William x Emily - Search for Redemption

Moonlight shined brighter than ever on the grounds of Kadic Academy, as William Dunbar took a walk through the forest on his way back to main campus. However, before he could make the turn back towards the dorms, the no-longer XANAfied student noticed a sight that made him feel a weird combination of both disappointment, yet peace... Yumi and Ulrich holding hands with her head rested on the shoulder of her new boyfriend. Quickly hiding behind a bench, he watched as the two parted ways with a tender kiss, and both went home for the evening.

As the door closed to the dorms, the boy re-emerged and let out a frustrated sigh of confusion. In the moment, only one thing ran through his mind, “Well, I knew that was coming sooner than later.” But what now? Ulrich had Yumi, the one person he thought would be his chance at being happy for the first time in years. Where would he go from here? What would he do now?

Walking back into his dorm room, the boy laid back on the bed suddenly caught in an entangled mess of memories of his past as a juvenile delinquent, having been transferred between four schools never knowing real friends, and now dealing with life after being possessed by a computer virus who threatened to destroy the world. The memories finally became too much for the troubled youth to take, that he fled his room completely unaware of Jim’s patrol of the halls, and quickly made his way down to the recreation room to watch some TV.

Rapidly changing through the channels, William heard a noise grace the halls of the rec room and quickly muted the TV volume, assuming Jim had found out he left his room. However, this noise sounded a little more gentle than the gym teacher’s loud steps, and much more quieter in stepping noise. Suddenly the lights illuminated, revealing what appeared to be another student out of bed in the late hours of the night.

The student was a girl who appeared to be a grade younger than him, and had long brown hair with chestnut eyes covered with thin framed glasses, dressed in a red long-sleeve shirt and faded jeans. Somehow this girl looked familiar to him, like she had known one of the Lyoko warriors personally. But before he could figure out her name, the girl craned her neck to notice the glow of the TV currently on, and wondered if she had suspected someone may be in the room.

Afraid of the worse, the girl nervously asked, “Wh-Who’s there? Sh-Show yourself.” Without thinking, William slowly rose from behind the couch and revealed himself, frightening the girl for a split second. As if in self-defense, the 8th grader jumped back with a slight yelp, but ultimately recognized the boy and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh William, it’s just you,” she said with a much calmer tone. “What the heck are you doing up at this hour?”

“Could ask you the exact same thing,” replied William with the same exact curiosity. It was then he noticed the girl was holding a Bible in her hand with a gold tassel hanging from the side. Adding to the curiosity, he then decided to answer her back with a statement displaying his own curiosity, “I’ve never known a student to wake up in the middle of the night and risk getting caught by Jim, just to open a Bible.”

As she walked towards the couch prepared to change the channel to the TV, the girl answered back, “Well, with so many classes throughout the day, I barely ever have time to just sit down and take in God’s Word. It’s nice to at least have some time to enjoy some time with just me and Him.”

“Well,” said William as he gazed out the window keeping a lookout for Jim, “I find coming down here at this hour, to be more of a way to get away from school and everything else. Especially considering half the school thinks I’m crazy and I’ve lost my mind,” (recalling memories of the students coming in contact with his spectre version while he was imprisoned on Lyoko).

With concern in her eyes, the girl then looked over his way and said, “Oh yeah, that’s what everyone’s been saying.” Before William could interject with an angry thought, she then brought up a statement that caught him slightly off guard, “People can be harsh sometimes, especially when they don’t know what could really be going on.”

“Trust me,” he said rather solemnly, “I don’t think anyone would be able to understand, especially what I’ve been through lately.”

“Really?” asked the chestnut-haired girl curiously. “Was it really that bad?”

Thinking she was just humoring him, William coldly replied saying, “Look, I can see what this might lead to, and quite frankly, I don’t think talking to you is gonna exactly help me be able to fix what’s happened, or what people think of me like. So I think I’m just gonna leave you alone and go back to bed... uh... ”

Saddened by his harsh words, the teenage girl replied, “Emily, Emily LeDuc is my name. Sleep well William,” and returned back to her Bible while turning the TV channel to a show called The 700 Club.

However, before William could exit the rec room, something the pastor on TV said caught his attention and drew him back in. The message was on the subject of God forgiving sins of His people and featured a verse that the boy found puzzling, but interesting at the same time:

“38 ‘Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.’ - Acts 13:38-39 (NIV).”

Curious to the pastor’s words, William asked Emily, “So, is all of this for real?”

Surprised he was still there, the girl turned and asked him, “Is what for real?”

“You know,” he began again, “About Some Man who’s supposedly higher than us, really forgiving humans of things they’ve done wrong, just by believing in Him?”

Seeing that his curiosity had been peaked, Emily felt apt to telling William about the gospel of Christ.

“That’s right,” she replied back. “I’ll admit, when I first heard about Jesus and this idea that He was a Son of God, I was thrown for a loop and didn’t think it to be real either.”

