Disclaimer: I don't own Toy Story

Set a little after TS3, so it may be better to read after watching the movie.

Pairing is Woody x Jessie. Don't like, don't read please.

"Wow—…"

The sight beyond the windows was more than enough to take her breath away.

88 –You and Me–

Jessie was beyond professional when it came to sneaking to a certain location without waking or being noticed by other toys or humans. She would always do this; every night if she needed to. She would quietly sneak out of the toy box and climb up on a chair, then on top of a desk before reaching to her final destination—to the window. It was a good thing that Bonnie likes to keep her window blinds open, especially during the night since she'd be scared if her room was too dark that she wouldn't be able to go to sleep. With the blinds open however, the light of the street lamp from afar and the gentle moonlight in the sky would keep Bonnie's room somewhat brighter, making Bonnie comfortable enough to sleep.

Bonnie wasn't the only one uncomfortable in darkness. Jessie was too, even perhaps feeling more uneasy than Bonnie could ever be. Her life stuck inside the cold dark storage had ended long ago, and despite the fact comparing herself to the one back then, she can deal with the darkness better, although still never fully. Jessie hated herself for not being able to overcome her biggest fear, but as much as she tried to, the more it backfired on her. The more she tried to fight against or suppress the fear, the more she got afraid and soon the feeling of wanting to run away from it dominates her heart and commands her to just do so. But many of her toy friends were, fortunately, very kind and understood her pain and feelings. They would always tell her to just take one step at a time, and to never rush in order to overcome her fears completely. Ever since her friend's kind advice Jessie decided not to rush the process or suppress her fear, and every night when she encounters with it, instead she found herself a new way to deal with it.

When darkness got too close to Jessie, she would evacuate to the window in Bonnie's room. There, she would gaze upon the moon which it always gently embraced her with its soft light. Except tonight, something was different. The moon was nowhere to be found in the sky, but instead, billions of stars were glittering down on Jessie on the wide black velvet, as if each star were winking at her every time it twinkled.

"Wow—…" Jessie sighed as she gazed into the sky, totally breathtaken by its most splendid view. She was so amused that, did not notice another toy had came up to the window.

"Jessie? Is that you?"

A soft, concerning voice from behind made Jessie jump in surprise. She turned around, and saw Woody standing in front of her with a worried look on his face. Jessie blinked, not so sure what to say to him, but suddenly a big smile streaked across her face as she took Woody's hand and pulled him closer to the window.

"Woody, you've got to see this!" Jessie whispered excitedly, Woody stumbled to the window confused, but gasped when he saw what was in the sky. Jessie smiled, feeling happy that she was able to give him a little surprise.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Jessie asked Woody quietly. Woody smiled at her as he put a finger in front of his lips giving her a quick "shh" sign. Then, he soundlessly flipped open the lock and slowly slid opened the window to the side, making just a small space enough for the two toys to slip out. Woody went out first, carefully landing his feet on the lower roof.

"C'mon Jess, it's okay." Woody said as he offered a hand to Jessie. Jessie, without giving it a second thought, took Woody's hand and went outside of the room as well. Jessie was willing to do just about anything to get away from the darkness inside the stuffed toy box, and now that she has company, there was absolutely no way that she wasn't going to get out of Bonnie's room to have a little adventure.

"It's a little steep, so be careful." Woody told Jessie as he kept on his way to the top of the roof. Jessie continued, being extra cautious on where to step. Jessie has never been out on the roof at Bonnie's house before. She looked at Woody, who was climbing right in front of her and wondered if this was his first time too. But when she thought back about the way he flipped opened the window lock, or the way he's climbing up the roof now, something was telling her this wasn't his first time. Finally, Woody made it up on to the top and helped Jessie up before they both sat down to look at the beautiful sparkling silver stars in the blackest sky.

"A lot better than watching behind the windows, isn't it?" Woody asked Jessie proudly, Jessie giggled and nodded in response. Woody was right. The view was much better out here than from the inside. From here the parts which were hindered by trees or the houses were able to see perfectly, as the stars seemed brighter and clearer outside than seeing it before the glass of the windows. Jessie enjoyed watching the starts here on the top of the roof ever so much, especially with Woody. Usually Jessie was alone when she was dealing with her fears; but tonight she was away from the darkness, under the bright shining stars with her favorite Sheriff. Just that, but it was definitely enough to make Jessie's night very happy and special.

"So, what were you doing out of the toy box?" Woody started gently. "Do you…still have some trouble going to sleep at night?" Woody's voice changed into that worried tone again which made Jessie feel very sorry for him since she hated to make people worried due to her childish fears that she hasn't gone over yet. Jessie frowned as she gradually took her eyes off of the stars for the first time, and faced Woody to answer him.

