It's important to note that this story takes place after my alternate ending to the Toy Story franchise. But if you're not interested and just want to see some old friends again, then all you really need to know is this: The toys still did end up with a new owner (both less and more coincidentally, depending on which AE you go with out of the two I've written), this one by the name Michael Ryan, who has an older sister well-acquainted with Andy since childhood. And...that's all. Enjoy!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light.
From now on, our troubles will be out of sight.

Buzz danced stiffly – or rather hopped in one place, swaying his body from side to side, atop Michael's lap regardless of the slow and soothing tempo of the renowned Christmas song playing on the radio. The sleeve of the young boy's red ski jacket was solicitously used to clear away a minor blemish on Buzz's helmet. He smiled at the clearness of the transparent plastic when he finished.

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas," Ashley began to sing after turning the wheel to vigilantly swerve the slippery corner, "Make the Yule-tide gay. From now on, our troubles will be miles away." She smiled into the rear-view mirror at her little brother's attempt to hide his giggle behind Buzz's hefty figure. "Can you sing this one?"

Michael shook his head.

"Which one can you sing? What about that one you learned in school?"

After a moment of just tracing the distinguishable purple lines on Buzz's space suit, he started to sing his rendition of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas', quickly becoming lost with the lyrics.

Ashley laughed. "We'll work on that." She turned the radio music back up.

For one of the hottest summers of the year, the cold December weather brought to the Tri-County area certainly made up for it. Snow coated the grounds thoroughly, leaving the roads both slushy and slippery, much to their parents' concern. But after planning this well-deserved night out even as they were all preparing for final exams, there was nothing that would stand in their way.

Ever so diligently, Ashley pulled their family van into the driveway, stopping just before the light blue van parked directly in front. Michael held Buzz up to the slightly fogged-up window so he could see that familiar house with the number 234 standing out quite clearly against the brick, giving him a chance to observe the Christmas lights partially up along the edges of the roof.

Ashley unbuckled her seatbelt after turning off the ignition. "'You wanna come?"

"Yeah," he immediately responded, unbuckling his own seatbelt as well.

Slamming the door shut behind her, Ashley moved over and pried open the sliding door. Michael, excited, wasted no time hopping out of the car, Buzz tucked under his arm with care. Taking his sister's hand, he was led up the snow-layered path to the front door.

"Are we gonna stay?" Michael inquired.

"Mm, not long, probably," she confirmed after ringing the door bell. "We've still got some time before everyone else shows up."

They waited for a second before hearing a call from deep inside the house followed by the scurrying of feet. It wasn't long before the door was drawn open, causing the Christmas wreath hanging from a hook on the door to swing somewhat.

"Hi," Mrs. Davis proclaimed, her lips quickly forming an enthused grin.

Much like her own mother, Mrs. Davis had aged well over the years. Although her height had dwindled somewhat, she still appeared as young and vibrant as she'd always been twelve years ago.

"How are you, Mrs. Davis?" Ashley said with a matching smile.

"Fine, fine, come on in." She stepped out of the way to allow them into the warmth of the Davis home. Ashley reminded Michael to kick the snow and slush off of his boots before stepping in. They took a moment to admire the Christmas decorations around the inside of the house as the door was shut behind them, blocking out the cold, brisk air that had been rushing in.

Michael raised Buzz up to his chest, facing him forward to give him a chance to observe the beautifully-decorated interior. He particularly grew fond of the red, silver and gold ornaments hanging from the branches of the Christmas tree in their living room.

"Let me take your coats," Mrs. Davis insisted, ignoring Ashley's assurances that they were fine. Mrs. Davis proceeded in assisting Michael in removing his jacket after he had slipped off his mittens attached with yarn inside. "How are you, Michael?"

"Good," Michael replied timidly. He pulled Buzz closer to him.

She strode over to the banister to hang their coats. "Andy's just up in the attic. You're welcome to wait in the living room for him."

Ashley looked over at the staircase. "Actually, I think we'll surprise him." She patted her little brother on the back. "Take off your boots, buddy."

As soon as his feet were free of his damp snow boots, Michael was scurrying up the flight of stairs. His sister followed not far behind, taking the time to also run her fingers admiringly across a red bow tied to one of the faux evergreen branches that covered the banister.

