A/N: Before you read, please note that this isn't a complete fic in itself, but more a collection of dialogue and ficlets. The OddLita Scrapbook in its entirety, accompanied by pictures, can be found at theoddlitascrapbook dot tumblr dot com. For the purposes of having a complete archive of all my writing in one place, I'm uploading this text-only version here. Hopefully it can still be mostly enjoyed even without the context provided by the snapshots.
Another gift for the lovely Kittyclaw, whose writing I highly recommend.
Scrapbook
(Vignettes from the ten days Aelita and Odd spent together in the summer of 2007.)
/
(Monday, July 2nd, 2007. Early evening. The airport.)
Almost there.
It wasn't the first time she'd been on a plane and if she was being honest, the novelty was beginning to wear off.
Aelita leaned her head back against the cushioned seat and closed her eyes, bracing herself against the change of air-pressure that made her ears pop and the jostle as the plane hit the runway. Aelita went through the motions easily; collect hand-luggage, check tickets, disembark.
Rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, she made her way forward and as she passed the flight attendants eyed her curiously. They looked a little taken aback at the sight of a sixteen year old girl travelling so casually on her own. Aelita nudged past a family of five, including a girl her own age who sat with headphones in her ears, chewing gum and hovering impatiently as her little brother insisted on dragging a bag that was far too heavy for him down the terminal. She tore her gaze away and headed that way herself.
They weren't here yet, she thought sadly, looking around as she finally heaved her suitcase to the arrivals lounge. Aelita found a seat and curled up there, watching the passers-by and wondering when she would have chance to sleep off the jet-lag and exhaustion. Already it had been such a long day. She wondered too what Odd's home was like, and the family he so often talked about. It had taken a while to get everything arranged, but now she'd have an entire ten days to find out.
/
Aelita, resting her chin on her hands and watching the passers-by as she waited at the airport. At her feet lay a bright red suitcase covered haphazardly in glittery stickers and the faces of a Japanese boyband.
"Aelita!"
"Huh? Oh, Odd, there you are! I must have dozed off for a moment."
"Sorry we're kinda late. Did you have a good flight?"
"It was fine, thank you."
"Hey Aelita."
"Yes, Odd?"
"Nice suitcase."
"Ha. I had to borrow it from Yumi. Don't ask."
/
It was getting dark when they pulled up to Odd's house.
The car followed a long, winding drive and Aelita pressed her face to the window, awestruck. It was a huge redbrick house, surrounded by shrubbery and even a small fountain. Steps led up a large wooden front door, sheltered by a stone porch.
Aelita tended to forget about the fact that Odd's family was more than a little well off, but of course with his grades he would never have gotten into Kadic Academy on a scholarship.
And yet… not once had Odd ever acted rich. And she loved that about him.
They took her luggage and piled it by the door for later, and almost immediately Aelita was ushered to the huge dining room where, ten minutes after she'd arrived, dinner was ready to be served. Odd's family greeted Aelita cheerfully, welcomed her in and asked about her trip, all the while piling their plates from the huge serving bowls in the middle of the table.
The Della Robbia sisters were many. They ranged from mid-twenties sensible Adele, her shocking violet hair cut into a sleek bob, to mischevious seventeen-year-old Louise, with the faintest traces of lavender in her mass of long blonde hair.
"Nice to meet you, Aelita!"
"A-And you."
"I'm Adele. This is Pauline, and Marie-"
"I'm Elizabeth, hi!"
"And Louise."
"Aelita, this is my mom and dad."
"Thank you so much for having me stay, Mr and Mrs Della Robbia."
"Not a problem dear. Do you have enough to eat?"
The meal continued thus. Odd was completely at home here, joining in easily with his family's conversation, making his usual bad jokes whilst his sisters, if it were even possible, quipped back worse ones. Aelita concentrated on her food, enjoying the warm atmosphere but slightly adrift in the chaos. She envied Odd then, wishing she had something relevant to say.
She wished too soon.
"So, Aelita!" During a lull in conversation Marie - soft blonde curls, lilac bangs, heavy eye make-up - turned to her. "You're the same age as Odd, right? Sixteen?"
"Yes," Aelita nodded. "I go to Kadic as well."
"And we're only just meeting you, eh?" asked Odd's father.
"Oh, well…" Aelita glanced at Odd for help and he swallowed his last bite of chicken before speaking up.
"When have I ever spent a summer at home in the last few years? There was the camping trip, staying at Yumi's, Ulrich's, Jérémie's, that summer school you tricked me into going to…"
Before Odd could bring that up again, his mother interrupted.
"And whereabouts do you live Aelita, dear?"
Aelita stared down at her plate as she answered the next batch of questions, and Odd was suddenly quiet. To those not in the know, he was taking the opportunity to stuff as much food into his mouth as possible; Aelita knew though, feeling his eyes on her, that he was waiting to leap once again to her rescue at any moment.
