*Chapter 11*
"Sheesh," Taffyta hissed as she looked over her shoulder. Draped in comfortable clothes for the night time reset, she prepared a small snack for herself near the fridge of the castle's kitchen. Rancis sat comfortably at the kitchen island, his golden blonde hair was a mess from the long racing day. He, too, was dressed in a comfortable, baggy shirt and pants for the night. Taffyta shook her head at Vanellope and wrinkled her nose as she continued, "I heard that sigh from all the way across Westwind."
"Yeah, yeah," Vanellope breathed, she sate down at the island next to Rancis and gave him a dull, yet loving look. The two nodded at each other, a silent notion to convey recognition.
"Good job, today," Rancis said softly, though the two flinched as Taffyta shot both of them a quick, disgruntled look.
"Say what?" Taffyta barked, though a smile tried it's hardest to spread across her face; Rancis scrunched his shoulders to his head.
"What?" Rancis worried, Vanellope largely rolled her eyes and dusted her arms free of candy tree flecks.
"What about me!" Taffyta bellowed as she finally neared the island, though she was on the opposite side of it. She set her plate down firmly, it clacked to the swirled marble.
"What ABOUT you," Vanellope spat with a wide smile, "You were checking that perimeter like it was your soul purpose for existing."
"HEY," Taffyta urged, she pointed a finger firmly as Rancis hissed a few breaths of a laugh he so desperately tried to conceal, "It's not MY fault that my driver, on the game cabinet, was five years old!"
"Sucks not having control of your own cart, huh," Rancis sneered, though Taffyta eyed him in pure annoyance.
"You don't do so hot when you've lost control, either, buddy," Taffyta snapped, though she continued to fail at hiding a wide smile. Vanelope giggled and picked at her hair a little.
"I am so done with this world," Vanellope seethed playfully through grit teeth, though she flinched once she could see Taffyta's scheming facial expression.
"Oh, bye, I'll miss you. Can I have your crown?" Taffyta playfully inquired, Vanellope subtly eyed her.
"Is the volleyball trophy not good enough for you?" Vanellope snapped with her usual, charming grin; Taffyta glared in her direction.
"Gee, how does that motocross trophy taste?" Taffyta retorted as she put her hands on her hips.
"Like concussions and broken ribs," Vanellope didn't miss a beat, she beamed an annoyed smile in her sister's direction, "I earned the damn thing."
"In that case, you should earn a trophy every time you swap with Ralph," Taffyta muttered, though she kept her eyes trained to Vanellope's quickly escalating fervor; she gaped in annoyed shock. She hung in suspended wait as the words hit her brain, though she finally slumped and gave Taffyta a mildly annoyed glower.
"Touché," Vanellope muttered with ease.
"I don't know how I ever got so lucky to have you guys in my life," Rancis said, his tone dripped with playful sarcasm.
"I'm just glad I wasn't picked for the roster once today," Vanellope said through a hard sigh, her tired eyes nearly went criss cross to look upwards at her dangling bangs, and the candy flecks that clung to it; Taffyta eyed her curiously.
"What were you doing in the candy trees?" Taffyta wondered gently as hers and Rancis's demeanors loosened, "Ralph is upstairs, isn't he?"
"Oh, nothing… Yeah, he's upstairs," Vanellope breathed a sigh of annoyance.
"Sounds more like an 'oh, something'," Rancis said in a knowing tone as he leaned closer to Vanellope.
"How do you guys do it?" Vanellope wondered softly, she almost sadly peered to Rancis and Taffyta in pure curiosity.
"Do what?" Rancis eased, he sat up a little straighter at the sudden sincerity in her voice. Vanellope waved her hands around.
"Penny is the epitome of politeness, she is so kind and tenderhearted," Vanellope said with a pang of guilt in her voice; she knew she had nothing but kind things to speak about Tessa, her own flesh and blood, though she knew her words were safe with her siblings, "I just wish Tessa had those kinds of manners… Ralph has had years to master his wrecking nature, but Tess? She's still so young, and has so much to learn. Not to mention, she doesn't have a game to tie her down."
"She is a fireball, thats for sure," Taffyta said with a kind smile towards her sister, though she shook her head, "Y'know, Penny's personality may look like a walk in the park, but we three have our moments too."
"Far less than us four, I'm sure," Vanellope grumbled, though Rancis scoffed lovingly in her direction.
"Hey," Rancis put his hands up, "You knew exactly what you were getting yourself into by marrying Ralph and having his kids."
"I know," Vanellope complained quietly, "I'm not saying I don't want it or anything… I-I guess I'm just so used to user-made programs, who are built with manners and have a sense of the world around them… Tessa is just so young, she has so much to learn. I-I don't know if she's ready for Academy."
"You don't think so?" Taffyta wondered with a small frown.
"She's so stubborn," Vanellope worried, "Wh-what if she doesn't like Academy, and I find out she's run away? What do I do with such a wild-spirited child? She's like a firework… You can't contain her."
"And you shouldn't," Rancis eased, he tenderly rested his warm hand atop Vanellope's in a brotherly way, "If you smother her, she will resent you. Too many limitations aren't good, for anyone for that matter."
"I know," Vanellope sighed, "I-I just want to keep her safe.. I want to keep her here, I want to make sure no harm comes her way."
"I think the whole intruder thing has probably scarred you," Taffyta said seriously, though she glanced at Rancis; he looked down to the marbled counter with a fixated gaze, though he kept his hand on Vanellope's.
