Personally, I don't like seeing Woody in this way or setting him up like this either. But like everyone else, he is a flawed character. And whether I like to admit it or not, Woody has messed up big time before. We've seen him do it! I don't own Toy Story. However, I do not regret writing this story. The title comes from an episode from the Little House on the Prairie TV show. It fits too.

I wrote this story mostly to show how anger can hurt, especially those close to us, even in the best of families! Though I consider the princess to be a "young woman", I wrote this with Mitsy feeling as sensitive as a little child.

Please read to the end, if you can handle the raw emotions in this fanfic.

"Jessie, calm down!" Woody said impatiently. He'd been trying to remain compassionate for her but his efforts to console her lately just were not working. "We're...you're not under the bed this time. Get it through your head. You're not alone now! Andy still has us, he's kept us! We're still here. Whatever Andy chooses to do with us, just remember he cares."

Jessie rolled her eyes at him. "You just don't get it!" She cried, half angry and half frightfully. "I know the signs, you don't! You're not an astrologer, cowboy. Andy's not going to keep us forever. One day...one day, he will put us away or...or give us away! I knew that someday this would happen."

"Jessie, every toy who's ever been invented has gone through the same thing, okay?" Woody said with an edge in his voice. "You're not the only one who's ever been donated." Jessie lunged at him and pinned him to the floor, glaring furiously.

"Don't you ever speak to me that way again!" She shouted. Woody had poked a sore spot with her and it had hurt her feelings excruciatingly. "And don't you dare tell me to calm down!" She exclaimed threateningly. "Just leave me alone! You hear me? Just...leave...me...ALONE!" Then she stood up and scowling down at him, turned on her heel and stomped away.

"Fine! If that's the way you want it. Fine! You don't listen to me anyway. I'll be glad to leave you alone!" Woody shouted after her. "It'll give me a chance to digest this new chapter in our lives." He muttered under his breath.

1 Week Later

Not again! Will they ever stop? We can't stand this much longer! I can't stand this much longer! Mitsy grimaced, hung her head, and clenched her fists. She wasn't the only toy in the Davis household who was feeling this way. Andy was growing up, and hadn't really played with his toys for almost 2 years, and that meant only one thing for them: high anxiety. They all wondered what their destiny would be: would they stay together? Would they be thrown away? Sold? Stored away? Forgotten?

But what was worse than having to learn to accept the reality of Andy becoming a young adult, was the constant conflict between Woody and Jessie over the future. Lately, the quarreling had become more and more frequent...and heated. When a kettle was brewing, all the other toys wanted to be anywhere else in the house. Some of them were irritated and angered by it, others were saddened. But for Mitsy, it wasn't only sadness and exasperation. To her, it was frightening. What was going to happen to their relationships? Was this the way it was going to be the rest of their lives? What if...what if Woody and Jessie became arch enemies for life? What if they never forgave each other?

Jessie had been down this road before and didn't want to go through it again. She could feel the dreaded day coming, and she'd give anything not to go through it again. She wasn't her usual self. She wasn't her hyper, fun-loving self, or trying to get someone to join her in mischief. Jessie seemed sad most of the time and didn't participate in much activity. She would give Woody a dark look in his presence whether he noticed it or not. She seemed to completely despise her brother now, and her friends weren't sure if Jessie would ever get over it. It had been ages since they'd all laughed together about anything. At first, Jessie looked to Buzz for comfort, like she always did, but when he'd tried to convince her to make up with and forgive Woody, she told Buzz to leave her alone. Every day, Buzz tried to approach her, but she always held up a halting hand, with her face both sad and stubborn. "No, Buzz," she'd say resentfully. "I will not make a move until he comes and apologizes. It was his fault!"

Everyone was dismayed at the change in Woody. Several of them like Hamm and the Potato Heads quietly accepted it as his new personality, though they missed their caring friend. But Mitsy refused to do that, she couldn't accept the sheriff's manner as permanent. Each day she hoped things would get better, but they weren't. Woody had developed a critical spirit (almost as bad as Potato Head), he was easily irritated, and looked frustrated in anger all the time. It was as if he'd given up, just quit trying to be a pillar of hope about the future. He cared less whether anyone payed attention to Jessie or not.

"Woody, what happened between you two?" Buzz had asked him. "What did you say to Jessie to make her so mad?" Woody rolled his eyes.

"I told her the truth," Woody said flatly. "And being such a hard head, she didn't want to hear it. All I said was that other toys have been through this too, that she wasn't the only one who'd ever been given away, and she practically took my head off." Woody crossed his arms and his face clouded over angrily.

"Woody, I..." Buzz started to say, but he was cut off. Woody quickly whipped his head around and glared at his best friend.

"Don't say it!" Woody snapped. "Don't tell me, Buzz, that I was too blunt. That's all she ever talks about now, that Andy will get rid of us or forget us, and I'm not going to put up with it. He's not Emily."

"Woody, you should..."