It was difficult, lying. She rattled off her whole backstory; yes, I live with my parents, near Kadic, they work in computer science, I grew up in Canada (and by the way, I'm supposed to be your niece).
The truth would just raise too many questions, and even Odd's laid-back parents wouldn't stand for a young orphaned girl living alone in the middle of the woods.
Just when Aelita thought she couldn't take any more, Odd reached over and, somehow, knocked an entire dish to the floor. The bowl clattered and rolled away over the tiles, its contents strewn over the floor. There was a slight scuffle as nine people bent to help pick everything up. Kiwi appeared from nowhere to help, eating what he could, and Aelita scratched him affectionately behind the ears.
"Ugh, Odd," someone grumbled - possibly Elizabeth, Aelita couldn't see her from behind the tablecloth - "what a klutz."
But Odd was never clumsy and especially not where food was concerned. As he appeared in front of Aelita, clutching handfuls of spilled pasta, she smiled at him gratefully.
The distraction worked; once everyone was seated again, talk turned to the family meal that the Della Robbias were hosting in a few days' time, and beneath the table Odd gave Aelita's hand a reassuring squeeze.
/
After dinner, in one of the Della Robbia's guest rooms.
"Here's your room Aelita."
"Wh-wha… really?"
"Yup. Is it okay?"
"Odd, it's amazing!"
"Yeah, my mom had a lot of fun decorating this one. Anyway, you need anything, I'm right down the hall.
He closed the door behind him and Aelita snapped a photograph of the pristine room, decorated in pinks and whites. She particularly liked the chandelier, and she gazed up at it as she flopped down onto the bed.
/
(Tuesday 3rd July 2007. 8:40 pm. Della Robbia household, kitchen table.)
Breakfast was a noisy affair, what with nine voices clamouring to be heard and the constant scrape and clatter of knives and forks and dishes. Aelita was grateful to get away, especially when Elizabeth and Louise started a rather heated, unabashed argument in rapid and angry Italian over the last slice of toast. An argument that was abruptly ended as Odd snatched up the toast and crammed it, grinning, into his mouth as he and Aelita slipped through the back door.
"Sisters!" Odd said through a mouthful of toast. He rolled his eyes in a mock-despairing way as they walked down the drive and made a left, uphill towards the town centre.
"Don't worry about it," Aelita said and Odd shrugged, an easy grin shifting onto his face.
"I've long since developed a strategy which involves leaving them to duke it out amongst themselves. It works! Mostly. Now Princess, would you like the grand tour?"
Aelita giggled. "Of course. I'd be honoured to receive a tour from Italy's greatest guide."
"Then look no further, and come this way!"
They traipsed past bookshops, cafés, even a small marketplace, stopping at a crepe stand to buy lunch. Then Aelita's eyes widened as something caught her eye, making her stop so abruptly on the pavement that Odd almost tripped over her.
"What," he began, following Aelita's pointing finger. He blinked at the sign above the shop door, flitting between it and Aelita's pleading face, until,
"Sure, why not!"
Grinning, they raced into the cacophonous menagerie of the pet shop.
/
Ten minutes later Aelita could be found, slowly but surely falling in love with a kitten on sale.
"Aww, aren't you sweet? Odd, come and see this!"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, it's cute."
"I want one…. What are you looking at, anyway?"
"It says there's a snake in this tank but I can't see it."
"Oh! Here, let me look. Come along kitty."
As she approached, Odd snapped a quick photograph and spent most of the day after that trying to come up with ideas for how Aelita could sneak home a kitten in her suitcase.
/
They left the shop behind eventually, getting the bus to the train station where they planned to take a ride into the main city. It was busy, hot and crowded, and the noise was deafening.
Aelita barely paid attention to the crowd as she immersed herself in a stack of tourist brochures. Odd didn't even spare them a glance as he checked the train timetable and pocketed their tickets.
"Aelita, you're with me. I'm giving you the tour, remember?"
"I know. I just want to see what else there is. Can we go to this aquarium?"
"Sure. It's pretty good. What, are you going to try and adopt some fish this time?"
"I'm still thinking about going back and buying that cat, you know."
"What would you call it?"
"Hm… good question."
Odd thought for a moment and then his face lit up.
"Krankekat!"
Aelita stared him, deadpan.
"You know," Odd continued in explanation. "Like Kankrelat, but-"
"I get it, I get. What's more, that's probably your worst joke ever so far. Congratulations."
"I wasn't joking…"
Aelita grinned and shook her head at him.
/
After town, they took another short train ride home.
"I'd like to go hiking tomorrow. What do you think, Odd?"
"Uh-huh."
"Great. I'll start planning the route now, so we can head off early in the morning.
"Hmmm."
"I was thinking of going along here, where there's picnic spots. And apparently there are designated hiking trails here and here, and-"
"Yup."
