A few more days passed, and it was now the last day. The arcade had closed but instead of Ralph going out to visit Vanellope he just went home and lay down on his bed. He was even more confused by these new feelings and wanted to figure them out once and for all. Why was it more painful than ever to be apart from Vanellope, especially when he could see her through the game screens? It just didn't make any sense. And it also didn't make sense for his heart to beat faster whenever he was near her or even while he was thinking about her.
Then he heard a knock at the door. He sat up.
"Come in." He said.
Felix came inside.
"Hey Ralph, I was wondering if there was anything wrong?" Felix asked.
"Not really, I've just been feeling weird lately and I wanted to figure out why." Ralph shrugged.
"Weird?" Felix looked both confused and suspicious. "Weird how?"
"Well, being apart from Vanellope has been getting painful, and my heart keeps beating fast around her for some reason." Ralph frowned.
Felix beamed and even looked as if he was about to cry.
"Ralph, look at yourself in the mirror." He smiled.
"What?" Ralph looked at Felix beyond confused.
"Just do it."
Ralph gave in and did. Then he dropped his mouth open.
"Honeyglows?" He touched his cheeks. "Hold on, but that means..."
"Ralph, you've been getting those feelings because you've fallen in love with Vanellope." Felix grinned. "Oh this is wonderful, I was hoping you'd find someone. And Vanellope is the perfect someone for you, especially since you two already have such a strong bond."
"Yeah..." Ralph wasn't as sure as Felix about this being wonderful. "What should I do now?"
"Tell her of course." Felix rolled his eyes, amused. "And you should do it soon, I lost track of how long the potion was supposed to stay in effect but I think the last day is almost here."
"Right..." Ralph still was unsure.
"I know, it's a little scary at first." Felix chuckled. "But believe me, it's more than worth it in the end. I'm going to go see Tammy now, so I'll leave you to it. Good luck brother, not that I think you'll need it."
"Bye Felix." Ralph sighed.
Felix left. Ralph just groaned, he had fallen in love with Vanellope? He didn't know what to do, I mean yeah he probably should tell her but what if his feelings weren't as real as Felix assumed? Ralph decided to ask Clyde and Zangief about it, they've always known the right thing to say before.
Ralph headed for Game Central Station and tracked down Zangief.
"Zangief, there you are." Ralph said with relief. "I need to talk to you and Clyde."
"Sure thing." Zangief looked concerned. "Is anything wrong?"
"Uh, I'll tell you once the three of us are alone." Ralph rubbed the back of his head.
"Of course." Zangief nodded understandingly.
The two of them headed for PacMan and went to see Clyde. Clyde didn't leave his game as much as PacMan or even the other ghosts because he wanted to be ready in case a badguy wanted to see him about something.
"Ralph, Zangief, always great to see you." Clyde smiled; his smile dropped when he saw Ralph's face. "Is anything wrong Ralph?"
"Kinda, you know about Vanellope becoming an adult right?" Ralph double-checked.
Clyde and Zangief nodded.
"Well lately I've been feeling weird about her, and after talking to Felix just a few minutes ago I found out why." Ralph took a deep breath and confessed. "I've fallen in love with her."
"But Ralph this is wonderful news!" Zangief beamed.
"Indeed, not all of us are lucky enough to find the one." Clyde agreed.
"But what if Vanellope isn't the one?" Ralph asked.
Zangief and Clyde looked at him perplexed.
"I mean what if my feelings are just because of her new look? What if my feelings aren't true?" Ralph clarified.
"Oh." Zangief and Clyde got it.
"Well, I never really had girlfriend before." Zangief shrugged. "But if you are so worried, then it is possible that your feelings are true."
"Yeah but if they aren't then I could end up hurting Vanellope." Ralph sighed. "And obviously I don't want to hurt her."
"Ralph, that fact alone proves that your feelings are true." Clyde chuckled. "You care more about her feelings than about ending up with her. That's selfless love, and selfless love is always true."
"Really?" Ralph smiled, starting to feel better.
"But of course." Zangief waved a hand dismissively. "You are putting her before yourself. So, you care more about her than yourself. Meaning you should go tell her before it is too late."
"Yeah, I should." Ralph grinned. "Thanks guys."
