The returns in time were always disorientating; and this one was no exception. In fact this one was far more than most due to the change in time being nine days rather that the usual one. Jeremie lay on his back and waited for his mind to steady itself and his eyes to regain their focus. As they did so, his thoughts went back to the kiss and how it had felt; the most wonderful feeling in the world. He wanted to go and talk to Aelita about it, maybe even kiss her again. Jeremie's mind had now cleared but his eyes were still out of focus; and he realised that he wasn't wearing his glasses.

It only took a minute for him to find them and put them on again. Once he could see again, he noticed that he was sitting on his own bed; it was early morning yet he was fully dressed. It took a moment before Jeremie remembered that this morning he had been working intently; and, after a night of no success, had simply collapsed onto his bed to sleep.

There was a knock on the door, just like the first time round; and Jeremie knew who was behind it.

"Come in." He said. The door opened and Aelita stepped through.

"Good morning, Jeremie." She said, speaking in a light and happy tone, "If you don't get a move on, you'll miss breakfast again." She spoke in such a carefree tone that Jeremie knew instantly that she had received her request; she had forgotten everything. He sighed as he thought about it, how could he ever explain what had happened; how could he tell her what they had been through?

"Hey Jeremie; are you awake?" Aelita called to him, bending down so she could look him directly in the eyes. Her face was now very close to his, just like the moment before the return in time; he could feel his cheeks burn in embarrassment, why now?

Aelita pulled back quickly, straightening up as she did so; and small patches of pink appeared in her cheeks as well. She looked intently out of the window and Jeremie felt his stomach squirm; he couldn't even bring himself to speak to her.

"Didn't get much sleep last night?" she questioned, glancing at him momentarily; Jeremie managed to respond with a strange grunting noise, which she took for a yes. "Same here." She added; still staring out of the window, no longer smiling. "I had quite a nightmare."

Jeremie looked straight at her intrigued; on the first run of this day, she had mentioned nothing about any nightmare. "What was it about?" He asked, forcing his mouth to move to speak the words.

"Well," She said slowly, fidgeting with a loose thread on her dress; "it was bad, you had been captured by Xana and we thought you were dead- it was horrible." Aelita stared quickly at the floor, blinking back tears.

Jeremie had to stop himself from crying out in shock; he didn't think that people could retain their memories after a return trip, could they? He didn't know what to tell her. She was clearly very distressed by what she thought was a dream; and she had told him that she wanted to forget, but how could he lie to her about something like that?

He stood up and stepped over to her; she didn't even look up as he did so. He placed a hand on her shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting way. Now she looked at him, looked straight into his eyes; he was once again staring into those beautiful green eyes, belonging to the one person he would do anything to protect.

"It's okay Aelita," he said; in his most comforting voice. "It was just a nightmare, that's all. I'm still here and I always will be." He smiled at her and she smiled back; Jeremie was once again struck by how beautiful that smile was.

"You're right," she responded, "I was just being silly, that's all." She gave a weak laugh, "Thank you."

Aelita took Jeremie by surprise for the second time as she leaned towards him and pressed her lips softly against his cheek. Both of them blushed as she drew back.

"Well," She said, no longer meeting his eyes, "I'll see you at breakfast, Jeremie."

Without another word, Aelita left the room. Jeremie watched her go with a satisfied feeling in his heart; they were both happy and there was no need to change that. He wouldn't tell Aelita that the dream she had was real, she didn't need to know; not now, not ever.

Thanks for all the good reviews; it's always nice to see. But that's it with this one; everything comes to an end, and so this has.

If anyone's wondering, there won't be a sequal; but you can expect to see more stories from me in the future.