"Buzz, just leave me alone. PLEASE! Just leave me alone!" Woody groaned and walked away. But Buzz had detected not only frustration but also longing in his friend's voice.

"I was only trying to help," Buzz muttered to himself. "Ever since she left, he's been broken."

Mitsy, the young princess trusted Woody as their leader and enjoyed talking with him as a fatherly friend...or at least...she had...once. Whatever happened to her friend? Whatever happened to that compassionate manner which made her feel that she could talk to him about almost anything? Now, she barely spoke to him about anything unless she had to. She actually didn't want to be near him! He was just so grouchy now, and looked as if he was just waiting for someone to dare knock the chip off his shoulder. If he wasn't in a good mood, whoever was in his way had to listen to his unnaturally insensitive criticism and nit-picking. Mitsy knew that this wasn't like him, and that surely he didn't mean it, but it still hurt. And she couldn't help wondering: if Woody wasn't trying to be unkind, why did he keep doing it?

Slinky too, was especially disappointed in his best pal, and very hurt by Woody's anger. He'd almost always stood up for the cowboy in the past, even if no one else did and they ridiculed him for it. He too missed the sheriff's trustworthy manner and firm friendship. He'd tried to get Woody to join him in playing Checkers, but now Woody always said no and looked so flustered. The unhappy dog would ask the cowboy if there was anything he could do for him, but Woody would rudely ignore him and tell him to beat it, which really hurt Slinky's feelings. He'd seen Woody and Jessie argue before, but this was different: they were deliberately hurtful towards one another and at this tense time of uncertainty with Andy, it was just too much to swallow. Man, and we thought that being sold or stored away was painful to our little band. Slinky thought over and over. This is worse! They're making it worse by attacking each other instead of trying to hold the rest of us all together! Slinky sought companionship with the other toys, especially Mitsy his special side-kick. But he sorely missed his old friend, even though they lived in the same house! Nothing's been the same since she left! Slinky constantly thought sadly. I wish she was here! Woody really needs her right now. He misses her very much, that's why he's become such a grouch. I sure hope he gets better...soon!

Buzz had tried time and time again to keep peace in the family. He'd tried so hard to bring Woody and Jessie to their senses, but it wasn't doing any good. They didn't want to hear his advice. They weren't ready to make up. He sadly realized that his two friends were going to have to be the ones to resolve their differences, and it better be soon. However, that looked very unlikely. Even so, he did his best to watch over the other toys who needed consolation, especially the sensitive ones.

Woody had known this time with Andy was coming, and now that it was here with all the changes that came with it, he was trying to deal with it, plus he was still aching painfully over the loss of Bo Peep who'd been sold in a yard sale a few months ago. But with Jessie always freaking out about it and frightening everyone about being forgotten, he felt pressured.

The other toys had never gone through this before, but Jessie's "preparation" of them for it wasn't the most gentle one right now. Jessie had had a kid outgrow her and was dreading going through the pain again, so much so that she didn't even know what day of the week it was. But she was reacting instead of responding, and it was frightening the other toys about what was to become of them. This was such the wrong time for the cowboy and cowgirl to be at each other's throats. With all the changes coming from Andy, they should've been trying to work together and keep their friends calm, but right now they were so wrapped up in their own minds filled with worry, frustration, and stubbornness.

"Boy, if those two are going to kill each other, I wish they'd just get it over with," Potato Head groaned during a staff meeting under Andy's bed.

"Yeah," Hamm agreed. "Then maybe we'd get some peace and quiet."

"Oh, darling, don't say that!" Mrs. Potato Head said to her husband.

"Hey now, cut out that kind of talk!" Buzz scolded the two smart aleks. "We all need a break and you two are not helping."

"Sorry," Potato Head mumbled.

"But, Buzz, nothing's changed and it's getting worse," Barbie protested. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Can't you do something, Buzz?" Rex asked.

Buzz hung his head. "I've tried, guys," he sighed. "Woody and Jessie are going to have to deal with this themselves. The more I press them, the more resentful they get of my advice. It's up to them now."

"But what if they don't?" Mitsy said sadly. "I don't think they'll ever be friends again." She started to cry a little. Bullseye lowered his head and whimpered and Barbie patted his neck. Slinky placed a friendly paw on Mitsy's lap.

"If Jessie didn't talk all the time about how hopeless the future is, it wouldn't be so bad." Slinky stated.

"What's going to happen to us?" Rex whimpered.

Buzz wasn't sure what to say. He was very realistic about life, but he couldn't bear to watch his friends continue to live depressed. He looked over his sad family who were looking up to him for answers, for help. "Listen," he began. "Woody and Jessie have mostly been pretty upstanding toys. They're going through a period of struggle, we all are. They'll...they'll come around." They'd better! Oh, Bo! Nothing has been the same since you've left!

Some people you just can't help until they ask for it. I'm planning to put much more dialog in the chapters to come. If you don't like this story, you don't have to read it, but I really want you to be able to read the ending.