On the Tuesday morning of January 5th, Aelita woke up with a cough. A simple cough that did nothing but irritate her throat, but never had she really fallen ill before. So as she found herself speaking in a slightly raspy voice, she couldn't help but laugh, thinking that the flu had to catch up to her eventually. It was the season, and the weather outside was dry and cold. Kids rubbed their noses without washing their hands and coughed into the air without covering their mouths. If anything, she was surprised it hadn't come sooner. So she shrugged it off, and forced herself out of the warmth of her bed.

At seven thirty when her alarm had already been shut off and the sun had already risen, she looked towards her window and found herself still needing to turn on the light in her room. There were no shadows on her carpet and no blue in the sky; so it seemed that the weather for today matched that of the way she felt. She was not accustomed to being sick in any way, and wasn't sure how to handle a cough. It was a minor annoyance, at best, and probably not something worth missing class over. No, definitely not something worth missing class over. So she scrunched her stuffed little nose while pulling on her favorite pair of plum colored boots and scampered down the hall, visiting the same room that she did every other morning.

Jeremie was as awake as one would expect him to be, and more than likely hadn't even gone to sleep yet. His skin was as pale as the overcast sky outside and lines were spiraling under his sunken eyes. Such a look had become accustomed to him, and in fact suited him. She couldn't really picture him without that little hint of purple in the corner of his eyes and the red grooves in his forehead from sleeping on his keyboard. It was what made him, well, him. Part of it did make her sad, though. And it was strange to open his door, walk into his room and smile brightly while still being struck with an unnerving sting in the pit of her stomach. She didn't like that he never slept, didn't like that he never ate, didn't like that he was always stressed, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel the bite of guilt nagging at her head, telling her that it was her fault. That she was the reason for this.

And that, well, she certainly didn't like that either.

She opened her mouth to say good morning, but found the words catching in her throat and coughed into the nook of her elbow. He said it for her. For a brief moment she pondered the idea of him gathering onto her current state. Wondering and asking if she were okay. He didn't, and she was actually glad—because it meant she didn't look sick. And she didn't want that. She didn't like attention… well, except for when she did. But it wasn't something she actively looked for, and she didn't need people harassing her on her well-being more than they usually did.

In an unusual amount of silence, they walked to breakfast together the same way they did every other morning. The only differences for today were that she had a nuisance of a cough, and his lips were pressed shut. Perhaps he had burned himself out again and didn't feel like talking. That wasn't unusual, and it would mean he would retreat to his dorm right after class and crash.

"Are you okay?" her voice cracked. He looked at her oddly.

"I'm fine, why?"

"You aren't talking."

He shrugged. What was that supposed to mean? Perhaps there were other things on his mind. She wondered if she could bother asking. Depending on the day, Jeremie was the kind of person who liked to be left alone when he was upset. Not to the extent that Ulrich did, though, where it would leave him alone with his thoughts for so long that he would end up lashing out at someone.

That someone was usually Aelita. So she certainly did not want to let it boil over to that degree.

"If something is wrong, you know you can tell me," she continued.

"Yeah, I know." And in return, he smiled, but she couldn't quite figure out whether or not it was a real smile. "And nothing is wrong."

If anything was wrong, that was the sign to drop it. So she did, and they continued their prance down the stairs in silence. The closer they got to the cafeteria, the quicker the silence diminished anyways. It was almost eight, and now the entire dormitory had emptied out and the halls had filled with the early morning chatter of students hurriedly scrambling to breakfast for Rosa's half-cooked eggs and flimsy bacon in a pool of grease.

At least the hot chocolate was good. Well, semi-good. It was a bit watery some days, but definitely better than the potato-y mush that Rosa called a hash brown. And the croissants, those were her favorite. They were buttery and flaky and literally melted in her mouth, and Aelita loved it even more when dipped into a good batch of the cafeteria's instant hot chocolate.

So when she sat down at the table and realized her sudden illness left her unable to even taste the subtle sweetness of the cocoa and the warmth of the pastry, well, she was miserable. She even emitted a small whine, before turning to her elbow and coughing. Again.

"What's wrong?"

Shaken slightly at the sound of his voice, she looked away from the jiggling pool of chocolate in front of her and her eyes met with not that of Jeremie's, but rather, Odd's. It was Odd who had caught onto the fact she was feeling under the weather, and although she was slightly flattered someone had noticed, at the same time she was disappointed. It only meant that she did look sick. And that Jeremie hadn't paid enough attention to notice. Not that it really mattered, at all.

"I can't taste my food."

"Oh, man! That's a real bummer."

Of course Odd, more than anyone, would sympathize with her on that matter. Her lips couldn't help but tic upwards into a smile. She went to add onto her statement, but again, found herself locked in a short fit of coughing. It wasn't even a harsh cough. Just, simply annoying.

"Are you sick?" Ulrich asked. That made two people who had taken note of her condition. And Jeremie still was not one of those people. She looked over at him, and noticed that he still looked as bummed as he had half an hour ago. He had barely touched his food—although that wasn't really unusual. His stomach was probably the size of a pea with as little as he ate, and she wondered if he could even feel hunger at this point.

"I just have a cough. It's nothing serious," she said.

"Maybe you should go to the infirmary?" Odd added.

"Why would I do that? It's just a little cough. Not worth missing any classes over."

"Well, don't let it get too bad."

