A/N: Hey all!... You guys still there? xD

Just wanted to let my Arizonian fans know, I WILL be at Phoenix Comicon FanFest this weekend, at the University Of Phoenix Stadium! If any of you guys so happen to be there, I will be in street clothes (I will be wearing a Minecraft shirt) TODAY ( December 5th ) as well as TOMORROW ( December 6th ) - we will be cosplaying Wreck It Ralph on the 6th, me as Vanellope, my best friend Michaela as Taffyta, and my boyfriend Cory as Ralph. So if you will be at FanFest, keep on the lookout for us, and come say hi! DON'T BE SHY I hate when that happens, I feel so bad! PLEEEAASE come say hi! I don't want to get all those messages and notes, after the con, stating you SAW me, but were too shy to approach me! I GIVE HUGS PLZ I DON'T usually BITE!

ALSO...

Next chapter will be the turning point for the rating change, from T to M ! Hope you guys are readyyyy ;D

*Chapter 133*

With hard, solid footsteps, Tessa pushed down the long, narrow hallway that lead to where she believed the elevators would be. After about a minute of long walking, she furrowed her eyebrows and whirled around in hard confusion. All the doors looked the same, though she was certain she would have run into the elevator by now. She felt her heart drop with almost excited uncertainty, though her careful footwork pushed down the nearly silent hall. She finally found a small alcove, in the hallway, and was surprised to peer down another hallway, though this one wasn't lined with rooms. She squinted and was delighted to see a single door hanging at the end. Though it looked ominous, it didn't look as if it were off limits. She bit her tongue and moseyed down the hallway, in which was illuminated by dimming sunshine. The door had one single, long window on it, along with a sign that read 'balcony'.

With a tender shove, she pushed into said doorway and flinched. The hot, whipping Californian air hit her with full force, though she smiled a little as her hair flicked about with the wind. She finally squinted and got a good look around. As if it were a secret get away, for only the people on said floor, she pushed into a quiet sitting area. Crowned with a few, gentle green umbrellas, the large balcony hugged a major portion of the side of the building, though it had a good view of the city below. Her feet lead her to the high railing, of the side of the building. Her gentle hands gripped the worn metal, though she curiously peered down at her tiny fingers. She knew she would only be here for a short period of time, on Earth, though she finally allowed herself to at least try to get used to this temporary body of hers.

Her eyes scanned the horizon below. The gorgeous sunset was beginning to show the horizon's true colors through the haze of the city smog. She wrinkled her nose and was almost delightfully taken aback by the rugged realness of the world, as if it's imperfections were something you couldn't possibly program into a perfect video game. She smiled and finally relaxed, though what she'd give to take to Lickity's wings and sail above this odd city life. She furrowed her eyebrows in billowing sorrow and wished, so badly, that she had said a proper goodbye to her best friend and companion. The last she saw Lickity, it was through her breath of fire. Angered snarling Tessa knew was only meant out of pure love. She knew to give Lickity a massive hug, as soon as she got home; she knew Lickity deserved nothing less.

As much as she wanted to keep telling herself that she was eternally and forevermore angered towards Zed, she could feel her stubborn front begin to melt away. She so desperately tried to hold onto it, though the look of his desperate, innocent grey eyes still burned into the back of her mind. She shook her head and fought her inner demons. She had to wonder if what he had preached held value higher than what either of them anticipated. As much as she thought she had coding mapped to a T, she finally felt stumped by the one that brought her to this place. The fact that emotion and free will couldn't be controlled, let alone programmed... She began to grow flustered. She knew he was right, though she knew she wasn't ready to throw in the towel just yet. She could feel her skin tense, as if it was hot to the touch, like trying to remember where her old circuits laid was becoming frustrating to her nervous system.