He nodded along, not listening a word, and reading comics under his map the whole time.
/
(Wednesday 4th July 2007. 3:35pm. The countryside.)
So much of her careful nature seemed to disappear when she was with Odd, Aelita thought.
Soon she found herself scrambling over rocks and fences in a bid to keep up with him and it was only when he stopped on a flat, grassy plain at the top of the hill, Aelita plopping down beside him, that she became aware of the dull ache of exhaustion in her muscles. They sat a while, panting, and draining their water bottles in long, grateful gulps. Kiwi could be heard in the distance, barking as he chased rabbits through the undergrowth.
"So," Odd said at last, stretching and running one hand through his upswept hair. "What do you think of the view?"
Aelita finally turned her attention from her aching legs, her water bottle and the boy beside her, and she gazed out over the stretch of land below them. Fields and hills and grassland gave way to the bustling city, and some ways beyond that they could see the steely-blue strip of the sea. Aelita nodding until she realised Odd wasn't looking at her, his attention also turned outwards.
"Yes," she added quickly. "It's beautiful."
"Yeah. I like it here. Nice place to think."
Aelita paused at this. Odd was so lively, permanently moving forward, leaping from one thing to the next, that it was strange to think of him given over to moments of quiet contemplation. But, she supposed, even Odd needed to recharge sometimes. Besides, if they hadn't raced up here, if they had picked their way carefully as she would have done, they wouldn't have had nearly enough time to enjoy the view.
They remained there until the sky began to take on a pinkish-gold tinge in advance of the setting sun. Soon it would be too dark, too dangerous, to climb back down the steep and rocky slopes. They took the now cooling air as their cue and, gathering up their things and calling for Kiwi, began the slow descent.
/
"I can't believe we walked all this way," Aelita said presently, her breath coming in short bursts. "Not even Jim could work us that hard, not in the worst Phys Ed. class ever."
"Want a break, Princess?"
"Please."
"Take five. And here, have a drink."
/
(Thursday 5th July, 2007. 11.40 am. The coast.)
Aelita, paragliding off the coast of the Italian Riviera.
"Wooooooooo! This is amazing! Odd, I hope you're getting pictures of this! Can you even hear me?! Heeeeey!"
The sea wind had snatched up her scream of delighted laugher as she rose ever higher into the sky, carrying the sound towards him on the brisk, salty air. He craned his neck, one hand shielding his eyes against the blinding sun, and watched the small speck of the paraglider sail into the air.
His heart beat rapidly for her; he'd never been particularly afraid of heights, but he couldn't help the drop of his stomach and the conjurings of his brain, irrational ideas of falling.
She soared for what felt like a long time, only not long enough, until at last she landed with a skid on the sand and dismounted, shaking some movement back into her legs before sprinting across the sand towards him.
"Odd! Wasn't that great?"
"Looks like you had fun there Princess."
"I really did!"
Afterwards, Aelita's grin faded to a wistful smile and she stared up at the sky.
"I never thought I'd get another chance to fly. It was like having wings again."
Odd didn't quite know what to say to that, but Aelita didn't seem to expect a reply, so they fell into step side by side and crossed the beach in silence.
/
Odd, taking an evening swim and watching his older sister Marie look for her sunglasses in the shallows.
"I can't believe I dropped them! Ugh, and no way am I getting my hair wet."
"Would this help?"
"DON'T splash me! Do you want to be locked in the bathroom again?"
Aelita burst out laughing when Odd was quickly shut up by this threat.
/
(Friday 6th July. Aelita's room. 5.58AM)
It was far too early to get up but Aelita's eyes cracked open and she suddenly found herself very much wide awake.
The sun was halfway to rising and she watched the weak light grow gradually stronger through a gap in her curtains, all the while wrapped up in the warmth of her bedsheets. Presently she grew restless, casting her gaze about the room for something to do.
Taking out a small laptop – pink of course, shiny and metallic – Aelita booted it up and scanned her email inbox. She sent her regular emails off to the rest of her friends; Yumi now back from Japan, Ulrich home with his parents (he had sounded thoroughly miserable in his message, so she tried her best to tone down what a brilliant time she was having), and Jérémie, carted off on a skiing trip in the Alps with his parents.
She remembered her friend's horror-stricken expression when the announcement was sprung on him and bit back a smile. Mr and Mrs Belpois had extended the invitation to her as well but of course she had had to decline.
And then before she knew it, the rest of the house began to stir, and with a long yawn and stretch, Aelita clambered out of bed.
/
(The Della Robbias sitting room. Evening of the same day.)
Their parents weren't around and it was a surprisingly still evening. All of the Della Robbia girls along with Odd and Aelita were gathered in the spacious sitting room, filled with music from the radio in the corner. Some of them reading, the others drawing. Odd and Aelita, meanwhile, were making paper planes and aiming them at one another across the room.
