Vanellope stirred, relishing the warmth and familiar feel of whatever she was laying on. "Ralph? You okay, Stinkbrain?" she yawned. She was disappointed to find that she wasn't lying on Ralph's chest, but on his spare shirt in her bed.

She was home? How did that happen?

The young president flopped onto her back, staring at the ceiling and trying to recall how she got here. She had run away to Calhoun's game to talk/cry, but had freaked out and ended up on the game-play field instead. She hid in the canyon and accidentally hatched some eggs with resulted in her kart getting eaten.

She blushed when she recounted how Ralph had come to save her and looked real bad mamma-jamma in that armor, but after that it was a blank. Her body flickered and she presumed she hadn't been sleeping long enough to recharge. She heard voices coming up from a vent. This must have been what woke her.

The imp climbed out of bed as quietly as possible when she heard her name mentioned, barely noticing that her wrists and ankle had been healed, and put her ear to the duct.

"-Duty?"

"I'm not sure. The only thing Ralph said was that she was mad at him and he clammed up after that."

"I think I might know. Sorceress said Vanellope saw them at Tapper's place and jumped to conclusions."

"That must be why she went to your game, dear: to talk to you."

"Oh, speaking of Tapper, he brought this over."

Everything went quiet down there so the eavesdropper got up. She could hear Felix, Calhoun, and Sour Bill, but where was Ralph? As silently as possible she exited her room to search for him. Down the hall in the guest wing of the castle one of the doors was closed and that seemed like a good place to start.

When she looked inside she could tell this was it. The room was dark and there was a large something breathing. Vanellope walked over and was just able to make out Ralph's unbruised face in the faint light. He was sleeping with his mouth partially open and he looked more at rest than he had in a long time.

The little racer pulled up a chair to sit by the edge of the brownie bed and leaned over to clasp one of his fingers. "Thanks for having my back, Ralphie," she whispered. Unable to hold her head up any longer, she let it fall and dozed off.

It wasn't long before she was woken again, this time by frantic mumbling interjected by whimpers. The girl shook her head to clear the fog and saw that her friend had a dark look on his face and his muttering was getting louder. "Ralph," she squeaked, "it's okay! It's just a nightmare. Wake up!" Ralph thrashed and put a fist through a wall into the next room. Vanellope decided this was beyond her so she left to get help.

She had just come to the top of the staircase when Calhoun and Felix dashed into the hall below. "Jiminy jaminy, Vanellope! What's goin' on?" Felix gasped. The child turned tail and ran back the way she had come. "Ralph's gonna wreck the whole place if you don't help me wake 'im up!" she called over her shoulder. The Fix-Its hurried after, close on her heels.

The three of them burst into the Bad Guy's room and hugged the edges to avoid being punched by the now upright (but still asleep) villain. "C'mon!" he shouted. "One more. One more!" He made as if to punch the ground. Vanellope crossed her fingers that she could hold it together long enough, leapt up, and glitched the both of them a few feet in the air. The momentum of Ralph's punch caused him to somersault and land on his back, knocking the wind out of him. Vanellope was thrown safely onto the bed.

"Nice job, Sweetie!" the handyman cheered. She smiled and shakily joined him and his wife. "Good thinkin', Kid," the soldier smirked. Now fully awake, Ralph groaned and unsteadily got to his feet. "Ugh. What happened?"

"Cavatina here woke you up before you had to build her a new castle." the woman said. Vanellope snorted with laughter, "I'd let him build me a castle only if I wanted one that would collapse faster than wet cotton candy!" The giant rolled his eyes and held up a hand as the curtains were opened. Squinting to see better, he looked over at his smallest friend to thank her when he was suddenly blinded by the worst pain he had ever felt.

Ralph screamed in agony as his skull seemed to split in half and fell into a half crouch, clutching his head. "Ralph!" Felix and Vanellope cried out simultaneously. They charged forward to help the villain, somehow, but were stopped short by Calhoun. "Wait a minute, you two," she said cautiously. "Look."

They looked closer and could see that Ralph appeared to be glowing and sparkles radiated out from the tips of his wild hair. They stared at him in shock. "Felix, what's happening?" the girl croaked. "I- I'm not sure, Sweet Pea, but it looks like his code is resetting!" She dropped to her knees, anguish on her face.

Ralph stopped screaming and the light dissipated. He swayed a bit, shook his head, and looked up. "Vanellope?" he asked softly, "Is that you, Crumb Snatcher?" Anguish became hope as she said with a teary smile, "You know my name!" He smiled that crooked, gap-toothed smile she loved. "I remember you, Kid." Ralph hadn't been reset again, he had been restored!

In an instant the girl was up and threw herself at him, sobbing and holding his face in her tiny hands. He caught her and put his enormous hand over one of hers, letting his own happy tears well up. Now he knew why he loved this girl and relished the feeling of wholeness she gave him.

Felix laughed boisterously, sprung up to kiss his wife on the cheek, and rushed over. "Ralph, you remember me, brother?"