Aelita smiled. Even while sick—although only slightly sick—her sparkling white grin managed to bring what the sun no longer could on this unusually dark day. She looked around the table, enjoying the moment with her group of friends that currently consisted of only Jeremie, Ulrich and Odd. Although Jeremie wasn't contributing much to their conversation and still, she wondered why, but remained too reluctant to ask. Yumi was never at breakfast. It only made sense, of course. She could enjoy a much better meal at her home, and why waste the extra sleep to get to school earlier than you need to? That was the same reason William was never at breakfast, either. Even though he was a boarder, he'd rather sleep in. Sometimes, Aelita would have, too, but she knew she wouldn't be able to make it through the day without something to hold her over.

Although, in all honestly, she wasn't feeling too peckish at the moment. In fact, she thought that maybe if she were to eat, she'd only become nauseous. The waking moments she spent made her slightly squeamish, and she realized that being on her feet was aggravating her sudden ailment. She coughed again.

"How are things?" Ulrich chimed in suddenly, his fork clinking against his now empty plate. "With Lyoko, I mean. Another mission to the Cortex coming up?"

"Most likely," Jeremie replied. Finally, someone had gotten him to say something, even if it had to be about Lyoko. "It seems every time we go there, I get a new video about its creation. So I say, why wait?"

"Why not go tonight?"

And with that, Aelita's stomach dropped slightly. There was one very, very hugereason on why not tonight. And as soon as Jeremie nodded his head in agreement, it was clear he didn't remember.

"Jeremie…" she spoke in a soft voice, one that didn't seem too harsh or demanding of his attention. He didn't appear to be in a very chipper mood, and she didn't want to bother him further.

"Hmm?" he looked over at her.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

He gawked back at her. It was clear he had forgotten entirely that tonight was the night of the Subdigitals' concert. He had promised to go with her. Everyone else had something to do on this day, even William. And nobody loved the Subdigtials as much as William loved the Subdigitals. She sighed.

"The Subdigitals concert…" she mumbled, through slightly gritted teeth.

"Oh. Oh."

"We can just go to the Cortex tomorrow, can't we?"

"But Aelita, you're the one that wants to go there more than anyone else." Now he was trying to turn it around on her. "Every time we go there, you find out more about your father. Don't you want that?"

"Yes. But I can get that tomorrow. You promised, Jeremie."

He sighed. For whatever reason, he was being a grouch today, and she was getting an overwhelming vibe that he was going to find every excuse in the book to weasel his way out of it. Aelita truthfully did not know why she was surprised. This was not rare of him. He wasn't much of a music geek, and she was stunned in the first place that he had agreed to attend the concert with her. Maybe it was out of pity, because nobody else had the time or desire, and he didn't want her going alone. At least that was nice. Right? Maybe not. Maybe just rude, if he was going to end up making excuses in the end.

"I already bought the tickets. With my money, you know."

"Your money," he nearly mocked. "With the financial aid that I hacked into for you."

Unnecessary. She grumbled under her breath and turned away from him. There was no sense arguing with him. He was to be left alone, and either he would come around, or he wouldn't. Clearly he was in a bad mood. She had to keep reminding herself that Jeremie was always under a lot of stress, and not to be too frustrated with him. But when his inability to handle his own stress ended up being taken out on her, and got in the way of her plans that she had been looking forward to for weeks, it was hard not to become frustrated. But, she had to keep her composure and so she merely sat in silence, arms folded and lips pouted.

"I'll go with you."

Aelita met eyes with Odd once more. "What?"

"I'll go to the concert with you. I said I couldn't originally because I had planned a date with Sam, but…" his gaze solemnly drifted to the side. "We all know what happened there."

"Really?" Her voice glimmered with hope.

"Yeah, why not? I love the Subdigitals. You and I can go to the concert so your ticket doesn't get wasted, and Jeremie can take the others to the Cortex. He can fill us in later when we get back. She doesn't need to be there, does she Jer?"

"Well, I suppose not."

"Great. So how does that sound, princess? It's a win-win!"

Aelita giggled. "That sounds great, Odd. Thank you."

"No problem."

Although Aelita was more than happy to take up Odd on his offer, part of her still wished that at some point throughout the day Jeremie would change his mind and offer once more to go with her. It wasn't that she minded going with Odd—not at all. She just wished Jeremie would follow through with his word more often. So for the entire day, she had three things nagging at her conscience. The fact she was now going to the concert with Odd rather than Jeremie, the fact that Jeremie was being a huge grump and wasn't saying why, and of course, that dumb, annoying cough. As the hands of the clock slowly ticked by during all of her agonizing classes, her cough did not get any better—nor did it get worse. It remained stagnant, occasionally scratching at the back of her throat and leaving her chest feeling hollow and full of dust.

Actually, make that four things nagging at her, because at the same time, Aelita also wanted to join the others in the Cortex. What if they did find out something big on her father? She would be dying to know, and she'd undoubtedly want to be there when they found it. She also wanted to have fun, though. And to not have to focus on Lyoko all of the time.

And that was where she and Jeremie constantly had their differences. When she wanted to run out and explore the world, he wanted to stay on the computer. Of course Lyoko and the battle against XANA—second battle, to be specific—mattered. It was crucial, she agreed, but she also wanted to take advantage of the small amount of free time she had. Jeremie didn't. And sometimes, it felt like he flat out ignored her. And everyone else, actually.

But Jeremie was also the only one who knew how to do the things he did. So while he was snapping at her like she was his own daughter, she had to remind herself continuously that he had his reasons for acting such a way. Even if they were slightly unjust.

Maybe with Laura in the group—well, "in" the group—things would get better. For Jeremie, at least. She cringed. Maybe not for her and Jeremie. Although, there was no "her and Jeremie." Sometimes she wondered if there ever would be. Especially with Laura around, and especially with Jeremie being…well… a jerk.

But that was another problem entirely, for another day.