Turning Point.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Taffyta had been doing some soul searching lately. She wasn't used to feeling the way she did recently. She used to be the undisputed leader of the racers. She did and said what she pleased. She made King Candy happy with her actions against Vanellope. He had called her his 'lew-tennant', and patted her on the head, rewarding her with goodies and gold coins. She had felt so proud, and so right, serving the King. None dared cross her while she held the King's favor.

But then Candy had been a lie. An evil character that had taken the game. As the memories of Princess Vanellope came back, they mixed with the memories of all the bad she had done.

The respect of the racers was respect out of fear. As the days passed, and they found she had no more Royal protection, their attitudes, and their treatment of her, began changing. In the evenings, at their row of cottages, she was no longer invited around for drinks and snacks. She was ignored when possible. The others began calling her names, or making rude gestures when they crossed her path. Even Gloyd, who used to wait, and hold doors open for her, now slammed them in her face. They even went against her in the Random Roster Race. Now they ran her off the road, or blocked her so another could pass.

The memory of Vanellope hurt even more. Her programming dictated loyalty to the ruler. Now, her Princess was the same person she had mistreated. Guilt had never been a familiar feeling to her. Nor humility, or any other emotion that contained any compassion at all.

She did not know what to do to fix it. She knew the problem was with herself, or had been. The reset had been like a clean slate for her, but she realized she needed to do something with it. How could she win the friendship of the others back? But, she thought, had she ever had real friendship to begin with?

So she walked about thinking a lot, since nobody else wanted her company. The Candy Cane forest was quiet, and so was Chocolate Lake. It was a calm place to sit and think.

So she stopped and froze when she got to the Chocolate Lake, and saw the man sitting there.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Back at the café, having tea and cakes, Vanellope was more subdued than she normally was with her friends. She had pulled her chair nearer to Ralph, and even drank tea with one hand resting on his arm.

Calhoun noticed. Despite Smythe's report a few minutes ago that, after inspection, the road had been fully fixed, and he was planning the next issue, she frowned. It's like she doesn't want him out of her sight. What did she think she was going to find in there?

As Ralph and Felix went to get the bags of building parts Felix had sorted out earlier, Calhoun tapped Vanellope on the shoulder. "Why don't we have a girl chat for a few minutes." She whispered. Vanellope looked at Ralph, and finally nodded. The two men left.

Sipping her tea, Tamora looked across at Vanellope. Her cheerful, upbeat attitude was replaced by a permanent slight frown. "What happened? What did you see in there? My game shouldn't have done that to you." She reached out and gently laid her hand over Vanellope's. "It's me, sugar queen. We don't have any secrets, remember?" They had both bared their souls to each other. There was nothing left to be embarrassed about.

Vanellope looked up at her friend. She cleared her throat. "Ummm, I might have had my own reasons for going in there." She looked out into space. "I thought I could learn to change myself… just a little." She sighed. "But your man is good. He fixed things. And I saw that I could never do what I wanted, the way I wanted." She looked into Tamora's eyes. "I can never be like you."

Tamora leaned towards her. "Sweetie, you don't want to be like me." She gave Vanellope a kiss on the forehead and leaned back. "Then you wouldn't be you anymore. And we all need you."

Vanellope considered what the blond was saying. She was probably right. She couldn't shake the worry over Ralph, though. "I think I've got him, Tamora. I think I've got everything I want. I just wonder how long I can keep him."

She looked down at the table. A half-eaten cake sat on her plate. "I get the bravest, strongest, nicest man in the entire arcade. He gets a messed-up, angry girl. I yell at him, and hit him, and he just holds me and tells me it'll be all right." She looked up with watery eyes. "I was sure I was the best thing for him, and now I don't know."

Tamora frowned. After all this, she doubts herself? "Maybe he's right. You've spent so much time trying to out-think him that you might want to consider the fact he's right for once." She reached out and pushed a strand of hair back behind Vanellope's ear. "And the whole arcade knows you're good for him. But I think he's good for you, too." She tapped a finger against Vanellope's forehead. "And in here, I think you do too."

