Here it is, guys. The final chapter. Thank you all for sticking with me ALL the way. Stay tuned for the next "chapter," where I'll be giving out my thank-yous to everyone who's stuck with me along with my beta.

Chapter 55

"Everyone did a good job with this party, didn't they?" Taffyta pointed out as she scanned the decorated Game Central Station. She, Vanellope, and Candlehead stepped out of Sugar Rush to see the entire hub was decked in mushroom, star, and flower-shaped balloons. Multi-colored streamers hung from the ceiling, and the light fixtures glowed in red, yellow, and blue, probably signifying Peach, Daisy, and Rosalina's work. The dozen or so tables had spreads of hors d'oevres, entrees, and side dishes.

Taffyta, Vanellope, and Candlehead had just entered Game Central Station after waitng for Candlehead, who had forgotten her green choker. She'd realized it at the last minute when they were leaving the Sugar Castle, forcing Taffyta and Vanellope to wait on extra thirty minutes for the birthday racer to look for it. At least they hadn't missed too much, aside from the first music selections and first guests entering, of course.

"And get a load of the turnout," said Candlehead, scanning the area at the crowds of characters dancing, socializing, and just hanging out. Techno music played in the background. "They must have advertised this thing pretty well."

"No kidding," Vanellope agreed. She, Taffyta, and Candlehead walked toward the throngs of dancers and guests.

"There's Takeshi and Lucinda." Candlehead poited to Takuya and Lucina, chatting near one of the hors d'oeurve tables. Takuya wore a black strapless dress with her red hair in curls cascading past her shoulders. Lucina was clad in a cobalt, floor-length ball gown complete with her golden tiara. She was a princess, after all.

"And White Hair seems to be having fun," Vanellope added, noticing Sora dancing with King Dedede. She was wearing a midnight blue halter dress with her white hair falling in wisps down her back. She looked younger than she really was as she danced with the blue-robed King Dedede.

"A little too much fun, don't you think?" Taffyta folded her arms.

"Hey, guys."

The girls turned around to see Gloyd having arrived with Dark Pit. The pumpkin racer was nering an orange and black suit – symbolic of his theme – while Dark Pit entered in his usual attire, hinting to the girls that the doppelganger had little to no interest in gatherings.

"What the hell took you?" Taffyta linked her arm with Gloyd. "And why are you hanging with that dude?" She nodded to Dark Pit.

"Let's just say we had some stuff to take care of first," Dark Pit replied. "Don't worry, we were just helping someone." His gaze fell on a confused Vanellope.

"Anyway, wanna dance, Taff?" Gloyd offered.

"I've been waiting for you to ask me that all day," the strawberry racer said as she pulled Gloyd to the dance floor.

"Well, since I'm here..." Dark Pit glanced at Candlehead, who blushed and shifted away a few inches. "As long as you remember that it's only for an...'acquaintance' basis."

"Acquaintance?" Candlehead repeated.

"He means it's only a one-time thing," Vanellope clarified.

"Oh, okay. Then I'm game." Candlehead took the dark angel's hand and joined the other characters on the dance floor.

Vanellope sighed, now alone and wondering what she wanted to do. She'd truly been hoping that Ralph would say yes to her proposal to go to the ball together, but she knew that was asking for a lot. The princess had to face the fact that the Bad Guy just wasn't keen on parties, and their week-long relationship didn't change that. As far as she knew, Ralph was probably in his room in Sugar Rush lying around. Typical, she thought.

Vanellope then noticed a blonde sitting at a table by herself in a black halter dress similar to Sora's. She was turning a half-empty glass of wine around in her hand.

"Sarge?" Vanellope joined Tamora at the table.

"Go away, runt." Calhoun tried to shoo her away. "I don't know why I bothered coming. It doesn't bring my husband back. Fix-It and I were supposed to dance. Now that he's not here, it's almost pointless."

"Look, Sarge. Hammer Time will want you to move on." The princess placed a hand on Calhoun's shoulder. "You can't keep dwelling on this. It's not what Hammer Time would want."

Tamora pulled away from Vanellope. "There's no way to heal the pain. There just isn't. You know what? I need to go." The Hero's Duty lead stood up to return to her game.

"Hey, what's up, you two?" Wendee joined the two women, with Shulk by her side. Shulk was in a suit, while Wendee donned a green, mermaid dress, her pink hair cut in a bob. She noticed Calhoun starting to leave. "I know you're not leaving already."

"Yeah," Shulk agreed. "What's the deal?"

"Look, there's no point in hanging around," Tamora said. "My husband's dead, and I'm just not in the mood for dancing."

"I lost my oldest sister in the mess we had to go through. You don't see me getting up to leave." Wendee blocked the sergeant's path.

