The Magical Bond Between Two Hearts

Chapter 19: A New Feeling Called Love

Lucy found herself looking curiously at a plate with a triangular piece of food she had never seen before. After a long while of rummaging around to find food, Ralph finally found some food to eat for the start of the day. And after that she had just stared at the plate as he was handing it to her.

"Well, are you going to take it?" he asked with a chuckle.

She did not say anything but finally took the plate gingerly in her hands.

"What is it?" Lucy asked as she looked at the plate with a confused expression.

"Um…that's a cherry pie. Something you eat. It's really good you know." Ralph explained and then took a bite of his own piece.

Lucy looked at it for another moment, then slowly took a small bite of the pie. She paused with the small bite still in her mouth. Her face then changed to a gleeful one as she took another bigger bite from her piece.

"It's so good!" she exclaimed and smiled.

"It's one of Mary's pies. They are really good." Ralph said smiling at her.

"Who's Mary?" Lucy asked before taking another bite of the pie.

"One of the Nicelanders of my game," he explained.

Lucy hesitated for a moment and blinked. "Wait…I'm not in your game now am I?"

Ralph nodded. "Yep, you are. I'm not sure how you got here yourself though."

Her eyes grew wide realizing the reality of the situations she was in. This is Ralph's game? Fix It Felix? How…I don't even remember much from last night!

"Hey, are you okay? You look like one of the ghosts that saw Pac Man eat a cherry in game." Ralph chuckled and patted her head.

Lucy nodded her head. "I-I'm fine. Just…shocked."

"That's alright. I'm sometimes shocked when I fall asleep in one place and wake up in another," Ralph said chuckling.

Lucy smiled back at him, though her mind wandered to something else. She could not stop thinking about what had happened. And she could tell that her friend was noticing this as well.

"What was your dream about, if it's alright to ask?" Ralph asked her hesitantly.

Lucy sighed, "It's…a little fuzzy in my head but, it wasn't like a dream either. I was standing outside somewhere, as a little kid. My hands were cupped up to the sky…and it was raining too. It was like I wasn't afraid of it, but that I loved it."

"I also heard a voice…but it wasn't anyone I recognized when I turned around. The person was bigger than me, but looked to be so warm and comforting. And…that's all I can remember."

Lucy looked down as if to say she was finished. It was so strange that everything was happening so fast around her: meeting Ralph, the shadows coming after her, her magic powers suddenly becoming stronger. She wondered when it would all end, when everything would calm down and go back to normal.

"Don't worry yourself about all this," she heard Ralph say and felt one of his hands grab hers. "I have an idea, though you'll have to trust me on this one."

"What's that?" she asked looking up at him a little in curiousness.

"Would…would it be alright if I showed you around the game before the arcade opens?" Ralph asked though she could see that he had turned red again.

She fidgeted a little though at the question. "I…don't know. What if it's not what I hoped it would look like…a-and I'm disappointed and…?"

"It's gonna be alright."

Lucy slowly looked up at his eyes, and couldn't help but stare at them for a minute. But she knew just by looking at him that he was telling her truthfully that it would be alright. Silently she nodded her head slowly.

Then Lucy noticed it again. The same warmth she felt earlier when they had held hands. She knew for certain it was a magic aura that she felt, but wasn't sure if she wanted to mention it to Ralph. But before she knew it he was actually leading her down a hallway to what looked like the front door. She suddenly got scared as he opened the door to the outside.

"W-Wait," she stuttered and somehow let go of his hand, standing there awkwardly.

What happened next made her heart race again.

Ralph turned back to her, smiling softly and holding out his hand to her again.

"Come on. It won't be so bad, I promise."

There was something about this moment that made Lucy realize how much of a friend he really was to her.

And maybe even more than that.

She felt her cheeks grow red as she slowly extended her hand and gently took his. Ralph's smile grew wider as they walked out the door, hand in hand.

Lucy had to shield her eyes as some of the light from outside came right at her. She squinted as she continued to follow Ralph with her hand still in his. They had stopped after another moment of slowly walking forward.

"Well, here it is. Fix It Felix."

She opened her eyes wide and was so amazed at what she saw. The whole world was a lot different, and blockier than any of the other worlds she had visited. This made her think of how Ralph was the same way, it was because he was from this game. And she remembered that this was a really old game too. The best part though was when she looked up. The sky was filled with blocky square stars that seemed to twinkle once in a while.

"T-This…is so amazing." Lucy whispered looking at the starry sky.

Her eyes kept wandering to the many different buildings they passed. She looked behind her to find that Ralph's house was different from the others by a red colored door that stood out. Lucy had to trot a little to keep up with Ralph, but she kept looking around nonetheless.

There was a moment where she thought she saw something off, but it quickly passed before her eyes before she could grasp what it was.

