Heart-to-Heart

Back at the apartment, the three wanderers were wrapped in large blankets on the couch in the living room, while Tamora was pacing back and forth across the floor, her face completely red with anger.

Felix had never seen her this upset. Not even during their first encounter while Sugar Rush was being consumed by an unstoppable gathering of cy-bugs. In the first couple of minutes while Felix was tending to Citrusella's wounded leg, she said nothing. Just was breathing sharply in and out of her nostrils. That's how Felix could tell that she was about to blow a fuse.

Tamora was only silent when she was about to scream.

And she would have been screaming if it wasn't already late at night and the rest of the apartment complex was sound asleep.

"You two could have been killed!"

Jubileena hung her head.

"We have our backs turned for one second and then you three decide to amscray out of the safest place you could be right now." Tamora gripped her hair and plopped down on the recliner. "Don't you understand how big of a risk you kids were taking? Don't you know the number one rule about game-hopping? You die outside your game, you don't regenerate!"

"Yeah, but-" Candlehead started.

"But nothing!"

Felix stood up from his kneeling position in front of the injured little girl and looked as if he was about to interject, but Tamora shot him a look of fatality. He decided it was best if he just listened and only responded when he was being spoken to. This was his fault for not keeping a sharp eye out for them.

Tamora inhaled deeply from the core and released air through her mouth. It was what she would have done if she was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. She clasped her hands together and rested her elbows on her knees.

"Look," She sighed. "I get that you tykes have been restless since you lost your game and don't have a racetrack to vent out your frustration, but for the love of all that is code, please do not go exploring games you don't know squat about." Sitting back on the recliner, she blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Especially not my game."

Candlehead pulled the blanket that was draped around her shoulders closer. "We're sorry."

"We didn't know it was going to be that crazy!" Jubileena said. "It... was my fault. I told them that if they didn't go with me, then they were lame."

Candlehead turned her head towards the cherry-haired girl, complete surprise on her face like she didn't expect Jubileena to actually have taken the fall for all three of them.

"Well, that wasn't very nice now, was it?" Felix pointed out.

Jubileena shook her head. "No."

"But..." Citrusella started. "It's our fault for not stopping her before she stepped into that game."

"We thought we wouldn't get in trouble if we all went together." Candlehead replied.

Tamora crossed her arms. "It don't matter whose fault it is, you all still went against our rules and stepped outside the safety zone." She stood up. "And as a result, you are all banned from leaving this game without us."

"What?" The three of them said at once.

Tamora straightened her posture and turned her head towards the rest of the racers, who looked like they were all trying to disappear into the background. Several of them were wringing their hands nervously while the others wrapped their arms around themselves. Nougetsia was clutching Felix's hammer close to her chest.

"And that goes for the rest of you little rascals."

Taffyta, who had been holding her tongue for a surprisingly long time, stepped forward. "Hold on a second." She gestured towards the three sitting on the couch. "They made it out okay, didn't they? They've already proven to you people that they can hold their own. And why should we all have to get punished because of something they did?"

"Because we don't want you kids to get hurt." Felix answered. "You youngsters are too young to be wandering those places by yourselves. Poor Citrusella got a cut on her knee, but what if something worse happened to her? We're not about to let that happen."

Instead of retaliating with more anger or protesting against the rules, Taffyta was silent. Her brows were furrowed in bafflement over the choice of words. She looked up at Tamora and then back at Felix. "Why do you care about what happens to us so much?"

"Because we're your parents." Tamora said. "And we love you."

Taffyta took a step back, unsure of what to say. In the minutes of silence that took place after that heated lecture, Crumbelina decided to chime in. "We're not used to people thinking about our safety."

Then Snowanna stepped into the conversation. "Yeah, the gamers are always thrashing and throwing us around on the tracks. We get scratched, bumped, hit, and blown up almost every day."

"Sometimes they do it on purpose." Swizzle added.

The other racers mumbled in agreement.

"We've been independent since our game's been plugged in." Minty Zaki said. "We've never had parents before to care about us."

Felix stood in the middle of the crowd and looked like he was about to give one of his famous pep talks, and made brief eye contact with everyone in the room. "Listen, kiddos, I know it's been a bit of an adjustment to be here with us." He lowered his gaze. "You guys have never had parents around to lay down the law with you, and well, me and Tammy never had kids to look after, but at the end of the day, we're all together now." Every single one of the racers was giving him their undivided attention, including Taffyta. "We said that we were going to take you younglings under our wing and guide you as much as we could, and by golly, we are going to do just that."

"No matter what has happened or will happen," Tamora said. "We're entirely devoted to keeping you kids out of trouble. And part of that is teaching you guys to comply with some simple rules and cooperate with us. The more we come to understand each other, the better."

Jubileena let the blanket around her shoulders fall onto her lap. "I guess I didn't really know how dangerous the outside world was."

Tamora's gaze softened. "It isn't all that bad, but that's why we've got to show you the ropes."

Candlehead nodded. "We understand."

The others did the same. Taffyta didn't say anything more or make any indication that she agreed or disagreed.

Tamora grinned for the first time since they'd arrived. "Well, alright then. Now get your little keisters to bed. It's late."