Vanellope gave her first faint smile since leaving the code room. "Now I'm the one who just has to believe, and after all that yelling at Ralph." She dabbed her eyes with a napkin. "Can't let him see me like this."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Candlehead was telling her plan to Rancis and Sour Bill at the castle. She had an idea on what to do. They had Sour Bill's memory of Candy on what he did. She was ready to act.

"But now what, Bill? We have to get there first. You said you know what he did, but can you get us there?"

Sour Bill had one last chance to change his mind. There was still no feeling of danger to his Princess. He made his choice. In front of him, he laid down a napkin. "Well, first we go to…"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Taffyta cocked her head. He looked like one of those Space Marines they were talking about. Tall, like the blond woman. He wasn't wearing the armor, though. Black pants, boots, and t-shirt, but he did have a belt loaded with assorted strange things, including a small version of those weapons they use. She also noticed that he was quite handsome, with a different kind of face than she was used to seeing. Is this what Vanellope means when she talks about grown-up people?, she thought. She might have something there.

She cleared her throat. "Ahem."

The man twirled around, his hand going instantly to the pistol on his hip. Taffyta, shocked, stepped back, raising her hands in front of her face. The man stopped still, looked at her closely, and gave her a small smile. "Sorry, there. Reflexes, you know. It's probably not smart to sneak up on us." His face became less cheerful. "In my game, when something is sneaking around, it means somebody is going to die." There was a faint click as he secured the pistol again.

Taffyta lowered her shaking hands while waiting for her heart to drop back out of her throat. She was totally flustered. And his speed… it was incredible. They stared into each other's face for some time, both relaxing a bit. She couldn't get her brain working right. She had no idea what to say or do. She pointed to the beach where he was sitting. "That's my spot, you know."

The man looked down, then back up to her, a smile on his face. "Well, I didn't see your butt print on it, so I figured it was up for grabs."

Taffyta blinked. This conversation was going downhill fast.

The man lost the smile. "Sorry about that, lady. That's reflexes, too." He patted the beach beside him. "If you got a second, I can tell you a story as a way to apologize." He saw her hesitation. "I won't bite, you know."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tamora and Vanellope ambled up the hill towards the elevator. They could see some people up there, and of course, Ralph stood tall enough to pick out at this distance.

Vanellope was telling Tamora she was still worried. "He finally came out and said he loved me, and he wants me to help him." She frowned, and kicked a small stone away. "And I should be dancing for that. But I still want to be… something I'm… not. I want to be a woman for him." Pushing one of those ever-present strands of stray hair back, she looked up at Tamora. "I at least didn't want to be so childish."

Tamora rested a hand on her shoulder. "Girl, I've never had that problem. I'm also way younger than you. Sometimes I'm scared to even talk to you, because I think I can only make things worse." She stopped, and the pressure on Vanellope's shoulder had her turn to the blond. "But in my short life, I've seen a lot of different things in the arcade. All the different people in it seem to be quite happy with who, or even what, they are."

She knelt down to be eye level with Vanellope. "But you've been places nobody else has. Dark places. You want to be safe. That may be part of why you love Ralph. You know you can trust him." She put a finger under Vanellope's chin. "But your real problem is you don't trust yourself. It's not Ralph. You're scared to give things enough time. You think time works against you, but here it can work for you. Get me?"

Vanellope took that in. "I get it, Tamora. I understand it." She looked towards the elevator. Ralph had just placed one of the bags inside. The door closed. She saw Ralph, Felix, and a few of the Marines talking and laughing. Ralph was starting to make friends everywhere. Once people heard the stories, and stopped being afraid of him, they were quick to find out that Ralph was an okay guy. That's part of what scared her. She remembered the café owner. Girls are going to do that, too. She was forced to trust his feelings for her.

She looked back to Tamora. "I get it. I just have problems doing it."

Tamora patted her shoulder as she stood up. "Don't we all?"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

So after a long while, considering how Sour Bill talked, he finally explained everything.

Rancis frowned. "Sounds easy enough, but nothing has ever been easy around here. There's got to be a catch."

Candlehead tapped the table with a fingernail and looked from one to the other.

Sour Bill sighed. "Well… for one, she has to be here… in this game. Her code here isn't… active… if she's gone. Then, she has to be asleep… he said 'offline'."