A sudden misplaced shot from Odd, and Pauline found a paper plane caught in her hair. She narrowed her eyes at her little brother and crumpled the paper, dropping it to the floor as she resumed her book.
And the thing with Odd's sisters was, they could change attitudes in the blink of an eye when it suited them. So it was that a few minutes later, they took advantage of the first opportunity that they had had all day to wind Odd up.
"Nice shot, Princess!" Odd exclaimed as Aelita sent a plane soaring in a perfect arc over the lampshade to land straight in his outstretched hand.
"Ooh, Princess, huh?" Pauline said with a triumphant smirk. "Sooo romantic!"
The others laughed and threw in a few mocking "oooh!"s. Odd blushed to the roots of his hair and glowered. Aelita hunched her arms around her knees, unsure of what to do; she and Odd made eye contact for the briefest of moments, him blushing an even darker red if that were possible, before departing from the room with a deliberate slam of the door.
"It's an old nickname," Aelita blurted, her eyes fixed keenly on her knees as she felt the Della Robbia girls' gazes fall on her as one. "I mean, from- from way back. Everyone calls me it."
Aelita's honest, evident embarrassment and her defense of Odd seemed to spark contrition within the boy's siblings. They all shuffled, shame-faced, making a great show of returning to what they were doing.
"We didn't mean anything by it-" Marie began but Aelita just nodded before opening the door and disappearing through it after Odd.
She went straight to his room and sure enough he was there, sitting on his bed and making light patterns with a piece of plastic reflected on the wall. She took up residence on the mattress beside him and offered him a smile.
"Sorry if they made you uncomfortable," Odd began. "Older sisters you know, it's always been-" and he cut off there and stretched out on the bed, unable to admit that if anyone was ganged up on for teasing here at home, it was always him.
"You always have someone to talk to though. A loud house, one that really feels like home."
"I guess."
Odd knew that she was thinking of the Hermitage, Aelita's makeshift home when no one could put her up for the holidays. Although they had all done their bit to renovate it, the old house still creaked with echoes of loneliness, mourning happier times. Odd felt a pang of guilt and shifted a little closer to Aelita so their arms pressed together. She leaned into him, and sighed.
"What now?" she asked.
"Isn't it obvious? We get revenge on that lot for trying to wind us up. Come on!" Odd leapt to his feet, pulling a surprised and amused Aelita with him. "I'm thinking water balloons, dropped on them from the upper floor when they least expect it."
"I think we can afford to be a little more creative than water balloons," Aelita mused. With a smirk that would have given XANA reason to shudder, she indicated to the tubes of ready-mix paint on Odd's desk. Odd threw back his head and laughed before striding over to the desk.
"I like the way you think, Aelita Stones," he said. "I really do."
/
(Saturday 7th July. Late morning in the Della Robbias' sitting room.)
Odd and Aelita, Pokémon-battling.
"Yesss! Super effective and a critical hit too! Odd Della Robbia, Pokémon Master! Better luck next time, Aelita."
"Here, wait, let me see that-"
"The stats don't lie, Princess."
"But Odd, I just don't get it - why would something with psychic powers be weak against a little bug? It doesn't make any sense."
"Yes it does!"
"How?"
"Um… it just does! Aelita, don't question the Pokémon type chart. It just works."
"Huh. Fine. I have one Pokémon left. Let's see if I can turn this around…"
/
(Lunch-time, in a small street-side café at midday.)
"Now this is what I call a meal. Time to chow down!"
"Odd, how much are planning to eat exactly?"
"As much as I can!"
"I know we call you The Walking Stomach for a reason, but this is…"
"Aw, c'mon Aelita. Dig in! You gonna eat that?"
"Yes actually. But don't blame me if you're sick afterwards."
Odd finished four cheeseburgers, six lots of fries, a tub of coleslaw and one and a half milkshakes… and was almost sick afterwards.
/
(Saturday 7th July. Late evening.)
Whatever Aelita had expected when she had opted to stay at Odd's house, she never thought it would include a daily battle to maintain her dignity.
Unfortunately, she realised, as she gathered up the last of the toilet paper from the tops of the cupboards, being a guest didn't grant her immunity from the Della Robbias crazy antics.
The paint-balloon incident had sparked an all-out prank war.
After Pauline, Marie and the rest had successfully washed all of the paint out of their hair, they had shown no mercy. Even Adele, who admitted herself that she was far too old for this kind of thing, took a childish and devious delight in planning out the next prank with which to get her little brother and his friend.
Firstly, the girls had placed ice cold buckets of water over every room Aelita and Odd entered.
In turn, the two of them had tied the shoelaces of all the girls' sneakers together.
Then all the bottles in the bathrooms were purposely mixed up; Odd's hair still hadn't recovered.