"You're worried there might be another virus out there?" Rancis wondered with an almost annoyed smirk, he shook his head lightly, "Litwak's has only had two threats in all of it's history… Turbo, and… Me."
"You," Vanellope hissed in an incredulous, closed teeth smile, "What you did was noble, Ranc… No one here wants you to do it again, though."
"No danger there," Rancis said as gently as he could with an almost confused glance towards Taffyta.
"You just never know what evils are lurking out there," Vanellope sighed, "User only knows what could happen. We would've never guessed we had to protect Sugar Rush from it's very own Knight, you know?"
"I know," Rancis assured as he tilted his head to the side in contemplative thought, "I don't think there's another one of me out there… I'm certainly not channeling any destructive thoughts, that's for sure."
"Right," Vanellope sighed as she slumped her shoulders, she picked the rest of the candy flakes out of her hair.
"You never answered my question," Taffyta reminded gently, Vanellope tenderly set a few of the fragile flakes hit the counter underneath her arms.
"I was in the candy trees because, I noticed Tessa and Tammy getting into a shouting match," Vanellope said in a sorrowful tone, "I WAS on my way back from the arena. I was glitch-hopping from tree to tree to get home, though the fight caught my attention, and I stopped to eavesdrop."
"What happened?" Taffyta pressed.
"I caught the very tail end of it… It involved Tessa nearly pummeling Tammy," Vanellope rolled her eyes and felt a pang of embarrassment hit her skin, "She yelled at her to get off of her case, or something."
"Tammy was pestering her?" Rancis furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "I wonder about what?"
"It had to have been serious enough," Vanellope said dreadfully, "Tammy isn't a nosey individual."
"Maybe you should ask Tammy what happened?" Taffyta wondered, Vanellope lightly shrugged.
"It just looked like Tessa was beginning to pick on her," Vanellope frowned and kept her eyes trained to the counter underneath her, "That kind of act, at Acadamy, would not end well."
"She'd likely be suspended, for who knows how long," Taffyta worried as she glanced at Rancis, "I'm sure though, when she attends with Penny, that the two will keep each other balanced."
"Penny is Tessa's best friend," Vanellope said with a small smile as she glanced up at her white haired sister; Taffyta returned the favor.
"If they stuck together, I'm sure they'd be fine," Taffyta shook her head in a nonchalant way, though Vanellope's eyes continued to billow with worry.
"You worried she won't make it through Academy?" Rancis prod gently, Vanellope's eyes finally lifted to pierce Rancis's in dewed concern.
"It would kill me if she was kicked out, or if she simply gave up because of the structure," Vanellope worried, "You know how she is… She hates rules, walls, barriers… She's so much like her father, though so much more untamed."
"It's nothing you're doing wrong," Rancis assured, though he winced once his words made tears finally form in Vanellope's eyes. He grit his teeth lightly, as if to show apology for uprooting deeper emotions. He heaved a raspy sigh and held Vanellope's hand harder, "You're doing your best, Vanellope."
"Tessa is very different," Taffyta assured, "It's not a bad thing, she just is very free spirited. It's a wonderful quality to have, though hopefully she will realize that it could get her in trouble, and she has to learn how to tame it."
"Hopefully, when that happens, it's not too late," Vanellope whimpered, "I-If she dies outside Sugar Rush… I don't know what I would do."
"Trust me," Taffyta started softly as she glanced at Rancis, "I know what it's like to lose your own code… I understand where you're coming from, Vin."
"You have to let her fly free," Rancis urged to her gently, "She will find her feet in Academy. She'll realize that there are bigger, badder gamers out there, and she'll know not to mess with protocol."
"Academy is less than a month away," Vanellope heaved a hard sigh, "I-I don't know if she's ready… I might hold her back, and have her attend when Oliver is of age."
"But, that's three and a half months away," Taffyta wondered curiously, she furrowed her eyebrows towards her sister in an almost saddened way.
"I think she needs more time to mature," Vanellope worried, "I-I don't think I'm ready to let her go into the world so naive and close minded."
"It's your call," Taffyta said as gently as she could, "How you're going to break it to Tess, though… I'm not so sure."
"I'm not either," Vanellope sighed a deep, broken hearted sigh. She shook her head and long blinked a few times.
"Better sooner than later," Rancis nodded once and gave Vanellope's hand one final squeeze.
"I'll talk to Ralph about it," Vanellope stated gently, her voice carried through the kitchen, all the way to young, innocent ears she was unaware were present to their private conversation, "I'm sure he'll be on board… We'll have to tell Tessa soon."
"Break it to her easy," Taffyta said quietly across the kitchen.
Tessa's blank, confused facial expression seemed frozen in time. She inhaled the quietest breath she could and slowly shook her head. She held her larger hands to her chest and remained unseen in the dip of the kitchen's hallway, which lead to the Great Hall. She let her shoulders slowly slump with the dead realization of what had suddenly been ripped away from her. Her gaze trailed the wall in front of her before hitting the floor like a 2 ton pile of bricks. In the midsts of her lost, confused and aimless gaze, she slowly slumped her shoulder into the wall and leaned into it, as if she had just been lightly kicked in the backs of her knees. Her hand groped the wall lightly as she support herself; she wondered just how she was ever going to cope with all of the suffocation she was being dragged into.
With silent, unsure footsteps, she slowly began to trail away from the kitchen; she knew a certain high perch called her name, a safe haven she knew her heart could wholly dwell in.