Candlehead pondered. "Still doesn't sound too hard. Bill, you can tell us when she's asleep. She's out now, but surely she'll stay here some night soon."

Rancis just shrugged. "So now we just wait."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

A bit wary, Taffyta walked up and sat near the trooper, facing out over Chocolate Lake. She was trying to catch glimpses of the man out of the corner of her eye. It was quiet for a minute.

Finally, she turned to him. "I thought there was a story?" He had bright green eyes. Why was her heart going so fast?

He smiled. "Yeah, I'd better explain, before you get as… mad as everyone else." He put out a hand to shake; "I'm Alek Foster, by the way."

Taffyta put out her hand. His grip was warm. "Taffyta Muttonfudge. Ummmm, nice to meet you."

He smiled again. "We'll see. I'm more commonly known in my game as 'Smart Alek'." He looked back over the lake and frowned. "The Sarge has been trying to tell us all about the programming. A lot of us have memories of stuff that never happened. But some of us have a hard time trying to fight it."

He looked at Taffyta. "See, my personality is that I'm, like, the comic relief of the platoon. I'm the smarta… uh… smart guy. I'm the demolitions guy. And nine times out of ten, I am going to say the most sarcastic, insulting thing I possibly can." He sighed. "That's what I'm trying to fight. And my code doesn't make me many friends when we're off duty, either."

He waved a hand around. "This place is completely the opposite of my game. I thought it might be the perfect spot to try being the opposite of myself. Peaceful… no bugs."

Taffyta laughed. "Ha! Should have been here last week, then. They ate the whole game."

He nodded. "Yeah, I just miss all the fun."

Taffyta scooted over closer to him. Hoping he couldn't hear her heart pounding, she reached out and put a hand on his arm. "Look, Alek. At least you have a real reason to be the way you are. I think I'm just naturally mean. I just spent fifteen years running over everyone. So you're one up on me there."

Alek looked over at her. "Well, they say the prettiest ones are the worst bit… uh… what I… umm… oh, he… eck."

He looked down. "Sorry. I did warn you."

Taffyta stood up and did the boldest thing she ever did in a lifetime of bold things. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Never apologize for calling a girl pretty."

She sat back down, but this time scrunched up against Alek. She wrapped her arm around his, and leaned against him. "Now this, I could get used to."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Calhoun and Vanellope sat off to one side, sipping iced tea and watching the men. Mary had seen them working, and brought out a pitcher and some glasses.

This was the other side of the team at work now. Ralph had easily been able to move the ton or so of wreckage from Hero's Duty. Felix had laid out a section of empty area well off to the side of the world visible to Players.

One thing never stopped looking like magic to them, though. Under Felix's direction, Ralph would place a part of a building just so, then Felix would hit it with his hammer. The two women soon saw a long foundation of townhouses appear from a few stones.

"You guys are really something." Vanellope said as they took a break. Handing Ralph a glass, she smiled at him.

Ralph shrugged. "All in a day's work around here." He looked at the start of the street. "I'm glad Felix likes the idea. I'd hate to try this alone."

Vanellope giggled. "Like the cart?"

Ralph smiled. "Yeah. They'd probably come out looking just like that."

Felix smiled at Calhoun. "And I picked the end one for you and me, Tamora."

"Me?"

Felix nodded. "Well, we're getting married, and you kept hitting your head in my place, so I though a home from your game would work better. And it's a nice one, too. It's got bedrooms for both of us."

Calhoun cocked her head. Had she heard that right? She leaned down and looked Felix dead in the eyes. "Honey, you know we are getting married, right?"

Felix nodded.

"And you know all about married people, right?"

Felix gave his 'I'm trying to think really hard about it' look, and then shook his head.

She leaned closer. "Married people sleep in the same bedroom."

Felix thought about this as he started flushing. "Well, I can move my bed against one wall, and move the other-"

She whispered. "In the same bed."

Felix froze still as stone.

Ralph and Vanellope watched his face go red. Not a simple pink strawberry color, but full tomato.

Ralph looked at Calhoun. "You didn't finally break his brain, did you?"