“Oh really?” he asked, parroting her curious question from before. “If you don’t mind my asking, what changed your mind”

“Well,” she began again, “When I was about 12 years old, before I came to Kadic, I had come home from school one day to find out my father had passed away from cancer.” Feeling tears come into her eyes, Emily continued mentioning how she felt alone without her father’s guidance and only her mother to give her advice on life. As she continued to talk more about her father’s death, she then showed William a note that her father wrote to her in her Bible the day he gave it to her as a gift for turning ten years old...

“My darling Emi, you’re growing so much more each day, and in my heart I pray each and every day that God will continue to help you grow more and more into the woman He’s meant for you to be. Just remember, you’re never alone honey. God will always be there for you, no matter what happens, and you can always depend on Him, because He loves you, just like I do. Happy Birthday Emily... Your loving father.”

As she returned back to the page she was reading in Acts where the evangelist left off, William could finally notice the tears streaming down from Emily’s eyes, an obvious sign of the fact she loved her father very much. Trying to be compassionate, the boy said, “I’m sorry about your dad Emily. He sounds like he was a great person.”

Looking over in William’s direction, the brown-haired girl replied, “He was. But at least I can rest knowing he’s up there now with our true Father above.”

In hearing that specific sentence from Emily, the troubled boy reflected a little on his relationship with his father, recounting memories of him getting in trouble with the law, and then being told that he needed to be sent away to get his life on track. However, his emotions were truly sent for a ride when the memory of his father’s words before he was sent away came to mind, “Your mother and I are doing this because we love you. We only want what’s best for you, and we want to see you become all you can be.”

It was at that moment William then felt something different in the room that he hadn’t felt any other time he was up late. Maybe it was hearing the combination of Emily’s story about her faith, or the pastor’s words from the Bible, but the boy then looked over in Emily’s direction, and said with a broken voice, “It was horrible...”

Wiping her eyes, the brown-eyed girl parroted, “What was horrible?”

“What you asked me earlier,” he replied, feeling the need to finally let out all he had been bottling up since he arrived back on Earth. “The truth is, my life has never exactly been one that is an ideal way of life.” He then began to tell all that had happened to him throughout his childhood up to the time he came to Kadic; about the numerous calls his parents got of him being arrested, as well as the number of schools he was transferred to for his delinquent behavior. Finally, with slight regard for discretion, he told Emily of Lyoko and his possession under X.A.N.A. as well as his clone’s stand-in presence being the reason for this newfound image of him.

The girl was shocked to hear something so terrible as his run-in’s with the law, but became overwhelmed by his explanation of Lyoko and X.A.N.A. Ultimately, Emily could see this was something that William kept inside of him for quite some time, and was somehow comforted by the fact he chose to confide in her. Suddenly she could see his face reflecting the moonlight with a stream of his own tears, and without warning, she took hold of his shaking hand, and began to gently caress her own across his to calm him down.

At that point, William then felt something deep inside him, something he knew he had never felt before. It was almost a feeling of peace, the kind that can doesn’t come from just having a girl stroke your hand because you’re sad. This was something that felt, dare he thought, divine. Dwelling on this feeling further, Emily then reached her hand to his cheek now stained with tears, and said in a soothing tone, “William, I’m sorry about what you’ve gone through. You know, for what it’s worth, we’re actually very similar in some ways.”

Feeling a little off-guard, the boy uttered back with a slightly less broken voice, “Oh yeah, and why’s that?”

“Because,” she began again. “We’ve both experienced terrible points in our lives. Points so bad, the hurt almost never goes away. But the important thing to remember, is even with that hurt, it doesn’t mean we can’t find a way to obtain healing.”

Suddenly, almost like dejâ-vü, William then began to feel that sense of peace like he did before, that almost divine-like tranquility. At that moment, the boy finally pieced it together and realized, “Could it be? Could what she said be true? Is there a God that’s able to forgive me of the things I’ve done, no matter how bad?”

Finally able to look her in the eye, the boy then asked a question that made a smile appear on the girl’s face out of true happiness, “Emily, could you show me who God is?”

Emily then took both her hands and wrapped them around William’s and replied, “The best way to do so, is by prayer. If you would like, we can do it together, and we can both talk to God.”

The troubled youth felt as though he was going out on a limb to do something he had never done before, but consented to her suggestion. The two then closed their eyes and Emily opened up by asking God to show His presence around them both, asking to provide them comfort for the hurts they both had deep inside. She then asked in her mind, for God to reveal Himself to William and show him that He has always been there to provide him comfort and healing.

Then, almost without warning, the boy felt a strong presence surrounding him, surpassing even beyond the feeling of peace he felt earlier. This presence though, was still peaceful, but was powerful at the same time. William then had an image appear in his mind, of a man walking towards him, a man dressed in a white robe and scars appearing on his hands.

