Vanellope led five of her racers towards Hero's Duty on the other side of Grand Central Station. It's amazing how quickly I remember this place. It's all thanks to Ralph… Vanellope thought with a slight blush on her cheeks.
As they approached the newer game, Vanellope noticed three giant soldiers all in uniform standing about. Vanellope forced the blush off of her face and cleared her throat before addressing them, "I am President Vanellope Von Schweets of Sugar Rush, and I have with me five racers. We're here to help you with your nightly patrol."
One of the soldiers nodded, "We have been waiting for you and we thank you for your help. There is not much time for formalities, I'm afraid. Are we all ready?"
Vanellope watched as her racers nodded. All of them seemed too nervous to speak to such big programs.
The lead soldier turned away, "Good, let's go then."
Vanellope noticed her racers were looking around them uncertainly.
A few weeks later….
Vanellope sank into her bed unceremoniously, sighing with content. It had been another long day of patrolling and thankfully it was her last.
"Who knew walking around all night could be so EXHAUSTING?" Vanellope whined aloud.
"So that's what the great President Vanellope Von Schweets is up to these days huh?" A familiar large man with rust-colored hair said chuckling and shaking his head, "Whining and moaning?" He gave her a knowing smirk, "I expected more from you."
"RALPH!" Vanellope shrieked and her friend giggled softly while holding his ears in mock-pain. The little program forgot her tiredness and leaped at him, doing her best to wrap her tiny arms around his thick neck.
"Hey kid, it's been awhile!"
"No kidding, I haven't seen you in forever! ...and I am NOT A KID!"
Ralph chuckled once more, holding his tiny companion in a warm embrace. He truly hadn't seen her much since Calhoun had asked her to be the maid-of-honor. He had missed his friend, found some free time and knew this would be her last day to patrol the chapel. After a few more moments, he finally let go of his little friend who jumped to his side and beamed up at him.
"How have you been Barf-brain?"
"Good, good. I threw the bachelor party a few days ago and that was pretty fun."
"Oh yeah? Bet it wasn't as fun as the bridal shower!"
Ralph scoffed, "Oh no? Did your bridal shower have a never-ending supply of Root Beer, courtesy of Tapper?"
"No, but we had Crème Soda and Bridal Battle Ship!"
"Oh, that's a classic! Ok, but did you have an enormous cake with sparklers and a giant fun house?"
"…No. We had a humongous cake of colossal proportions with mini fondant Cy-bugs that we got to blow up with bug-blasting laser guns!"
Ralphed sighed, "That does seem pretty awesome…however. We played laser tag in the abandoned corner of Game Central Station. Then some of us got carried away and raced through the entire station and blasted at each other until the Surge Protector came and chased us all out!"
Vanellope laughed, "I bet he was pretty mad at you guys!"
"Oh he was FURIOUS! You shoulda' seen him, his circuits turned all red and he started screaming!"
"Ah! I wish I coulda' seen that! That guy really bugs me!"
"Yeah it was great!"
The two friends laughed at the idea of the annoyingly calm Surge Protector bellowing and getting red-faced in the station. They fell on the president's bed and laughed until their faces turned blue. Finally after what seemed like an hour, Vanellope and Ralph managed to calm down. Both breathed heavily, neither were quite ready to speak for quite a while.
Suddenly Ralph turned to Vanellope, his expression was serious. "Are you ready for tomorrow?"
Vanellope nodded, "You?"
Ralph frowned, "I think so…uh, Vanellope?"
"Yeah?"
Ralph looked uncertain and turned away. He rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly. "You know I'm the Best Man right?"
Vanellope chuckled, "Uh, doi!"
Ralph chuckled embarrassedly, "Right, right. And you know that you're the Maid-of-Honor…"
"Again Ralph, duh! What are you getting at, Stinkbrain?"
Ralph sighed, "Well as the Best Man, I'm supposed to walk the Maid-of-Honor down the aisle before the bride shows up."
Vanellope shrugged, "Yeah I know I was thinking about that…I think it may be easier if I just ride on your shoulder."
Ralph nodded, "Good, we're on the same page there. There's just one more thing though…" he turned away, blushing.
This did not go unnoticed by Vanellope but she tried to play it cool, "And that is…?"
"Well, uh traditionally…uh the uh, the Best Man and the Maid-of-Honor are supposed to um…dance together."
It was Vanellope's turn to blush. Truthfully, she had never danced before and with her new-found crush on Ralph it'd be even harder for her to concentrate.
Ralph took Vanellope's silence for one of shock and possibly horror, "You know what? Never mind. We don't have to dance if you don't want to. It was a dumb suggestion, forget I said anything."
"No, no I want to! It's just…I've never danced before." Vanellope looked away, ashamed at her inability to do something as simple as a dance.
"Oh! That's ok. I'm a terrible dancer anyway so we can be terrible together!" Ralph beamed.
Vanellope smiled up at him, her heart pounding uncontrollably as he mentioned that they'd be together. Even if the togetherness he had implied was an inability to dance without looking completely ridiculous.
After a few tense moments, Ralph jumped up, suddenly remembering something. "I forgot! I wrote up a Best Man speech and uh…"
"Oh boy, let's hear it!"
Vanellope sat back and listened to her best friend's speech. All the while she daydreamed about the upcoming wedding and her and Ralph's roles together.