She exhaled a sharp groan of an exhale, though she welcomed the Earth's warm gust of a breeze straight into her existence. She finally heaved a giggle and tried to collect her hair, that wisped around. She wrinkled her nose up at the sky, as if she was almost positive there was, somehow, somewhere, a secretive code room watching over her, telling her to knock off the stubbornness. She knew it was getting her nowhere. She knew she'd have to ease up and forgive Zed of this mess, no matter what. As much as she wanted to keep believing that Zed caused this mess deliberately, she had to be convinced this was the biggest misunderstanding of their little lives. She shook her head and relaxed her arms on the railing, she figured if Zed truly had been wiped clean, his love for her and all, he wouldn't be out on this excursion with her, trying to desprately right his wrongs.

She winced and nervously thought back to her parents. She knew her and Zed both played an equal part in Sugar Rush's downfall, though she was certain she'd be groveling the King and Queen's feet for a long time to come. She was aware she'd have a lot of trust to gain back. She almost was alright with the fact that the throne would be taken away from her; anything to have Sugar Rush back to normality. She gazed out to the gorgeous Californian land with grateful, yet humbled eyes. If there were any experience to bring a gamer to their knees, it was being transformed into a human, where being totally powerless was the norm. With how much she wanted to clear the smog, own the land and rearrange everything to her liking, like how she could with Sugar Rush's code room, she knew it was totally and physically impossible in this world. As much as that thought frustrated her to her core, there was something about it that was freeing; the weight was off of her, for the night. She finally decided to relish in it, as opposed to the inner pouting she had been doing.

After a long while of allowing her mind delve into topics, and letting her thoughts move in and out of wherever they pleased, she finally dared to push to that one pesky topic that always hung in the back of her mind. She felt her face get hot with the one, solid fact that Zed had stated, earlier in the day; the mere thought of no coding, no interior differences, between the two, stood in their way. She scrunched her face in growing nervousness and had to somehow wonder if a small portion, of why Zed dragged her along, was because he knew just how fragile their code swapping situation was, and cheating the system was what he did best. She glowered to the land, though her heart jumped at the mere idea she finally allowed to wiggle into her brain, for the first time since Sugar Rush's pending issue. She had tried so desperately to shove away selfish needs, especially one of which wasn't productive for anyone but her and Zed.

With a soft, shaky exhale and raised eyebrows, she allowed herself to totally fall vulnerable to the idea; she knew their time was bound to come, sooner or later, though she was almost certain it would remain in the Arcade, be partially awkward, and terrifyingly amazing, all in one go. She squinted, in her thoughts, and had to wonder if leaving Earth and going back to Arcade life, without cheating the system, would somehow be the biggest mistake of their lives. She scoffed a laugh and finally shooed away her thoughts. She knew she had to focus on the task at hand, and discussing how to save Sugar Rush, with Zed, was far more important in these moments than a night of overflowing, overanalyzed passion. She finally rolled her eyes, smiled to herself, and set the idea on the back burner, yet again, though she turned heel and finally began to push towards the entrance back into the building.

With a pep in her step, she felt refreshed, once and for all. She smiled down to her feet as she pushed into the air conditioned building. Her hair whipped around for the last time as the large door finally closed her in. She snapped her fingers a few times, to a beat in her head, and began running over every detail she wanted to talk over with Zed. She knew, though, first thing's first; all she wanted to do was scoop him into the biggest hug and, once and for all, set all their problems on the ground and forgive each other. She knew it was about time, and from the worried look on Zed's face, as she left their room two hours prior, she was fully aware that he was more than prepared to finally put their arguing to rest, for good.

She bit her bottom lip and felt her heart jump as she swiped the key card into their hotel room slot. The door chimed a kind, positive noise and unbolted. She pushed into the room with ease and, with a renewed heart, and alone time she was more than thankful Zed had allowed her, she called his name. Her voice was soft and finally forgiving, though she furrowed her eyebrows and stepped harder into the room, once she didn't hear a reply. She called his name again, though this time in question. Before she could begin to let her skin fall off in panic, she winced and heard the hard patter of shower water running. She eased closer to the closed bathroom door and heard soft footsteps and movement, inside the bathroom. She heaved a thankful sigh and moved away from the door, so to give Zed his privacy.