"Sure do, Felix. And you too, Sarge. It's still kind of foggy, but I remember some things from before I was reset. I remember the terror of sneaking into your game the first time, Calhoun, but I also remember the respect I felt seeing you defend the citizens of Sugar Rush from cy-bugs. Felix, I remember the anger and hurt of being neglected for so long, but I also remember how good it felt to let go of my jealousy. I remember being at your wedding. And Vanellope, I remember the rage and desperation after you stole my medal. I remember that you and I were not so different, and I regret hurting you and all the trouble I caused. Most importantly, I remember that I love you with all my heart, Princess Fartfeathers."

"It's 'president'!"

"Sorry. You're gonna hafta help me fill in the blanks."

She scrubbed her eyes, trying to clear the tears of joy. "I can do that, Stinkbrain." She hugged his neck tightly.

Tammy sat on the bed with a sigh. "Man, I'm gettin' tired of all this drama! How did you manage to recall your memory, Junkpile?" He shook his head. "I'm not sure. I finally remembered that nightmare I've been having for so long and I guess that unlocked my memories." He stood up, girl still hanging off his neck like a necklace. "Or maybe that antiviral thing actually worked," he finished lamely.

The man jostled the child playfully. "Hey, Boogerface, stop cryin'. Yer getting snot on my shirt." She sniggered and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Sorry 'bout that, Chumbo. Hey, I need to ask you 'bout something." He looked at her quizzically. What could he possibly know that she didn't? "Define 'love' for me. Someone once told me there's different kinds an' I wanna make sure we're on the same page." The wrecker was taken aback. How does one put feelings into words? Especially feeling he shouldn't be having in the first place? Mentally, he berated himself, 'Shouldn't have said I love her. I'm just gonna hurt her again.'

He set her down and looked anywhere but at her wide eyes. "I can't answer that question, Kid," he said softly.

"Can't? Or won't?"

They all turned to face Calhoun. The soldier walked up to Ralph and punched him square in the jaw, knocking him down. In a flash he was up again with his own fists raised should she decide to tenderize his face again. His attacker only snorted and pointed at the girl. "Answer her! She's old enough to hear the truth."

"Newsflash: she's nine. A kid! Even if I admitted I loved her like that, which I won't, it could never happen." Ralph got angrier and angrier. "The Bad Guy never gets the girl, especially not the princess! Vanellope doesn't belong with me, no matter how I love her." Hot, angry tears came unbidden to his eyes, but now that the lid was off the villain couldn't stop himself. "It's probably just infatuation, anyway, and I'm not gonna let my cursory emotions stand in her way of finding real love with someone her own age. Her an' me would just be wrong no matter how you slice it…"

Neither of them noticed the girl in question getting closer until she was able to reach up and tap Ralph's knee. "You know, Rhonda, I can make my own decisions. Everyone seems to be forgetting the fact that I've had to live a grown-up's life for so long." She climbed up his arm to sit on his shoulder. "I'm also the leader of an entire game. If that doesn't age someone, I don't know what will! Living a grown-up life means I feel grown-up feelings, and don't my feelings matter too here? I don't wanna be a kid anymore, not if it means no one will take me seriously."

She reached over to dry his tears, but the wrecker stopped her. "Kid, there's nothin' we can do to change the fact that you're a kid and most people don't look too kindly on adult/child romantic attachments. I'm sorry, but I won't drag you through the mud like that." In one swift motion, he pulled Vanellope's hood over her eyes, dropped her on the floor, and barreled through the double doors that opened onto a balcony. He jumped and started running as soon as he hit the ground below.

Disorientated, the girl struggled to get her hood off. When she was finally free, she saw how far her hero had gone and despair overwhelmed her. Vanellope dropped to her knees again, weeping. Her glitch acted up as her low energy levels took their toll. Calhoun picked her up and brushed her off. "Don't just stand there! Go get 'im!"

"I c-c-can't!" she wailed. "Ralph is too fast, cy-bugs ate my kart, and I don't have the energy to glitch that far! Even if I did, he won't listen! I'm just a kid an' that's all I'll ever be."

Calhoun growled in frustration, "Think, Vanellope! You got friends here who want to help you, so what can we do?" The girl wiped away the tears, noticing that Calhoun was trying to hint at the board she had. "I'd ask you if I could borrow that, but that still doesn't change the fact that I'm a kid." She took a gulping breath as she tried to stop the sadness from overcoming her again.

The woman just threw down her hoverboard. "You let me worry 'bout that. Just go get the idiot and remember to scream real loud at the right moment." The little racer eyed the board like it was going to bite her. "What can you do and what's the right moment?" The soldier picked her up and plunked her on the craft. "You'll know it when you feel it. Now go!" The engine powered up and off she went, holding on for dear life.

Tammy nodded as she watched the girl disappear into the distance and then turned to see that Sour Bill had joined Felix in the doorway. "Looks like we got a job to do, you two. Let's move out!"