A/N: Hey guys, sorry for being so MIA. I have the flu, and am currently working and sleeping, in order to feel better. I can't miss work cause I need to save my PTO and such for comicon next year, as well as the holidays and such Dx So yeah, I'm currently about 40 chapters ahead of you guys, so I'm going to poop out these chapters for the next few days while I attempt to get better. I have every single one of your guys' drawing requests, it should be up within the next week or two! Thanks for everything you guys!
*Chapter 102*
Tessa's eyes remained to get lost in her glorious, Sugar Rush night sky. The stars twinkled proud and true, through dark, sugary sweet cotton candy clouds and loomed high above. The warm, nighttime summer breeze rippled through the long strands of hair on the right side of her head; she still thought it weird that one side of her scalp received more of a draft than the other. Through a soft, croaky sigh, she slumped farther into the railing her arms were rested on. Her mind raced through one topic, and one topic only. It had been a few days since her mother and father proposed her step up, in the kingdom, though she knew she was more worried about something more grand than that. Her eyes melted into the gradients of colors all across her land, her still body hung in the empty, dark sky gazebo, though the moonlight glinted through the sky light, in which illuminated the dust particles and cherry blossom petals and silently made their way through the motions.
"How did I know I'd find you out here?" Taffyta said, as softly as she could, so not to startle her young niece, though Tessa largely whirled around and bulged her eyes in growing nervousness, as if she had been caught committing a crime. Taffyta flinched and held up her hand, though to Tessa's surprise, she was holding her latest volleyball trophy in her other hand, "Whoa, User, didn't mean to, uh... I can come back?"
"No, no it's okay," Tessa heaved through a hard sigh as she finally rubbed her forehead in minor agony, "I'm just thinking, is all."
"Got a heavy load? You usually can hear me comin' from a mile away," Taffyta cocked an eyebrow, softly set down the trophy on the bench, and neared Tessa.
Taffyta crossed her arms over her comfortable, dark pink tank top and tucked some of her choppy white hair behind her ears. She slumped her shoulders softly and watched as Tessa began to meticulously run her nervous fingers through her long hair, and drape it down the right side of her body. She assessed everything she could about the next, young ruler; how she had matured, simply in just her gestures and the way she held herself. She was beautiful, as if she was just a hidden gem plucked from a pile of coal, placed into their humble, yet prestigious situation, being royalty. Taffyta softened her demeanor, hopefully to let it eke onto her anxious niece and calm her circuits. A notion she knew to hone over time. She finally exhaled a small chuckle and shook her head.
"Tessy," Taffyta eased quietly. She knew really only her father and uncle Felix could get away alive with calling Tessa said nickname, though she couldn't help herself. As much as everyone tried to hold onto small, baby Tessa, they knew she was grown, and making choices for herself. Taffyta looked Tessa over, as if to gain more information about her mental state, though she continued, "You nervous?"
"Yeah," Tessa finally uttered, though she kept her worried gaze out to the kingdom. Her arms were nervously crossed over her comfortable black t-shirt.
"About running the kingdom?" Taffyta finally attempted to rip off the band-aid, though to her dismay, Tessa slumped her shoulders and shot her aunt an incredulous, annoyed smirk. Taffyta raised her eyebrows and stumbled on a few, incoherent words before she finally chuckled, "Uh, about code swapping."
Tessa furrowed her eyebrows harder and felt her face get hot, though her incredulous smirk only deepened; Taffyta choked a few more notions.
"Prom? Being alone with Zed," Taffyta rattled off, though she finally gestured her hands in hard annoyance, "Just spit it out, I'm not going to sit here and guess all night!"
"It's fine, auntie Taff," Tessa breathed through a small giggle as she finally returned her gaze out to her kingdom, though Taffyta side-eyed her niece.
"Well, whatever it is, I hope you feel better by Friday," Taffyta eased, though she flinched as Tessa brought her sharp attention back around.
"Friday?" Tessa repeated in curious dread, though Taffyta gave her a confused look.
"Yeah, we decided to head to Westwind on Friday, after game day, so you and Zed can have Friday night and most of Saturday," Taffyta explained, though Tessa finally faced her whole self towards her aunt and took a curious step closer.
"But, prom is on Friday," Tessa wondered in growing, girly glee, though she held true to a disgruntled look. She finally pierced her dominant gaze to her aunt and gave her the sharpest side-eye, "You jerks did this on purpose, didn't you."
"Ey, I've never been to prom," Taffyta laughed and held her hands up, defensively, "But I DO know prom night is usually considered 'the' best night of the year... Am I right?"
"No," Tessa snapped with a curl of a bashful smile, "Because nothing's going to happen between Zed and I."
"What?" Taffyta slumped her shoulders in dire annoyance, as if waiting on the two to finally figure out their circuits was making everyone anxious, "Whynot!"
