The Magical Bond Between Two Hearts

Chapter 21: Is This A Date?

"Please, I want to hear it again!" Eris pleaded with her eyes wide.

Lucy peeked her head from behind the door with an unsure look. "I've told you the last ten times," she finally said with a small smile.

"But it's still so good!" Eris replied with a big grin on her face.

Lucy shivered as she looked around the place Eris had built on her own. It was big, and made of crystallized ice. Each room was filled with them too, other than the furniture and clothes placed here.

"Eris, do I really have to wear this one?" Lucy asked unsure of herself.

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad." Eris smiled and placed her hands on her hips.

Lucy sighed as she stepped out wearing what appeared to be a white dress that a princess would wear. She wore gloves that went to her upper arm, the skirt went all the way down to the floor, and every part of the outfit was poofy.

"I feel like this is something you don't wear to a date," she said looking a bit uncomfortable in it.

Eris blinked and laughed, "I think you're right, that's way too much."

"Why do I need to dress up for? Can't I just go as I am?" Lucy asked following Eris as she went back inside the room to find another dress.

"It's supposed to be a special occasion, so you can't just dress in regular clothes right?" Eris smiled as she opened a glassy looking closet and rummaged around.

"I've never even been on one before. I don't even know how to act." Lucy sighed sitting on one of the non-icy chairs.

Eris kept rummaging until she found an outfit all the way in the back of the closet.

"Ah, here we go," she said pulling it out, "A simple, but pretty outfit for a date."

Lucy looked at the dress curiously. It was not white or any shade of blue, but it was more of a lilac color. The sleeves seemed almost see through, and almost looked the same as her normal dress did.

"It's…perfect." Lucy whispered in glee.

"I knew you would like this one. Made this one myself by hand without magic." Eris smiled and walked over to give her the dress.

"You can make clothes too?" Lucy asked with a smile.

"Too? You make your own clothes?!" Eris was taken by surprise there, her icy blue eyes growing wide.

Lucy nodded, "Well, I-I had to. When I wasn't a kid anymore I had to find a way to make bigger clothes for myself," she admitted.

"That's amazing!" Eris smiled, "Now, go try it on," she said and started to leave the room.

"Eris?"

She turned back with a puzzled look. "What's up?"

Lucy fidgeted with the dress still in her hands, "I don't know if I can…go through with it. What if I mess up?"

"You won't. Just be yourself. That's what he likes about you right?" Eris smiled and closed the door.

Lucy sat alone, having both doubts and excited thoughts. She remembered after that day, all of her new friends kept talking about it. How she had said those three words, telling him about her feelings. It was a bit embarrassing, but at the same time she was happy.

She shook her head and stood up. "I can do this. Just walk over there, and…smile. Yeah, smile!" she exclaimed to herself.

Her whole body started to glow as the white dress disappeared and was replaced with the lilac one. Lucy pushed some of the hair from her face to get a better look, seeing that this outfit was way better than the last.

"Perfect!" she squealed in delight as she skipped over to the door to open it.

"Eris, I'm done!" she happily said. Though the hallway was empty.

Weird, I wonder where she is? Wait…oh User I have to get going!

Lucy frantically ran down the stairs and out the front door. The outside of the palace was just as amazing as the inside. Towers of crystallized ice came way up above her and surrounded the big house within. She smiled then turned to look for her buggy companion.

"Tobi!" she called, and right after that the familiar Cybug screech could be heard. She walked up to the humongous Tobi, wings and all.

"Ready to go?" she asked climbing onto his back.

Tobi chirped a readied reply. Lucy giggled, though she could not help but feel nervous about flying in the air. Even though she had done it once before, almost ending in disaster. But before she could think about that day Tobi flapped all his wings and took off into the air.

"AAAAH!" she screamed holding on tightly to his neck.

A fall breeze blew through Sugar Rush's mountains as they headed towards the white castle.

0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Ralph grumbled, tugging the tan shirt that was put on him by a certain mischievous racer. A moment ago he was arguing that he didn't need to wear this shirt, but the kid's explanation told him otherwise. He just had to trust her, but was still unsure about all this.

"Where are we going now kid?" he asked following Vanellope through the halls of the castle.

"There's still a lot of things to get prepared for before this big day." Vanellope said with a big grin from ear-to-ear.

"Please don't tell me I have to rehearse lines to say," he said nervously.

"Nah, we're just gonna get you nice and clean."