She leaned back and smiled. "I'm not sure. Just how old is your code, Wreck-it?"

Vanellope waved a hand in front of Felix. "Wow. How do you get him out of it?"

Calhoun smiled as she puckered up her first-aid kit, and grabbed his collar.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Taffyta and Alek talked a while. Well, Taffyta talked mostly, and Alek listened. He enjoyed staring into the unusually colored eyes of the blond girl. They were practically hypnotizing. He was scared to open his mouth and scare her away.

Then, his comm beeped. He stood up. "Well, can't say it's been fun, but home's calling."

Taffyta was beginning to understand him by now. She was learning that everything he said needed to be translated. She knew nothing about other languages, but the concept would have seemed familiar here.

She stood up and brushed the sugar sand from her. "I'll walk with you to the gate."

"No need, sweetheart." He said, but he was looking at her.

She reached out and grabbed his hand in hers. "Just shut up and look cute, okay?"

He smiled. "Looking cute is my specialty. What's yours?"

Taffyta sighed. "Putting up with you, apparently."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Felix and Ralph now had the foundation complete for the row of townhouses. Felix was sorting out bits of appliances and furniture for use later.

Ralph was lying there, leaning on the end of the building, Vanellope next to him, leaning on his side. She liked the way his arm curved protectively around her.

Tamora had been right about one thing. She needed Ralph to feel safe. Her castle hadn't protected her from Candy's plans. Her companies of guards hadn't. The other racers had been clueless. But he had fought for her. As friendly and loyal as the others of her game were now, she couldn't forget that. Being outside her game, the rules of loyalty didn't affect him. He could fight for her. Always.

Sometimes she wished the rules would apply to him, too. That would help the worries she had about keeping him with her.

Ralph noticed the unusual attitude. The girl simply was never this quiet for so long. "Cookie for your thoughts."

Vanellope leaned back against Ralph and stretched. "Nothing much. Thinking. Stuff."

Ralph toyed with a bit of dangling hair with a finger. "Don't strain that brain of yours."

She smiled and dug an elbow into his ribs. "It's getting tired doing the thinking for both of us."

Calhoun was lying on her side, head propped on an elbow. She was enjoying the quiet, watching Felix, and just at peace with the world. Then her comm beeped.

She stood up. "A couple hours before the arcade opens, kids. Time for some of us to get home."

Felix dropped the piece he was holding and walked over to her. "I can walk you home."

She smiled and cupped his cheek. "That's okay, lover. You're already home." She looked over towards the other two. "Hey, Vanellope! Time to move out!"

Vanellope actually had to put some effort into getting up. She was reluctant to leave the peace and safety she had come to associate with the big lug. "Okay, okay. Sheesh." She stood on her toes and kissed Ralph on the cheek. "You heard miss bossy pants. See you later?"

Ralph rubbed a thumb on the side of her face. "Sure thing. How about Tapper's right after the arcade closes?"

She smiled as she turned. "It's a date."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Getting out of the train cars, Calhoun saw Vanellope walking with a hint of a smile. "Everything okay now?"

Vanellope nodded. "I'm doing what you said, about giving it a chance." She looked up at the blond. "Sometimes it's hard being in different games. I don't like being away from him that long." She glanced back to the Wreck-it Ralph gateway. "I don't like it at all."

They said their goodbyes, and Vanellope mentioned the meeting at Tapper's after closing. "But if you're too busy kissing Felix, it's okay if you don't make it." She smirked.

Calhoun took a slow swipe at her which she easily avoided. "We'll see, young lady. But don't come looking for us."

Vanellope waved once more as she walked to the Sugar Rush gateway. She was so lost in thought, she didn't even notice the train had stopped at the entrance. Duncan was standing there with a couple of the guards, and she waved to him as she got in her cart.

Minutes later, at the castle, she wondered why she rushed. She had a couple of hours, and it only took her seconds to dress for the game. She yawned, and thought she might just take a nap. She needed to see if her new mind set would help the dreams any.

Glitching into her pajamas, she crawled under the covers and was out instantly.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Sour Bill checked, and went straight to the throne room. Rancis and Candlehead had run there as soon as Bill told them Vanellope was back. They had hoped she would sleep.

