*Chapter 66*
Taffyta, Vanellope and Ralph slowly began to head down a small path that lead them West from the castle and the racer's neighborhood. They arrived to a wide open field; acres and acres of sprawling grassland sat still in Sugar Rush's gradual morning. The wind rustled the sweet grass, causing the whole field to look like a sea of lush. Sugar Rush's sky sprinkled soft, morning rain. It kissed the cold morning air, Sugar Rush boasted with deliciousness. The three were silent as they slowly trudged across a small portion of the field. They came to a delicately crafted gazebo, it had a small sitting table underneath. It was crowned with luscious ivy and hibernating honeysuckles. Taffyta was first to reach the gazebo; she hung onto one of the pillars and gazed out to the grass land with uncertainty. Vanellope glanced at Ralph with a worried look as she very slowly approached her sister. Ralph gently stepped underneath the tall gazebo and cautiously kept a little bit of distance between himself and the two girls. Vanellope carefully held onto Taffyta's arm, she gazed at her sister lovingly.
"Taffyta, what's wrong," Vanellope worried. Taffyta looked absolutely distressed.
She gazed out to the swaying, forever sprawling grassland. Their home sweet home of a castle looked mighty in the far distance. It gleamed with a soft, white glow in the dim morning sun that peaked through rain clouds. Vanellope gazed intently into Taffyta's eyes which were fixed on the distance. They billowed with tears. Vanellope inhaled a shaky breath and felt her heart drop. She couldn't remember the last time she saw Taffyta well up with tears, let alone cry.
"This whole mess," Taffyta started shakily, "…Is all my fault."
"Taff," Vanellope scoffed in disbelief with a small smile as she looked down.
"None of this mess would've happened if it weren't for me and my stupid decisions," Taffyta growled to herself, "I just had to open my fat mouth."
"Taffyta, what on Earth are you talking about?" Vanellope worried; she could feel Ralph's intent gaze practically glued to the two girls.
"I should've never filled Rancis' head with those white lies," Taffyta said, half to herself. Vanellope furrowed her eyebrows.
"Taffyta, what are you saying?" Vanellope said deeply, though her voice shook. She could feel Sugar Rush envelop the two with confusion.
Taffyta inhaled a shaky breath as tears streamed her rosy cheeks. She sniffled a few times and looked down to the ground, her eyes producing more tears than Vanellope ever thought was possible. She grit her teeth and hugged herself; tears slapped her arms and the ground under her.
"Taffyta," Vanellope started as she put her hand on her shoulder, "You're really worrying me. What is going on?"
"I'm the reason Rancis went mad," Taffyta uttered loudly as she kept her eyes glued to the sprawling grassland before her.
"W-what?" Vanellope flinched as she cautiously removed her hand from her sister's shoulder.
"It's my fault he went puppy dogging after you," Taffyta barked as tears streamed her face; Vanellope flinched again and took a step away from Taffyta as she inhaled shakily to continue, "It's my fault he made that dreaded sword! It's my fault all of this happened!"
"Taffyta, how? Why?" Vanellope breathed in disbelief as she gazed at her sister with uncertainty; she began to shake.
Ralph slowly stood and took a step or two closer to the girls as he could sense Taffyta's sudden fervor and intensity. Vanellope looked scared as she gazed at her sister with uncertainty, as if she didn't recognize her. Taffyta covered her face and silently sobbed. Vanellope quickly looked at Ralph, her eyes confused. Ralph furrowed his eyebrows at her in confusion before Taffyta inhaled a shaky, sudden breath.
"Rancis and I were dating," Taffyta admitted through stammering, choking inhales as she crossed her arms again. Ralph's and Vanellope's eyes widened at the same time.
"Y-you…when was this?" Vanellope asked in soft shock, hoping not to send Taffyta into a whirlwind rage.
"I-I think it was before he wrote those stupid notes to you and Ralph," Taffyta said gently, "Before you and Ralph had that year and a half split."
"What lies did you tell him?" Ralph chimed in softly, "Surely you didn't cause any of this."
"After our upgrade," Taffyta started before she inhaled a few sharp, shaky breaths, "Our relationship started to become serious and that scared me."
"How long were you guys together?" Vanellope asked, trying desperately to hide her shock.
"About half a year," Taffyta uttered as more tears spilled down her cheeks, "W-we, were getting in too deep. He suddenly became hungry for more. H-he asked me how I felt about marriage a-and code swaps…he told me he loved me and it scared me. I suddenly felt as if I was being pushed towards something I wasn't totally ready for."
