Ignorance is bliss.

But how?

She sat up in bed, holding the pillow close to her chest.

Through ignorance, we fail to know. We fail to comprehend, to understand. Our knowledge grows limited, inadequate.

We are a naïve people.

-

She wandered the halls of Kadic High and contemplated her theory. Though irrelevant to her studies, it proved to be adequate to sustain her thoughts for a long period of time, thus enabling her to be slightly productive in her free time.

It was how she functioned.

Ignorance is not bliss.

If anything, it brought hopelessness, destruction, and calamity. The ignorance of a vital detail on a space shuttle launch; not knowing that a certain plant was poisonous; ignoring a loved one, in favor of something less significant. Ignorance is an absence; an absence of knowing, of seeing.

Ignorance is blindness.

It cannot bring happiness.

-

She smiled and waved at a girl across the room. The girl glanced at her, and turned away swiftly, pretending not to see.

It hurts to be ignored. Ignorance is painful.

A flash of disappointment coursed through her eyes and her small smile had faltered. Her head bent down in resignation, and she walked quietly to her seat. She tuned out the monotone voice of the teacher.

She ignored the teacher.

Ignorance prevents knowledge to be learned.

She didn't care. She knew more than he did anyways.

-

Ig-no-rance (ĭg'nər-əns)
n. The condition of being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed.

She held a pen to her mouth and nibbled lightly as she turned the many pages of the dictionary.

Unaware. Uninformed. Simply not knowing. Not caring.

Ignorance is a choice, but it is also forced upon others that are less fortunate.

For us, it's a choice.

A choice to ignore, or a choice to know.

-

She wandered into the courtyard of the school, rather intimidated by the large crowd outside with her; her fears melted away as her eyes landed on the object of her affection.

"Jeremie," she said softly, sitting next to him on the bench.

He smiled brightly at her. "Hey Aelita," he replied, placing an arm over her shoulders. "Kinda chilly outside, isn't it?"

She grinned at him. "I choose to ignore the cold."

Laughing slightly, he stated, "Pondering the wonders of ignorance, eh?"

"I can't understand how ignorance would be bliss," she said to him, folding her hands in her lap. "From all my experiences, ignorance tends to be a nuisance, and painful at times."

Jeremie looked at her, eyebrows raised. "You've done some serious contemplating, haven't you?"

She nodded.

"Well, I can show you one way ignorance is beneficial."

"And that would—?"

Jeremie gently pressed his lips to hers, and slid his hands around her back. Her eyes fluttered shut, her heart rate increased, and she found that she could easily tune out the noises and the people around her.

"Jeremie," she whispered against his lips. "Someone could see us."

He looked down at her, and replied, "Ignore them." He bent down once more to snatch her lips in a smothering kiss and then released her. Her eyes were still closed, her lips were red, and her cheeks held the faintest trace of a blush; he held her close to his chest. And as she melted into his embrace, she realized that ignorance really was bliss after all.

-

I always saw Aelita as an analytical mind, an intelligent being, not some naïve child that most people portray her to be.