Soli Deo gloria
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Wreck-It Ralph.
Vanellope wasn't being loud. This was strange and unusual and out of character for her, and this instantly made Ralph wonder what was wrong with her. He watched her sit on the edge of one of the cliffs of Candy Cane Forest, her little legs swinging over the edge, as silent as could be.
He scratched the back of his neck and awkwardly stepped forward, saying, "Hey, kid, mind if I sit down?"
"Wait—what?" Vanellope faced him, but then nodded. "Yeah. Sit down." She propped her head on her fists.
Ralph sank down on the snowy ground next to her and sighing, clasped his hands together. He looked out over Sugar Rush for a second before back to Vanellope. Usually, she was bright and chipper, annoying and sweet, loud and energetic. Now she sat rather thoughtful; she sighed, eyes out over Sugar Rush as well.
"Okay, kid, what's eating ya?" Ralph said, shifting so he was turned to face her side, hoping she'd make the rest of the turn to meet him. He frowned as Vanellope said, "What? Nothing, nothing's wrong with me. Don't be ridiculous."
"No, there's something, kid, and it's bothering you," he said.
Vanellope sighed again and said in a quieter, more patient voice as she turned to face Ralph, "Is it really that obvious?"
He curtly nodded and sighing, she straightened up. "Ya know before you came here, when I was a regular old glitch who lived in a glitch? Well, let's say I didn't get along well with the other racers. They were always coming around with their cars, showing them off. Most of them were pretty cool. The cars, though, not the racers. They were always being mean and stuff, especially Taffyta. She and Candlestick were the ones always calling me names, like Glitch—"
"They bullied you," Ralph said bluntly, though not unkindly. He understood where she was coming from.
"Yeah. They did," Vanellope said, sighing. "And I don't even know why they did it." She frowned. "I mean, did they think that insulting me was supposed to make them feel good?"
Ralph remembered the bruises and pain he always felt when the Nicelanders and Felix ignored him after a day's work, how Gene insulted him for 'being the villain'. He sighed and said, "I know the feeling, kid."
"You can't possibly. Can you?" Vanellope said, tilting her head to face him.
"I can. Back in my game, I was ignored every day. I'd always be covered with mud at the end of the day, and I'd head over to my brick dump house, and I'd watch the lights in the building turn on. And they'd party and be friends while I was excluded." Ralph's voice sounded soft, yet with an almost undertone of annoyance and anger. He was a villain, of course, and had a temper, and was not only hurt but frustrated and aggravated because of the way that the Nicelanders treated him.
Vanellope craned her neck so that she could look into his face, which he turned away from her to look over the never-ending fields and plains of Sugar Rush. "Why do you think they did that?" he wondered.
"Because we're different," Vanellope said quietly. He hadn't expected her to say that; he was expecting 'evil', but then he realized that Vanellope wasn't evil, and that hesaid he shared the same feeling with her. The feeling of being rejected, ground into the dust, made to feel crushed and like nothing, lower than dirt and not deserving of friends.
She continued her point. "Because you're a huge guy who knocks down buildings and I'm a glitch who zaps to different places all the time. They think we're misfits. We are, and what's wrong with that? Why do we want to be like them? All I wanted to do was race, not act like them!"
"Yeah. And I just wanted to be invited to a party now and then!" Ralph yelled as they both straightened.
"Well, look at us now! President and champion! You're a champion, Ralph!" Vanellope said excitedly, waving her hands around.
"And you're a president, kid!" Ralph said. He smiled, "We're both more than they thought we could be."
"Look who's laughing now," Vanellope said slyly, raising a mischievous eyebrow and stuffing her hands into her pocket.
"Exactly," Ralph said. Running out of steam, he sighed. "Do you forgive them?"
"I kind of have to. They were lied to and all that, though just because that happened to them didn't mean they had to be mean!" Vanellope said. "You?"
Ralph shrugged, thinking of how the Nicelanders were so much nicer now since he proved he could be nice and a hero. "I guess."
Vanellope smiled a toothy smile and said, "Betcha they don't think to insult us anymore, aye, Ralph?"
"Naw, Vanellope. Betcha they don't."
I have never been bullied more than just living with my siblings, but I've just got a lot of emotions I need to write out. Thank you for reading!
