At last, here comes the epilogue! It's very short, but I hope you'll enjoy it regardless. :)
United Realms, a few years later
In the central castle of the newly united realms was thrown a ball to celebrate Regina's coronation. Just a few hours ago, Regina has been crowned the Good Queen, a chosen leader of all the United Realms by its people. It was a truly happy day for the new queen, honored and touched by this big gesture of acceptance, a symbol of a new beginning. But she wasn't the only happy one this day. The ball thrown in her honor was actually the opportunity for those who hadn't seen each other in a long time to reunite. After all, that was the point of this realms unity; for people to never be separated by any portals ever again.
Tonight was the moment for the princess of Sugar Rush to finally meet her old friend again. It's only been a few days since the realms merged together, and thus Vanellope hadn't had a chance to see Henry yet. But that was about to change. A fourteen years old Vanellope, followed by King Candy, entered the great hall and looked around the big crowd full of fancily dressed people. She too dressed nicely for the occasion; she was wearing a simple pink dress that went down to her knees, with a bit of sparkles at the end of the skirt and a red belt at her waist, matching red ballerina flats, and a short magenta coat reminiscent of King Candy's purple one. Her hair was kept in her usual ponytail, but she was wearing her red tiara. The outfit gave Vanellope an elegant appearance, though she still gave out the vibes of her energetic nature.
"C'mon, Turbo. Let's find Henry and Regina!" - Vanellope grabbed her guardian's hand and pulled him into the room with enthousiasm.
As the two walked through the crowd, Vanellope then spotted Queen Regina talking with a eighteen years old Henry. Vanellope's hazel eyes sparkled and, wasting no time, rushed in their direction.
"Regina! Henry!"
Without saying more, she basically plunged forward and trapped a totally baffled Henry in a hug. Letting out an estrangled gasp, Henry tried to getly pull the young girl away.
"Wow, wow..! I don't mind affection, but at least introduce yourself first!" - he said awkwardly.
"Don't mess with me like that, Henry!" - Vanellope said, looking up at him - "We haven't seen each other in too long for that!"
Regina discreetely chuckled at the scene, while Henry understood.
"Oh, you must've confused me with the other Henry..." - he said - "I'm not sure how to put this, but... um, I'm not the Henry you know."
"What?" - Vanellope's expression turned into one of confusion, slowly letting go of this "not Henry", clearly seeing now he wasn't her best friend.
"This Henry is from a different realm." - Regina gently rested a hand on his shoulder - "He's from like a parallel universe or... an alternate reality of the Enchanted Forest? It's a bit complicated.
"Oh... I see... I thik." - Vanellope processed with a frown.
"Well... Since an island fully made of candy is possible, I guess anything is?" - King Candy said, though he was just as shocked by the existance of a "second Henry".
"The experience was just as strange for me too, at first." - Regina reassured them.
"Okay, so if you're not my Henry..." - Vanellope said, looking at the new Henry - "...then where is he?"
"Oh, I think I saw him over..." - Henry looked around him for a moment before finally spotting him further away - "...here."
He pointed at the man who was meant to be the Henry Vanellope knew. Vanellope's eyes widened a bit when she saw him. "Her" Henry sure had changed a lot; he was now a fully grown man, taller and stronger than when she last saw him. He seemed to be in his early thirties. Henry had his arm wrapped around a latina woman in a blue gown and happily listened to the chatter of a young girl in a pink gown. Vanellope guessed those two ladies likely were his wife and daughter. And yet, despite all those changes, his kind eyes and his smile remained the same. Vanellope smiled widely, feeling happiness when she recognized him. There was no doubt this was her Henry.
"It's really him..." - she breathed out.
"Now, why don't you go say hello to him?" - Regina encouraged her - "He'll be happy to see you."
Vanellope nodded and walked in Henry's direction, a little nervously at first, but as she got closer, her happiness at seeing her old friend took over, and she called for him with her usual enthousiasm.
"Henry!"
Hearing his name, the man turned towards the source of the call and he saw her. Vanellope has gotten taller since the last time they saw each other, but the sprinkled black hair was unmistakable.