In a spark of genius, he and Aelita had put all his sisters' clocks forward by two hours, sitting back with smug expressions as they rushed around frantically, convinced they were late for all their daily appointments, at 7AM.
And now… now they had strung toilet paper all over Odd and Aelita's rooms.
Aelita sighed and dropped the last armful of paper into the wastebasket before crossing the hallway to Odd"s room. He sat on his bed with a scrap of paper in front of him, chewing the end of a pen as he concentrated. His room, Aelita noted with little surprise, was still a mess. With a resigned look, she began to clear it up.
"Leave it," Odd said with a dismissed wave of his hand. "We've got more important things to worry about. Come here." He beckoned her to sit beside him. She peered over his shoulder at the paper, covered in scribbles and notes.
"We need to kick things up a notch."
"Aren't you worried this is going to get a little out of hand?"
Odd raised an eyebrow. "Princess, they ruined my hair."
"Okay, okay." Aelita's gaze wandered upwards to the fading streaks of green in amidst the blonde and she tried not to laugh.
"Besides, you haven't seen anything yet. A few years ago we had a prank war that lasted for months. It only ended after Elizabeth somehow got hold of these fireworks, and-"
"I won't even ask. So, what's the plan?"
"I'm thinking duct tape, a bunch of fake spiders and peanut butter. Trust me, this is gonna be awesome."
Downstairs in the sitting room, content to sit with movies and coffee, were Mr and Mrs Della Robbia. Used to the mayhem that had transpired over the years and more amused than anything by their strange children, they shrugged and left them all to it.
"So, dear," Mrs Della Robbia turned to her husband, "how was your day?"
/
(Sunday 8th July. Aelita's room. Far too early.)
Aelita, rubbing sleep from her eyes, after being practically dragged out of bed by Odd.
"Mmph. What time-" -yawn- "is it?"
"Kinda early. Maybe uh, 6AM?"
"What?! Odd, are you feeling all right? I've never seen you up this early in your life. At school-"
"I'm not dragging myself out of bed for lessons. But you Princess, really need to see at least one sunrise over the city while you're here."
"Okay, okay, but move that camera away from me won't you?"
Odd moved the camera; Aelita moved her hands away and understood what he meant, her breath taken away by the beautiful sunrise.
/
(Tuesday 10th July 2007. 7.05pm. The Della Robbia family's back garden.)
Aelita surveyed the chaotic scene in growing anticipation.
When Odd had said the whole family would be present for the Della Robbia family's annual gathering, he had really meant it.
Along with Mr and Mrs Della Robbia, Adele, Pauline, Elizabeth, Marie, Louise, Odd and Aelita herself, two sets of grandparents had arrived, followed by various aunts, uncles and cousins, and still yet more relatives piled in at the side gate. A table was laid out along the length of the vast garden and fairy lights, lightbulbs and streamers adorned the branches of the trees overhead. Already the smells of cooking were making Aelita's stomach grumble. She sought out Odd, sure he felt the same, when a wave of panic surged through her as she found herself alone in a sea of strangers.
Moments later though, and fortunately for both herself and him, Aelita found Odd being accosted by a short yet vivacious elderly woman with a head of tight lilac curls.
"Look how you've grown!" she cooed, ignoring Odd's squirms as he shied away from her like a wild worse. "Then again, I suppose most of it's this new hairdo of yours." She prodded Odd's hair and frowned as, thick with gel as always, it refused to budge. "Oh, I don't know," the elderly woman said woefully, with a shake of her head. "When I was a young girl it used to be that the men had their hair five inches down their shoulders, not five inches above their heads!"
Aelita suddenly became very interested in a flower patch several feet away, and when she returned it was with a chest that heaved with the remnants of laughter. Luckily, the woman had gone.
"Not a word," Odd warned her, straightening out his clothes where his relative had tugged them. "I could never bring Ulrich to something like this. He'd never let me live it down."
"I'm sure his parents are just as bad," Aelita replied, though even as she spoke a n image of the foreboding Mr Stern entered her mind and she frowned. Odd must have had the same thought because they both stood for a minute in silence.
"Right," Odd said finally, clapping his hands together. "Let's go and see what food we can find. I'm starving!"
Aelita was all too eager to follow him.
As evening fell and the dishes at the tables piled high, the tree-hanging lights were switched on to flood the gardens with a bright, mystical light. After sampling everything from risotto to lasagne to potato salad to strawberry tart, Aelita was well and truly stuffed. Odd had vanished again – probably to get more food, she thought, and then, incredulously, where does he put it all? - and she was just pondering the plausibility of Odd actually having an extra stomach when someone landed heavily in the vacant seat next to her.
"Oh. Hello," Aelita said shyly. She recognised the lilac-haired woman who had greeted Odd earlier.
"Hmm…" the elderly woman said, squinting curiously at Aelita. "Pink hair? You're not one of ours! Who are you then?"
