WARNING! SPOILERS FOR TOY STORY 3!
"Settling In"
Things were different, there was no doubt about it.
It had been years, but Woody could still remember seeing everyone gradually be replaced by shinier toys, playtimes becoming more infrequent, could recall the sudden, startling realization that Andy was growing up and his old toys weren't invited. Watching old friends be taken and not come back.
And each rescue was more difficult than the last, and every time it was harder to hide from suspicious eyes that were just sure that old figurine had been put out on sale with the other unwanted childhood relics.
And everyone was happy now. It had been difficult back in the toy chest, huddling together in the dark, never certain if you-or someone you loved-would be next to go.
Until one visiting cousin had been so enamored with her that Molly had given her up right then and there, and there had been no time to get her back.
And they were freer than they'd been in ages, happier, more optimistic, more relaxed. It could have been tense and uncomfortable, mixing two separate, tight-knit groups of toys, but they'd fit together seamlessly. Everyone was friendly with everyone else and some just found they meshed together.
From her letters, Barbie had never been happier than she was with Ken. Rex had grown very attached to Trixie and she was just as fond as him, often dragging him off to play video games or act as an audience for her improv practice. The Potatoheads had all but adopted their second set of green triplets in the peas, and Bullseye had found something of a kindred spirit in Totoro. Hamm revealed his hidden love of classical theater in long discussions with Mr. Pricklepants, and Slinky and Buttercup found common ground as the pragmatists among starry-eyed fantasists. Jessie was a social butterfly, but she seemed to relate to Chuckles the most of Bonnie's original toys.
And then there was Buzz, who was always just there. He enjoyed the new company but hadn't become particularly close with any of their new companions. As that meant he spent most of his time with Jessie or Woody, Woody was glad, ashamed as he was to admit it to himself.
But despite everything, Woody couldn't quite adjust. Some small part of him kept estimating how quickly he could get back to toy chest if someone started coming, wondering how to pass time with everyone up in the attic. Expecting the hand that held him to be Andy's.
"Penny for your thoughts, Sheriff."
"Hmm?" Woody shook off his reverie and turned to see Dolly settling next to him on the ledge overlooking Bonnie's room where he was perched. "Keep your penny. I don't want to overcharge you."
Beneath them Mr. Pricklepants was soliloquizing to an audience of Hamm, Totoro, Bullseye, and Buttercup. The Potatoheads were scolding the aliens and the peas for getting tangled up in Slinky during an enthusiastic game of tag. Jessie was coercing a clearly-not-very-reluctant Buzz into dancing while Rex and Trixie watched and tried to mimic their steps.
"It took me a while to get settled in when I first came here too," Dolly said eventually.
"Bonnie's not your first owner?" Woody asked, surprised.
"No, that would be her cousin." Dolly smiled nostalgically. "I loved her, of course, but I was never Anabelle's favorite toy-that was Raggedy Andy." And Woody thought he recognized that exact note of fondness in her voice. "But then she got older... Raggedy'd already had to save me from a few garage sales and donation boxes, and when Bonnie came to visit, she loved me so much Anabelle just gave me up right then and there. Haven't been back since."
"I'm sorry," Woody said sincerely, though he was thinking of someone else.
He'd waited and waited, but it was years before the cousin visited again and when she did, she didn't bring Bo with her.
But Dolly waved a hand dismissively. "Don't be. Of course it was hard at first, but the toys here are great and Bonnie's a wonderful little girl. This is a good place to be, even if it's different."
That was when he'd finally given up.
"I guess." Woody gazed out over Bonnie's room. The Potatoheads had managed to free their adoptive children but became entangled themselves in the process. Mr. Pricklepants finished his performance to enthusiastic applause and that group joined Rex and Trixie in dancing badly. They were all perfectly happy. Woody sighed. "It's just...hard. Thinking of old times." He looked away. "Old friends."
"I know what you mean," Dolly said sympathetically, and when Woody looked back at her, he believed that she did. "It's not easy, and it shouldn't be, really. But at the risk of sounding trite/platitudinous, part of them will always be with you."
And it was a long time before he could think of her without a pervasive pang of sorrow and loneliness, but he's moved on eventually.
Woody smiled at her, and it couldn't be called a happy smile, but it wasn't exactly miserable either. "I know. I like it here and I think I can learn to love it, but-"
"Take your time, cowboy," Dolly said understandingly. "Bonnie's still a little girl; there's plenty of time."
Slinky had managed to disentangle everyone from himself and they joined the others on the dance floor. For a moment, Woody considered going down with them but decided that, though there were places that he'd rather be, this was the best of those available. He smiled at Dolly, a real smile this time, and her answering grin felt a bit like home.
And he never stopped missing her, but eventually remembering stopped being so painful that he'd couldn't look back fondly.
So they sat together in companionable silence and watched the others fool around down below, and Woody felt like he might be able to get used to this after all.
Because things were different, no doubt about that, but they weren't bad.
And he couldn't ask for better company.
A/N: Guess you just saw Toy Story 3. 3 I'm so used to sequels being terrible, I'm always shocked when a good one pops up.
Written because I want Woody to be happy and the bit about Bo at the beginning was INCREDIBLY SAD. So here you have post-Woody/Bo, pre-Woody/Dolly (with some Buzz/Jessie, Barbie/Ken, Potatoheads, possible-Rex/Trixie mixed in for flavor).
:D