"Are you really upset over the fact that I won't be getting some, on prom night?" Tessa wrinkled her nose and crossed her arms, as if to turn this embarrassing situation on her aunt; Taffyta scoffed.
"It's driving us all mad," Taffyta finally blurted, which made Tessa's surprised expression slope to dull annoyance, "It's just a sticky situation that, well, we all want you to come out of alive, y'know? Sort of like waiting to see the final racing roster. Waiting to see who won the grand prix is legitimate torture."
"So, you guys just want us to get it over with so we all can stop worrying?" Tessa wondered, Taffyta gestured towards her niece in relief.
"Yes," She sighed, "It's... It's sort of hard seeing you and Zed waltz off, together, and all of us have to sit back and wonder if that's the last time we're going to see you... Last thing we want is a distraught Dead Zed on our doorstep, telling us that... Well... You two tried to complete the deed, but it went wrong, and... Now you're gone."
Tessa relaxed her defensive, annoyed stance and slumped her shoulders. She gave her aunt a look of humbled, sorrowful surprise and felt as if her heart was sinking harder and harder. She finally breathed a slow breath, through her nose, and looked down to hers and her aunt's bare feet, as well as the cool tiles underneath. She furrowed her eyebrows and scanned the ground, as if it might have answers, though she finally looked back to her aunt in light anguish and shook her head softly.
"I'm so sorry we're putting you guys through this," Tessa eased, "It's not our intention... Believe me, we're wanting to get it over with, too."
"Well, then, why don't you?" Taffyta wondered nervously, "It's clear there's no separating you two... Our only options are to either force you guys apart, or... Force you guys closer together!"
"I know," Tessa finally let her teeth show through a kind smile, "We're trying to get rid of the additive, in Zed's brain coding, before we do anything farther... So that way, it's a clean transfer of information. We don't want anything, benign or not, to spread to Sugar Rush."
"Putting the kingdom first," Taffyta eyed her niece in pride, though in kind knowing, "You really DO want to be Queen, don't you."
"I'd do anything for the safety of my home, aunt Taff," Tessa said deeply, through a hard sigh, as she looked back towards her kingdom, "Even if it means putting selfish desires on the back burner."
"It's not technically selfish, Tess," Taffyta eased as she took a step or two closer to her, though she flinched once Tessa's demeanor slumped and she whirled her growing attention to her aunt.
"What would you do, if you were a faux-code and Uncle Rancis was a user-made gamer?" Tessa rushed, "How would you deal with the tension?"
"Ohh, Zed's already teasing you about it?" Taffyta beamed a curious smile.
"Is he!" Tessa barked as she gave her aunt an angry look, "I almost don't want said moment to even come! I'll probably destroy something!"
Taffyta held her stomach and nearly crippled to the ground in laughter.
"This isn't funny!" Tessa urged in hard annoyance, though a small giggle escaped her figure.
"That just reminds me of one time," Taffyta waved her hand as she continued to loudly laugh, she tried her hardest to catch her breath, "R-Ralph destroyed his bed once."
"What!" Tessa urged as she gave her aunt a surprised glare, she largely slapped her palms to the sides of her own head, near her ears, "Eh-hey-WHOA I don't want to know about this!"
"He was so excited, he destroyed the bed!" Taffyta howled with laughter, "And we all had to clean it up!"
"If you say that was the night I was conceived, I will throw myself off of this wall, I'm serious," Tessa muttered as she gestured to the drop far below the two; Taffyta continued to laugh.
"No, no, it wasn't," Taffyta wiped her eye and tried to contain herself, "Th-though, that was one of the nights before their wedding. They were one swap away from making, well... You! They didn't want children out of wedlock, sooo..."
"So mom crushed all of dad's hopes and dreams and, in return, he destroyed the bed," Tessa rushed in annoyance, "That was a lovely bed-time story, aunt Taff. Please tell it again."
"I'm sorry," Taffyta continued to burst out in hard laughter.
"Is that why I was conceived on their honeymoon?!" Tessa shrieked as realization hit her, she gaped and furrowed her eyebrows at her aunt, though Taffyta was now beyond lost in laughter. Tessa swat at her aunt and finally took a handful of steps away from her, "For User's sakes, are we all a bunch of animals or something? Who programmed this bullshit into us!"
"Vanellope started it," Taffyta giggled as she stepped to keep up with her niece, though Tessa rolled her eyes.
"Great, my own mother," Tessa muttered, "Now I know where I get it from."
"Oh you'll be FINE," Taffyta finally urged as she grabbed Tessa's shoulders and made her look at her in the eyes, "Listen to me. Everything will be just fine. You two are obviously aware that this is detrimental, and are doing everything you can to be wise about this. That's all we ask for."
"I'm surprised dad's not chasing Zed out of Game Central Station, telling him to keep away from me," Tessa said through a small, bashful giggle as her aunt tried her hardest to keep eye contact.
