Authorship of this chapter belongs to Diane Clifford. Enjoy, and don't forget to leave us a review! :D


Chapter 4 - Year Three

It was afternoon in late December. It had been raining for most of the day, and Andy was slumped at the kitchen table. The raindrops pattered against the windowsill and the young boy gave a groan of despair.

Mrs. Davis was standing by the counter, mixing the batter for a cake. She turned to look over her shoulder at her young son fondly. Andy caught his mother's eye and sighed.

"Mom, I'm bored."

"Why don't you play with some of your new toys you got for Christmas?" Mrs. Davis suggested, turning back to add more milk to the mixture in front of her.

"I played with them all already." Andy complained.

"Even the new Transformers I got you?" Mrs. Davis asked.

Andy nodded. "Yeah, and they're really awesome, Mom, but there's only so many times I want to transform them back and forth from a really cool robot into a car, or a fire truck, or even that Movor one that turns into a space shuttle!"

Mrs. Davis smiled to herself. "Speaking of which, I think a certain someone borrowed some of your toys for her tea party. How about you go play with Molly?"

Andy's eyes widened. "Mom! She's a girl!"

"And your sister."

"Which only makes it worse." Andy grimaced. "She's such a snot."

"Andy Davis!" Mrs. Davis threw the spoon she was using into the bowl and turned around to face her ten-year-old son. "For that, you can march yourself right upstairs to play with your sister. And no arguments!"


"Remind me never to say I'm bored in front of Mom again," Andy muttered to Woody under his breath. He was sitting in his little sister's room. Three-year-old Molly was toddling about, messing with the toy kitchen set she had received as a generous present for Christmas.

"Andy? Do ya want some cakey?" She lisped from behind the 'kitchen', opening the miniature oven door and bringing out a fake sponge cake on a plate.

Andy sighed a little and rolled his eyes. "Fine."

"It's good cake," Molly lisped, bringing it over to the table. She set it down, moved Jessie from the table to a chair, then pinged Buzz's helmet open so he could eat some of the 'cake'.

"Heehee, Andy play." She giggled, flopping down on her rear end and waving her arms about. Andy gave another sigh and made Woody 'drink' from a plastic teacup.

"Kids! How about some real cake?" Mrs. Davis shouted up from the kitchen, and Andy grinned widely. His mother's interruption meant only one thing – freedom.

"C'mon Molly!" He dropped Woody on the table and hoisted the still giggling toddler into his arms, almost running from the room in his attempt to get away from the girly game.

When the two children were gone, Woody lifted himself into a sitting position. Jessie crawled onto the table next to him, and Buzz shifted in the plastic chair he had been stuck into.

"I've never been to a tea party before," Jessie said thoughtfully. She prodded the plastic cake that still sat in the middle of the table. "Can't say I'm a huge fan, though."

Woody grinned. "It's not the first one I've been to. Probably won't be the last, either." He smirked and glanced at Buzz. "Of course, some of us would rather it be our last."

Jessie tilted her head at her brother. "What do you mean?"

Woody kept the smile on his face. "Oh I think a certain toy amongst us enjoys the odd tea party more than he lets on."

Jessie blinked, and looked across at Buzz, who was still struggling to get out of the plastic chair he had been wedged into. "Buzz?"

"W-w-what?" Buzz's head snapped up as he finally wrestled himself out of the chair prison.

"You like tea parties?"

Buzz's face went white as he realised what the other two were talking about. "Erm.." the flashback to two years previous made him just as uncomfortable now as it did around the time.

"Sure," Woody butted in to answer for Buzz. "He loves them. He even gets dressed up, dontcha Buzz?"

"U-u-u-uh..." This was not good, and Buzz knew it. Noticing Buzz's chagrin, Woody pressed on, much to the spacetoy's horror.

"He even changed his name at the last one. Refused to be addressed by the name Buzz Lightyear at all…"

Buzz was utterly dumbstruck by what Woody was doing. Across from him, Jessie's eyes widened for a moment as Woody went on.

"As I also recall, when I caught up with him in the middle of it all, he had some sort of frantic, nervous breakdown. Gabbling and all sorts about being a sham and not being able to fly. I think he may even have mentioned the name he wanted to be called by….what was that now…?" Woody put a hand up to his chin, thinking for a moment or two.

Buzz couldn't believe it. He swallowed; this was nothing short of a train wreck. He stayed silent, hoping Woody wouldn't remember what the name was. If the cowboy did, then he, Buzz Lightyear, could probably wave goodbye to any romantic intentions he might have had towards the little cowgirl sitting in proximity to him right now.

"Mrs. Nesbitt, wasn't it, Buzz?" Woody turned to grin widely at the distraught space toy.

Buzz blinked and shuffled backwards, casting a glance at Jessie. To his surprise, she didn't look very amused by Woody's antics at all. To further his astonishment, she then reached out and pinched Woody sharply on the arm, making the cowboy yelp.

"Leave him alone, Woody, ya big meanie," she said firmly. "Can't you see he's mortified enough as it is?!" She gestured across at Buzz, who was blinking fast in an effort to keep calm.

Woody glanced between Jessie and Buzz, and was about to spill the beans even more about Buzz's time at Hannah's tea party when they heard footsteps in the hallway. Andy came running back in as they all dropped back into toy mode.

The young boy picked Woody up off the table. "C'mon Woody! There's homemade cinnamon and pecan sponge cake downstairs!" He yanked Woody's pull string and the voice box sounded.

"Yee-haw! Giddyup, pardner! We've gotta get this wagon train a-movin!"

Andy gave a delighted laugh and turned to run from the room. From down the hall Jessie and Buzz could hear the voice box sound again.

"This town ain't big enough for the two of us!"

Jessie hoisted herself into an upright position before straightening her hat. She looked over at Buzz, who was sitting there on the tea table with a mortified expression on his face. He hadn't dared to look at her, she noticed, which made a change from the usual.

"Don't worry about what Woody was saying, Buzzy. You know I don't think any less of you, right?"

Buzz couldn't bring himself to look at her. "Y-y-you don't?"

"Nah, silly britches. Why would I? I think it's kinda cute." Jessie smiled brightly.

"O-oh." Buzz stuttered, finally lifting his head. Their gaze met and he gulped. She was radiating a warm stare in his direction, something he hadn't been expecting. Shyly, he felt a small smile prick the corners of his mouth – and an all too familiar heat prod at his wing tips, too.

The moment was dashed when she stood up to come over to him. As she settled back down to kneel directly in front of him, her chest came about level with his eyes. Within a moment or less there was an audible ka-chunk as he lost the battle with his innermost thoughts, and his wings popped out.

Jessie's eyes widened as she watched the wings tips blink red and green, then gave him a amused look. "However, we should really do something about that problem of yours."

"P-p-p-problem?" Buzz stuttered, shuffling backwards a little more. "I don't have a p-p-p-problem."

Jessie leaned over to push the red button on his chest and gave him a wink. "I think you do, Buzzy boy. I seriously think you do."