."