"Vanellope!" - Henry said with a happy smile of his own.
Vanellope sped up, and the next thing she knew was that she was held in a gentle yet strong hug. They remained in the embrace for a moment, enjoying each other's friendly warmth. The reunion felt a little surreal, especially for Henry since separation was longer from his perspective, but it was the most welcome one. It almost felt like reuniting with a beloved sibling after one of the two was gone to college for a long time. Finally, the two friends pulled away, taking a good look of each other.
"I'm so glad to see you!" - Henry said with a happy smile.
"Me too..! I missed you!"
"So did I! It's been so long..."
"You've sure grown a lot since our last encounter..." - Vanellope pointed out - "But how..?"
"It's a very long and complicated story, and it involves time travel..." - Henry said with a nervous chuckle, making Vanellope's eyes widen just a bit - "I'll explain later. For now, let me introduce you to my family."
Henry led Vanellope closer to the two ladies from earlier.
"This is my wife Ella, and this is my daughter Lucy." - he introduced them - "Ella, Lucy, this is my best friend Vanellope."
"It's nice to meet you, Vanellope." - Ella said with a smile.
"So you're the Sugar Rush princess?!" - Lucy exclaimed excitedly - "I remember you from Henry's story book! And he's told me a lot about you!"
"He did?" - Vanellope looked up at Henry, smiling.
"Yeah! He said you're very cool, a great friend and an awesome racer!" - Lucy confirmed - "I'm glad to meet you for real!"
"Aw, it's such a pleasure to meet a fan. I like you." - Vanellope bragged playfully with a wink, making Lucy let out a bashful giggle.
"How's your life going, by the way?" - Henry asked.
"Everything's alright. I've won a few races and I'm doing my best to rule my kingdom. Thanksfully..." - Vanellope then turned around to look in the direction of King Candy, who barely moved from his spot next to Regina, and smiled - "...my guardian is always there for me."
"I'm glad things worked out for you." - Henry said with a soft smile, clearly seeing that his friend was happy and at peace.
"Oh, so King Candy is your guardian?"- Lucy asked curiously, then got a little worried - "He's no longer evil... right?"
"Nah, don't worry about that." - Vanellope shook her head - "He's fully reformed."
"That's good to know." - Ella remarked, looking just as relieved as her daughter.
"Now, tell me Henry, how did you and Ella meet?" - Vanellope switched the topic, wanting to know more about what Henry's been up to those past few years.
"Oh, it's a pretty interesting story..." - Henry let out a nervous chuckle - "You see, I was travelling across different realms and kingdoms on my motorbike. One day, as I was driving long a road across the woods of the New Enchanted Forest, without anyone or anything in sight, enjoying the feel of the speed... until all of sudden, I see a coach coming from the opposite direction!"
"It was me, hurrying to the ball thrown by the prince." - Ella added - "I was so taken by surprise by this motorbike, especially that I didn't know what it was back then!"
"And so, we both deviated to not collide in a serious accident..." - Henry went on - "Ella's horse ran off, her carriage was wrecked, but thanksfully we were both unharmed."
"I got knocked out for a minute, though." - Ella remarked.
"That's true... As I went to check on her, I saw her glass slippers and immediately recognized her as being Cinderella, the heroine from the most famous fairytale! I helped her up, we made our introductions..."
"He offered me to drive me to the ball on his motorbike..."
"And then she punched me off the motorbike and drove away alone!" - Henry said with amusement, then took his wife's hand - "I went after her, and then... adventures ensued, and eventually we fell in love."
Lucy was smiling throughout the tale, even though she knew it by heart, as she was just too happy her parents were back together after everything they went through. Vanellope too was amazed by the tale and looked at the couple with a soft expression on her face. But her awed expression then turned into one of mischief.
"Wow... I can't believe that even years later, you're still as bad at driving!" - she exclaimed.
Ella and Lucy hid their chuckles, while Henry sighed. "Of course she'd tease me about this..." - he thought. But he wasn't annoyed, because he knew Vanellope was only teasing in good fun.
