Title: Middle of the Night

Requested by Shinigamilover2

Summary: After watching a horror movie in complete darkness with a few other Sugar Rush racers, Vanellope has terrible nightmares, but thankfully Ralph is there to comfort her. (Also, I suck at summaries. -_-)

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Romantic pairings: None

"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE?!" Vanellope practically screamed. "EVERYONE'S going to see it!"

It was Saturday night at Litwak's Arcade. All lights were off, and now that the day was done and there was no work tomorrow, every character in almost every game was roaming about Game Central Station and all other games freely.

In the middle of Game Central Station, however, two well known characters were in the middle of a very large argument.

"I don't think you're old enough to see a movie like that! And I don't care if everyone else is going!" Ralph said sternly back. Vanellope had been begging for about two hours to go see a horror movie with the other racers of Sugar Rush, and, seeing himself as her guardian, Ralph had been telling her it wasn't a good idea.

"Pwease?" Vanellope's voice was tiny as her facial expression turned into the saddest face ever; her lip pouting, her eyes large and watery. She sniffled before letting fake tears come into her eyes.

"UGH! Fine, but if you get scared, don't come crying to me!" Ralph gave up. It was no use trying to stand up to that adorable face. Immediatley, the nine-year-old's face lit up.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She screamed, hugging the huge man's leg. And then she ran off.

Ralph sighed.

"That probably wasn't a good choice…" He mumbled before turning and making his way back into his own game.

"Never forgive….Never forgive…..Never forgive…" An ominous voice moaned in the movie. The large group of Sugar Russians had agreed on seeing the movie "Woman in Black".

Many of the racers looked rather frightened while others looked totally calm. Only one, however, looked completely terrified.

Of the racers, Vanellope von Schweetz was programmed to be the youngest. President, or no president, she was. While she was stuck at the age of nine, most of the other racers were anywhere from ten to twelve. Of course, none of the children playing the game knew; this information was only in their personal files, which only the citizens of Sugar Rush had access to.

The young girl covered her fear easily, though. After living many years in nothing but fear and agony, she had learned to mask it as sarcastic remarks and a cool attitude. But on the inside, the little president was terrified.

It was close to midnight when the movie ended.

"That was….interesting." Miny Zaki stood and stretched. "Not my kind of movie, though."

"….I don't get it." Candlehead spoke in a ditzy voice. "Why was she killing little kids if she was upset about hers dying?"

Vanellope glanced around nervously as the group began making their way back to Sugar Rush. 'It was just a movie….' She kept telling herself.

It was terribly late. Game Central Station was practically silent, with the group being the only ones there. And since they were all exceptionally young, they were all insanely tired, therefore insanely quiet. Once the group entered Sugar Rush, they began to bid farewell.

"Bye, guys!" Candlehead yawned, turning and rushing to her house. The others quickly departed as well, soon leaving Vanellope all alone for the long walk back to the castle.

"Just a movie…..It was just a movie…" She whispered. She had n idea why the movie had scared her so much. It wasn't particularly scary; according to anyone else you had seen it. Wither way, she was totally freaked out. Every sound in the pitch black candy world made her jump, turning to see that it was only a chocolate bunny or a baby gummy bear. She finally made it to the castle, slowly creeping up the stairs to her bedroom. She didn't even bother to brush her teeth or change into pajamas, she just ran as quickly as she could to her bed and flew under the covers like there was an evil presence directly behind her.

"I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay!" She cooed, trying to calm her nerves. No matter how scared the young racer was, sleep overcame her quickly.

After three hours of sleep, at approximately three A.M, Vanellope began having nightmares. Terrible ones. Ones where she was killed, ones where friends were killed, ones where she lost someone close. At three thirty, the girl began thrashing about in her sleep.

"NO!" She sobbed, kicking about and crying through tightly shut eyes. "Please…." She burst awake, shooting up into a sitting position. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as her breath fell heavily.

As she looked rapidly around her room, everything seemed to turn to something scary. Even her rejected Princess Dress for special occasions that hung in her closet turned into something horrific. She felt weak and alone…And scared. She quickly did the only thing a girl her age could; grab her security blanket and run to her guardian's house. Ralph's house.

She began sobbing loudly again as she sat on the train to Fix it Felix Jr. It moved so slowly, and in the darkness, everything around her seemed to be staring back, glaring at her, frightening her. She clutched the small programmed blanket close to her chest and forced her eyes shut.

"I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay…" She began cooing again. As the train slowed to a stop, she scurried out and flew to Ralph's new home. She didn't stop at the door. She fumbled around and found Ralph's spare key-Hidden under the door mat- and silently opened the door. She quietly crept inside.

"R-Ralph?" Her voice cracked and echoed as she spoke through tears. "A-Are you there?" This was met with a moan as a light in the other room flickered on.

"Who's there?" A cranky voice groaned.

"Ralph!" Vanellope ran carelessly up to the groggy man exiting his room and hugged his leg tightly.

"Vanellope? What happened?" Ralph leaned down and lifted the sobbing girl into his arms.

"I had a nightmare…" She mumbled. Ralph sighed.

"I told you not to see that movie." He soon realized that Vanellope didn't care about any of that. All she wanted-needed was to be comforted.

"Sshh…" He cooed, hugging her. "No one's hurt….You're okay…" Vanellope continued sobbing, her face buried in his shirt. After realizing nothing would help except for a good night's sleep, Ralph set Vanellope down on the ground.

"Would you like to stay over here for the night?" Vanellope nodded wordlessly, looking up at Ralph as if asking him to carry her to wherever she was supposed to sleep. He knew she was too old for this treatment, but if it would help her feel better, it didn't matter. He picked her up and carried her to the guest room.

Almost immediately upon entering, Vanellope looked up at Ralph with pleading eyes, as if to say, "I don't want to be alone…" Ralph's heart caved in. He couldn't stand leaving the girl alone, so, sighing, he turned out of the room and into his.

"Tomorrow you'll go back to Sugar Rush, okay?" He never got an answer. Vanellope had fallen asleep again. He didn't have two beds in his room, just the one, so he had no choice but to lay Vanellope in the bed beside him.

"Goodnight." He mumbled.

"Goo….nigh…." The muffled response was quiet. He looked at the child beside him. A sleepy smile was twitching on her face. He had made her happy, and that was all that matter.

TA-DA! :D I had fun writing this chapter. It's a bit sappy, I know, and not funny at all, but hey, I got it done within two days of when I said I would right? It's not my best, but I like it. My next chapter will be a funny one, I promise!

Comment with your ideas as always, and I'd love to hear what you thought of today's chapter!