*Chapter 78*

"Ralph," Vanellope whined as she watched him attempt to pour himself a bowl of cereal. He accidentally dumped half of the box into his small bowl, causing cereal to sprawl all over the counter. He froze and looked up at her with a sheepish smile.

"I-I don't suppose you have bigger bowls," Ralph ventured as he remained frozen, "O-Or, more cereal?"

"We don't have bigger bowls, because we don't need bigger bowls," Vanellope laughed as she stood at the other end of the castle's kitchen island, "We'll have to move a lot of your stuff over after we get married, huh."

"Considering the fact that eating cereal off the counter isn't my thing," Ralph scoffed with a playful smile as he set the box of cereal down, "Yeah, probably."

Vanellope rolled her eyes with a small smile and turned around to continue what she was making on the stove. It was late morning and Vanellope and Ralph had moseyed over to Sugar Rush for late breakfast, after a long morning of cuddling in Ralph's warm bed. Her kingdom, and most of the arcade, was quiet after the rowdy New Year's celebrations. The new engaged couple were dressed in comfortable clothes, they took every opportunity they could to be lazy. Ralph tried his hardest to clean up the mess on the counter but he felt his eyes continue to catch Vanellope's voluptuous figure from across the kitchen island. He smirked and felt his face get hot. The small, light green spaghetti strap she was wearing hugged her curves beautifully, her dark brown sweats hung on her wide hips. Ralph smiled a dizzy smile and stopped what he was doing, his eyes wandered down her arm and to the gorgeous ring still planted on her ring finger. She hummed a small, happy tune to herself as she continued to idly make herself an omelet. Ralph opened his mouth to compliment her beauty, but she gently, and unknowingly, interrupted him.

"Did you see Taffyta at all on our way over here?" Vanellope chimed as her hands moved methodically, she easily prepared her delicious breakfast.

"N-no, I didn't," Ralph stammered as he continued to clean up the mess he made, his face turned beet red as his mind raced with memories of Vanellope's courageous actions the night prior, in his bed. He thanked User he was sitting down and that they were alone.

"That's so weird," Vanellope pondered to herself as she continued to work, "Usually she's up by now. Breakfast and dessert are her two favorite meals of the day. She never misses the opportunity to bake or something, for either one…"

"Maybe she's just sleeping," Ralph said gently before he furrowed his eyebrows and gazed hard into his bowl of cereal with realization; he could see Vanellope tense with the same knowing feeling.

"Wait a minute," Vanellope mumbled as she turned the setting, on the stove, to low and turned around to face Ralph. She waved the spatula around a little, her eyes scanned the kitchen as she thought, "She and Rancis shared that kiss last night after nearly a year of not being with him, they've finally solved everything, right?"

"… You don't think she-" Ralph was cut off by the sound of the castle's large front door shutting.

Ralph and Vanellope stared at each other hard in the eyes for a few brief moments before the two suddenly came alive with teasing, wide smiles. Vanellope scrambled to turn the stove off as the two quickly began to tear out of the kitchen. They raced down the hallway that lead to the castle's great hall before Vanellope quickly skid out into the open. She bumped into, none other than Taffyta. Both girls yelped as Taffyta beamed a sheepish, wide grin and took a few wary steps away from Vanellope. Ralph quickly came rocketing into the scene and nudged Vanellope a little to the side as the two beamed and panted from their sudden, morning sprint.

"Taff!" Vanellope chimed as she quickly examined the situation before her.

Vanellope's eyes widened at the fact that Taffyta was wearing Rancis's racing pants and dark brown hoodie. Taffyta's short, choppy hair was a slight mess and she had her ball gown, from last night, carefully draped in her arms. Taffyta's face immediately grew beet red as the three friends gazed at each other in stunned silence. Vanellope slowly beamed a wide, sly smile and took a step closer to Taffyta, she tenderly reached out her hand, which held her glitching powers. She knew just how to get this worm of a secret out of Taffyta.