"Anytime Ralph." Clyde smiled.
Ralph left to hang out with Vanellope and admit his feelings. As he neared her he found his heart beating even faster, and he realized that he had never noticed how beautiful she really was before. He composed himself before he could look lovestruck though. He also now realized that he didn't want to just tell her willy-nilly, he wanted it to be more special than that.
"Hey Van." Ralph smiled; he used 'Van' to replace 'kid' since it felt weird calling her a kid now. "What do you want to do today?"
"Something really special, something we haven't done before or haven't done in a long time." Vanellope said. "Hey, how about we hang around the candy cane forest? We haven't been there in months."
"Okay, but I'm not climbing any that's growing in the middle of taffy." Ralph chuckled. "I don't want to accidentally grab a double-stripe and land in the taffy again."
"Don't blame you, that stuff is a pain to get off." Vanellope giggled. "How about we just hang around the ones without taffy? We can play hide and seek as well as climb them."
"That works." Ralph agreed.
So they headed for the candy cane forest and played hide and seek and climbed trees. Ironically Vanellope accidentally grabbed a double-stripe this time and ended up falling. Ralph caught her though, making both their hearts skip a beat - or glitch in Vanellope's case - as they looked at each other. Vanellope awkwardly chuckled.
"You'd think I of all people would know better than to grab a double-stripe." She rubbed the back of her head.
"Well you weren't paying attention that time." Ralph shrugged as he gently set her down.
"Yeah." Vanellope had to agree, she did have Ralph on her mind at the time.
They continued playing until the sun started to set. They decided to watch it.
"Say, when's the Roster Race?" Ralph asked.
"It probably already happened, but that's okay." Vanellope shrugged. "I just want to spend the rest of today with you."
"I'm honored." Ralph smirked.
"Oh don't get a swelled-head." Vanellope teased back. "I'm just really enjoying myself out here, especially since we had a lot of fun today. You're the best friend I could ever have."
"Yeah, you're the best friend I could ever have too." Ralph smiled.
The sun finished setting and the stars slowly started to come out. While games normally stayed either in daytime or nighttime Vanellope inputted a nighttime option into the Game Code not long after she got her true role back. It happened almost directly after she saw the nighttime setting in Fix-It-Felix Jr., she found the stars so beautiful that she wanted her subjects to be able to see them as well without going through the danger of leaving Sugar Rush.
"You want to watch the rest of the stars come out?" Ralph asked.
"You bet, I've never stayed up this late before." Vanellope grinned, lying down. "Good thing tomorrow is a day off."
"Yeah, we can stay here as long as we want." Ralph agreed as he lay down too. "As long as we get back before the day after of course."
"Yeah." Vanellope sighed.
They watched the stars come out for a while. Vanellope's heart pounded anxiously, she knew that it wouldn't be long until the potion wore off. It was midnight when she took it, so it'll wear off at midnight. A while back she added a watch to her outfit, so that she could make sure of the time while away from the castle, and she looked at it. She immediately regretted looking: there was less than fifteen minutes left until midnight.
Ralph suddenly sat up. He hadn't said anything about his feelings before because he had been scared of Vanellope turning him down, but then he realized that if he didn't tell her before she turned back into a kid then he'd regret it for the rest of his life.
"Van, I have to tell you something." He said.
Vanellope sat up too and looked into his eyes. She honeyglowed, because she could see love in his eyes. Could it be true? She hoped so, but she didn't say anything in case she was wrong. Plus she wanted Ralph to kiss her on his own, not in reaction to her loving him.
"I...uh...that is...I..." Ralph groaned, why couldn't he get the words out? "What I'm trying to say is...I...I mean I..."
It was no use, the words kept getting stuck in his throat.
"Man what is wrong with me? I can't seem to say what I want to say." Ralph facepalmed.
"Heh, you do sometimes have trouble finding the right thing to say." Vanellope chuckled despite her anxiety. "I guess you're more of a man of action."
Ralph was stunned. Of course, that's why he was having trouble admitting his feelings: he didn't know how to say them. He thought of other ways he could let Vanellope know of his feelings, but only one thing came to mind. And that thing made him honeyglow. He had no choice though, it would probably take him too long to tell her how he felt.