They stood up in unison and bit goodnight to the adults. Felix was grinning as wide as he could, relieved that this talk went better than he expected. There was a small tap on his shoulder and he turned to see Nougetsia handing him back his beloved tool. She had the biggest smile on her face and her cheeks were rosy red. It melted his little 8-bit heart.

"Thank you, sweetie."

And in a split second her little arms were wrapped around his middle, squeezing the air out of his chest.

"Aw, ain't that cute?" Tamora said. "I think she likes you."

"Heh. I guess so." He gasped out. He returned the affection with a little less strength and gave her a small pat on the head. She was one of the nicest little girls in this entire group.

Nougetsia released him and nodded to Tamora as she skipped after the rest. The only one left was Crumbelina and she had her hands behind her back and her eyes were staring into the floor as she approached Felix.

"Um... thanks for listening to me." She said to him. "It's really embarrassing stuff. I don't normally let that kind of thing bother me."

"Oh, no need to thank me for that, sugar," Felix told her. "There's no shame in feeling what you feel. But don't you worry, everything's going to work out for you and the rest. Sugar Rush is going to get fixed, I just know it."

Crumbelina put on a half-smile and the hug she'd given him was softer and more shy, but it made him feel just as warm on the inside. Crumbelina pulled away and walked over to wrap an arm around Tamora's leg. "Goodnight, guys."

"Goodnight, dear." Tamora said to her.

Once they heard the bedroom door close, Tamora playfully pulled down Felix's cap. "Well, look at you, Papa Bear. You're winning 'em over faster than a lantern wins over a bunch of moths."

Felix's cheeks turned red. "Well, gosh, I couldn't have done it without your guidance, my lady."

She stretched her arms and yawned. "Well, I don't know about you, but I could really use some shuteye." She started down towards the hall. "Coming with?"

At first, Felix was about to follow her with his heart filled with joy over how successful the day had turned out, but there had been something nagging at the back of his head since the night before. And if he didn't address it now, then that feeling would have been replaced with guilt.

He took her hand and stopped her from going forward. "Wait."

Tamora turned back, concern filling her eyes. "Something wrong?"

Felix cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "There's something I got to tell you."

They were sitting at the kitchen table, with a cup of coffee in Tamora's hands and the only light source being the ceiling lamp above them. He explained to her about the brief chit chat he shared with Tapper that held some ground-breaking information and Crumbelina's worries, and throughout this talk, he could see her brows crease and her hands tighten around her mug.

"He can't be serious." She replied and Felix wasn't sure if she meant Ralph or Tapper.

"I don't know if any of it is true, but..."

Tamora palmed her face. "Ralph isn't actually thinking about leaving the kid in the vacuum of space like that, is he?"

Before the Sugar Rush scenario, Felix could easily say that Ralph had more sense than that, but he could feel in his gut that it might not have been the case, anymore. Ralph had known that going against the will of the players would cause the game to go out of commission, and yet he still did it as a means to make his little friend feel better.

Felix could understand the sentiment, but there was a line that needed to be drawn somewhere.

"He better not," She continued. "If Vanellope doesn't return, then that'll be the end of the game's popularity. Sugar Rush would sink faster than a ship that had just crashed into an iceberg."

"I don't think he will," Felix said. "I mean, he doesn't want Vanellope to leave the arcade, so..."

He didn't sound very convincing, but the point of this talk was to sound as honest as he felt. And what he was feeling was that Ralph was too caught up in keeping his friendship to do the logical thing.

Tamora took a sip of her coffee. "His heart may be in the right place when it comes to that kid's happiness, but his head is not. That choice could end pretty badly for everyone involved."

"I know," Felix replied, glumly. "If he was about to make that choice, I hope he'd at least have a talk with us first."

"Agreed. Plus, I would miss the little crumb-snatcher."

He folded his hands on the table. "Me too."

She sat back in the chair and let out a long exhale, staring up at the ceiling light and pursing her lips in thought. Felix watched her reaction, wondering what it was on her mind in that moment.

"Sorry you had to see me at my worst, Sweetums."

Felix smiled at her and gently took her hand in his. "Lady Love, I cherish all parts of you. And that wasn't you being your worst. You had to tell those young'uns what they needed to hear. There's got to be some order in all this chaos."

"I just wish I had your natural charm. I'm starting to wonder if they're just afraid of me."

He gave her hand a squeeze. "No, they adore you. And they respect you. I couldn't be as firm with them as you are, Tammy."

"Yes, you could. Remember when Ralph was out all night and missed an entire day of work? You really laid into him that time."

A small laugh escaped him. "Yeah, I was definitely cross with him then. We've already almost got unplugged once."

Her hand reached up and cupped his cheek. His eyes shifted around the room and his cheeks tint with a shade of crimson.

"Uh, sorry we didn't get to do a little hokey-pokey last night..." He mumbled.

Tamora smirked at him. "Well, we've still got time."

"Oh..."

The red color went from his cheeks to his entire face.

AN: I'm looking to promote all of my fanfics and gain more attention from readers. Any suggestions on how I do that? This is the first time I've interacted this much with my audience, but if I'm going to expand my horizons, I should probably do more of it.