"WHAT? Oh no kid! That's something I cannot do," he said backing away.

"Well you were the one that asked her remember?" she said crossing her arms impatiently.

"All I said was that we were going to do something together. It doesn't mean that it's a date!" Ralph exclaimed getting a little frustrated.

"It's still a date, even if it's only sitting around looking into each other's eyes." Vanellope grinned.

"Geez, this is all so confusing." Ralph sighed and with a plop he sat right on the floor.

"You're always confused Stinkbrain," the kid chuckled standing next to her friend.

"What if she really thinks it's a date, and I tell her it isn't and she gets mad?"

"Lucy doesn't seem one to get mad." Vanellope shrugged, "Look wise guy, if you're really worried just remember that this is a first for the both of you, not just you."

Ralph sighed, crossing his arms for a moment in concentration. After a while he nodded. "Well, that does make me feel a bit better. But I'm still not taking that bath for the life of me!" he frowned.

"Oh no, don't you run—"

But Ralph had already bolted to his feet and started running down the hall as fast as he could.

"COME BACK HERE!" she shouted glitching after him.

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Lucy huffed as she tried to catch her breath. Tobi chirped silently, nuzzling her and trying to help. They both sat near the front of the Sugar Rush castle, its towering walls looming above them.

"I…still have to…get used to this." Lucy gasped catching her breath.

She stood up after a while and hugged the gentle Cybug. He chirped happily, nuzzling her cheek.

"Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it alright?" she smiled as her feet carried her to the castle doors.

She waved to Tobi as he flew off, but she knew that he would be close by. She turned back to the colorful front doors and carefully opened them. She was still amazed after all this time by the grand scale of the castle, even though she had been here before.

Well, he said to meet up here. But where is he?"

"Oh, it's you again," a monotone voice said below her.

"Huh?" Lucy looked down to find a green candy with an unamused face look up at her.

"You're…Sour Bill right?" she asked smiling down at him.

"Yes I am," he replied in the same voice.

"Do you know where I can find Ralph?"

"Have not seen him since he made that ruckus running around the castle." Sour Bill responded and started to walk away.

"O-Oh. Well thank you anyway!" Lucy smiled and waved.

Sour Bill turned back to her with a questioned look in his unamused eyes. He then turned away and went off to his duties.

Lucy sighed, standing in the long hallway. She walked very slowly, taking in all of the castle's grandness. From the pink walls, to the sparkling floor, until she came across the throne room. She clutched her left arm in her hand as she stared at the spot where someone royal would sit.

"For some reason…I can't help but feel like I've seen something like this before."

She suddenly heard a racket making her flinch. Her eyes wandered to a glass door she had not seen before. It looked like a window, but was combined with a door. Curious she walked cautiously over towards it. She placed her hands on the door as it slowly creaked open when she pushed it.

Lucy gasped as the scent and beautiful sight of many flowers that filled the room before her.

Blues, pinks, yellows, purples, and many more colors that she could think of were the ones that the flowers showed. They gave off a sweet scent of candies and chocolate as she walked into the room. Her eyes were aglow in amazement looking at them all.

"I've never seen so many beautiful flowers in my life." Lucy said in wonder.

Her hand touched a white flower petal from a small flower. She smiled as she delicately held the flower in her palm. But with another flinch from the same noise again she let the flower rest in its place. Lucy began to feel nervous as she walked toward the sound, her magic ready to be used if anything went wrong.

The room went deeper, and the number of flowers grew with it. For a moment it seemed peaceful to the girl.

"Come on! AAH!"

Lucy sighed as she walked a little quicker now to the familiar voice. There she saw someone in a tangled mess. She couldn't see his face from the shirt that he had gotten stuck, but it was definitely Ralph behind there.

"You look like you need some help," she said giggling and coming up towards him.

The whole figure paused as if he was caught doing something wrong.

"Lucy, is that you? How, I mean what are you doing here?" Ralph said too loudly.

She shook her head and giggled again. "Alright, hold on. I'll help you with that."

She tugged the shirt downward so that his face could easily be seen, his arms having already been snug in his sleeves.

"There you go. All fixed!" Lucy smiled standing back a bit.

The look on his face though told her that he had something else on his mind.

"This shirt…it doesn't look good on me doesn't it?" Ralph asked with a heavy voice.

Lucy thought for a moment, looking at him up and down. She finally shook her head. "I think it looks wonderful on you."

She smiled when his look changed to a surprised one. "Really?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's different but I like it!"