"We're here." Ralph's voice said making her turn back to him.

"Huh? Where?" Lucy asked a little confused.

"This is the apartment building Felix fixes, and I wreck," he explained pointing up to a very big building out of all the ones she had seen.

Lucy had to really look up to the top, but she was still awestruck at the size of the building.

"So…this is where Felix lives?"

"And the Nicelanders too. There was a time when I wanted to live in the penthouse at the top." Ralph explained with a sigh.

"But now you don't?" Lucy tilted her head at the wrecker.

"Nah, not since a year ago. Besides, the house I built is all I need," he said rubbing the back of his neck.

Lucy laughed softly, then frowned in thought. Should I ask him? Maybe…I could see if he knows about these feelings, and the warmth…

"Ralph! There you are!"

The voice made Lucy flinch and quickly hide behind Ralph. When she peaked from behind him, she sighed seeing it was only Felix.

"I was worried that you wouldn't be up at all. The arcade's about to open." Felix said then noticed Lucy from behind. "Well, Lucy. It's nice to see you again, what a surprise."

Lucy nodded, "It's good to see you Felix," she said giving him a smile.

She stayed quiet after that as she listened to Ralph and Felix talking and making sure they knew when to be in place when the arcade opens. When Felix had gone, Ralph turned to her and placed a hand on her head.

"Well, gotta go now. Just make sure to stay out of the way of the screen there okay?"

Lucy nodded with a smile, "Does that mean I get to watch?"

"I guess so," he chuckled and ruffled her hair playfully.

Lucy jumped a bit in glee, though tried to fix the messy hair that he made. As they both waved goodbye she smiled and felt her cheeks grow warm again. She then made sure to step back from the big screen that was across from the apartment. She found a nice spot to sit in the grass and watched with eager anticipation.

Though from the corner of her eye, she could have sworn that she saw something odd moving.

She flinched realizing that from the outside the arcade had just opened. And also that there were others that were sitting next to her, an orange creature with a few others that looked like a snake, a bomb, and one that looked like a small purple pig. She gasped recognizing them from their meetings in Game Central Station a long time ago.

"Q*Bert? Is that you?" she whispered not wanting to be heard.

The orange creature nodded and whispered a few words in his language.

"I didn't think you guys were here all this time. How did you…?"

Q*Bert looked at his companions and then back at Lucy, saying a few words in his language.

"Ralph offered you to stay here? That's…" she paused and smiled, "That's so sweet."

"I'M GONNA WRECK IT!"

The familiar voice of Ralph made her turn as she watched him climb the building and starting to wreck it. Her eyes were aglow in amazement as her smile grew wider. She suddenly felt her heart beat faster than she thought it would go. Then she saw Felix, hopping from one windowsill to another fixing the building, while Ralph tried to stop him with bricks. It was all very exciting.

For the first time she was so happy to be alive, to be here.

When the game had ended she clapped with glee. She watched a few more games before suddenly feeling rather tired. She didn't even notice that Q*Bert and his friends were participating at that moment before falling asleep in the grass.

0 - 0 - 0 - 0

"Lucy. Isn't it beautiful." Daisy asked as they were sitting on a hill watching the sun setting outside of the screen.

Lucy nodded as she smiled faintly. "It is."

Daisy shifted to turn to her friend. "Here, I have something for you."

"What is it?" Lucy turned to look at her curiously.

Daisy smiled and gently grabbed her hand. With her other hand she reached for the chain on her neck that had a ring attached to it and put it in Lucy's small palm.

"A very special ring. Whoever you give it to, is to someone that you care about the most. I want you to have it." Daisy smiled as she closed Lucy's hand around it.

"I…I can't take this from you, sis."

"I want you to have it. You're a very special girl Lucy. Don't forget about me, this place…"

Our home.

Lucy blinked as she awoke slowly. She carefully pushed herself up into a sitting position, looking around with sleepy eyes. From outside the game cabinet, there seemed to be no one there. But what made her fully awake was the sunset.

She stood up slowly and reached for the ring she had in her pocket. She took it and held it in her hands. A warm smile spread across her face as she watched the sun setting outside the closed arcade.

"It is always beautiful, isn't it sis?" she whispered clutching the ring to her chest.

She would normally hold back some tears, but this time she let all the tears fall. She knew that she had been through so much pain, and loneliness. But now…she felt so happy, and did not want this to fade or go away.

Lucy then felt a hand on her shoulder, though she kept watching the setting sun and continued to spill tears. She had also heard other footsteps coming towards her, but she never dared to look away. For a moment everything was peaceful and silent.

"What a beautiful sunset." Felix's voice said breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I agree." Ralph said as he softly patted Lucy's shoulder.

Lucy blinked and finally wiped away some of the tears in her eyes. Though her smile was still there.

