A/N: Song listened to - Lighthouse by GRL

*Chapter 30*

Tessa peered curiously through the dark jet stream they were on. Her arms remained tightly gripped around Zane's middle in an eager sense, his vicious, yet forgiving, light bike rocketed them across creation, as if it were merely the easiest thing to do. The Flip Side seemed eons away, simply a hollow in the game that was long forgotten, a random rip in time that continued to spiral away. Tessa curiously glanced over her shoulder, thinking maybe the trail they left would somehow illuminate the dark. She barely let her eyes wander the dark they escaped from, though she returned her snuggly position in Zane's back after a moment of vulnerability. She could feel her pupils scrunch as they merely glanced at the hot, white glowing circuits of Zane's powerful, growling light cycle. She furrowed her eyebrows lightly and felt a strange sense come over her, as if being in a field of grid, with a working clock, was a stranger to her soul. She let her eyes lull closed as her nose buried into the top of Zane's back. She inhaled his warm, alluring scent and wondered just how interesting their dynamic, in their group of friends, would become. She felt a pang of nervousness crawl over her as she thought of everyone back at the castle finding out about a certain boy she was becoming swept away with.

She felt her eyes suddenly squint as an unfamiliar fleck of light hit her retinas. She flinched and kept her eyes locked onto it; she was thrilled to see the delicate street lamps of Zane's small town come into view. The sight of his loft, far off on the hill, came into sight as well. She couldn't help but feel a small smile sprawl her face. She didn't know how to properly contain all of her emotions. On one hand, she wanted to flaunt what her and Zane had to the world. On the other, all she wanted to do was shy away with him and keep their ember a secret. She wondered just how far it would take them, in what kind of span of amount of time. Tessa continued to get lost in thought, though she raised her eyebrows in light surprise as Zane gently turned off of a small road and began to head to the main road that led to Dead Zed's exit. Tessa let her eyes gaze about the dimly lit jungle they plunged into. She felt realization hit her skin in a gentle manner; she beamed a gentle smile and let her face meet Zane's back, yet again. She realized he was kindly taking her home.

Zane gazed ahead, though he felt his heart jump a bit as Tessa's grip continued to readjust and become tighter and warmer. He felt hard shivers go down his spine as her hot breath breathed through his thick clothes. He couldn't help but get lost in the wiring they glided through, he revved his light bike a little, as if to warn anything or anyone coming in or out of the tunnel that he was there and wasn't stopping. As smoothly as he could, he guided the light bike out of the tunnel and into Game Central Station. He felt his heart dip a little; he knew no one had seen his light bike, since he has had it, though he wondered if it would be a big deal or not. With his jumbled thoughts, they vanquished once he noticed the station was completely empty. The gently, growling purr of his bike echoed all through the golden station, as if to remind him just what a beauty he was riding, and what precious cargo he was carrying. With a gentle nudge, he steered into Sugar Rush's outlet and wormed through the tunnel of wires, yet again. Just as he came to the edge of the rainbow road, where it would dip, he gently slowed the bike and eased his position, which cued Tessa to do so as well. He smiled a gentle smile back to her, over his shoulder.

"Will your parents be okay with me riding up to the castle?" Zane asked tenderly, "I just don't want them to think I'm an intruder."

"I doubt it," Tessa furrowed her eyebrows gently and rested her hands on Zane's hips, "I'm sure they're all asleep by now."

"Don't forget, time stopped when we were in the Flip Side," Zane reminded gently; Tessa cocked an eyebrow and gently looked down in contemplation.

"Oh yeah," Tessa breathed, "I'm sure it'll be fine. If anything, they'll see my name on the grid, coming closer to the castle. So it should be okay."

"Okay," Zane assured kindly with a nod.