Turning into the upstairs hallway, Michael's sock-covered feet slid across the floorboards in an attempt to come to a quick halt when he saw the attic ladder extending down.

He heard his sister laugh at his sudden reluctance. "It's an attic. You know how we have a basement? It's like that, but upstairs." She chortled again when Michael hesitated to touch the ladder. "Come on. We'll go together."

With that, after politely taking Buzz from his hands, Ashley proceeded to assist her brother onto the ladder. It didn't take Michael long to get the hang of it, remembering how he would climb the ladder at the playground.

They both managed to stick their heads into the spacious attic simultaneously. "'Whack-a-mole'," Ashley pronounced, also lifting Buzz up so his top half was visible over the edge of the floor's opening.

Andy was startled at first at the sound of her voice. From where he stood over a large box, one of the many that filled the cluttered attic, he turned around and smiled upon the sight of the two of them poking their heads into the room. "Hey."

"Hi, Andy," Michael said first and foremost. He quickly climbed up onto the squeaky floorboards and dashed towards the familiar boy. He threw his arms around Andy's now-crouched figure.

"What's up, little man?"

"Look." He unattached himself from Andy and hurried back to his sister, who was maladroitly trying to get herself up over the edge. He picked Buzz up (much to Andy's amusement, causing Ashley's pleased face to falter) and brought him to Andy.

Andy's grin widened. "Hey, Buzz," he said. With Michael's silent permission, he accepted Buzz from him and held the toy up for his viewing pleasure, nostalgia coming in swiftly. "I see you're looking cool as usual." He turned him around for a 360 degree inspection. "Wow, have you even played with him yet?" he questioned as he observed Buzz's untarnished figure.

"Oh, Andy, don't even get me started."

He chortled, as did Michael. "Very well. Back to your duties, Space Ranger." He handed Buzz back to the young boy.

"What'cha up to?" Ashley asked.

"I…" Andy declared, returning to the stack of boxes in the corner, "am looking for some more outdoor lights, which will likely be tangled, which I will likely get stuck untangling."

"I'll help you look."

He nodded gratefully. "Thanks."

All the while, Michael had already begun to explore the attic full of dusty, forgotten remnants, or as he saw them, long-lost treasures available for him to discover. The first thing he pulled out was an old, bronze candle-holder. He reeled back when another one fell over, causing a loud clank as it hit a corroded, discoloured flat pan.

"Michael, don't touch anything."

"That's all right. Let him have fun. There are probably some old toys up here he might like."

Ashley huffed. "'Cause, you know, you haven't given him enough toys."

Andy laughed. "There's no such thing as too many toys."

"Tell that to my parents."

Deciding to go ahead despite his sister's initial prohibition – a single 'yes' from one elder is enough for any kid, after all – Michael proceeded to continue rummaging through the Davis' storage as Ashley and Andy searched for Christmas lights. Oftentimes, he would come across the interesting object like a dart board or an old typewriter. But after pushing away an old rocking chair, he soon came across a box labelled '25¢' with the flaps flipped shut. His eyes twinkled with interest. He set Buzz down on the floor beside the box before prying open the flaps.

"I think I found them," Ashley announced. From inside a tall box, she pulled out part of a long strand of thick wire with multicoloured light bulbs.

Andy nodded with a sigh. "All right. Let's assess the damage."

As Andy kneeled down beside the box and began the arduous task of getting the knots out, at the corner of her eye, Ashley noticed Michael intently leaning over another box at the opposite end of the room. "What'd you find there, Michael?"

From deep within the box, Michael pulled out a brown and beige egg-shaped figure with a face on it.

Andy stared over his shoulder. "Ah, must be some old yard sale stuff."

Michael popped open the Troika to reveal a smaller blue one.

"You can keep those if you like. They're a lot of fun."

Ashley gave her brother a knowing look. "What do you say?"

"Thank you," Michael declared. He snapped the plastic egg shut and placed it on the floor next to Buzz.

As the two teenagers distantly watched Michael return to rummaging through the contents of the old box of yard sale items that never sold, Ashley was shaking her head. She turned to Andy. "Push-over. Now every time he comes here, he's gonna go searching through your stuff for things you'll say he can have."

"No harm, no foul," Andy replied.

She rolled her eyes. Andy was going to return his attention to the tangled wad of Christmas lights until the image of Michael staring at them through small, peacock-blue binoculars with orange legs appeared at the corner of his eye. He chuckled at the almost cartoon-comical sight.