"Believe me, we all would be, if Zed weren't such a nice guy," Taffyta muttered, "We're sort of conflicted here. He's a great guy, knows everything about code rooms, treats you nicely. If none of those lined up, you bet your ass we'd be down there, weapons out."
"Potato mashers and all?" Tessa quipped with a knowing smirk towards her aunt, though Taffyta held up her finger in hard annoyance.
"That only happened ONCE," Taffyta urged.
"I'm sure that could do some damage," Tessa giggled as she scrunched her shoulders, in loo of her aunt's feelings, though Taffyta released her grip from Tessa's shoulders and finally peered over her shoulder, to her lonely volleyball trophy.
Tessa furrowed her eyebrows softly and let her demeanor sink to Taffyta's, which suddenly slumped to curious wait. She glanced at the volleyball trophy, in growing curiosity, and lightly began to twiddle her fingers in front of her center. Taffyta finally exhaled a raspy sigh and braved the few steps to her trophy. She finally came back to Tessa and began shining the front of the trophy with her shirt. Tessa smiled curiously and watched her aunt's hands gingerly work.
"You still haven't found a place for it, yet?" Tessa kindly wondered, though Taffyta heaved yet another sigh and held it out before her, and angled it in such a way, as if to let the moonlight find any smudges or imperfections on the gorgeous gold surface.
"No, I haven't," Taffyta breathed as she finally peered at the trophy, as if to silently say one final goodbye to it. She lightly pierced her gaze to Tessa's curious one and gave her a humbled smile, "Because it's not mine."
"Not yours?" Tessa frowned, "But... We wont the tournament, it's y-"
"Yours," Taffyta choked quietly, as if it was hard to get out. She finally scoffed another breath and shook her head, though she gingerly moved the trophy into Tessa's hands and released it once and for all, "You deserve it. You won us the game."
"Aunt Taff," Tessa scoffed with a thankful smile, "A-All I did was catch a starman that wasn't even meant for me."
"You've come so far, Tessy," Taffyta urged quietly, though much to Tessa's surprise, Taffyta's eyes began to lightly well with tears, "We're all so proud of you... Whether you set the court on fire, or not, you still earned it. You stepped up to the plate, when you probably didn't want to."
"It was fun," Tessa eased with a happy smile and a gentle shrug, though Tessa suddenly flinched as Taffyta largely pushed into Tessa's presence and slapped her arms around her neck.
Tessa exhaled a startled noise and jolted as Taffyta reeled her niece into a tight hug. Tessa raised her eyebrows in hard surprise before she finally relaxed and, as easily as she could, she set the trophy down and scooped her aunt into her loving arms. She breathed a small, knowing giggle and squeezed her arms around Taffyta's upper back, though she was surprised to feel Taffyta's tears trickle to the top of her left shoulder. Her curious smile droned to a soft, sorrowful frown, though she continued to hold Taffyta close.
"I-I remember holding you, when you were a baby... When Rancis was dead," Taffyta uttered into Tessa's shoulder, "You brought me so much comfort, through that hard week."
Tessa remained still and patiently let her aunt do just as she needed, though her notions only made Tessa hold her tighter. She frowned curiously into the top of Taffyta's shoulder and let her eyes lull closed in soft knowing.
"You were so little," Taffyta whimpered with a small laugh, "You fit right into the nook of my shoulder... You'd sit with me for so long, just making your silly noises and... Your hands were so big and adorable."
"Still big... Adorable? Not so much," Tessa joked, in hopes of easing the situation; she felt her heart jolt as Taffyta finally breathed a small laugh and slowly pulled away. Tessa gave her aunt an apologetic, though knowing beam and shook her head, "I'll never leave you guys... If somehow I don't make sure of it, I know Zed will..."
"He's a great guy, Tess," Taffyta mumbled as she wiped her eyes free of tears, "You don't come across people like that everyday."
"Everything will be fine," Tessa eased, she knew, even as princess, she held a higher stature over Taffyta, though she gripped Taffyta's upper arms and wondered if now was a good time to utilize it. She, once and for all, put a dominant air over the two and leaned over, just barely, to look her aunt straight in the eyes, "I vowed to protect this kingdom... I'll make sure nothing bad happens. To any of us. Including myself... Okay?"
"Okay," Taffyta nodded softly and accepted the switch up, once and for all. She slumped her shoulders, as if she was relieved she didn't have to be the strong one for once. Tessa smiled happily, into her aunt's eyes, and finally relaxed her posture.
"Come Saturday, you guys will be rolling your eyes, anyhow," Tessa eased, though Taffyta gave her a curious look.
"Why?" Taffyta finally smiled.
"Well, either Zed and I will have silver coding, orrr..." Tessa droned on and looked down, and to the side, "We'll both be still at square one."
"Catch 22, huh," Taffyta smiled wide and wrinkled her nose, "We'll all be annoyed, either way."