Zane gently leaned down again and gripped his handles, though he waited to feel Tessa's arms around him before he picked up speed on his bike. He raised his eyebrows with a wide smile as the bike downshifted to compensate for the sudden dip in the road, though it carried them down the hill quickly anyhow. Tessa exhaled a small laugh at the sudden roller coaster, as did Zane, though he skillfully steered and followed the road, as if he had been doing this his whole life. Tessa scrunched her shoulders and rested her chin on Zane's shoulder; they zipped her familiar and, the sweet air filled their lungs with welcoming, cool spring air. She gently peered around; she furrowed her eyebrows lightly and felt as if everything was brand new, coated in a new gloss of shininess. It were as if everything in Arcade knew Tessa had come of age, and was now fit to be a proper heir. Tessa's eyes scanned her own land, as if every single speck of sugar proudly bowed as the two rocketed by. Her hair whipped about in the cool air she had missed. She beamed a gentle smile and returned her warm position in Zane's back. She idly glanced at him; she wondered just how he felt about her being a Queen to be. She furrowed her eyebrows and wondered when all of these topics would surface. Though, for now, she figured she'd sit back and enjoy the ride.

Tessa felt a sense of urgency overcome her code, in a strange, adrenaline rush sort of way. She furrowed her eyebrows and wondered just where all this anxious energy had suddenly come from. Zane gently approached the castle; they had been on the road to her home for a few minutes now. Just as Zane slowed the bike to the front entrance of her majestic home, Tessa suddenly felt a bizarre energy come over herself. She largely furrowed her eyebrows and sat up, though just as she was about to shake the thought, a sudden, piercing zip of hot, purple code zipped about and stunned the two. Tessa flinched and held up her hand out of instinct. As if something had overtaken her body, she quickly jumped off of Zane's stopped bike and felt a strange energy overtake her being. She shut her eyes tight and, with a simple swipe of her hands, her palms became riddled with her hot purple code. As if she had been trained to do this, she immediately enveloped her, Zane and his light bike in a force field of her purple code; her bright circuitry splayed in a dome over the two in a protective manner. She held her palms out and to her sides, as if to aggressively dare, whatever had threatened them, to try it.

She death glared the front of her castle in a fit of sudden rage, though she raised her eyebrows in sudden surprise and dropped the force field. It zipped about in confusion and largely dwindled away with a sharp crack. Tessa gazed back in the face of her four superiors. She felt absolutely lost in the split second that she gazed back at her mom, dad, aunt and uncle. She finally let a curious smile sprawl her face, though her inner circuits wigged about in confusion as to what had just happened, as if it wanted to desperately try it again.

"User almighty," Vanellope hissed as she put her hand on her chest; everyone relaxed, "It's just Tessa."

"Who did you think it was!" Tessa bellowed with a widely annoyed smile.

"I can name someone," Rancis muttered as he eased his two swords.

"That was the most excitement we've had all year," Ralph grumbled as he eagerly glanced at Rancis; they nodded at each other in understanding.

"I don't want to talk about it," Rancis complained in a whiny, quiet tone as he sheathed his swords.

"Tessa, how did you do that?" Taffyta wondered loudly as she dropped her hands to her side, and the strange weapon she was holding.

"I-I... I don't even know," Tessa wondered lightly as she looked down at her palms, "I just had an adrenaline rush."

"Glitch force field," Vanellope smiled and proud smile to her daughter, "I was worried you'd struggle with that one, but... Looks like teaching you THAT will be a breeze!"

"I did it out of fear," Tessa giggled, "I don't know how to do it on my own though."

"It's still a start," Ralph said gently with an equally proud smile.

"Wow," Vanellope exhaled through a gentle sigh as Zane finally came into everyone's perspective.

He quickly got off of his light cycle and turned it off as the Queen approached him. He began to feel a sense of terrified nervousness overcome him, as if he had just been reminded exactly who Tessa's parents were, as well as their right hand leads; four people with a lot of power in the arcade. Zane nervously exhaled a small cough into his fist, in a bashful way, and glanced down at his bike. He kindly smiled at Vanellope and held his hands over his center in a polite way. Tessa crossed her arms lightly and curiously beamed at the endearing situation.

"Zane, is it?" Vanellope said to Zane with a gentle smile; she was approachable enough, though Zane continued to shake in his shoes.

"Yes," Zane said gently as he glanced at his bike, yet again; he could sense Vanellope's eagerness.

"Where in Arcade did you get a light cycle?" Vanellope hissed as her gentle eyes pierced his; Zane felt a startled chill go up his spine, at just how much her youth resembled Tessa's.