"Guys!" Taffyta beamed as she took a nervous step backwards, she exhaled a small giggle and suddenly felt trapped, "Y-you guys look like one happy, smitten engaged couple."

"Yeah, we are. Now, how was your night, Taff?" Vanellope beamed with an eager smile as she took a looming step closer to Taffyta, which caused her to take a sheepish step back.

"O-oh, you know," Taffyta stammered as she looked around nervously, "Just peachy."

"What did you end up doing after the ball?" Vanellope said with a wide, knowing grin. Taffyta beamed a sheepish smile and knew that the cat was out of the bag, though she continued to play dumb.

"I-I just came back home," Taffyta fibbed, though she felt her heart drop with embarrassment as she could see Ralph furrow his eyebrows.

"Right, that's why you're just NOW coming home while wearing Rancis's clothes and clutching your ball gown for dear life," Ralph chuckled.

Taffyta opened her mouth to speak but squealed and lunged away as Vanellope quickly dove for her arm. Both girls immediately began to scramble down the hall. Vanellope beamed a wide smile as the two girls screamed with a joyous laughing fit. Vanellope clumsily chased her all over the hall, both their bare feet slapped against the tile. Taffyta nervously dropped her gown and heels and began to dart away from Vanellope faster. Ralph rolled his eyes and exhaled a loud chuckle as the two quickly vanished down the hall, to the kitchen. He eagerly ran to keep up with them. He entered the kitchen and found both girls tensed around the kitchen island. Taffyta was on one side while Vanellope was on the other. Both girls gripped the counter and were quick on their feet; Ralph knew it was a matter of time before Vanellope caught Taffyta, though he wondered how he could help it along.

"Taff, I just want a hug!" Vanellope fibbed as both girls heaved and panted with laughs of exhaustion.

"Bull roar, I know what you're up to," Taffyta beamed as her face turned beet red.

"You got something to hide? I just want to hug my sister," Vanellope teased with a wide smile as both girls tensed and tried to worm their way around the counter, to and away from each other.

"I-I'm not hiding anything, I just…a-am smelly, and dirty and I need a shower, so leave me alone!" Taffyta begged through their girly laughter.

"Alright, let's get this over with," Ralph barked as he quickly approached Taffyta.

Taffyta squealed and took a few steps to make her getaway but she was quickly yanked back into Ralph, his large hand grabbed hers and he quickly pulled her back to his chest. He wrapped a firm arm around her shoulders and beamed an accomplished smile at Vanellope. Vanellope threw her hand up in the air at his success and quickly ran over to the two with an eager smile.

"Ralph!" Taffyta screamed with a wide smile through giggling. She quickly began to shove her elbows into his chest as her small hands tried to pry his large one from keeping her trapped, "Not fair, not fair, SO NOT FAIR!"

"Ohh it's fair!" Vanellope beamed as she opened her palms to her pleading, playful sister, "I told you I still have a lot of payback saved up!"

"No, no, no Vanellope, NO!" Taffyta barked with a wide, pleading smile as Vanellope's hands met Taffyta's lower, struggling arms.

Vanellope glitched her hands suddenly, causing the code on Taffyta's arm to wig and buzz with delightful, electric confusion. Vanellope beamed a wide smile as Taffyta's code showed an unusual, hot orange instead of its delightful pink. Vanellope yanked her hands away and shoved them to her cheeks with utter, girly delight. Taffyta slumped in Ralph's grip and gave Vanellope a pleading, puppy dog look. Ralph threw his head back and laughed a small laugh, he wondered how he could've let himself get swept into this life with these crazy Sugar Rush smarties.

"Youuu CODE SWAPPED!" Vanellope squealed as she jumped up and down in a giddy way, her hands flailed in the air with excitement as Ralph finally eased his grip on Taffyta. Taffyta slumped her shoulders and gazed at her sister in a pathetic, sheepish, yet excited way.