"I see you," Michael giggled in response to Andy's amusement.

Andy waved. "Try winding him up."

Michael did just that. When he was finished, he set the toy down and watched it walk across the floorboards. He giggled again when it walked into Buzz, continuing to step forward without any further displacement.

"If you want that, you-"

"Oh, no you don't." Andy couldn't help but laugh at Ashley's abrupt interruption. She placed her fists on her hips.

"My mom will be more than just grateful if we got rid of some of the stuff up here. If anything, he's doing us the favour. Let him take what he likes."

Meanwhile, as Michael waited for the appropriate permission, Buzz managed to adjust his head enough to catch a glimpse of Lenny, who had finally come to a stop and was standing by his arm. He didn't attempt to prevent the grin from forming on his lips when he saw Lenny's eyes shift towards him. From behind the wind-up toy, the largest Troika quietly opened itself to reveal the second largest, who opened itself to reveal the third largest, and so on. Buzz's surprised but satisfied grin widened upon the sight of them all.

When Ashley finally gave in to Andy's acceptable logic, Michael excitedly pulled out the things he liked from the box. Not many toys filled it as much as old knick-knacks and kitchen appliances, but of Andy's old, unsold toys, Michael further selected the ones that appealed to him most: a figure of a heavy-weight wrestler, an Etch-a-Sketch magic screen, and a squeaky rubber shark.

In the meantime, Andy had given up with the knotted chord of Christmas lights. "I'll finish the rest later," he affirmed. He grabbed the box by the flaps.

"All right-y. Come on, Michael. 'You finished?"

After one final brief search of the same box, he eventually nodded his head. "Yeah."

Andy set the box down near the opening in the floor next to the ladder before approaching Michael and his small pile of old, used toys he'd formed. "Let's see what you got."

While Andy glanced over the toys Michael had selected to take home with him, Michael's eyes suddenly became fixed on something sitting atop a wooden table near the very back of the room. An old bird cage blocked his chance for a full view of it. But the faded light pink and white was quite clear.

"You have chosen wisely, Michael-san," Andy decreed, setting down the Etch-a-Sketch.

"What's that?" Michael asked, pointing towards the figure.

Andy looked forward. "The bird cage?"

"No."

He looked again. "Oh, that." He returned to his feet and, stepping over a few boxes and other sorts of obstacles, made his way over to the table. "This was Molly's," he said, picking it up. "But I think I probably must've played with it more than her. She liked her Barbie dolls better."

Buzz, who continued to wait patiently by the old yard sale box among the other toys, perked his head up in almost unfathomable curiosity, wishing that Michael had set him down on the other side of the box so he could see.

"She's pretty."

Andy bent down to his level, holding firmly onto it. "Yeah, she is." With one breath, he blew on it, relieving it of as much as the dust as a single exhale could rid of. "She's kind, too. And wise. Even if she does tend to lose her sheep sometimes."

Buzz's eyes widened.

"'Can't blame her, I guess. They're wild things."

Michael giggled.

"The lamp should still work." Andy pulled the electrical cord over from where it had dragged along the floor. "I know it looks like something more for girls, but she makes a good damsel."

After a moment, they both turned to Ashley almost concurrently.

Ashley shrugged her shoulders. "Don't look at me. Michael's gotta be careful with it."

"I will."

Andy nodded. "I know you will. Here, let me get a box."

Buzz heard a subtle clatter of heavy glass against the floorboards just behind the cardboard wall blocking his view. The sound was long-forgotten, but still familiar. He was reminded of the day of the yard sale that changed the toys' lives for the worse, some more so than others. But when Michael knelt down and gently removed a certain part of that lamp, as he listened to Michael's quiet mumbles meant to be coherent dialogue in his mind's eye, he immediately knew that Jessie and Mrs. Potato Head would be gaining some pleasant, long-sought company.

But most importantly, he could not wait to see the expression on Woody's face.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Ah, Christmas: easily one of my favourite times of the year. I know it's still rather early, but because this story will be multi-chaptered, I thought it best to begin it now, especially since my exams end so late this year.

So, I'd usually say to expect the next chapter soon, but I'm not entirely sure yet. Rest assured that the story won't go unfinished before Christmas Eve.