AN: Thank you to SylverLion and itssheriffwoody for reviewing! I'm glad you guys like it! SylverLion: I forgot all about Johnny Cash! You're right, I could totally picture Woody being a fan! :D itssheriffwoody: Thanks! I learned that I'm better at writing bittersweet/ emotional things rather than funny stories. I envy writers who can write a LOL story! One another note, I will be starting school Monday so I'm going to get really busy really quick. I'll write when I can, but I do have a couple more chapters I've been hoarding in hopes of more reviews. I will be posting them later tonight. I hope everyone likes the new chapter! :)
Bonnie came skipping into her playroom on a mission. Having heard her from down the hall, the toys had resumed their original poses. She grabbed Trixie and Dolly in one swoop, clutched Buttercup, and darted her head around the room looking until she found what she wanted.
"Ah-ha! There you are, silly!", she said as she scooped up Jesse in her arms.
Still skipping, she carried the female toys (exept Buttercup, who was considered a girl toy) from her playroom to her bedroom where a small table was set up by the window. It had a tea pot, and five matching tea cups in front of four little chairs and one slightly larger chair at the head of the table. Bonnie placed each toy on the little chairs, and then grabbed something from her bed. Jesse inwardly gasped when she saw who Bonnie was holding.
"Everyone, this is Little Bo Peep. Mommy told me her name when I bought her. She doesn't have any sheep, but isn't she pretty?"
She sat Bo at the remaining seat, and sat down at the bigger chair. She put her hand behind Jesse's head and pretended she was talking.
"Well, tarnation!", she mimicked. "Nice to meet ya, Bo!"
"We're gonna be great friends!", her voice came from Trixie this time.
"Oh my goodness, Bonnie, " Dolly said even though it was actually Bonnie talking, "Didn't you say your mom baked cookies today?"
"Hey! You're right!", agreed Bonnie, "Good idea. I'll go get some!"
She hurried out of the room and Jesse couldn't contain herself any longer.
"Gee whiz! It's you! It's you! I can't believe it's you!"
Jesse lunged toward her best friend and gave her the biggest hug she could muster. Bo was in shock, but managed to wrap her arms around the cowgirl nonetheless.
"Oh my gosh...How? When did you...Have you been...?"
The other toys look at them; confused.
"The how's a long story, we got here almost two years ago, and yes, we've been here the whole time.", she named them on her fingers and her smile grew with each point.
Bo put her hand over her heart.
"Did...Did you say ' we'?"
Jesse took Bo's hand in hers.
"Everyone's here. The Potato heads, Bullseye, Buzz, Rex, Hamm, the aliens, even Slinky!"
"Oh no, what about Woody?"
"Who?", Jesse couldn't keep a straight face, and burst out laughing. "Of course he's here, silly!"
Bo let out the breath she was holding, and playfully punched the cowgirl in the shoulder. For the first time in years, she smiled a real smile.
"Wait, you know..." Buttercup began, but was silenced by Bonnie's presence outside the room. She plopped back into her seat and placed a plate full of chocolate chip cookies on the table. The getting-to-know-Bo party went on for over an hour. After they had finished their tea and cookies, they played numerous board games and talked non-stop. Bo was anxoius to see all her old friends, and even more anxious to see her cowboy. She had the time of her life, being played with again, but her heart was screaming at her to find Woody.
Since Woody couldn't find Jesse anywhere, he decided to just forget it. He realized he didn't want to be around anyone anyway. Now he sat on the window sill, looking out at the neighborhood. In his mind, he saw Andy's car driving away, never to return. He had lost so much. His wife, the only girl he had ever loved; and his Andy. The boy who he watched grow up. Why did he have to lose so much? Deep down, he knew he was lucky to still be alive. He was lucky to find a girl like Bonnie who loved him unconditionally. He was lucky to be adopted into such a happy, loving family. But what he gained was not enough to measure up to what he had lost. Woody had been with Bo for over fifty years. They had seen wars, the first moon-landing, television, computers; they had been through it all. All of it together. And through all of the decades, and all of the different dolls each era brought; he had only had eyes for Bo.
Woody let his head fall against the glass. Memories were crashing into his mind like a stampede, and it exhausted him. Tears started to flow from his clenched eyes, and it felt as though his heart were breaking all over again.
Bonnie's mom had taken her daughter to her grandparents house for dinner, and while they were out, Jesse explained the whole story about how they came to live with Bonnie. The other toys went to the other side of the bed to give the old friends some privacy.
"Oh my, that's sounds terrible!", Bo gasped after Jesse finished.
"Nah," the cowgirl shook her head, "It was fun!"
"What about the fire though?"
Jesse grew quiet. It was hard to think about that part of the adventure. She tugged at her braid as she remembered the look on Buzz's face. It was the first time she realized that he truly loved her. Unfortunately, her fear had overcome any joy she would have felt knowing that she was truly and hoplessly loved by Buzz Lightyear. And she remembered Woody. How that brave facade he had worn for so many years finally faded. Jesse saw all the regrets in his eyes, and wished she could tell him how much he meant to her. She wanted to be brave for him. Her heart skipped a beat in remembrance. For once, she was at a loss for words. At last, she spoke the only thing she could think of.
"Woody was thinking of you."
Bo looked down. A small smile crept onto her face.
"What is it?"
She brought her hands together in front of her. It was what she did when she was contemplating something.
"I'm just...proud of my brave cowboy," she wiped a tear with the back of her hand.
Jesse put an arm around her long lost friend.
"We all were."