"I suppose I deserve this," Taffyta said with a wide smile as Ralph gently let her go.

"Yes, you do," Vanellope beamed before she quickly glommed onto her sister; she slapped her arms around her neck. Taffyta wobbled before wrapping her arms around Vanellope's upper back.

"You guys make everything embarrassing," Taffyta mumbled, she couldn't wipe the smile from her face.

"Payback's a glitch," Vanellope sneered as she pulled away and gazed at her unfinished omelet on the stove.

"Yeah, yeah," Taffyta mumbled as she gently plopped down at the island, next to Ralph. He continued to try to clean up the mess he made, his large hands fumbled awkwardly.

"Sooo, how'd it go?" Vanellope slyly prod as she turned the stove back on and continued to finish making her omelet.

"Vanellope," Taffyta complained, though she smiled a wide, bashful smile. Ralph chuckled and stood to get milk for his cereal.

"Taffyta, you don't understand how long I've been waiting for this moment," Vanellope laughed, "Now I finally have someone to talk to about this!"

"You can talk to me," Ralph chimed, though his tone was almost that of annoyance. He smiled and sat back down next to Taffyta.

"She doesn't need to talk to you," Taffyta laughed as Vanellope began to giggle, "You're there with her, there's no secrets or anything to discuss!"

"Oh, come on, am I just chopped liver?" Ralph grumbled as he began to eat his breakfast.

"Okay, Ralph, we can talk about it," Vanellope beamed as she moved her prepared food onto a plate for herself, "Don't you just love the part where you m-"

"O-okay, okay, I get it," Ralph barked with his mouth full, his face immediately turned beet red. Taffyta threw her head back and laughed.

"You're going to live here, Ralph," Taffyta laughed, "All bets are off in this castle."

"The same rule applies to you, Ms. Taffyta Fluggerbutter," Vanellope beamed as she sat down across the island from the two; Taffyta's whole face turned red.

"Vanellope," Taffyta whined as she slumped her arms on the counter.

"I still don't know how I feel about all of this," Ralph suddenly said as he was half finished with his food, Taffyta shot him a worried look.

"What do you mean?" She asked as she furrowed her eyebrows.

"You obviously trust him with your code," Ralph said gently as he gazed in a worried, yet loving, way towards his sister, "I just hope you are confident in your decision. We care about you. The last thing we want is Rancis using this a a way to worm his way into the castle."

"You remember what you told me," Vanellope chimed, "Marriage usually is what code swapping couples end up with. And if that's the case, Rancis would end up living in the castle with us…which means he'd eventually have the password to the code room."

Taffyta heaved a long sigh and looked down. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked as if she was deep in thought, she contemplated her next move. She gently fiddled her fingers together, which were semi-hidden in Rancis's soft, dark brown hoodie. She inhaled a deep breath and looked to the side, her cheeks were blushed but her smile was faded.

"I don't want to put strain on you guys," Taffyta said softly with a frown.

"You're not straining us, Taff," Vanellope smiled as she glanced at Ralph; he kept his loving gaze down on his sister.

"It may seem like it's really soon, but Rancis has shown great improvement, and has really come around," Ralph said confidently to her.

"I'm starting to wonder if he had caught a virus after you rejected him or something," Vanellope wondered, "The way he so hungrily dove for the throne and wanted to get vengeance on you…it all doesn't sound like him at all."

"That's what I keep wondering," Taffyta said sadly, "After being with him all last night, a-and everything that happened, it made me realize just how great of a guy I threw away from myself, all those months ago."

"You often don't realize what you have until it's gone," Vanellope said sadly, though she and Ralph continued to eat quietly.

"I trust him," Taffyta said confidently and seriously, her eyes continued to be glued to the counter underneath her; Ralph and Vanellope gazed at her inquisitively.

"And we trust you, Taff," Ralph said gently.