"If I'm as bad at driving as you say, then I couldn't have saved you from the guards back in Sugar Rush, don't you think?" - he then retorted, as though challenging her to come up with a response to this.
"Well... I guess it was just a fluke then!" - Vanellope said, giving him another miscievous grin.
"Oh, come here, you!"
Henry playfully tried to catch her, and the girl immediately backed away with a happy giggle. She missed playing around with Henry, and she felt happy knowing that despite him growing up, their bond hasn't changed a bit.
Regina and King Candy both watched Henry and Vanellope interact, and after a while, Regina asked a question.
"Are things working out for you both?"
"They are. The start was a little rough... as you already know." - King Candy stated, referring to the time when Vanellope fled to Storybrooke after their fight - "But now, we're fine. Vanellope, she... makes me want to be a better person, for her."
"I know the feeling." - Regina said with a light nod and soft smile - "Henry affected me the same way."
Neither of them spoke for a little while, just watching Henry and Vanellope from a distance.
...
The evening was long, and Vanellope truly was enjoying herself at the party. She spent a while chatting with Henry, who told her about his crazy adventures in the New Enchanted Forest. Then, after a brief yet happy reunion with Emma, Henry introduced Vanellope to his other family members and friends, like Snow White and David, his newborn sister Hope, Captain Hook (there were two of them too!), Zelena, Robin and Alice, Tiana, and many more. Vanellope even got to meet Ariel again, and the two then chatted for a little while too. Sometime later, as Vanellope started to feel a little overwhelmed from meeting so many new people, she decided to sit aside and rest, but frowned when she didn't spot King Candy right away. After looking for him for a minute, she found him standing by himself on the veranda, leaning against the stone railing.
"You okay?" - she asked him as she approached him, startling him a bit.
"Yes, I was just thinking." - King Candy replied, looking at the wide scenery in front of him.
Vanellope leaned on the stone railing on her turn.
"What were you thinking about?" - she then asked.
"Just that... it's funny how all the magic realms got merged together in an obsucre corner of Maine. Who knew that someday, I'd return to my homeworld?" - King Candy then sighed - "The United Realms are made invisible to outsiders thanks to a magical barrier... but you can still cross it, and somewhere beyond the townline of Storybrooke, far away... live my old best friends."
Vanellope's eyes widened at the realisation of what King Candy meant.
"You want to go find them?" - she asked.
"I really do. But on another hand... should I?" - King Candy then looked vulnerable - "It's been so many years, I've been officially declared dead, and they likely long since moved on. It would be strange for me to just show up fifteen years later."
"So what it's been this long? They were your best friends, and I know they'll only be happy to see you again." - Vanellope rested a hand on her guardian's arm, giving it a gentle encouraging squeeze - "I know you have many things to tell them, to... make up for your last conversation. So, don't waste this new chance you have, okay?"
King Candy sighed, then rested his hand on Vanellope's one and said with a light smile:
"Going and leaving you all by yourself in Sugar Rush? I'm not risking it."
"And who said I'd stay here by myself?" - Vanellope retorted - "If you go, I'll go with you."
"You want to come with me?" - King Candy asked with surprise.
"Of course! I don't want to pass an opportunity to see the world you're from! It'll be an exciting adventure!" - Vanellope exclaimed, then added more softly - "But I also want to be there for you."
King Candy felt touched by this, then relaxed and wrapped an arm around her, bringing her closer to him.
"Thank you, Vanellope."
"Anything for my favourite guardian." - Vanellope replied with a kind smile.
The two didn't talk for a long while, just enjoying the great nocturnal view. The merging of the realms together certainly opened new horizons, there were so many kingdoms to explore, and like Regina had implied during her coronation speech, it was like a new beginning for everyone. But despite this change, no matter what their life had in store, Vanellope and King Candy would get the most out of it.
A/N: It feels almost surreal for this fanfic to be over... Someday, when I get a strike of inspiration, I might write a story about how Turbo reunites with his friends Ted and Nate, but that will be way later. In the meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed the ride. I surely took pleasure this story with you. :)