"So what did you do?" Vanellope urged as she tried her hardest to wrap her mind around all of this.
"Something I shouldn't have," Taffyta breathed plainly, yet in an annoyed tone, through her stuffed up nose; she sniffled sharply. A few tears cascaded down her cheeks and slapped against her collar bones. She tugged her dark pink hoodie closer to herself and shivered just barely.
"You pushed him towards Vanellope," Ralph said for her, his eyes locked onto her as her gorgeous blue eyes slowly slid from the ground up into Ralph's.
"I-I told him that, Vanellope was looking for a King for Sugar Rush," Taffyta stated nervously as she looked back down to the ground; she could feel the whole arcade practically spin as Vanellope's gentle gaze slowly became angry on Taffyta.
"You tricked him," Vanellope said deeply as she furrowed her eyebrows, she could feel a sudden surge of wrecking code shoot through her, "I was never intently searching for a King for Sugar Rush…"
"I-I felt as if I didn't have a choice," Taffyta urged.
"He didn't want to be King," Vanellope said, her voice got louder; Ralph put his hand on her shoulder to quell her.
"Vanellope," Ralph urged; Vanellope shoved his hand away but she kept her eyes glued to Taffyta.
"He didn't make that stupid sword to impress me," Vanellope hollered in Taffyta's face, "He made that sword to spite YOU!"
"Vanellope," Taffyta urged as she exhaled a pleading sob.
"You broke his heart," Vanellope shouted, "You tricked him so you could rid yourself of a challenge that could've wound up to be something so great, and so…so beautiful!"
"I was scared!" Taffyta urged as she gazed Vanellope in the eyes, "I-I've never felt so close to someone, and when he started mentioning marriage, it just…I-I'm not correctly wired for this bull roar!"
"Living happily ever after with your best friend DOES sound pretty terrifying, Taff," Vanellope barked sarcastically; Taffyta flinched.
"I-I didn't want to lock myself down into something that could've turned sour," Taffyta pleaded, "I-I didn't want to split our group of friends."
"Taffyta, I told you the SAME exact thing when I was worrying about mine and Ralph's relationship," Vanellope hollered, "So now that we're on opposite sides of the grid, here's a delicious taste of your own medicine. 'You're worrying about all the flaws and negative things that could've happened.' Have you ever tried looking at the positive things that could've been? You never know what could've happened if you just took a leap of faith. Things could've turned out beautifully, and you would never know because you were too scared to take things farther."
Taffyta gazed at Vanellope long and hard as the three fell silent. Taffyta's lip quivered as tears streamed her beautiful, rosy cheeks. Her blue eyes looked lost, yet found all at the same time. She blinked a few times before letting her shoulders slowly slump; her sister quickly calling check mate on her heart.
Vanellope inhaled slowly but kept her demeanor stern and firm, "It's about time you guys wreck the limits."
Taffyta gazed hard into Vanellope's eyes, feeling as if she had suddenly been beaten in her own game. Vanellope gazed back at her with a sisterly care, though she still looked upset and confused.
"It's too late, now," Taffyta finally said as she looked down.
"After every single little thing we've been through," Vanellope started as she finally softened, "Nothing is ever too late…But, I can't believe you'd do something like that to me, to Sugar Rush, and ESPECIALLY to poor Rancis…"
"I'm sorry…I'm, so sorry," Taffyta urged softly, "I panicked. I had to get him away from me as fast as I possibly could. Once I told him that the kingdom was up for grabs, he quickly forgot about me."
"I think you're wrong," Ralph suddenly chimed; both girls flinched and gazed up at Ralph as he inhaled to continue, "You put Vanellope's well-being, and all of Sugar Rush, on the line by sending Rancis after her. It sounds like, the only reason he fought for Vanellope's attention, was clearly to spite you. He wanted you to watch, as he swept another girl off of her feet, the princess of Sugar Rush, no less. He wanted to watch you squirm and regret your decision to send him away. But when Vanellope didn't totally sway to his liking, he slowly went mad."
"Then the second Ralph returned, he probably realized he didn't stand a single chance against him. He knew he couldn't have you, or me," Vanellope explained, everything quickly coming full circle, "So he opted to trying to kill Ralph…that was the only way to get Ralph out of my life for good."
"He tried to kill Felix, knowing full well that without Felix, my game and myself would cease to exist," Ralph said gently.