"That's not the same as losing a husband, though," Tamora countered. "You lost a sister. I lost a husband. The love of my life. The person who was going to dance with me tonight. You just don't understand."

"I think I do," Wendee said. "We both lost someone we cared about, and you know what? Both Agnes and Felix would want us to have fun. Koji and I are having fun for the first time in a while, not sitting around thinking back on depressing moments. Look at Koji over there with that Robin dude."

Tamora and Vanellope looked over to see the blue-haired siren conversing with Robin from Fire Emblem, Koji in a white ballgown with her hair in a bun and Robin in his standard, hooded attire.

"See, Koji's not dwelling on Agnes' death, but she knows that her death is going to continue to hurt. You carry the pain of losing a loved one, but you don't let it take over your life," Wendee explained. "Learn how to use that pain as motivation to move on."

"And Hammer Time wants you to do just that," added Vanellope. "Think about what he's looking at right now. How he may be feeling right now watching you."

Tamora sighed, regarding Wendee and Vanellope. Everyone had been lecturing her on her dwelling on Felix's death, saying that she needed to move on. But she couldn't move on; she'd endured the death of a loved one twice. That was it for her. She didn't know when of where she would find someone like Brad or Felix. Maybe she wouldn't look for love again. The sergeant would ponder that later, but she knew she couldn't stay at the ball any longer.

"I need to go." Calhoun pushed past Wendee to return to her game.

"We tried." Wendee sighed.

"It's not our fault," Vanellope said. "It's a crushing blow, and it's going to take a while for her to heal. She really loved Hammer Time, and the best thing for Sarge right now is to just give her her space. She lost one love before him."

"She had another one?" Wendee asked.

"Yeah,, but he was programmed into her memory, so he wasn't real," Vanellope clarified.

"We had no idea," said Shulk.

"I know." The president sighed. "But there's nothing we can do about it. She'll come around when she's ready, but I know that's not anytime soon."

"So what about your date?" Wendee glanced over Vanellope's shoulder. "Where is he?"

"She's not coming," Vanellope answered. "Ralph's not the partying type. And I expected that."

"Hey, Vanilla Finger! Got a present for ya!"

"Dragon Breath?" Vanellope turned to see Bowser approaching her, with the last person she expected to see. But he was there, clad in a black tuxedo and bare foot. His brown hair remained unkempt. "No way!"

"You were saying?" Wendee nudged the princess forward.

Vanellope stumbled from the force, slowly approaching Ralph. She could not believe the Bad Guy actually came. The princess couldn't help but wonder what Bowser did to persuade him to come.

"Ralph?" Vanellope closed the distance between herself and the wrecker. The wrecker had an uncomfortable expression on his face. "You came."

"Yeah, I did." Ralph scratched his head, blushing.

"And Ralph wants to dance," Bowser said, then headed off to join a group, leaving Vanellope and the Bad Guy alone.

The wrecker shot the Koopa King a glare, then regarded Vanellope. He shook his head.

"I thought you..." the princess began.

"Well, let's just say that I didn't have a lot to do...if you know what I mean." Ralph glanced at Bowser. The Bad Guy swore he saw a smirk on the Koopa King's face. He muttered a curse.

"To be honest..." Ralph started.

"Game Central Station! Is everyone having a good time?" Daisy's voice blared through the intercoms all over the hub's walls, cutting off Ralph's response.

The crowd roared and whooped in response. Everyone, including Vanellope and Ralph, focused their attention on Daisy, Vanellope, and Rosalina in the center of the hub.

"Good! I see we got a huge turnout for the Mushroom Ball this year even though we had to make a change in the location." Daisy continued. "You all know why, right?"

"All too well," Vanellope muttered.

"So the change, in a way, didn't affect our turnout," added Peach. "In fact, it pretty much improved it. Almost everyone from each game showed up. Good job, Game Central Station."

More cheers erupted from the crowd.

"Hope everyone's enjoying the spreads we got out here." Daisy resumed her speech. "I'm sure everyone will leave with full stomachs or not, if you dance it off tonight."

"And the music chosen by Yuni Verse and our DJ Toads have been excellent tonight," said Peach.

"Along with many more they have in store for the night. Give them a hand."

Everyone regarded three purple-spotted Toads and Yuni Verse running the DJ table next to the stage and clapped.

"Were they rocking tonight?" Ralph asked. "What did I miss?"

"I don't know," Vanellope replied. "We just got here about a half-hour ago, so we missed some some songs. Besides, I wasn't really paying attention."

The Toads and Yuni Verse bowed in response to the applause.