Ralph sighed as if he was relieved to hear this. "You look different too. It's a nice change," he said pointing out the lilac dress she was wearing.

Immediately her cheeks grew pink. "T-This? Well it's just something Eris picked for me. You should have seen the one before," Lucy laughed, "It was not the type of dress you would find at…a date."

Lucy slowly averted her eyes to one of her sleeves. Is this even a date?

"This doesn't have to be a special date you know."

Lucy turned back to Ralph in confusion. "But…Eris was saying— "

He shook his head, taking her hand in his, "It's not up to them to decide if this is a date or not. You can choose if it is or isn't one. It's alright to make your own choices once in a while."

Lucy blinked, staring at him before giving a small chuckle. "I guess you're right there. I mean…this doesn't have to be a date right? We could just…be two people having a fun day."

"Exactly." Ralph smiled and gently squeezed her hand.

"But…what do you think? Is this a date to you?" Lucy asked after a while of silence.

Ralph's face turned a slight red, "I…actually don't think this is. I mean an official date," he said rubbing the back of his head, "To me it's just like you said, two people spending time together."

"Okay." Lucy smiled reassured now of what this meeting was.

Her eyes then wandered to the flowers again. They still showed bright colors despite the sun only peeking through some of the tangles of leaves.

"I never knew these were here. They're all so beautiful."

"Well, Vanellope and I actually collected these flowers for this little garden." Ralph admitted.

Lucy turned back to him in surprise. "A garden? That you built?"

"Not quite good, had to have Felix come and fix it a few times. But yeah, the kid wanted to have some bright colors other than pink and white. So…we built this place."

"It's so amazing!" Lucy giggled walking up to another flower that had a red color to it.

"Heh, it's really not that much. Very small in size even though it's big in here to fit me." Ralph chuckled walking up next to her.

Lucy touched the flower with her fingers, then noticed a small butterfly which flew away from her sight. Yet she still smiled, even though she saw it for a split second.

"So uh…I-I actually wanted to show you something. Which is why I wanted to…meet up." Ralph admitted.

"Oh, is it something cool?" Lucy said turning to him getting very curious.

He gently grabbed her hand, "Yeah, though I can't really tell you. It's a surprise."

"Ooo! I love surprises!" she exclaimed in excitement.

"STINKBRAIN! WHERE ARE YA?!"

The both of them flinched at the kid's loud voice just inside the castle.

"She wouldn't happen to be looking for you right?" Lucy asked with uncertainty.

"She is," he replied immediately after the question.

"What for?"

"A bath."

Lucy laughed loudly at this making Ralph turn red.

"I-I don't need one anyway!" he countered and tried to make her calm down.

They both went silent when they heard the door to the garden open.

"Time to go!" Ralph said grabbing Lucy's hand and running past the kid into the big open yard.

She gasped as she was trying to keep up with his speed. She could hear Vanellope's voice trail behind them, but it soon faded when they had entered the candy tree forest once more together.

0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Ralph wasn't really thinking too much about what would happen as they ran from the little President. One thing was for sure: he wasn't taking that bath at all.

He finally had slowed down and stopped catching his breath.

"That…was close," he huffed looking back to Lucy. His smile dropped as he saw that she was more out of breath than he was.

"Oh, are you okay? I ran too fast didn't I?" he worried as he tried to steady her from falling over by holding her hands in his.

She was shaking a bit from the running, but then he heard a small giggle coming from her. He frowned as he was suddenly puzzled. She then began to laugh louder, her hands wiping some tears from her eyes.

"That was…the way you ran and…you looked so scared!" Lucy said between giggles.

Ralph was too surprised to say anything, but he soon found himself laughing along with her.

"Yeah, you're right. I got so scared of how clean I would be," he said and chuckled along with her.

Lucy seemed to be laughing so hard that she ran out of breath again. It was a good thing that he was holding onto her hands in case she fell down. Then he suddenly had an idea, and waited until Lucy had finally calmed down and stopped laughing.

"Lucy. Would you, um…close your eyes?" he asked a little nervously.

"Huh? How come?" she said looking at him suspiciously.

"I said the place I wanted to show you is a surprise. So…trust me on this okay?" Ralph said squeezing her hands.

After she had looked at him unsure and curious, she nodded as her eyes closed. Checking to see that they were closed, moving his hand in front of her face, he smiled as with one hand he held hers and walked deeper into the candy tree forest.

