Change in Pace

The couple awoke wrapped in each other's warm embrace the following morning, and they were glowing with joy despite having fallen asleep on the floor with only a thin blanket loosely covering them.

Felix was laying on his side with his elbow holding his head up, gazing down at his lovely wife. Words couldn't describe how happy he felt in that moment. Or any moment he got to spend with her. When Tamora opened her eyes, she gave him a sleepy grin. "Morning, my little cadet."

Felix brushed away a piece of her hair covering her eye. "Good morning, my sweet."

"Haven't had a night like that in a while." She muttered and stretched her backside by pressing her elbows into the ground and moving her chest upwards. "A little sore here and there."

Felix sat up and piled the blanket on his lap. "I can fix that, my lady."

Without asking him what he was intending to do, she laid on her stomach and Felix got to work massaging the knots out of her bare back. He was gentle around the shoulder blades and Tamora moaned softly at the feeling.

"You really can work wonders with those hands." She told him.

Felix blushed for what felt like the twentieth time in the past ten hours. "Oh, just doing my job, my dear."

When she was satisfied, she sat up and peeked at the analog clock on the nightstand. "Holy crabapples, it's already nine?"

"Yes, ma'am." Felix said. He stood and pulled on a fresh pair of jeans and a red flannel long-sleeve. "We slept like two logs last night."

She looked at him with serious eyes. "We should go check on the kids."

Down the hall, the sound of glass shattering on the floor could be heard.

When they stepped into the living room, fearing the worst, they saw Candlehead bending over several pieces of a broken vase. She had a small dustpan in her left hand and a tiny brush in the other. "Oops! I knew I couldn't reach that high."

The racers had been up and running around possibly a few hours before the adults were and they weren't partaking in their usual destructive activities, or horseplay. Crumbelina was holding a broom much taller than herself, some of the children were holding rags, and Nougetsia was using a tape measurer to determine the length of the torn curtains.

Jubileena was balancing a bucket full of soapy water atop of her head and almost tipped over before Tamora swooped down and caught it.

"What's all this?" She asked.

Crumbelina stood upright with the broom by her side. "We're cleaning up the place."

Tamora eyed them suspiciously. "You're cleaning for us?"

"Well," Jubileena started, looking down at the floor. "Yeah. We've been acting pretty badly to you guys, so we're trying to make up for it."

"We owe you," Candlehead stated, after all the loose glass was safely in the dustpan. "After you guys took us in when no one else would."

"Well, gosh..." Felix was touched. "That's mighty neighborly of you kids, but you don't have to do that."

Citrusella stepped down from the couch after she'd been cleaning the window above. "We wanted to apologize for terrorizing you guys. We know we can be a handful, so we're levelling the playing field."

Although glad to see that the kids were expressing gratitude over their hospitality, Felix and Tamora didn't want the racers to feel like they needed to repay them. They wanted their kids to be here, and the thought of all fifteen of them wandering aimlessly throughout the GCS without a home sickened them. Felix and Tamora shared a look with each other and went off to help them.

Tamora knelt on the floor and took one of the rags from the pile in the corner of the room, and began cleaning one of the windows.

"Oh, but..." One of the racers stammered.

"Hey, we're not going to let you kids do all of it by yourselves."

Felix beamed. "That's right!" He took the dustpan from Candlehead and tossed the pieces into the garbage. "We're doing this as a family!"

Gloyd perked his head up from his spot on the linoleum floor. "I got an idea! Let's see who'll be the first to finish their spot!"

All the racers burst in excitement.

Rancis was dragging a mop behind him and looked over at Taffyta, who was lounging over the recliner with her hands behind her head and her eyes closed.

"Aren't you going to get off your lazy tush and help?" he asked.

"I don't clean." Taffyta responded.

Rancis rolled his eyes and went off to join the house-cleaning race.

Later that afternoon, the family was sitting outside on the grass while another round of hide and seek commenced. Tamora sat at the picnic table and watched each of them form teams, devise a plan, and split up. She was eyeing them like a hawk, making sure that none of them would sneak off, again. She had to count heads each time they huddled.

Further away in the grassy field, Felix was showing Nougetsia each of the tools that weren't apart of the game, but were kept in the storage closet. The little girl seemed to have a knack for fixing things as well, and she took several minutes to study each of the objects in front of her.

Tamora leaned back against the table and rested her arm on the surface, feeling good about herself and how much she and Felix had learned in such little time.

Candlehead took a break from the game and sat on the bench beside her. "Gee whiz, I've never felt this tired before."

"Seems like you kids are finally running low on caffeine and sucrose."

Candlehead hugged her knees. "But we don't just eat candy and drink soda. Sometimes, we eat pastries."

"Fair enough."