"Yeah…" Jessie said quietly as she stroked her braid nervously. "I guess traumas don't die so easily…just like old habits." Jessie tried to make the last part to sound like a joke, although Woody didn't laugh. He smiled weakly as he placed his hand on Jessie's as he was to comfort her from her distress.

"Not everyone's perfect Jess. Me, or not even Buzz." Woody said calmly as he slightly gripped Jessie's hand into his. "Now I hate to see you struggling alone, we all hate it. And I'm pretty sure all of our friends have gone through some sort of hardships of their own and—heck, like I'm going through mine right now!"

"Really?" Jessie asked worriedly as she tightened her grip on Woody's hand, as now it was her turn to be worried about him. "What is it that's bothering you, Woody?" Jessie gasped, "Is it me?"

"No, no, no, you could never bother me, Jess!" Woody immediately comforted, using his free hand to stroke his hand across Jessie's cheek. Jessie gave him a weak smile of relief as Woody gave her the same, and let out a heavy sigh.

"Sometimes, I still think I haven't completely gone over Andy yet." Woody started, "I love Bonnie, and I know she loves me, she loves all of us, equally…but every once in a while I have dreams where Andy's just a boy again and I'm his favorite toy and, you know…" Woody trailed off, his expression sinking. Jessie squeezed his hand letting him know that she's listening; Woody answered her with a weak smile and continued on after letting out another sigh.

"Now I'm not saying that this dream is a nightmare. That actually starts when I wake up. I open my eyes and I see Bonnie sleeping—and that's when I realize everything and find myself awfully disappointed."

"…About what?" Jessie asked, not knowing if she really wanted to know.

"Me!" Woody exclaimed. "Andy's gone to college, I have a new owner and she loves me! A part of me knows that I should be happy with her, but another part of me is still lingering on Andy, not wanting to let go."

Even I told him 'So long' on the day we were all given to Bonnie. Woody finished, looking hurt, but somewhat relieved now that he got his feelings off his chest. Jessie remained silent having so many thoughts swirling around inside her head, not able to do anything but to hold Woody's hand tightly in to hers, as that was the least she could do for Woody for now. Woody looked down at his hand that was locked with Jessie's. He smiled at it as he, in his mind, thanked her for listening to him and being with him tonight.

"So I like to come up here, whenever I need some time alone, or when I'm just…"

"Feeling too down on yourself?" Jessie finished, feeling like if she knew exactly how Woody felt at the moment since that's how she felt when she went to the window, until she saw the marvelous view out in the night sky.

"Yeah…" Woody replied quietly, Jessie smiled gently and looked up into the sky once again.

"I figured this wasn't your first time coming up here."

"Oh, yeah?" Woody chuckled slightly, "Well I reckoned it's nice up here, it's quiet, got some soothing cool breeze and –a great view!"

Woody said as he reached his hand into the sky, as he was to grasp the bright stars above. Jessie agreed, though feeling a bit too cold from the breeze, but enjoyed her stay on top of the roof with Woody nonetheless. Jessie never knew how observing the stars at night could be so relaxing. Maybe she was feeling comfortable enough because she had company; she had Woody by her side, but she stopped thinking about it further more as she got more into the stars, especially looking into the seven stars that seemed to be shining brightly than all the others around it. Woody noticed Jessie, and looked up in the sky to find what she seemed to be looking at.

"Oh, that's the Big Dipper." Woody told Jessie. Jessie turned to face back at Woody, and then gazed up into the sky again. "The Big Dipper?"

"Yeah," Woody said as he pointed at the stars. "It's one of the common constellations you can find. See those three stars lined up? And they're four more just right about next to them, two on each side." Woody explained as he pointed at each of the stars to make sure Jessie was looking at the right ones, trying to get her to see the bigger picture.

"And if you look at all those seven as a whole, you'll see—a 'big dipper.'" Woody finished, Jessie didn't say a word as she fixed her gaze on the stars for a good several seconds and then suddenly,

"Oh! I see it!"

She exclaimed happily. "Yeah I guess it does look like a dipper." Jessie laughed as she playfully traced the constellation with her finger in the air. Woody let a warm smile to run across his face to see her partner happy, completely free from her fears and anxiety for the moment.

"Might as well you should try looking for it when you have the chance to see stars again, they're one of the constellations you can find all throughout the year."

"You mean there are one's we can't see 'em out there?" Jessie cried in slight disappointment. Woody had to think for a moment to gather up what he knew about the stars and constellations before getting back to Jessie's question.