"I could've sworn it would've been really hard to get Rancis to come back around, after this whole mess," Vanellope said seriously, "I'm almost wondering if he was oppressed with some sort of negative virus or something."

"Aren't you usually sick when you have a virus?" Ralph asked.

"There are different kinds of game viruses," Vanellope explained, "The ones that make you physically sick, like what Taffyta did to your code all last week, or there are viruses that slowly corrupt the code in your brain over time. They're extremely rare, and are hard to catch, but it has been done before."

"That's what happened to Turbo, huh," Ralph ventured as he gazed down at his empty bowl, "I hope that doesn't happen to any of us…"

"Well, it's curable," Taffyta smiled, "A game-wide reset is all it takes, though sometimes you have to mess with their brain code. The game-wide reset was all it took for Rancis, I guess."

"Brain code?" Ralph asked as he furrowed his eyebrows and gazed at Vanellope; she immediately looked sheepish.

"You can only fiddle with the brain code in the Loft," Taffyta chuckled as she rolled her eyes, "Ms. Schweetz doesn't let anyone up there."

"The Loft?" Ralph ventured again as he gazed at Vanellope curiously.

"Don't try, Ralph, even Candlehead and I have to practically bribe her to let us into the Loft, sometimes," Taffyta said in a dull, monotone voice.

"Oh, come on, you guys have been in the Loft countless times," Vanellope said as she rolled her eyes.

"It's like her sanctuary," Taffyta teased, "Supposedly, it has the best view in the whole entire castle."

"Why?" Ralph prod.

"It's the highest point of the castle," Taffyta sneered, "It's Vanellope's getaway, though it acts as a secondary, more in depth, code room."

"Interesting," Ralph breathed with a smile as he gazed at Vanellope; he wondered just how many other secrets were up her sleeve.

"It's nothing important," Vanellope rolled her eyes, "It's just where I go to think. A lot of the game's mechanics are controlled in that room, so I'm really wary of who I let into the Loft."

"I'll keep my mouth shut, then," Ralph chuckled as he lulled the spoon around in his bowl.

"Ralph," Vanellope breathed in a whiny voice, "It's nothing personal."

"She'll show you eventually," Taffyta chuckled as she nudged Ralph's large arm, "You're not programmed for this game, yet, so you can understand her wariness."

"I-I can be programmed for this game?" Ralph ventured curiously as he glanced between the two girls; they both nodded gently.

"You can give some of your programming to this game and be included in our code room, sure," Taffyta smiled, "That's what King Candy did."

"That'll be a part of your coronation," Vanellope said gently before taking a bite of her breakfast.

"How romantic," Taffyta said teasingly as she nudged Ralph's arm again; he rolled his eyes with a bashful smile.

"Speaking of romantic," Vanellope barked, "How did last night g-"

"Vanellope, I'm not telling you how or when or why things happened last night, that's so embarrassing!" Taffyta squealed. Vanellope was still surprised to see just how many different shades of pink and red her sister's face could actually turn.

"Come on, please?" Vanellope begged with a frown.

"Though I will say, I now know how you guys feel when it comes to separation," Taffyta said softly and seriously as she looked down, "I can't imagine being across the state from Rancis and not knowing if I was ever going to see him again, for a whole entire month now that we share codes."

"Now do you understand why I could hardly eat or do anything for that matter, while Ralph and I were separated?" Vanellope said, almost in an upset way. Taffyta shot her an apologetic look.

"It's a weird feeling," Taffyta said as a small smile prowled across her face, "But I like it. To be honest with you, I didn't realize how life changing code swapping would be. I'm glad we didn't get ourselves into this mess when my feelings were so wishy washy."

"You mean before you rejected him?" Ralph asked gently, Taffyta nodded.

"All of this mess we went through, all of this timing, all happened for a reason," Vanellope said softly, "Im just glad we're all finally out of the dark."

"You're telling me," Taffyta exhaled nervously, "I-I, understand if you guys still don't fully trust him yet. I'm sorry if my decisions have made life more difficult."