It was the last day of the weekend and there was still no word from Ralph or Vanellope. Tamora was aware that traveling through the Internet could mean moving through several long distances across the state, or even further, but Felix could only cover for the both of them for so long.

She hoped Ralph didn't get caught up in the social media mayhem. She'd heard terrifying stories about that place.

"Sorry about trespassing your game." Candlehead finally said, in a tiny voice. She rested her head on her knees and stared out at the rest of the crowd.

Tamora looked down at her. "Well, not that I'm encouraging that behavior, but I'm glad you didn't go at it alone."

"You should've seen her," the green-haired girl sat back. "Jubileena jumped in front of those cy-bugs and showed them who's boss. I wish I could be like her. But I'm too scared."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being a little scared." Tamora said. "It keeps you out of danger. 'Least that's what I think."

Candlehead looked up at her. "Aren't you afraid of being in a game like that?"

The tall lady folded her arms over her chest. "No. Not anymore. Besides, if I allowed myself to be scared of my own game, I couldn't help save humanity."

There wasn't an immediate response from Candlehead and Tamora was worried her answer might have been too harsh and cold. Not many people understood why anyone would return to a game full of death and destruction, but it wasn't as if she had any other choice. It was either step into the warzone of Hero's Duty, or allow it to be terminated along with her purpose and that of her army.

Just like with parenting fifteen children, she had to learn to adapt. They all did. And it definitely wasn't easy. She could still remember the sleepless nights, the nightmares, and the forced suppression of all emotions.

And then when Felix stepped into the picture, all of it changed. Her trauma had affected him, too, and she considered herself lucky that he still stuck by her through it all. Getting used to a healthy lifestyle with him and his persistent optimism wasn't all rainbows and smiles, either. She still had her moments.

Then Candlehead said, "If it were me, I'd be terrified to leave my house."

Tamora's typical hard gaze loosened. "You won't have to worry about that anymore, kid. I promise you that you'll be safe over here, long as you don't go sticking your nose in places it don't belong."

Candlehead's large green eyes peered up at the taller lady, sparkling under the nearby streetlight. Then her face was shadowed by a minor blush sweeping across her cheeks and she turned her head back to the running racers.

"I want to learn how to protect myself. Everyone's always shielding me when there's danger and telling me what to do, but I can take care of myself!" She rested her head in her hands and her elbows on her knees. "You're always so calm and collected when there's trouble. Can you show me how to do it?"

Tamora blinked and was caught off guard by the request. "My training's a bit too intense for someone of your size and stature."

Candlehead sighed and hung her head glumly.

"But," Tamora wrapped an arm around her tiny shoulders. "That doesn't mean we shouldn't try."

The way the little girl lit up when Tamora said it made her feel secure and good about herself. And here she was thinking all of the kids were too intimidated by her.

"Oh, and before I forget," She reached into the pocket of her cargo shorts. "My men found this after doing a late-night sweep. Figured you might want it back. I think it suits you."

Candlehead showed her pearly whites in a huge smile and snatched the unlit piece of wax from the marine's hands. "My candle!"

"And quit selling yourself short, kiddo," Tamora said as she folded one leg over the other. "What you did was pretty darn brave, too."

The emerald-haired girl placed the candle atop of her head. "Thanks, Mom."

Tamora was glad her audacity was good for something other than commanding soldiers. Knowing that this little girl looked up to her made it seem like a connection between her and the others was actually possible. She didn't say it to anyone aside from Felix, but part of her was afraid that her life experiences would have made her unfit to be a mother. Maybe that was why they'd never talked about a family before.

"Vanellope's never going to believe what we did back in Hero's Duty." Candlehead said.

Tamora's smile faded away. She hoped that Tapper was just full of petroleum jelly when he said those things to Felix. The almost-forgotten fear in her heart returned at the thought of the little candy president being left in No Man's Land.

Whether it was the truth or not was about to be confirmed, because everyone's heads turned to the incoming train that passed through the game tunnel.

"Ralph's back!"

All fifteen of them stood and ran to greet the traveling wrecker, anxious to hear about all the stories he'd brought with him. Tamora and Felix stood behind all of them, waiting for both Ralph and his travel buddy to come forward.

But all they saw was the nine-foot-tall man with a nervous look on his face as if he had something to hide.

"Uh... hey, kids." He spoke.

The racers all were joyous and quite literally shaking with excitement over the return of their beloved leader, but the expressions on their faces all changed when they realized he'd arrived alone.

And only one of them vocalized the silent question, "Where's Vanellope?"

AN: I always wait a while before posting chapters, but I'm feeling really inspired and I really am having fun with this.

Thanks for everyone's support and suggestions. I try my best to make my stories enjoyable.