"I-I found it, it was abandoned," Zane replied gently, he tried his hardest not to breathe wrong, "It was in EZ Living's outlet."

"Go for a joy ride after the dance?" Rancis asked kindly, though his voice was eagerly laced with protectiveness towards his young niece, whom of which he sacrificed his whole life for. He furrowed his eyebrows gently and felt as if he'd do anything to make sure all of Sugar Rush's younglings were safe from harm. Tessa gently furrowed her eyebrows at her uncle and felt a pang of mild annoyance come over her; she figured it would be her father who would be acting this aggressive and protective, though he was as cool as a cucumber.

"U-Uh," Zane choked and nervously glanced at Tessa, "N-No, I just was showing it to her. I figured I'd give her a ride home."

"Ease up," Ralph said to Rancis with a gentle nudge; he knew alienating Tessa was not wise, "How fast does it go?"

"I-I haven't calculated it," Zane braved; he figured that was trick question- number one.

"I'll bet the speed of light," Vanellope hissed with a wide smile as she delicately touched the top housing of the front wheel; it was still smoldering hot from being used, "It's beautiful! You've fixed it up, I see."

"Yeah," Zane smiled towards Tessa's mother, curiously, "How did you know?"

"Oh," Vanellope lightly waved her hand, "I've had my fair share of light cycle runs, once upon a time. I know how beat up these things can get."

"Too true," Zane breathed with a gentle smile, he felt confident enough to slip his hands into his pockets, though he began to feel nervous again as Tessa grew closer to him, as if she was his one way ticket to sweat-ville and jumbled-words town.

"Dammit," Taffyta suddenly exhaled as she gestured out to what she had in her hand, "When Rancis said there was something dangerous coming towards the castle, and everyone jumped up, I meant to grab my dagger, and I ended up grabbing this stupid potato masher..."

"Thing could do some damage, though," Ralph said gently as he pointed to the wiggled prongs; Taffyta shot him a death glare.

"Did you guys have fun at the dance?" Vanellope inquired lightly as she glanced at her bashful daughter; she knew she shouldn't prod too much.

"Yeah," Tessa said meekly with a gentle smile. She looked down to the ground for a moment before her and Zane caught eyes in a string of bashful contentment.

"Alright, c'mon, shows over," Ralph mumbled as he began to shoo everyone back inside, though he had to grip Rancis's shoulder to get him to follow suit.

"You guys didn't see my name approaching the castle?" Tessa wondered as Vanellope glanced over her shoulder.

"No," Vanellope giggled and motioned towards Zane's light bike, "The power behind that bike clouded pretty much anything. All that was seen on the map was 'outsider'"

"Weird," Tessa wrinkled her nose as her and Zane caught eyes curiously.

"Oh well," Vanellope gently said as they filed into the castle and away from Tessa and Zane, "Thank you for bringing her home safely, Zane."

"I-I would do nothing less," Zane stated calmly, though he could feel his hands shake a little; he raised his eyebrows in delicate surprise as Vanellope shot him a daring smile, as if to assure him that his answer was the right and only one.

As the four filed into the castle and shut the large, creaking door behind them, Tessa and Zane both let out our sighs at the same time. They beamed at each other and heaved a few chuckles at the irony. Tessa tucked her hair behind her ear and rolled her eyes lightly.

"So, uh, yeah," Tessa gestured towards the castle in an annoyed manner, "Award for crazy family goes tooo!"

"Tessa Schweetz," Zane laughed kindly, he shook his head as if to convey playful intentions, "What a show. That was awesome. How did you do that?"

"I don't really know," Tessa giggled as she looked up to her starry sky; it kindly welcomed her home, "I just... The only thing I was worried about was our safety."

Zane gave her a gentle smile before his eyes gently trailed to the tiled, sugary entrance below them. He finally averted his piercing eyes back to hers and gave her a loving smile.

"I'm positive you could've fought off my aunt Taffyta, though," Tessa wrinkled her nose, "I'm sure a potato masher is no threat to you."

"Oh but what it makes is a threat to my weight, I'll tell you that," Zane breathed as his eyes bulged; Tessa nudged him gently.