With an awestruck gasp, the boy fell to his knees and said, “You... You... You are real. What the pastors, and Emily said was true! You really are Him! You’re Jesus Christ!” Choked up in awe and shock, the boy then began to speak with genuine repentance, “Forgive me of what I’ve done Jesus. I know I’ve done terrible things, even as bad as to take the lives of my friends. Please forgive me, even if my friends and family never forgive me of what I’ve done, I just pray for Your forgiveness for the things I’ve done.”

Reaching his hand out towards the Son of God, Jesus then reached back to Him and said, “My son, you need not fear the pain of sin anymore, for I have conquered sin in my Father’s name. Go now, and sin no more, for you have been forgiven.”

Suddenly, William then returned back to the rec room with Emily, her hands still clasping his own, intensely praying for him to see Jesus. Finally, with a genuine smile on his face, he then said with tears of joy, “Emily, I saw Him! He was right there! You were right, Jesus is for real... I see that now.”

Emily couldn’t help but become with emotion herself at the idea that Jesus graced His presence to William and that the boy may now have finally chosen to be done with the pain he felt in his heart over his broken past. The girl then posed a question to William that always can provide the greatest of healing and peace, “William, are you ready to allow Him into your heart?”

While still in the spur of the moment, William carefully thought about her question and gave an answer that brings joy and celebration in Heaven above, “Yeah, I’m ready now. I’m done with hurting; I’m ready for healing He can only provide.”

With those special words, Emily and William prayed together and in doing so, the boy accepted Christ into his heart, recognizing Jesus as his Lord and Savior and praying that he would allow Christ to guide him and heal his heart of the pain buried deep within. He also prayed that while the school and his friends may never see him the same again, that he would continue to live his life only He would want him to live, with courage and perseverance. As the two said “Amen” together, Emily then wrapped her arms around the newly-saved boy and said, “I’m so happy for you William.”

Not expecting her to hug him so tightly, William then returned the gesture and said back, “Thank you Emily. Thank you for helping me see what I couldn’t.”

Still in their tight embrace, the brown haired girl said, “It wasn’t all me William. Jesus was the true One who spoke to you tonight. I just prayed He would speak through me so that you could see Him.”

As he heard this statement, William then had an epiphany, and asked God in his mind, that He would provide him with the courage to confront his friends and others in Kadic and let them know he was okay and was no longer the same person he was when his clone was around.

Finally, as the two let go of each other, the formerly possessed boy said laughingly, “Boy, I don’t care if I get caught up late now.”

“Me neither,” replied Emily as she looked at the current time. “Still, it is pretty late. We oughta head back to our rooms.”

William quickly agreed, and then noticed Jim was on his way over towards them with a flashlight in hand. Without hesitation, the two immediately left out the back door of the rec room, and snuck past the burly gym teacher, and made it back to the dorms undetected.

As they walked up the stairs to the girls’ floor, William began to have a second type of feeling stirring inside him, but this one was different. Instead of a divine feeling, it felt more like butterflies in the stomach, almost as if he was tempted to ask Emily if she wanted to get to know each other better.

Finally, as they reached her room, Emily turned to William and said, “Wow, pretty great night, huh?”

Caught off guard once again, William replied, “Definitely one of those nights, I’ll never forget. Thanks again Emily.”

With a smile appearing on her face, as well as a slight shade of pink, the girl replied, “Emi... call me Emi. I kinda like that name more.”

“Oh really?” said William rather concerned. “But, isn’t that the name your father called you?”

Gazing at him with earnest eyes, the young teen said, “It is, but it’s been so long since I’ve been called by that name. Maybe... you could call me by that name? You know, to keep the memory of my father alive?”

Smiling back with sincerity, William said, “Sure thing, I’d be honored to... Emi.”

Finally, the two quickly hugged one more time, before hearing the sound of Jim’s footsteps approaching the floor. But before walking back to his floor, William asked Emi, “Hey Emil... I mean Emi. Um, I was wondering, if you’re not doing anything this weekend... maybe we could... um, hang out and read a little more from the Bible together. Maybe even get a bite to eat?”

Hearing his request, Emily then walked back to William and said with excitement in her voice, “Yeah, I’d love to.”

“Awesome,” he replied trying to keep his cool. “How does Saturday around dinner time sound?”

“Count me in,” she said. And with that, William began to make his way towards the side stairway, but not before Emily quickly stopped him and kissed him on the cheek before headed back to her room.

The boy then began to have that feeling again of butterflies in his stomach, but quickly put it aside needing to return back to his room quickly.

As he walked into his dorm room, and lay back on his bed, William began to contemplate all that had happened in just the last few hours. He was amazed that even after all he had done to his friends, his parents, even himself, God had always been there ready to forgive him. Now, having allowed The Lord to come into his life and be his Savior, the no longer troubled boy looked up into the proverbial Heavenly sky and said, “Thank you Jesus,” before finally drifting to sleep, concluding a long time journey of forgiveness, and a search for redemption, he thought would never end.