Filling in the Empty Spots
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Chapter 4: Soda Water Shores
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The trip up into the Snowcone Mountains was just the successful start of their explorations together, and soon Jubileena and Ralph were trekking all over Sugar Rush. Sometimes as she would stand, gazing out at some grand view, a view she knew that none of the other racers had ever seen she would beam and ooh and try to put the scenery into words. And always she was amazed that it was a foreigner who led her to these beautiful vistas, not a native of Sugar Rush.
He took her all around her world, deep into caves and far into the mountain ranges and across the deserts, showing her the sights the others had no time for. The days the arcade was closed were her favorite, for they would take longer trips together, going further than they could just overnight. Both still had their jobs as wrecker and racer to attend to.
On the long trips they would sleep under the stars, Jubileena in a little sleeping bag and Ralph with a big blanket stretched over him. At first she had been uncomfortable with it, never having slept anywhere but inside her little house. And he laughed, telling her that he'd spent thirty years sleeping outdoors on a trash heap of broken bricks with only a blanket of bricks between him and the night.
And it was on one of their longer trips, while Litwak was taking a vacation to Mexico for a week, and Ralph and Jubileena were taking an extended journey to map the northwestern coast of the Soda Water Ocean, that a rare thunderstorm blew up in the night. They were camping in the sugar sand dunes just off of the beach, but soon retreated to the slightly more sheltered forest beyond the dunes to avoid the wind and rain and hail. Tucking down in a tight grove they were more protected. But a cold and wet Jubileena crawled under Ralph's blanket and up against his chest, neglecting the usual physical distance they kept between each other. Desperate to warm up, and seeing Ralph starting to fall asleep again, apparently quite comfortable, she was willing to snuggle next to him. He said nothing, feeling her shivering and knowing exactly why she was there, but wordlessly wrapped his hand around her against the cold and damp.
For her, it felt strange to be held. No one had ever held her before, not like this. There were quick hugs and happy embraces between her and the other racers, but no one had ever held her so closely, where she could hear a heartbeat other than her own. She could follow the slow rhythm of his chest as it rose and fell with his sleepy breathing. And suddenly she had the realization that this was what it felt like to be Vanellope—the lost Vanellope—to lie warm and protected in the arms of a friend, feeling as if the world could never hurt her there.
Her little hands curled around the fabric of Ralph's shirt and she pulled herself tightly to him, inhaling his earthy scent and absorbing the permeating warmth.
And while Jubileena thought of Vanellope, so did Ralph. This was exactly how they used to sleep together on cold nights, the tiny president curled up to his broad chest, his arm draped protectively over her.
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Ralph and Jubileena woke at daybreak, uncurled from each others grasp, and rose stiffly, stretching in the morning sun. Looking at Ralph's map, it appeared that the beach went to the north but into a large empty area he had yet to explore to fill in the gaps on his map.
They walked along the sandy stretch for hours, and when the day grew hot Ralph took off his ratty orange shirt and rolled up his tattered pant legs. Jubileena took off her little red jacket, her socks, leggings, and boots, stuffing them all into her pack. They chased the sparkling surf and the candy crabs across the beach, laughing and playing and looking for any Belgian seashell chocolates that had washed ashore. At one point the shoreline turned into a definite curve inland and there were thick round candysticks jutting from the sand. Written into each it said "Rockstick Bay." The lettering went all the way through each as they could see where the sticks were broken.
When the sun grew even hotter at midday the pair took shelter under an overhanging cliff to rest a bit in the cool shadows. As they relaxed Jubileena rolled onto her side to look at Ralph. "Ralph?"
"Yes?"
"Would...would you tell me about Vanellope. Your Vanellope?" If you don't mind. I'll understand if you don't want to talk about her."
His eyes lifted, in the way they always did when something emotional was in his throat. "Why would you want to know? She's dead and gone now."
"I know we'll never see her again, but she's still in your heart. She's a part of you."
A tender smile washed across the giant's face. "Well, what do you want to know about her?"
"Well...hmmmm. Well how did you meet. I know that it had something to do with the Cy-Bug incident in Sugar Rush, and that she was the Glitch when you came but then she was the princess again after the incident."
"She was the Glitch then, and an annoying little punk she was when we met. She stole the medal that I'd only just stolen from Hero's Duty."
And so while they rested, Ralph began the long tale of "the incident" that brought him and the little outcast together, starting with the thirtieth anniversary party in Fix-It Felix, Jr. that led to the confrontation with Gene, and the bet that was made that night. Life was not one long fuse that led to a big bang at the end. Instead, it was a series of events, a chain of happenings and coincidences that continued on to some unseen end over the horizon. The fuse led simply from one firecracker to another.
The story continued as they headed out along the beach again, Ralph recalling all the strange and funny and frightening events of that day and a half. Jubileena laughed and moaned and hung on every word of the epic adventure. And when he got to the point of his first appearance at the Sugar Rush Speedway starting line, where he'd charged after the little thief, his body coated from head to toe in green taffy and the candy that had stuck to it, she stopped. "Wait. That was you? You were that green monster?"