Tessa melted into the room. The far nightstand light was on, which illuminated the room in the gentlest of a glow. The curtains were drawn shut, for the night, the bed was curiously unmade and a slight mess. She smiled and had to figure she was gone for a lot longer than she expected. It seemed, to her, that Zed had napped while she was gone and only just recently got up to shower. With a simple sigh, she reached for their pack, opened it, and grabbed her change of clothes; a comfortable, lazy shirt and pants. She figured the two wouldn't be leaving, for the night.

Just as she was about to change, she eagerly peered to the tightly closed bathroom door, across the room, and bit her lip in contemplation. She quickly laid out her clean clothes, appropriately, and began to undress as fast as she possibly could. She folded her jeans, shirt and undergarments neatly, and as quickly as she could continue to move, she shoved them into Zed's pack. She finally stood and beamed down to her clean clothes, though just as she reached her small, delicate hands for her fresh undergarments, to begin dressing, she felt her skin practically unglue from her skeleton as the bathroom door suddenly flung open. With a hard, loud gasp, and expert reflexes, Tessa grappled for the loose, fluffy downs and shoved them to the entirety of her front and center. Zed furrowed his eyebrows in hard surprise, though once he realized just what he stepped in on, he largely flung his arm out, ducked his head, shut his eyes and took a terrified step backwards.

"Whoa! I-I...! I-I uh!" Zed barked as he shut his eyes as tight as he possibly could and held his hands over his face. He scoffed a hard, apologetic noise and stood poised in the doorway of the bathroom. He was only draped in a white towel, tied around his waist, "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't know you came back!"

Tessa finally released a nervous giggle from her rib cage, though she gripped the blanket tight to her bare front, so to cover everything. Zed continued to rush on in a slew of apologetic babbling with his hands tightly slapped over his face.

"Zed," Tessa finally, shakily scoffed through a giggle that just barely escaped her figure, once more.

Her skin still held onto scared goosebumps, though, for some odd reason, every single concluding thought, she had to herself on the balcony, was chaotically set free to the wind. The way Zed waved his arm around, covered his eyes in a strict posture of politeness and began to warily step closer to the bed cued to Tessa that he truly was the gentleman she had fallen in love with; though, in this situation, she almost wished he'd just drop it already.

"I-I was... I was just coming out to get my clothes, I left them on the bed," Zed uttered nervously as he continued to step closer to the bed, though his hand was largely covering his eyes. He felt his way over to the bed, with a shaking, outstretched arm, "Am... Am I close? I-I didn't mean to... Walk in on you, like this. I-I just-!"

"Zed!" Tessa pleaded with a louder, bashful giggle.

With a tense, scared posture, he just barely peeked his eyes from his fingers, though once he noticed Tessa was covering herself, he slumped his shoulders and relaxed his demeanor. He opened his mouth to question, though through a furrowed look, and expert self control, he kept his eyes glued to Tessa's. He immediately was slapped with the purest form of raw confusion. The way her eyes held to his, the small, bashful smile across her face, though she almost looked as if she were on the verge of telling him not to look. He winced, just barely, and felt his muscles tense into the strict action he was previously going to fall into, the motion of only reaching for his clothes and retreating back into the bathroom, though the air around them suddenly grew very tense. He froze, once and for all, and finally allowed his eyes to warily travel.

He glanced down Tessa's body, and though nothing of dire importance was showing, it was still clear that she was largely trying to hide her completely bare body with the fluffy downs that pushed to her soft skin. Her side, as well as her bare hip, peeked from the droopy blanket, though her hands were firmly gripped to the blanket, as if she wasn't genuinely trying to tease him. He knew he had totally and accidentally walked out on her, though he furrowed his eyebrows and had to wonder if the coincidence was delightfully timed, a scheming routine directed by the universe. He opened his mouth to attempt to question just what was going on, once again, though nothing came out but a small, faltered sigh.

Through a near delightfully terrified expression, he allowed his soul to sink into the room once and for all, and gather with his rushing thoughts. With a nervous swallow and trembling hands, of which he desperately tried to hide, he gingerly changed the course of action in his mind, from strictly stepping back to the bathroom, to daring to approach the lioness's den, once more. Whether she'd slaughter him, or welcome him into her quivering heart, he figured now was the time to find out.