Sour Bill led the way behind the curtain, through a hidden door, and down the passage to the code. With the napkin he provided, Candlehead pressed out the entrance code.

"Wow." Was all Rancis could say. The enormous empty space filled with the sections of the game's code spread before them.

Sour Bill handed each of them the end of a licorice rope. "Now, we don't know how long you have. So hurry."

Candlehead looked around until she saw Vanellope's code. Grabbing Rancis's hand, she shoved off, floating in the open space. She felt a bit dizzy, and looking over at Rancis, he wasn't very comfortable about it, either. She squeezed his hand, and got a small smile in return.

They stopped at Vanellope's code. Or at least, Candlehead stopped. Rancis's fingers slipped off the edge and she had to grab his rope, pulling him to a stop. He looked just a bit green.

Both of them stared at the container. They looked at each other. This was it, the last chance to turn back. They both took a deep breath, and looked as Candlehead opened the container.

And their eyes blinked at the glare. She owned a lot of stuff. Sorting through them until they found her own, personal code section. Holding her breath, Candlehead opened it.

"That's all there is to it?" Rancis looked confused. It simply looked like a picture of Vanellope, with a bunch of little arrows pointing to various parts. "How do we change her?"

Candlehead looked and thought a while. Everything in the code looked very literal. The picture is what the code was made up of. Or was it the other way around? Then there was Sour Bill's notes on what he had watched Candy do.

Holding her breath, she pressed her finger against the top of Vanellope's 'head' and pushed upwards, making 'her' taller.

Then they stared at the result.

"Is that what was supposed to happen?" Rancis asked. Because that sure didn't make it better.

They surveyed their work. Now, the code Vanellope looked like nothing more than a long stick figure.

"I think you overdid it." Rancis quipped. "Just a bit, don't you think?"

Candlehead frowned. She could fix this. Pulling downward on the head returned her to her normal shape.

"We don't have all night to figure this out, Rancis. What can we do?" she said.

He thought about it. "Well, taller means thinner, right? So just try a little bit."

She did so, just moving the head upwards a tiny bit.

Rancis was trying to understand what was happening. "Could you do something little, like… maybe make her feet smaller?"

Candlehead pressed from several directions on one overly large foot. The leg got longer. She started to understand.

"Okay. The… errr… leftover foot stuff moves somewhere else." She did the same thing to the other leg.

Rancis nodded. "Now the hands. Did you see how little the Sorceress's were compared to ours?"

Candlehead stared at him. "I didn't think you noticed her hands at all."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Never mind." She went back to adjusting the Vanellope code.

They spent the next hour moving bits of Vanellope's code around. Rancis had drawn a sketch of the Sorceress to use as a guide. They could move a bit here, shape a line there, squeeze an area smaller, or longer, or larger. Slowly, they were approaching what Candlehead was aiming for.

She looked at his drawing again. "There's no way those are going to be that big! I didn't think they were, anyway." She admonished Rancis.

"They were from my angle." Rancis countered. "I can't help it if she was three feet taller than me!"

Candlehead snorted and went back to fine tuning the image.

Finally, she was as finished as she could be.

Rancis looked at the code from different angles. "Not quite the Sorceress, is she?"

Candlehead shrugged. "But not like she was, and not as straight as that dance girl, either."

She looked at Rancis as she closed the container. "Well, we'll just have to see what happens now." She jerked a thumb back towards the entry. "Better get back."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

There was a knock at the door. Sour Bill was waking his Princess up. "Your Highness… arcade opening."

Vanellope moaned. She rolled over. She had been having the strangest dream! "Okay! I'm up! You can come in."

The door opened partway, and Sour Bill peeked his head, which in fact was his entire body, around the door.

His eyes were as big as jawbreakers, and his mouth almost, but not quite, hit the floor.

Vanellope glanced over at him. "Well, aren't you going to… what is it? I always look like this in the morning, don't…" She shifted her gaze to the mirror across the room. "…I?"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The Sorceress awoke with a start. She had a funny feeling. Not an urgent, horrible, arcade-crashing one, but rather a very real sense of… unease. Shaking her head, she got up to start a new day. She'd need to keep an eye out.