"Yup," he said, almost proudly.
"Oh my gosh! That thing came so close to me! It was the scariest moment of my life! I pee'd my pants right there at the starting line!"
Ralph laughed, remembering the panicked racers and terrified throngs of NPC's. While it had been a frustrating moment at the time, it was funny to look back on.
"I still have nightmares about you!"
"That was years ago, Jubileena," Ralph said dismissively.
"I know!" she gasped, and then she punched him hard in the thigh.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"For scaring me that day," she laughed
"So...now we're even?"
"Hmmm...Let me think on it."
"Well just punch me again and we'll call it over."
She giggled. "Now tell me what happened next."
Ralph continued, and when he came to the part where the racers attacked the Glitch in the junkyard and destroyed the kart said Glitch had built, Jubileena looked guilty. "I was there," she confessed.
"There were quite a few of you there, all ganging up on her."
"And I was one of them, pushing her around and saying mean things to her. I feel bad about it now."
"I guess we're even then." Ralph looked down to see the little girl plodding next to him and saw her watery eyes full of remorse. He stretched out his hand to her, letting her know that he forgave her for her part in the bullying.
She took his hand and held the tip of a finger. But then he picked her up, Jubileena squeaking in surprise, and he set her onto his shoulder. "Oh!" she exclaimed and grabbed on. It was just like Vanellope used to ride around on him.
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The story finished as they came to the far end of Rockstick Bay, and they could see the coastline stretching even further to the north. "Shall we camp here for the night? I'm tired," said Ralph. It was already beginning to grow dark.
"Sounds good, and tomorrow we'll make a fresh start on this beach."
Ralph knocked a hollow into the warm sand to sleep in and pulled his blanket over himself while Jubileena unrolled her sleeping bag. Snuggling into it, she looked over to where the giant was making a pillow of his arm and getting comfortable for the night. "Ralph?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for telling me. That was the best story I ever heard."
"Awww...thanks." He yawned and stretched his arms and then rolled up into his blanket.
"Ralph?
"Yes?"
"Could I come sleep with you again?"
"It's not raining and it doesn't look like it will either."
"I know. But could I?"
"All right," he sighed.
She wormed out of her sleeping bag and dragged it over to him, folding it up like a pillow for both of them. Then she curled up beneath his blanket as she had the night before, holding him closely again. "Thank you," she whispered. It felt good to be Vanellope.
"Goodnight, Jubileena," he said softly. And without thinking he bent his neck forward and kissed the top of her head, feeling the soft tickle of her cherry-scented hair against his lips. In the back of his mind it was Vanellope there, and the feeling was so comfortable.
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There was some reluctance to part when the days of exploring came to an end. Friday morning at eleven, everyone was back in their places as Litwak opened the arcade. Jubileena Bing Bing, not on the day's roster, rolled her car out of its garage and headed for Red Twist Park. Arriving, she pulled her kart into its hiding place, changed into her long gown, combed out her hair, and went to lie in her meadow again.
But instead of waiting for him, she found her mind constantly on Ralph. Her cheeks flushed as she thought of his smile. The top of her head tingled when she remembered him kissing her there. And surprisingly, her eyes filled with tears when she thought of his love for the lost Vanellope. The giant had been so devoted to the glitch turned president. Tears always formed in his eyes when he spoke of her, and sometimes he would just start sobbing, and would do his best to try to hide it. For all his strength and courage he was a huge sap when it came to the girl he'd befriended and loved.
And thinking of him and the time they'd spent together, her heart ached to of see him again, to walk and skip along at his side, listening to him tell stories, or just to follow him where ever he roamed across Sugar Rush, and then to lie in his arms at night as they fell asleep together. No one had ever paid this much attention to her before. She wished she had more adventures of her own to share with him. Unlike him and his friends she'd really never gone anywhere much. But Ralph didn't seem to mind that she'd done little else with her life besides drive her kart.
And then the realization hit her that she could hardly wait to see him again.
A second realization chilled her to the very core. "Is this what love feels like?" she whispered to the clouds. And then she chided herself. "No, I can't be in love. Not with him. Who would fall in love with him?"
And then she trembled. Vanellope had. He had once been the president's boyfriend, a standard fixture around the castle and her biggest fan on the track.
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Filling in the Empty Spots continues in:
Chapter 5: Pie, Performance, and Pleasantries
Chapter 6: A Painful Anniversary
Chapter 7: Changes
Chapter 8: Breakdown
Chapter 9: Little Cabin in the Woods
Chapter 10: Back to the Meadow
Chapter 11: The Spring Solstice Ball
Chapter 12: The President's Legacy
Chapter 13: A Heavy Crown
Chapter 14: The Final Secret
Chapter 15: Filling in the Empty Spots Commentary
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Wreck-It Ralph and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Walt Disney Pictures. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.