"Aelita. Odd's… friend."
"Ah, yes. I've heard about you." She brandished half a bread stick, waving it practically under Aelita's nose and with a belated, embarrassed revelation Aelita realised that she was drunk. "Yes, you're that girl from his school," the woman continued, and sure enough her words were slurred. "Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Nancy Della Robbia, Odd's grandma on his" -hic- "mother's side."
"Oh. N-nice to meet you too."
"And such nice manners! Sí, you'll do well for Odd, keep the lad in line." She swept an appraising gaze over Aelita, nodding. "Not too tall either, that's good. Between you and me-" she leaned forward and spoke in a whisper that half the surrounding diners still managed to hear - "he's always been a little insecure about his height. Poor lad, I keep telling him-"
"Okay, that's enough, Grandma," Odd said hurriedly, having reappeared in time to catch the end of this conversation and was now rushing towards them. One arm cradled a bow of stew and the other reached for his grandmother's upper arm, coaxing her out of her chair and away across the lawn. "I think my mom wanted to speak to you…"
"Okay, okay, I know when I'm not wanted," Nancy huffed, breaking free of Odd's arm and hobbling away. "Mark my words though," she called over her shoulder, "don't let that one go! She's a keeper I'm telling you. Nancy of the family Della Robbia has spoken!"
And with these parting words, she collapsed face-first into a nearby half-eaten blancmange and fell asleep with a loud snore.
Odd put his head in his hands and groaned, whilst Aelita excused herself to the bathroom where she laughed until her sides ached.
/
Odd had a tendency to laugh off any humiliation wrought upon him; years of teasing from his sisters, followed by increasingly volatile and ridiculous prank wars with Ulrich, had given him a thick skin with which to survive even the most cringe-worthy of situations.
Now, however, he was having a hard time getting over what had just happened. Tonight of all nights his nerves were fraught as it was, and even with his grandmother removed from the blancmange and put swiftly to bed, his neck was bristling with indignation. That aside, he had poured half a bottle of vodka into Louise's orange juice as his next retaliation in the ongoing prank war, and he was on the alert for any revenge attempt by the remaining Della Robbia sisters.
Odd sat, arms folded in his chair, tapping his foot on the grass until he felt himself sufficiently calm. Ten minutes later Aelita also returned with two sodas in hand. Odd took one gratefully and they sat side by side, listening to snatches of music and conversation from groups scattered about the lawn.
"I can't apologise enough on behalf of my family," Odd said eventually.
"I think we've been here before," Aelita teased, before adding, "they're all very charming."
"Ha!"
"I'm serious!"
Odd shook his head, grinning. "They're not bad. I guess."
Aelita smiled. Her head shot up suddenly as a speaker burst out from somewhere the familiar opening chords of a song.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, and then her and Odd both together -
"I love this song!"
They looked at one another and laughed. A pair of relatives sitting nearby nudged one another with knowing smiles. The guy with strawberry-blond hair was evidently a blood relative; the other, dark-haired, married through him into the family.
"Go on, give us a dance you two!" they prompted. With that the others joined in until Odd and Aelita, mortified, were jostled with good-natured but entirely unwelcome cheers.
"Aw go on!"
"Dance already!"
"Come on, Aelita," Odd said at last. Tugging on her sleeve he waited for her to rise to her feet, her eyes scrutinising him curiously. The cheering relatives celebrated but their applause soon turned to groans as Odd deliberately led Aelita off the lawn and right down to the far end of the garden, where a small enclave of trees hid them from sight.
"Another narrow escape," Aelita said as she sat down on a bench, the smooth-worn wood cool against her bare thighs.
"Yeah."
"You have to admit, they're pretty funny though."
"Aelita I'm serious, if you tell the others-"
"I won't, I won't."
Night sounds rustled around them as they sat with their knees unconsciously pushed against each other's. Somewhere close by a fish wriggled to the surface of a garden pond and then with a faint, sucking plop disappeared beneath the water again.
"My family are always asking me about girlfriends." Odd spoke in a rush as though this sentence was a breath he had been holding for the last five minutes. "I guess my mum's tired of me never bringing anyone home, or never knowing someone for more than a week." He avoided Aelita's gaze carefully as he said this. She blinked at him, unsure how to respond.
"Yeah, well," Odd continued hesitantly, more unsure of himself than Aelita had ever seen him. "And yet my dad's always saying, 'play the field son, you've got plenty of time for marriage and stuff later'."
"Oh," Aelita said, the sound escaping her mouth of its own accord. Immediately she froze, snapping her lips shut again. Odd stared resolutely at his feet, his voice quiet now as he continued.