"You won't let go of my hand right?" Lucy asked with an unsure tone.

"I promise I won't lose you." Ralph smiled back at her, though he knew that she couldn't see it.

They had walked along the trail, many of the candy cane striped trees passing by. Some were small, others were very tall, and some were not even growing up but had fallen over. Ralph looked back once in a while making sure that Lucy was following behind. Her hand was tightly clasping his, as if she was afraid of letting go and losing him. But they had finally made it to the destination he was searching for.

The tree before them was of a different color than the rest of candy cane trees. Instead of the white and pink striped colors, this one had a white and green peppermint color to the stripes instead. It was taller than any of the others, reaching up all the way to where the candy clouds passed by.

"Why have we stopped walking?" Lucy asked as they had stopped for a moment.

"We're almost there." Ralph said turning to the girl, her eyes still shut tight.

"Really? May I open my eyes now?"

Ralph shook his head. "No, but I'm going to need to carry you the rest of the way."

"Why?"

"It's…a very steep climb up let's just say," he said trying to hold back where they were.

"Well…." Lucy paused and squeezing her free hand on her dress, "A-Alright."

Ralph could tell she was nervous, but he knew that she did trust him. So he breathed in, and gently took the girl up in his arms. Though as he was picking her up he could see that she was about to open her eyes, so with one hand he covered them and cradled her in his other arm.

"Remember, keep them closed," he reminded her.

She nodded as she barely wrapped her arms around his neck. He took away his hand from her eyes to see that they were closed again. He smiled and turned back to the tree that loomed over them.

"Alright, here we go. Hold on tight now." Ralph said as he started to climb.

He could feel her holding on tightly as he made his way up. He made sure not to grab onto any double striped branches, or they would get hurt falling all the way down. As they made their way to the top, he could see the other trees get smaller below them, the path a mere speck from his vantage point. After much careful climbing, he finally rested on a big branch for the two of them that was very close to the top of the tree. Ralph stood on the branch for a good moment, making sure that it was sturdy for the both of them before carefully putting Lucy down. She wobbled as she was put on something solid to stand on, but he was able to keep her from falling down.

"May I open my eyes now?" she asked.

Ralph took a deep breath before he answered, "Alright, open them."

0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Lucy was nervous all the way to the point where she could open her eyes. And as she did slowly open them, her doubts all went away as quickly as it came. She could only gasp as she looked at the view before her. As far as she could see there were candy trees scattering below them, while above the bright pink candy clouds passed by. And in the far distance was the racetrack and the white castle, which from here looked like a small dot in the huge landscape.

She was speechless for a good while, not sure how to express how beautiful it all was.

"It's…nothing much of a place but, I thought it would be nice to…"

Ralph's words made her turn to face him with a smile on her lips and joyful tears in her eyes.

"It's...It's beautiful. I can't, I mean, I'm so happy I got to see this!" she exclaimed holding herself back from crying.

His face told her that he was surprised at her reaction to this. She wiped some of the tears from her eyes.

"I mean…thank you. I love the view up here, it's so…big," she said smiling and looking around again. Each time she was amazed at the colors and that they were so high up.

"You're…welcome." She heard Ralph say quietly.

She turned to him and was about to walk over to him, but she then realized that there wasn't much to walk on and almost lost her balance. Though she was relieved when he took her hand so that she wouldn't fall.

"Careful. We are pretty high up. I'm even a little nervous that we're up so high." Ralph said with a nervous chuckle.

"Thanks." Lucy smiled as she carefully walked the rest of the way towards him.

She leaned against his side, also feeling nervous for being up so high. They both stood there, looking out over the sugary land and were silent. A cool breeze made her shiver a bit, but was quickly warmed up when he wrapped his arm around her waist. The summer was soon going to be over, but she wondered now what lay in store for her now that she had met him.

"Ralph? Could this day…be a small date? For us?" Lucy asked as she broke the silence, her eyes looking away from him.

When he didn't answer, she looked at him worriedly only to find that his face was rather calm and peaceful. She could feel her cheeks now grow warm again despite the cool fall breeze blowing through the air.

"Lucy, I think I can say that this is a first date for us."

As he said this, Lucy suddenly felt something warm in her chest for the first time.

A/N: Another chapter come and gone. I thought that after all that tension and action I could give you guys some fluff from these two cuties before continuing on with the plot for the next chapter, which shall include some elements that have already been shown. But for now, enjoy this chapter, and see you next time.