"So you're the girl that Felix and Ralph were talking about?"

Lucy turned to find that there were a group of smaller people almost as tall as Felix, yet they were all looking at her expectantly.

"Y-Yeah. I-I am her. My name's Lucy," she replied nervously, "You must be the Nicelanders?"

"We are. My name's Gene," said the one with a black mustache and a nice suit.

"Hello." Lucy said sitting down to their level.

She was introduced to the whole crew as Lucy greeted each one and shook some of their hands. She met Mary who had made the pies that Lucy had tasted earlier. After she had greeted each of them she sighed and looked up at the sky. The stars had not moved at all, but still felt as if they were all brand new to her. She knew that Ralph was still here, and felt the courage to ask him.

"Ralph…there's something I want to ask you. I-If that's alright," she said standing up to look at him.

"Sure," he said smiling a bit.

This made Lucy feel a little nervous, but she took a breath to continue.

"W-Well, since this morning I've had…um, these new feelings."

He looked at her as if he was a bit confused. She sighed feeling a bit frustrated that she couldn't say what she intended to say.

"A-And these feelings are something that…I've never felt, and I think it has to do with this magic aura that I see."

"A…magic aura?" Ralph asked, his tone a bit confused.

"Yeah. It's…something that a person with magic powers can see. A-And, well…I found that…." Lucy paused suddenly feeling her face turn red again. Come on Lucy, you can do this! Just tell him!

She flinched when her thoughts were interrupted by a loud thump that sounding as if a group of people fell at once.

"Arren, get off! You're lying on my foot!" Eris's voice exclaimed as Lucy saw a group of familiar people on the ground by the exit to the game. She couldn't help but giggle at the sight.

"You're the one lying on my hand." Arren replied back with a smirk.

"You guys are a bit clumsy you know?" Vanellope's voice said from on top of the pile.

"Please guys, can't we just get out of this pile?" Archer's voice rang as he and Gen struggled to get out.

The only one who didn't seem to be on the pile was Calhoun, who was looking at them disapprovingly. Tobi was on her shoulder when he spotted Lucy and flew over to her.

"Tobi!" Lucy exclaimed as she giggled and hugged her friend. Another familiar friend flew to her as she realized it was Sophie. "Wow, looks like everyone's together huh?" she said smiling.

"What are you all doing here?" Ralph asked as he and Felix went over to help them.

"Well…Arren and I were going to check on Lucy. But she wasn't there, so we got worried something happened to her." Eris explained.

"Making her the mother of the year." Arren said jokingly. "But we were worried about her," he added after getting a glare from Eris.

"Vanellope and I were wondering the same thing, so we followed them here." Calhoun added in as well.

"And so were we!" Archer exclaimed getting up and brushing himself off.

Lucy could hear them laughing, though was hesitant to join in.

They were all worried about me? Do they really care about me this much?

Tobi and Sophie made a soft sound in Lucy's ears as she petted both of them.

"I wish I could tell him. I just…can't!" she whispered in frustration. "Why are these feelings so hard to understand and explain?"

"Something troubling you?"

She flinched and turned to see that Felix had come up beside her.

"N-Nothing is, just thinking is all," she replied, fidgeting with her hands.

"I can tell you have the honeyglow in your cheeks." Felix smiled and patted her hands softly, "I had that when I first met Calhoun. She was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen then, like she is now."

"Felix…what is this that I feel, whenever I look at Ralph I feel suddenly warm inside and…my heart starts racing a-and I turn red in the face and…."

"That my dear is what is called a crush on someone, or in sweeter terms, love."

"Love?" Lucy tilted her head in confusion, but before she could ask anymore Felix was swooped up by Calhoun to calm the situation of Eris and Arren fighting. Lucy could see that the two seemed to not get along, but…she figured out that they were friends just by looking at them.

She suddenly found herself clutching the promise ring in her hand that Daisy had given her. She smiled looking at her friends as the fight ceased. Felix and Calhoun were smiling while Ralph and the rest of the group were happily laughing. She giggled and smiled at Ralph, letting her cheeks turn a glowing red.

Sis, do you think…I could be happy here? And maybe…happy with him?

As she thought of this Tobi let out a low growling noise. Thinking that was odd she turned to the source of what was making him so on edge. In that moment she felt fear paralyzing her from where she stood.

A shadowed figure was staring back at her with the same eyes all those years ago.

A/N: So in this chapter we got some fluffs, and maybe some feelings of *gasp* LOVE? But what's this? There's danger coming. You'll have to find out in the next chapter, the 20th chapter milestone for me. :D I hope this chapter will suffice until then, so until next time! :)

There is also a sketchdump of this story that I'm working on, which I will upload the finished product to Deviantart under the name PureAngelDragon713. So stay tuned for that as well.