Vanellope, meanwhile, was growing even more anxious. There was less than thirty seconds left.
"Forgive me for this." Ralph said before kissing her.
Vanellope's eyes widened and her heart stopped. Then her heart started beating even faster and she returned the kiss. Ralph opened his eyes, caught off-guard. Then he saw Vanellope's smile and tears of joy. He couldn't believe it, she loved him back? He decided to ask her later, as for now he was just going to enjoy the kiss.
And enjoy the kiss he did, same with Vanellope. They even felt a special connection through the kiss, which Vanellope had hoped then later expected to happen. In Ralph's case he knew about the 'connection' due to asking Felix how he knew Tamora had been the one. So Ralph had only started hoping that it would happen to him and Vanellope after he talked to Zangief and Clyde about his feelings.
8-bit hearts had even surrounded their heads.
After some minutes, they finally stopped to breathe. Vanellope hugged Ralph overjoyed.
"I was starting to think that you'd never return my feelings." She said, tears of joy still rolling down her cheeks.
"'Return'?" Ralph was stunned. "Wait, you mean you've loved me this whole time?"
"Yes, you see...it's the real reason why I took the potion." Vanellope honeyglowed.
"But that means...you've loved me for around a month." Ralph realized, still stunned.
"A little over, I realized my feelings for you after the second Cy-Bug incident." Vanellope explained. "You see that incident caused me to realize how much you really do mean to me. I'm not sure if I loved you before the incident and it just caused me to realize my feelings, or if the incident itself caused me to fall in love with you, but either way once I did know of my feelings I decided to find a way to become an adult."
"But why?" Ralph asked.
"Sour Bill told me that adult/kid relationships weren't approved of around here." Vanellope grinned, still overjoyed. "And I didn't want you to become an outcast again."
Ralph now honeyglowed, touched that she cared about him that much.
"Truthfully, I found out about my feelings earlier today when Felix told me." Ralph admitted. "That was why I was late, I wanted to talk to Zangief and Clyde about it. I wanted to make sure that my love is true and not just because of your appearance."
"Your love is true Ralph." Vanellope gazed at him before showing him her watch. "The potion was supposed to wear off at midnight...and it didn't."
Sure enough it was minutes after midnight.
"It didn't...then the kiss made it permanent?" Ralph guessed, now happy that Vanellope was a permanent adult.
"Partially, it mostly had to do with you sincerely loving me back." Vanellope sighed. "I love you Ralph."
"I love you too Van." Ralph gazed back.
They hugged for a long time. Eventually they fell asleep in each other's arms.
The next thing they knew they were being gently poked. They groggily opened their eyes to find Duncan, Wynchel, Sour Bill, and the other Racers surrounding them. Ralph and Vanellope bolted upright, startled and a bit embarrassed. They then saw that it was daytime.
"Wow, we've been here all night?" Vanellope was stunned.
"Must've fallen asleep during the hug." Ralph realized. "Uh, heh, hi guys. Sorry to worry all of you..."
"It's okay." Duncan smiled. "We all already know about President Vanellope's feelings for you so we're just glad that you returned them."
"Yeah she told us why she took the potion and when it was supposed to wear off." Winchell explained.
"Glad you guys are okay with this." Ralph said with relief.
"Well duh, I mean come on you're not just Vanellope's hero." Taffyta scoffed. "You're our hero, you're Sugar Rush's hero. You got rid of our tyrant and gave us back our true ruler, the best ruler we could ever have. Not to mention one of the best friends we could ever have." She then smiled at Vanellope.
Vanellope smiled back.
"Yeah, even though you're not a Racer we still think of you as one of us." Rancis agreed.
"Yup, you'll always have a special place with us." Candlehead nodded.
The other Racers and Duncan and Winchell agreed.
"Especially with me." Sour Bill smiled.
"Thank you everyone." Vanellope grinned before turning to Ralph with a slightly concerned look. "So Ralph, you think your game will be as acceptive?"
"Felix certainly will, he was very happy when he realized that I had fallen in love with you." Ralph said. "Don't know about the other Nicelanders, but Tamora should be okay with it too. And I know Zangief and Clyde are really happy about it."
"That's good, at least you have some supporters." Vanellope smiled.
"Yeah." Ralph agreed. "So, how do you want to tell everyone else?"