"Thank you again." Rosalina regarded the group, the the crowd. "Also, this wouldn't have been possible if everyone had not worked together to stop T.K.'s reign of terror. This arcade would have been lost if not for that. And for that, I thank you all. However, lives were lost in the carnage, and I would like for us to have a moment of silence to remember the deceased."

The entire Game Central Station fell silent as some characters bowed their heads while others closed their eyes. Vanellope and Ralph closed their eyes, and the princess thought back on the lost lives of all of her friends. She remembered Jubileena, Swizzle, and Crumbs, who were all turned into Cy-Bugs and died in Hero's Duty. She remembered Rancis and how he'd asked her to the ball. Vanellope was supposed to go to the ball with him, but as friends or brother and sister. She never had any romantic interests in the peanut butter cup racer, but she couldn't help bt mourn over one of her fellow racers. And she was pretty sure Rancis wanted her with Ralph should anything have happened to him.

Then there was Snow, one of her best friends, her go-to gal whenever she was troubled next to Taffyta and Candlehead. Snow had been by her side ever since her memories had returned, so the sherbet racer's death hurt her the most. Vanellope leaned against Ralph, who kissed her.

"I know, kid," the wrecker whispered, rubbing her shoulder.

"Now Sugar Rush is down to eleven racers," Vanellope said. "Not much of a Random Race now, and I don't know if King Butthead is legit racer. I'll have to look into that."

"You have plenty of time for that, Vanellope. I still have my doubts about him, though."

"Thank you all," Rosalina finally said, regaining the crowd's attention. "I know this was a someber moment for everyone, but I felt that the deceased needed to be honored one last time. And I'm certain that they are watching over us and want us to remember them as we continue to savor this night of festivities."

Peach walked up to the front of the stage. "Mario is definitely watching, and he and everyone else wants us to have fun tonight. Now for the last gasp, thank you all for making the Mushroom Ball the most memorable one and making it possible. We could not have done it without you all."

"Continue to enjoy all the dancing and hanging out you can for tonight!" Daisy announced. "And stuff your faces! We can't take all of the food with us!"

"Indeed," Rosalina agreed. "Everyone, continue to indulge in everything we have to offer for tonight."

"Princesses, signing off!" Daisy and the other two stepped off of the stage, and slow music began to play through the intercoms. Couples and pairs began to dance, while lone party goers and groups only watched.

"So, um, kid?" Ralph tried to get Vanellope's attention.

"Yeah, Ralph?" The princess regarded him.

"I was thinking about...um..." The wrecker blushed.

"What?" Vanellope asked. "You can tell me."

"That kiss," the Bad Guy finally said, scratching his head.

"Kiss?"

"The one you gave me after you saved me from T.K. You kissed me then, remember? And then you kissed me in Sugar Rush."

Vanellope thought about it for a moment, sifting through her memories, until her face brightened. "I remember. Why?"

"Well, um..." Ralph trailed off. "I was thinking..."

"Take your time, Ralph," Vanellope cut him off. "Calm down. You're getting flustered, Stinkbrain."

"Look, you're inexperienced, and it's been a while since I've done this. I mean..."

"Ralph! Chill out and say it slowly."

"I...enjoyed the kiss," Ralph finally said.

"Really?" Vanellope grinned mischievously.

The Bad Guy nodded. "I did, kid." He prompted a smile from Vanellope.

"And...?"

Ralph's face burned red. "And I want to share one with you again."

Vanellope smiled, then pulled the wrecker into a kiss. A glitch rippled through both characters, the princess and Ralph growing excited. Ralph wrapped his arms around Vanellope, tightening his embrace. More glitches ran through their bodies from Vanellope's excitement. She wouldn't let the wrecker go. Neither of them though they would evolve from friends to lovers. The times of their friendship had breezed by. They had stood by each other since they had met, and they would continue to do that. And Vanellope know Ralph was thinking the same thing.

When they parted from their kiss, Ralph said, "I'm not letting anything happen to you, kid."

"You can say the same thing about me protecting you, Major Bodyodor," Vanellope responded, peeking Ralph on the cheek. "After the T.J. fiasco, I'm not letting you out of my sight."

"I hear you, Vanellope." Ralph grinned.

"So, I know I may get a 'no' from this, but..."

"I'll dance with you, Vanellope," Ralph cut her off. "Or at least try to. I'm just here to have fun, which is the whole point of this ball. So what do you say?" The wrecker extended his hand.

"You got it, Ralph! Let's have fun!" Vanellope took the Bad Guy's hand and allowed him to guide her to the dance floor, where they continued to savor the remainder of the evening.

Once again, thanks to EVERYONE who's been with me for the past two years. Again, stay tuned for the thank you chapter.