The three were silent with knowing, sudden revival. Ralph inhaled a deep breath and gazed down at his two racers; Vanellope looked intent and stern while Taffyta looked as if her code had been half erased. Sugar Rush shook as the circle of confusion finally came together, it sparked their square of the grid as everything quickly became as clear as an EZ Living day.
"I'm, so sorry," Taffyta whispered as she looked down. Tears continued to stream her face as she inhaled a startled breath, "I'm so sorry for all the confusion and hurt I've put you guys through…I had no clue it all would've escalated to everything that has happened."
"I think, after everything that has happened, it'd be stupid of me not to forgive you and just look at this mess as a blessing in disguise," Vanellope said softly to her sister, her loving tone was palpable, though her arms still shook with quelling anger.
Taffyta practically shook to her core as she shoved her hands to her face. She cried into her hands, her shoulders trembled. Vanellope frowned a hard, saddened frown and immediately yanked her sister into her arms. She hugged Taffyta around her neck and glued her sister to her as she rubbed her shoulder softly. Taffyta firmly buried her face into Vanellope's neck and the shoulder of her mint hoodie. She cried silently as her arms slapped around Vanellope's upper back. She clung to her sister for dear life.
"I-I'm so sorry for all this damage," Taffyta whimpered into Vanellope's shoulder, "It's my fault Rancis wrote those notes that split you and Ralph. It's all my fault. I-I didn't mean for any of this to happen…I didn't think about anyone but myself."
"It's okay, Taff," Vanellope breathed softly as she held the back of her sister's head, she didn't dare let her go, "It's okay, it's all in the past."
"What can I do to make it up to you?" Taffyta urged gently as she inhaled a few shaky breaths, her arms and hands clung to her sister. Vanellope slowly let go of Taffyta and put her hands on her shoulders firmly. She gave Taffyta a small, playful smile.
"You can make nice with Rancis," Vanellope said with a small breath of a chuckle, "So I can finally tease you about having a boyfriend for once."
"I-I think that's probably doable," Taffyta said as a smile finally broke across her face. She looked down shyly; Vanellope was more than floored to see Taffyta's cheeks sincerely blush, over a boy, for the first time.
"All those months of embarrassing me," Vanellope laughed softly as she shook her sister's shoulders, "They're all about to come back to you!"
"Fine, fine," Taffyta laughed as she wiped her cheeks a few times, "I deserve it for how much I tease you and Ralph…"
"Yes, you do," Ralph chuckled.
"Promise me something," Vanellope said gently as she held onto her sister. Taffyta looked at her with sincerity as Vanellope inhaled to continue, "No more secret keeping."
"I've learned my lesson," Taffyta urged as she gazed down to the ground. Vanellope smiled and squeezed her shoulders gently.
"I love you, Taff," Vanellope said after a few moments of peace between the three. Vanellope kept her hands glued to Taffyta's shoulders. Taffyta smiled softly as her eyes billowed with more tears.
"I love you too, Vanellope," Taffyta whimpered as she slowly shoved her forehead to Vanellope's shoulder. Vanellope chuckled and hugged her sister tight.
"Everything is okay," Vanellope said gently with a smile, "I'm glad everything is finally back to normal."
"Everything is cleared up, Rancis is back, Sugar Rush is home," Ralph listed as he gently rested both his hands on both girl's shoulders before him. They pulled away from their hug as their eyes gazed up at Ralph happily, "Now, Let's keep it this way. I think I would enjoy some peace for a little bit."
"Don't jinx it," Taffyta chuckled as she rubbed her face free of tears; her eyes looked red and exhausted, but she had a glowing air about her. She looked renewed, as if the husk that had been hiding her away had suddenly vanished. Vanellope admired her sister with a loving smile.
"I'm glad we have the week off for New Year's, this year," Vanellope started as the three seemingly inhaled a deep, cleansing breath of fresh air, "I think we ALL need a break."
"This is going to be one exciting New Years, that's for sure," Taffyta said with a smile, trying not to sound too eager for Ralph's secret.
"I can finally go to the ball with someone I actually want to go with," Vanellope laughed as she gazed up at Ralph. He beamed and chuckled as Taffyta nudged his arm.
"No more fake dates to make you mad, no more excuses that dances aren't my thing," Ralph listed as he nodded and lulled his head, "I get it, that's a thing of the past."
"Better believe it," Vanellope sneered; Taffyta and Ralph chuckled as they shared a knowing look.
