Author's note: This story is based off one of the earlier drafts for 'Inside Out,' in which apparently, Joy and Fear would have been the two lost in Riley's mind. While I do strongly agree, that Sadness was a better choice for the film, since I found out about this fact, I have been wondering how things would have gone if Joy bottled up Fear instead, and since I've known about this site for a few years now, that led to this story. This is officially my second Inside Out story, and I hope that you enjoy it. If you've been a reader of my stories for a few months now, which is true for most of my friends, then you might be confused as to why a Roman numeral technically starts off the story. Well, at my decision, it is my new style for Inside out stories, though I'll use the same style for my stories from other fandoms. Thank you for reading this author's note and story, now, since I'm sure that you've been waiting, let's go on!

I

At first, there was nothing but darkness.

It was around this time when a glowing, yellow, emotion stepped out. She didn't know where she had come from, or what this place was.

Where am I? What is this place?

She looked around in amazement, still a bit confused as to why she was there, and what she was supposed to do. Stepping into a room and using her glow as a flashlight of some sort, she continued to glance around, confused though pleased.

It was then that she saw the controls; simple they were, though to her, considering that she hadn't seen much before these controls, she found it to be the most fascinating thing that she had even seen. Well, that is before she had looked up at the screen above her.

Wow. This is all just so amazing.

Right she was. Happy though thoroughly conflicted at what to do, she pressed a button that she saw on the controls, and what happened next surprised her. It was at this moment, that she could've sworn she heard a giggle, or at least a similar sound, from the child. It pleased the emotion to see what she could do.

I made her make that adorable noise. That was all me, and just me.

For another moment, she just stared up at the screen, a huge smile planted on her face.

"Riley," a man's voice said happily. "Whoa. Look at you. Aren't you a little bundle of joy?"

Joy. My name must be Joy. I'm Joy. And this, this must be Riley. She makes the most adoring sounds.

Not long after she had witnessed this, something small, yellow, and round came rolling in. Hearing this, she turned around and saw the ball-like shape wandering down up to a place that Joy didn't know of yet. Curious about this, she walked over to it and picked up. Looking at it, she saw the memory of little Riley's parents showing their happiness at having a baby girl.

"Whoa," Joy mumbled, flabbergasted by this.

She then put this memory down and allowed it to continue rolling, not taking a single glance away from it. It was then that she decided these things, whatever they were, were worth protecting, because they were so astonishing. She continued to watch as the memory rolled up.

Whatever this is is amazing. I've got to make more of these.

For a second, she stood and admired everything around her, and just how amazing everything was. This was her home, and she already liked it.

Wanting to make more memories as she had promised herself, she pressed the button again, just to hear the baby giggle. Hearing this made Joy feel all giddy inside, as if when she made a memory, she made another baby. That was how good she felt whenever she made Riley giggle.

This is amazing. It'll be just Riley and me forever.

It was then that, while admiring the screen, she noticed that Riley was beginning to act up a little. What she eventually heard were the exact opposite of the giggles she had heard when she pressed a button; no, instead she saw Riley begin to fuss.

Wha – what's happening? This can't be good! Riley's supposed to make that cute sound, not make whatever sound she's making right now! I have to fix this!

Once Riley began screaming, though not as loud as she would have if she were angry, this was when Joy felt that she should take over the controls. She quickly looked over to see what the matter was, and instead of this possibly being a malfunction like she had hoped, she instead saw a tall, purple, emotion with one hair. With great fear, he was pushing the button, closing his eyes tightly.

Who is this? What are they doing here? They're ruining everything! Now Riley's being a loud mess instead of a bundle of joy, like that man said!

Joy had to do everything in her system to be nice to this emotion, with her joyous thoughts stopping her from scowling, though she would've liked to. Having a feeling that this thing would've introduce himself, she decided to take the first step.

"Umm, excuse me, but who are you?" Joy asked, barely being able to stand hearing Riley – her Riley – scream anymore.

At this, the taller emotion screamed.

"Whups, sorry, didn't mean to scare ya there."

"I-I'm Fear," he told her. "W-Who are you? Are you evil?"

"Oh, well, hello, Fear, I'm Joy," Joy said, sounding unsure of herself as the emotion went back to closing his eyes, though still pressing the button. "And I'm pretty sure that I'm not evil, since I like happiness and, err, fun."

Despite attempting to not make it so oblivious, Joy attempted to push the emotion away from the controls, preferring to hear Riley happy again, as opposed to as loud and fearful as he was making her.

"So… can I just, if you could…"

She tried to make herself known, though Fear didn't listen, allowing his fear to take over, and continuing to click the button.

"I don't know, let me fix that…"

Eventually, she had to make herself known, softly nudging the emotion aside, and getting back to the controls.

"Thanks."

Instead of responding with a proper 'you're welcome,' the other emotion cowered in fear.

"Augh!" Fear screamed. "You just touched me!"

"So?" Joy asked, smiling and practically ignoring Fear's complaints as she repeatedly pushed the button.

"What if you're sick?" Fear asked.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that up here, we don't get sick, so you don't have to worry so much, Fear," Joy told him, continuing to ignore him after saying this.

"But what if they change the rules!" Fear stammered on. "Then you might get sick and your touch might've gotten me sick and" –

"Calm down, Fear, I'm pretty sure that we don't have rules, either, and even if we did, they won't be mean enough to do that," Joy assured him.

This did calm the emotion down, though to Joy's chagrin, he only found even more things to fuss and complain about. While she didn't voice her opinions to avoid hurting Fear's feelings, she knew deep, deep, down that she probably wasn't going to like him.

Geez, can he even calm down for just a second? I mean, sure his name is Fear, so it's kind of expected, but does he have to be so fearful of everything? Does he have to be so fearful of me? I didn't even do anything to him, and yet he wants to know if I'm sick or not. I'm going to have to do everything in my power to make sure that Riley's happy, and not as fearful as he wants her to be. He'll just ruin her life.

Once again looking up at the screen as the only emotion currently with her ran around, screaming like a lunatic, Joy made a vow to both herself and Riley, the baby girl that she would apparently be taking care of.

Riley, no matter what happens, or whoever else comes in after this guy, Fear, I will always make sure that you're happy. That's my promise, and I will always keep this promise.

Little did the beaming emotion know, eleven years later, keeping this promise would be much, much, harder.

I hope that you enjoyed the first chapter here. I hope that everyone was in character. I understand how Joy might seem a bit out of character, but you have to admit that at some points in the film, she was pretty obnoxious and rude, but it's a bit more subtle. Don't you remember when she didn't deny that Sadness was annoying? That in itself was pretty rude, and I mean, she had a freaking 'Sadness' circle, basically bottling up any sadness that Riley should've felt for the remainder of the film. Anyway, I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it, but really, if you haven't, go see it. The movie is pure awesomeness, sadness, and just… it's amazing. In fact, I've never said this before, but along with the Toy Story trilogy, it's one of my favorite Pixar movies, and if Toy Story didn't exist, it'd definitely be my absolute favorite Pixar movie. By the way, if you prefer stories with cover art, I hope to be getting cover art for this story soon. Anyway, toddles, and I hope you have a good Thursday. Since I don't really have to do much today, aside from update a few stories and sleep for the remaining day, I know I will.