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A couple of evenings later, Ralph asked Vanellope to come to the brick pile in Fix-it Felix. This struck her as somewhat unusual, since there were much more comfortable places to hang out elsewhere. But he had said he wanted to tell her something, and that he wanted peace and quiet.
"So what's the big news?", she asked, grinning. "You buy a toothbrush?" He chuckled faintly. "Kid…Vanellope. I don't know if you'll really get this. It's never happened to me in my life, so my head's kinda spinning about it too." He paused a moment.
"I met someone."
Her eyes widened slightly. She knew what he meant by this phrase. Suddenly any idea of jocularity fled from her mind. "Ralph…oh…that's—I love it!" She flung herself at him and hugged him. He was really kind of surprised—and relieved—at how…well, grown-up she really was. She had a long time of having nobody…and she knows I did too.
"So—details. Tell me. If you want to."
"I met her at Bad-Anon. You know that game Inferno? You might have seen a devilish-looking guy in Game Central—red skin, pitchfork, horns?" She nodded. "Not much of a news flash, but that's his game. He's always at the meeting. Name's 'Saitine'."
"Wait—not, 'Satan'?"
"No. I made that mistake with him, and he corrected me. Really nice guy, though. Well, he's got a partner in crime in that game, a she-demon named 'Aosoth'."
"What a freaky name."
"Yeah, pretty weird, huh? She said it was 'an old family name'. I guess demons have family too? I never thought about it that way before. Anyway, she and Saitine are the Bad Guys in that game. She comes to the meetings too. Never says too much. So at the last meeting a couple of nights ago, she comes up and starts talking to me out of the blue. Well, we got to talking, and then we talked some more. After the meeting she showed me around her game…and, umm…"
Vanellope broke into a smile. "Kissy-kissy-kissy?" Ralph was a little shocked to hear that come out of her. But of course even kids know about…that kind of stuff. "Umm, yeah."
"I thought you were acting a little different last night at Tapper's. You seemed really happy…but also kind of spaced out. Like your mind was somewhere else. Hm, I think I know where it was now," she said, giggling.
He still had a thoughtful look, and this brought her up short. Turning serious and putting her hand on his, she said, "Ralph—that's wonderful. I'm real happy for you. She's a lucky gal to meet someone like you."
Sometimes I just can't believe this is the same person I met a few weeks ago. His heart swelled with happiness at the changes that had happened in her life since Sugar Rush got reset. Changes that he had helped her to achieve; while she had helped to make good changes for him.
"So, y'know, I'll be spending some evenings hanging out with her now. But I want to introduce you guys soon, if things continue as well as they've been going. I think you'll like her."
"A demon? I'll bet she's awesome! Can't wait!"
It never ceased to amaze Ralph how open and accepting Vanellope was. I thought she might be kinda jealous.
After a moment, he asked, "So how's things going in Sugar Rush?"
"Amazing. Just having so much fun over there, learning the tracks. The racers are getting me up to speed on stuff. And they're fun to goof off with after hours. Everybody's really nice, even Taffyta. I think maybe everybody feels kinda bad about…everything…and wants to make me feel extra welcome."
Ralph smiled. "That's great! Glad to hear it. You met any people from other games lately?"
"Yeah, some people come up and introduce themselves. I guess I'm kind of a celebrity for the time being. Kinda fun. Kinda new."
"I know. Same thing happens to me. Seems people are a little less weird about Bad Guys these days. Sure is a nice change."
They were quiet for a while, as they thought about each other's happiness.
Then Ralph said, "You might find Aosoth a little—formal?—when you get to know her? She's pretty unusual. You know what's interesting, though? Seems she got interested in me because of what happened in Sugar Rush." He paused. "She seemed particularly interested about when I was at the mountain...and after…"
Vanellope looked at him. This somehow hadn't come up between them in the weeks since that day. I can't believe we haven't talked about that. Maybe…now, we can. "Ralph…I want to talk to you about that. To just, really, um, just tell you how…unbelievable that was. Because I saw what you did. And any time…any time I think about it, I feel like my code is fragmenting. Just like it totally did when I saw you do it. I was watching you the whole time. I was…so sorry that you had ended up there. I was being…torn apart, watching you held by him. I wanted to…" Tears began coming to her eyes. "…to fly to you. I knew I couldn't help you. But I wanted to go to you anyways." Her voice choked. "And then…and then I saw you break away on purpose. And you were falling…and I knew what that meant…and…and suddenly there was a way to go to you…I had to get to you." She paused. "I couldn't not try to save you…any more than you did the same when I said you should go."
He was tearing up as well, since any time he thought of this, he became emotional. "I couldn't. There was no way I could leave you." His voice now caught. And the two friends leaned against one another and wept, holding each other, not wanting to let go, not ever wanting to let go.
After a time, Vanellope spoke. "So…Ah…Ah-oh-soth…was interested in that?"
"Yes. I've talked about it at Bad-Anon. When we were walking and talking she just up and asked me, 'What was it like to sacrifice your life?' She's pretty direct. So I started telling her about it, and I teared up a little, like whenever I think about it, and about how I almost lost you. And after that she…she also got kind of emotional. It's kind of contagious, I guess. I think it was that whole thing that made her think she liked me." He paused for a moment, then continued. "I think…I think that it sorta rerouted her Bad Guy circuits or something. Like, she's so used to doing what she does in the game—really bad stuff, and she doesn't socialize much…so she just always believed she really was bad. You were programmed to be happy, so being alone all those years, you never believed any of the stuff anyone told you. But I mean, for her, she's in a game that's supposed to be H-E-double-hockey-sticks, right? So she's got a lot of dirty tricks in her code. And, like…knowing how to…have power over people. Like Candy did. So although she goes to Bad-Anon, maybe it hasn't really convinced her much? Kinda like I used to be?"
"Anyway, then she heard our story and I think it just blew her mind. It's the opposite of what she does in her game. And she's starting to wonder…to think other things than she was programmed with. Nice things. She said something about she and Saitine being like 'pure evil'. Or supposed to be. But they don't really feel like that when they're not playing the game. Saitine's more relaxed about that…but until recently, I think she was really uptight about it. But she got interested in what happened with you and me…and got stronger about telling her game personality to go take a hike after hours. And, y'know…what's really funny is that what's behind her whole disguise is, she's really quiet and nice. Almost shy, which is like, hilarious, right?"
Vanellope chuckled. A shy demon! Well, it takes all kinds. "She sounds cool." And within her there was a thought about herself. I know I'm a kid. Just like the other racers…who are all so happy-go-lucky. But I…I lived this whole life I never was supposed to. A hard life. I like them…but I feel so different than them. Like I'm…a grown-up and they're kids? She paused. So…I can see how Ao-…Aosoth…would be confused too. She has a role in her game. And she's proud of that, and wants to be really good at it, just like any of us. And being…that Bad all the time, and never talking to anyone else, I guess you just stop thinking about what's the programming and what's…you. She thought about some dark moments over the years in Sugar Rush. When she was so lonesome and miserable that she really thought she must be a glitch, not a racer, and somehow deserved to live all alone in a cave. But now she's starting to think about it…because of hearing about what happened, and thinking it was nice. Which, I guess, a demon isn't supposed to think. I mean, since when has a demon ever given up their life for somebody else? Kinda a contradiction in terms, huh? Yeah, she might be pretty cool to get to know.
"Yeah…I look forward to meeting her. I think all three of us have a lot in common."
Ralph smiled and replied, "Yeah—might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, huh?", and the two friends laughed.