"And I guess it makes me a jerk, but I always like – liked – chasing people, and I didn't really care about the relationships. It's messed up, I know," he gabbled hastily, sensing Aelita's frown, "but lately I feel like, like I'd rather-"
Aelita's heart from hammering in her throat. She tried to swallow against the rapid pulse but found she couldn't; her mouth was dry. Odd made as if to speak again and his voice was so soft she had to lean close to hear him. She swore he'd be able to hear her heartbeat as he turned towards her, his face inches from hers.
And then the monster leapt out of the bushes.
/
It growled, its face red and horned and monstrous, and Aelita screamed, hiding her face in her hands instinctively as though the thing might not be able to see her if she couldn't see it. Odd meanwhile remained a little more practical; utilising his warrior's reflexes, not quite entirely dulled after XANA's defeat two years ago, he leapt on the hulking, dark figure. Aelita recovered in time to see them grappling on the grass and as she watched with increasing puzzlement she noticed what Odd hadn't – streaks of blonde hair escape a black hood, the creature's growls now muffled yells of protest.
"Odd, stop!"
With surprising strength, Aelita pulled Odd back and held him by the shirt as he flailed. The monster lay on its back, chest heaving, until one nail-bitten hand reached up to peel away the mask, revealing Louise's face, flushed and angry, underneath.
"What was that?" she shriekd, heaving herself to her feet. "Were you going in for the kill or what?"
The three teens faced one another in an angry standoff until there came the stampeding footsteps of twenty or so inebriated adults pushing clumsily through the undergrowth.
"Okay, who's being murdered?" one aunt demanded, and Louise raised her hand indignantly.
"Odd was out of order!"
"Me? It was you who-"
"I'm very sorry Mrs… um… But-"
The battle for who got to speak first was ended as Mr Della Robbia stormed up the lawn, grabbing Odd and Louise by one upper arm each.
"Bed, now," he growled with military authority. Aelita shrunk back. She had never seen the normally placid man so angry but she knew it was justified; the fear he had felt in that moment had broken the party atmosphere apart, as the prank war had finally gotten out of hand.
For Odd and Louise's part, neither protest. They trailed meekly into the house and Aelita, not having been ordered anywhere but with nothing better to do, followed them. Fleetingly she thought of the conversation on the bench but she knew with regret that the moment had passed; no such talk would be continued tonight.
They all blinked hair in the harsh light of the hallway, like cave-dwellers emerging after years into the sunlight. The light revived them, taking the edge of shock from their ordeal. By the time she had reached the top of the stairs, Louise was doubled over laughing, clutching the banister for support.
"You should have seen your faces!" she shrieked. With that, she dropped to her knees and literally rolled the length of the hallway, tumbling into her bedroom. She cackled the whole way, until the sound was dulled by the door closing behind her.
"Vodka," Odd muttered to himself. Aelita shrugged, following Odd to his room where they finally sank to the floor.
"I can't believe any of that just happened," she said slowly.
"Me neither." Odd slapped a palm against his forehead, huffing. "Caught out by an old Hallowe'en mask of all things! Argh. Amateur," he finally mumbled in resigned disgust, then returned to Aelita. "Are you all right?" he asked.
"Yeah. Just a bit shaken. You?"
"Hmm."
"Are you mad at her?"
"Louise?" He contemplated it for a moment, then sighed. "Naw. It was a fair enough comeback, if very low-calibre."
Aelita's mouth gaped open. She knew Odd was easy-going but his pride was clearly hurt and still he shrugged it off like it was nothing.
"What?" Odd was watching her with a puzzled expression.
"Nothing. Just… I saw you hold a grudge against Sissi Delmas for years. I know she was worse, but…"
Odd coughed awkwardly, crossing towards the window so that Aelita was faced with his back. "That was… different."
"How?"
"Just was. Everything was different then." There was some emotion in his voice that Aelita couldn't quite place. An emptiness welled up inside her, something she recognised as akin to the feeling, days ago, when the wind had died in her para-glider sail, bringing her back to solid ground with an unforgiving finality.
Desperate to escape the moment, she stood up.
"You know," she said, forcing an extra dollop of enthusiasm into her voice, "it's not that late and I'm hardly tired at all."
"Me neither. And even if I was, I bet I could still kick your butt on Galactic Fighters 3."
Aelita raised an eyebrow and reached for one of the console controllers. "Want to bet?"
"Loser has to wake up Hangover Louise tomorrow morning."
Aelita bounced back on the bed and laughed.
/
(Wednesday 11th July 2007. Afternoon, the day after the party. Odd's room.)
They stayed up later than they should have and slept in longer than they wanted, and at first both of them had forgotten that it was Aelita's last day.
Aelita woke to blazing midday sunlight pressing against her eyelids; she cracked her eyes open to find herself tangled in unfamiliar bedsheets and still dressd in her clothes from the night before.
Odd's bed, she remembered, and sat up slowly, yawning, to see the boy in question sprawled on a makeshift bed of cushions on his own floor.
