"Where's your cane?"
                          
"Up in the computer room. Darn it, I didn't think it would hurt this badly," Sissi grimaced, "Odd better not get cocky."
                          
"You're kidding, right?" Yumi half-laughed. Smoke hissed from another scanner, and Odd popped out of the tube.
                          
"Yep, should have known," Sissi grumbled.
                          
"Hehe, hi ladies," Odd weakly muttered.
                          
The black-haired girls shook their heads. "Let's just get to Jeremie." After struggling up the elevator, they saw Jeremie furiously typing away at the computer.
                          
"No, no, no!"
                          
"What's wrong?"
                          
"You're not going to believe this," Jeremie said, "Ulrich, whatever you do, don't let the monsters destroy that ball!"
                          
"Why?"
                          
"Because that's the heart of Lyoko, all of the key programs. If XANA destroys it, it's game over!"
                          
"No pressure," Sissi added in. Everyone glared. "What? Someone had to say it. That's a lot of pressure on Ulrich. I mean Aelita can't defend herself."
                          
"Hehe, just watch," Jeremie quipped. After Ulrich got de-virtualized, a Creeper crept behind Aelita, cornering her on the edge. The Creeper fired, but Aelita's hand suddenly made a ball of pink energy.
                          
"Energy field!" She threw it at the Creeper, blasting it to pieces.
                          
"Wait, what? What was that?!" Sissi asked.
                          
"Aelita developed some powers of her own during the break. Now she can defend herself," Jeremie said.
                          
"Jeremie! Look!" Yumi gasped
                          
"Oh no! She got... de-virtualized."
                          
Odd's eyes rounded, "Does that means she-"
                          
"Yes, I... I can't believe this!"
                          
"Wait Jer, look at that," Sissi pointed to the screen. The green light for the scanners rang up.
                          
"Wh-what's going on? Come on!" Jeremie shot out of his seat and climbed down the ladder just in time to see Aelita's scanner open up. "Hey, do you know you nearly gave me a heart attack?" The bright pink-haired girl jumped into Jeremie's arms, laughing.
                          
"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Ulrich asked.
                          
"Well, it looks like even if Aelita gets de-virtualized, she won't be gone forever," Odd smiled.
                          
"She won't? How come?"
                          
Jeremie's eyes widened and he smacked his big brainy head. "Of course! I was too dumb to think about it. Ever since we recovered your human memory, you're the same as us."
                          
"That'll be great since XANA wants to destroy Lyoko to stop us from finding him on the web," Aelita sighed, relieved.
                          
"Welcome to the club, Aelita. You're an official Lyoko warrior," Yumi said. Aelita blushed pink.
                          
As the team walked across the factory bridge, the Dragon Queen pulled Yumi close to her. "I need to talk with you. It's about Ulrich," Sissi said.
                          
"What about him?"
                          
Sissi glanced at the boys walking just a few feet ahead of them. "Let's talk in Aelita's room."
                          
Yumi rose an eyebrow. "Why her room?"
                          
"Because I don't trust your brother at your house, Jeremie's going to be doing programs, and I don't think it's a good idea to talk in Odd and Ulrich's room," Sissi smiled wryly. Yumi nodded and grumbled quietly. They made their way back, got into Aelita's room, and shut the door.
                          
The girls talked.
                          
Sissi slammed her fist into the wall right next to Yumi's head. "Just friends?! Are you some kind of idiot or something?! Even Odd wouldn't do something stupid like that!" she shouted.
                          
"How would you know?" Yumi asked.
                          
"Have you seen the number of girls he's dated? All with bad luck, I might add," Sissi muttered, pulling her fist back. "I just don't understand. After all I did to NOT mess up your relationship, you still do this?"
                          
Yumi's eyes narrowed and shot up from her seat. "So you already knew?"
                          
"I thought that it wouldn't happen because I made sure that I didn't get in the way this time. I guess fate had other plans." Sissi plopped onto the bed and sighed. She rubbed the side of her shin on the leg that kept hurting and looked out the window. The clouds were a bit grayer than when they came in, and much like this issue, Sissi didn't know where they were going. She sighed again. "Why would you do that?"
                          
"I just... I needed some space to think. Think with a clear mind, isn't that something you would say?"
                          
"No!" Sissi screamed in her high-pitched voice. "I'm not some guru! And you were thinking with a clear mind. You just didn't like to admit your feelings because your pride is as big as his!" She sighed, speaking softly, "Look, I know it's hard. I guess I'm more surprised that you did it without me interfering."
                          
"Why?"
                          
"I always thought it was my fault when it first happened. I guess it wasn't." Sissi shook her head. "Anyway, I have some new equipment for you guys to try. Come to my room when you have your homework done."
                          
"Okay," Yumi sighed. She stopped just at the door. "Do you think-"
                          
"Don't regret your decision when you just made it. Regret it when you learned nothing from it. You see, that's a guru moment," Sissi nagged. Yumi smiled, shaking her head as she walked out. Aelita silently looked at Sissi. The Dragon Queen avoided the Princess's glance.
                          
"Speaking of decisions."
                          
"I think... I think I know what to do. I just don't know how he'll take it," Sissi said.
                          
"Have you practiced with her?" Aelita asked.
                          
"Yeah, a couple of times. She's a great person. Perfect for him." Sissi stared at the floor. "But if-"
                          
"Don't regret your decision when you've just made it."
                          
Sissi scowled at the smiling girl. "You're starting to become more and more human. I don't know if I like it," She muttered. Aelita just laughed.
                          
Continued...