Tessa and Zane held eye contact a few times, for what seemed to be centuries, though Tessa was quickly reminded that their strings of honey glazed glances were relatively short. She heaved a gentle breath and looked down. She twiddled her fingers a little and glanced about her wrists. She finally furrowed her eyebrows in an inquisitive way and let her hazel eyes pierce Zane's, yet again. She nearly flinched as her eyes caught with his electric gaze, as if his gaze hadn't left her once.

"Thank you, Zane," Tessa breathed gently, "For everything... I-I had, so much fun tonight. I was so worried tonight was going to be a disaster."

"I gotch'your back," Zane eased innocently, his demeanor was calm, though Tessa was certain beneath his gentle spirit was a brooding, playful, naive demon. Tessa felt her stomach delightfully wring at the thought; she side eyed him.

"Got any more sly tricks up your sleeve? Next time something doesn't go your way, are you just going to wait until I fall into your trap?" Tessa wondered playfully.

"Worked this time, didn't it?" Zane lightly shrugged his barely muscular shoulders. Tessa raised her eyebrows in light surprise and felt her face get hot. She crossed her arms and looked at him down her nose.

"Touché," Tessa admitted gently with a sly smile.

"All jokes aside," Zane chuckled as he tenderly reached out and held her hand in his, "I had a wonderful time, as well. You're a great dancer."

"Guess that's not the only thing I'm good at," Tessa teased as she cocked an eyebrow just barely; she felt her heart jolt at the stunned expression that crawled all over Zane's face. Tessa smiled with pride, gently, and knew the games had just begun.

"I'll find your weakness sooner or later," Zane dared as softly as he could, his bright eyes held onto hers with tense inquisition, though he skillfully danced around the subject and gave her a casual side eye, "Though, if you don't visit me after your first day, tomorrow, I will have to question our current standing."

"Dead Zed is my first stop, tomorrow, trust me," Tessa heaved a gentle laugh and squeezed his hand.

"I can't wait to hear all about it," Zane smiled softly as his innocent demeanor sunk back to the forefront of his skin, though it was obvious to Tessa that it was lightly forced.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," Tessa said tenderly, Zane happily nodded.

"You'll do great," Zane eased.

As if Tessa was fed up with waiting, she finally felt brave. Slowly, she filled their gap and stepped into his warm bubble. She gently slid her arms around Zane's neck and initiated a tight, warm hug. She felt a wide smile sprawl her face as Zane gripped her quickly in return, as if he gained bravery in the act of Tessa's success. She leaned into his chest and sat still in his strong arms. She furrowed her eyebrows lightly and wondered just how she could have gone without these hugs for so long. As if enveloped in a warm cloud, she lulled her eyes closed and wondered just how long the universe would allow them to stay in this cuddle. She sunk into him and was floored to feel him keep her to him, as if neither of them wanted to part ways. Tessa felt herself relax a little. She wondered if she was getting ahead of herself, though she shook her thoughts. She knew if Zane was uncomfortable, he would have done something about it by now; she knew how particular he was.

"Goodnight, Tess," Zane breathed gently to her in a mumble of a whisper as he finally backed his head away; he warmly dipped back down to plant a confident kiss on her cheek, by her jaw.

With that, they tenderly released each other; Zane took a few steps backwards and shrugged his hands into the pockets of his pants. He kept his dazed eyes on hers for a few moments before he finally turned heel and head towards his parked bike. Tessa beamed a girly smile through biting her bottom lip. She crossed her arms tight over herself in a fit of excitement and watched his figure stroll towards his bike.

"Drive safe," Tessa called softly as Zane mounted his bike.

He gazed at her with a wide smile, though he subtly winked at her as he turned on his grumbling bike. With one last teasing stare, he finally revved the bike into motion and pulled away from the castle. As he wound down the road, he picked up speed, so to be polite towards any sleeping people in the castle. Tessa tucked her fists underneath her chin and finally let out a loud, satisfied sigh. She let her eyes gaze down upon her kingdom; it glowed from Sugar Rush's confident, proud full moon. She smiled a wide smile and watched Zane's glowing bike vanish into the night; she always wondered what luck felt like.