They had stayed up talking late into the night, joking and reminiscing, and Aelita couldn't pinpoint the moment she'd fallen asleep. Odd was face down on a cushion, arms covering his head. He was snoring gently. Aelita smiled at the sight, but now that she was awake she found herself brimming with energy and impatient to get up. Her phone clock told her it was twenty past twelve. Her stomach told her it was time for hot chocolate and croissants.
"Odd?" she called.
Nothing but continued snoring in response.
"Time to get up," she ventured hopefully. Odd just adjusted a little in his sleep, smacking his lips.
Aelita considered throwing a pillow at him but in the end she had a much better idea. Dropping down lightly from the bed she crept over to him on hands and knees, cupped her hands around her mouth and whispered gently into his ear;
"Breakfast."
The effect was instantaneous. Odd shot upright, head whipping around wildly with a shout of "where?!". Aelita watched him with undisguised amusement as his sleep-clouded eyes settled upon her.
"Good afternoon!" she said brightly.
"Real funny," he mumbled, stretching. His hair had become interestingly dishevelled as he slept and spikes stuck out in all directions. Evidently used to this regular disaster, Odd reached up with barely a glanced in the nearby mirror and smoothed his hair back into place. "What time's it?"
"Gone noon."
"Oh." He stood and Aelita followed him as they made their way out into the hallway, chatting conversationally. They entered the kitchen to find Odd's mother elbow-deep in dishwater; outside, her husband collected scattered paper plates and other party debris from the lawn in a plastic bin-liner.
"I'm sorry!" Aelita exclaimed, taking in the sight. "We should have been up to help!"
Mrs Della Robbia shook her head. "Don't you mind. You're up earlier than the girls anyway." Indeed, now that she mentioned it, the house was conspicuously quiet. Quiet enough, even, to hear the words Mr Della Robbia swore as he stubbed his toe on a garden ornament. With a raised eyebrow, his wide abruptly closed the window.
Despite their previous conversation, Aelita grabbed a hand towel and a dish from the draining board and began to dry. Meanwhile Odd navigated the kitchen and between them they soon had clean plates, mugs of hot chocolate, and a pile of croissants before them.
"Your favourite! Prepared for you by upcoming chef prodigy, Odd Della Robbia."
Aelita swatted him lightly on the arm. "Yes, your amazing ability to pull things out of the cupboard and put them on a plate will really take you far, Odd."
He pouted at her through a mouthful of croissant.
/
(The same day, much later.)
Aelita, joined by Odd, sitting in a hammock on the beach and gazing at the sunset on their last evening.
"What'cha doin', Princess?"
"Just… thinking."
"Hm?"
"It's lovely out here, isn't it?"
Mrs Della Robbia, nearby, didn't hear the conversation. All she saw was two the two teengers huddled close together as they stared out at the golden-orange splendour of the setting sun. It was an adorable moment, and it was with a slightly tearful expression that she took a quick photograph.
/
(Thursday, July 12th, 2007. Early morning. The airport.)
"See you back at school."
"See you."
They hugged for a while and held on a little more tightly, and a little longer, perhaps, than they should have. They finally drew back but stood close together still, breaking into matching smiles.
"Don't get into any trouble without me," Aelita warned him.
"And don't you do anything I wouldn't do," Odd teased back.
She rolled her eyes at him before bending to pick up her bag.
"Tell your parents thank you again for letting me stay," said Aelita, turning to Adele and adding "and thank you for driving me back here."
"No problem. It was lovely to meet you."
"Enjoy the rest of your summer!"
"You too!"
They waved until she disappeared through the gates and at long last, Odd's shoulders slumped, barely noticeable unless you were watching him intently, as Adele was.
"She seems like a nice girl," the older Della Robbia sibling said neutrally.
"Yeah. She's… cool."
Adele rested a hand lightly on his shoulder and steered him gently in the opposite direction. "Come on little bro. Time to get going."
/
(Thursday 12th July 2007. 11am. A plane en route to Paris, France.)
Aelita thought about all that had happened between them, and all that had almost happened, and she folded her legs beneath her in the stifled space of the aeroplane seat as she rested her chin on her hands.
Now that she was away from it all she could view everything objectively, and Aelita knew that in just ten days something had shifted between them. They hung on a balance of something, something that could send their friendship plummeting into ruin, or raise it up into something more spectacular, more profound.
The plane journey passed, mostly for Aelita in thoughtful silence, until the pilot's voice over the tannoy announced that the would soon be landing; signalling for Aelita the next step in a cycle of shifting summers. She'd be at the Hermitage in an hour at least but she couldn't help feeling, somehow, as though home was a sensation she had left behind at the airport in Italy.
In September she'd return to Kadic and her friends and to Odd a little bolder, a little more sure of what she wanted. For now, there was the familiar bump as the plane hit the runway, and Aelita leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.
Almost there.