"I don't think it has," Vanellope said as she gently gazed at Ralph for his opinion, "Now that it's obvious that this whole entire mess revolved around you two, it's clear that the throne, and the castle, aren't in danger. Now that he has you back, I don't think he has any reason to be untrustworthy."

"Vanellope's right," Ralph breathed gently, "The whole reason Rancis went mad was because you rejected him. It's clear now, because of last night, that you're done rejecting him," Ralph said with a small laugh, causing Vanellope and Taffyta to smile.

"Yeah, this sappy stuff ain't so bad after all," Taffyta muttered to herself with a sheepish smile.

"Should we give him his racing rights back?" Vanellope asked Ralph, he looked down in thought.

"Ask me the same question at the end of this New Year's break," Ralph said softly after a few moments of contemplating silence, "Now that we have the whole, solid week to really see what he's all about, I'll have a better idea on how to answer that question towards the end of the week."

"Sounds fair to me," Taffyta said with a small smile as her and Vanellope nodded.

"I still don't want him near the castle, though," Ralph said firmly, yet softly. Both girls gazed at him for direction as he continued, "I'm sorry if that bothers you, Taffyta. I don't want to play King without the crown or anything, but I'm really protective of this game, and of you guys. I don't think he'll be getting his castle rights until after I've been crowned King. I just don't feel comfortable with that."

"Understandable," Taffyta said gently, "That doesn't offend me in any way. I'm sure Rancis won't be too upset."

"Better safe than sorry," Vanellope sighed long and hard, though she smiled as she set her fork down on her empty plate.

"So, what do you guys have planned today?" Taffyta asked as she softly rolled her sleeves up to her elbows.

"I don't think my mind has finished coming unglued from everything that happened last night," Vanellope giggled as she scratched her head; Ralph smiled a knowing smile and looked down.

"It was a bit of a doozy, huh," Taffyta chuckled as she gave Ralph a knowing look, "Must've been fun pretending that you were sick all the time."

"That was no fun," Ralph barked as he put a finger up, "It was worth it, but I was THIS close to ripping my eyeballs out."

"You definitely surprised me," Vanellope giggled, "Next time you try to get out of something, because you have a cold, I'm now going to know exactly what's up."

"We should go find the crossed stripe tree," Ralph said eagerly.

"Oh yeah, you guys going to make your wedding bands out of it?" Taffyta asked with a smile, Vanellope nodded.

"I think, since the tree is so rare, we thought it'd be safer on the castle grounds," Vanellope said gently.

"How are we going to move it?" Ralph asked curiously as he opened his large hands, "I can carry it, but unrooting it sounds like something that I would wreck completely."

"Well," Taffyta said as she lulled her head, "Looks like we'll have to turn to the only person in this game who knows gardening better than anyone."

"Rancis," Vanellope chuckled with a wide, knowing smile. Ralph furrowed his eyebrows.

"Rancis…gardens?" He said as he stifled a small laugh, Taffyta rolled her eyes.

"Sounds sissy, I know," Taffyta laughed, "But he's really good at it. He can grow candy trees like it's no one's business. He knows just about everything there is to know about every single candy fern that sprouts from the core of this game."

"It'd be wise to bring him along," Vanellope said softly.

"Hard to believe a guy who has the greenest thumb in all of Sugar Rush quickly became someone who was evil," Ralph chuckled as he nudged Taffyta; she rolled her eyes.

"Come off of it, he's not evil," Taffyta barked, Ralph gently pat the spot where he nudged her.

"I'm just teasing," Ralph said calmly with a smile, Taffyta lulled her head in his direction with a playful, annoyed smile.

"Alright, well," Vanellope started as she stood and put her plate in their large, stainless steel sink, "Should we get ready to head out then?"

"Sure," Taffyta said as the three slowly stood, her face grew red. Vanellope eyed her curiously and knew she was in for a sweet, indulgent show.