"Well, Felix, Tamora, Zangief, and Clyde should know first." Vanellope thought it over. "After that I don't care who finds out when."
"I agree." Ralph got up and stretched. "How about we go tell them now?"
"I'm with you." Vanellope grinned. "I'll be back later today everyone."
"Take your time Vanellope." Taffyta grinned.
Vanellope grinned back. She and Taffyta had become even closer during the past month. It even got up to the point where Vanellope threatened to humiliate Taffyta on the track if she ever called her President again. She put up with the other Racers using her title despite seeing herself equal to them, but Taffyta for some reason was different.
Anyway, Ralph and Taffyta sought out Zangief and Clyde. Since it was a day off Clyde was out socializing instead of back home. Zangief and Clyde ended up seeing them first.
"Ralph, Vanellope!" Zangief ran up to them with Clyde not far behind.
"Ah good, we were looking for you two." Ralph smiled.
Ralph and Vanellope were holding hands, so Zangief and Clyde knew how things turned out right away.
"I knew it would work out Ralph." Clyde smiled.
"You are very lucky badguy." Zangief clapped a hand on Ralph's shoulder.
"I'm the one who's lucky." Vanellope grinned. "And Ralph is more than a badguy you know, that's just a job title. Ralph is really a hero."
"Can't argue with that." Clyde smiled.
"Yours especially." Zangief added to Vanellope.
"The rest of Sugar Rush's too." Vanellope nodded.
"Hey you two."
It was Tamora. She had been taking a casual walk around Game Central Station. Being Felix's wife made her a little more social than before.
"So, what's the good news?" Tamora noticed the happy looks.
"We'll tell you in a moment, first we want to get back to my game." Ralph said. "Then we can tell you and Felix at the same time."
"Sounds fair." Tamora agreed.
So they headed for Fix-It-Felix Jr after saying goodbye to Zangief and Clyde. They then went up to Felix and Tamora's house, which was in back of the Niceland apartments.
"Have a nice walk Tammy?" Felix smiled as he opened the door.
Felix didn't go with her because Tamora wanted to try talking to others socially on her own.
"Actually I did, wasn't too bad at being social." Tamora smiled back.
"Oh hi Ralph, Vanellope." Felix then smiled. "What brings you two-wait, did you two?"
Ralph and Vanellope nodded, grinning, as Vanellope wrapped her arms around Ralph's arm.
"Oh I knew it, this really is wonderful!" Felix beamed.
"Knew what?" Tamora asked.
"They're in love Tammy." Felix gestured. "I just figured out Ralph's feelings yesterday, and it turns out Vanellope loves him back."
"Really?" Tamora was first surprised but then smiled. "Well congratulations you two. You know I did notice that you two had a special connection but I didn't know it was this special."
"Well, there's more to the story than that." Vanellope blushed.
"How about you two come in and tell us then?" Felix offered.
"That's exactly why we're here." Ralph nodded.
So Ralph and Vanellope went inside and sat down (carefully in Ralph's case). They then told Felix and Tamora the truth about the potion. Felix and Tamora were stunned.
"So you actually loved Ralph this whole time?" Felix couldn't believe it. "How come you never said anything before?"
"I wanted Ralph to love me on his own, not as a reaction to me loving him." Vanellope explained.
"Selfless love." Tamora noted. "Since you both have selfless love for each other then it's safe to say that you'll be together forever."
"Just like me and Tammy." Felix honeyglowed at his wife as he took her hand.
Tamora just smiled and kissed his forehead.
Ralph and Vanellope however blushed.
"Er, bit early for that talk." Ralph said.
"Yeah." Vanellope agreed. "I'd rather stick to talking about dating."
"Exactly...how are we going to do it?" Ralph asked.
"Well nothing's really changed between us," Vanellope shrugged before smiling. "It's just gotten better, so we can still hang out like we did in the past. But now we can do other things like have dates at Tappers. And when we hang out in Sugar Rush we can add things like this." She kissed him on the cheek.
"Sounds perfect." Ralph smiled.
So that's what Ralph and Vanellope did. They hung out as usual, but also had dinner dates at Tappers or picnics in Sugar Rush. Sometimes they also double-dated with Felix and Tamora.