"Well, yes but there are ones you can see during the winter, Jessie." Woody answered as he went on thinking, almost as he was talking to himself rather than to Jessie. "Now if I remember correctly, the Big Dipper isn't one of the official eighty-eight constellations 'cause I know it was—"

"Eighty-eight!" Jessie interrupted, excitedly. "Wow, there's that many?" Woody was most delighted to see Jessie interested in the subject, that, he found himself enjoying talking and sharing things like this with her. He smiled wide and answered back to her, excited just as much.

"Yeah! Well, not that you can see them all at once though." said Woody.

"How do you know all these stuff, Woody?" Jessie asked curiously.

Suddenly the excitement disappeared from Woody's expressions, his smile fading weak. Jessie realized she might have asked a bad question, but before she could say anything else, Woody answered her in a calmer tone.

"I needed something to keep myself busy while Andy was away for school, or…ever since he stopped playing with toys." Woody said sadly, but strange enough, he didn't sound like as he was in pain; Jessie let him continue on. "I read it off from one of many of Andy's books, when we were all still his. He had a lot of interesting books, ya know?"

"Hm," Jessie thought, "I reckon' he had more comic books than regular reading books." Woody laughed at her statement, thinking that it might have been true. "Sure, Jess, maybe he did…"

Jessie thought to herself as she gave Woody a warm smile, trying to recall the last time she had ever had a time to talk with Woody like this. It seemed so long ago, longer before than the last time she had a good play time with Andy when he was still a child. It felt so nice and relaxing spending time with Woody and of course, it was fun. She noticed Woody was going through some hardships of his own, but by having this small moment together, simply just chatting, and laughing—Jessie was happy to know she was able to give him time of peace and comfort.

"Do you know any other constellations up there?" Jessie asked, "I hardly know any of 'em."

"Well, let's see…" Woody began to focus on the stars for a moment, and then pointed at a several group of stars he found as he started to explain. Jessie listened, following Woody's finger to see which group of stars he was pointing at. She watched the glimmering stars as Woody's voice flowed into her ears like a soothing lullaby. She never felt so comfortable around anybody else before, not even when she was around Buzz. Jessie turned her head to see Woody, who was eagerly explaining about the specific constellation. Jessie couldn't help but to gaze at his profile in admiration, his strong look fixed upon the stars was more than enough to lure Jessie into his clear brown eyes.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Woody asked, facing Jessie.

"It sure is…" Jessie answered dreamily, as she wasn't quite sure if she meant Woody or the stars.

Suddenly, a cool breeze blew in. It felt nice, however, made Jessie shiver slightly and rub her arms for warmth. She had felt the place a bit cold from the beginning, and since now they have been out on the roof for quite some time, it started to make Jessie feel colder. Woody, on the other hand, seemed to deal fine with the cold looked at Jessie worriedly and gently rubbed her back to warm her up.

"Are you okay? I guess we should be heading back before the wind gets any worse." Woody told as he tried to stand up, but was stopped by Jessie clinging onto his arm.

"No, it's okay." Said Jessie, "I can handle the cold; I want to stay a bit longer, please?" Jessie pleaded, not wanting this comfortable moment to end too soon. "That's if you don't mind, of course." She added, timidly.

"Of course not," Woody said obviously, "I was just worried if you were—" Woody's words were cut off when Jessie squeezed on to his arm tight. Woody was surprised at this first, but eventually smiled at Jessie in defeat, letting her do as she pleased. Jessie was glad and happy of the fact Woody didn't reject her, she rested her head on Woody's shoulder to enjoy the rest of the moment with Woody.

Just when she was thinking if things could get any better, Woody slightly scooted back, and shifted himself to the side to sit right behind Jessie. He then wrapped both of his arms around her from behind to embrace her into a warm hug. Jessie, her mind blank, froze inside his arms trying to recall what just happened.

"There," Woody began softly, "This should keep you warm from the cold."

Jessie could feel her heart getting filled with happiness, why, she could have sworn she'd be crying in joy now if she was human. But instead, a smile streaked across her face and eventually turned out into a cute cheerful laugh.

"What?" Woody asked with a smile, slightly embarrassed.

"No, nothing." Jessie told him, still chuckling from her laughter. She leaned back on Woody as she gazed up into the sky, her eyes first spotting the Big Dipper and then all the other stars scattered in the sky.

"Hey, Woody?" Jessie called him quietly.

"Yes, Jess?" Woody responded, holding her tighter when another breeze blew through them.

"I have a feeling I can sleep well tonight." Jessie said, nuzzling her head against Woody's shoulder.

"That's good," Woody replied warmly, "and I think I can do the same too."

The stars glittered endlessly in the night sky, gently looking down at the two toys.

End

Thank you for reading. I did a little research on constellations and the Big Dipper before writing this fic, but I would like to apologize if there were any errors regarding them, or any other errors in general.