Christmas Day simply comes and goes. It's never done that before. Mom is eager to take down the tree and the decorations, doing so as soon as June is finished opening her presents. By supper time, even with the festive dinner laid out before the family, the house looks like Winter, and nothing more. It looks cold, bleak, and stale.

June is trying to look forward to Thursday, when we are going to visit Justice at the hospital and open some belated presents with him while he's in between treatments, but Joy is still having difficulty with the console, which is setting her excitement back. After numerous attempts to work it as smoothly as she once had, Joy throws her hands up in the air and slaps her sides. "What is the matter with this thing? Most of the pieces have been reinstalled, we've updated the drivers, we're going to visit Justice and Fear has been adjusting it non-stop…why can't it just work for me?"

I nod half-heartedly to her, wishing it would work for anyone else. I'm getting so tired…letting someone else man the console would be such a relief…someone other than Fear, who is visibly beginning to break under the demand for his constant attention. He sways on his feet now, fighting to keep his eyes open, to remain eternally wakeful and alert. It seems the harder he fights with himself, the worse his condition gets. His knees buckle, and more than once I've seen him lose consciousness and collapse onto the panel, coming with the adverse results of recalling unwanted memories, or jarring June with sudden realizations or brand new things to worry about when Fear feverishly comes to.

As he surveys the View of Mom and Dad getting ready to drive out to the hospital, his bloodshot eyes begin to flutter and roll back into his head as his consciousness slips again. Disgust and Joy, having been watching him over their shoulders, are quick to react, catching him by either arm. Fear moans in their grasps as they guide him back toward his chair and lower him into it. He opens his eyes again, dizzily registering the console and sighing a tired, hopeless sigh.

Disgust regards him piteously and retreats to the break room, where I am sure he is headed to prepare him yet another cup of tea, while Joy ensures Fear is at least as comfortable as he can be. She stoops and fixes his bow tie for him after smoothing out wrinkles in his vest. "You poor thing. There, now, just have a seat. You must be exhausted…"

Fear, after some hesitation, takes his eyes away from the foot of the console and blinks back up to her. "...I'm sorry, Joy...did you ask me something?"

Underscoring her point.

She sighs and smiles sadly, shaking her head, just as Disgust returns with a warm cup of tea. Disgust guides Fear's hands and fingers into position before offering the weight of the cup to them entirely. Fear's hands shake so badly that red tea spills over the edges of the cup, and he is overeager for a sip he can just barely manage.

"Never mind, Fear," soothes Joy sympathetically. "Just try to take it easy. You've done enough." She lays a tender, reassuring hand upon his face and gently raises his head from its lowered position. "…I'm going to try to drive again. We'll see if we can't make June smile, if only for a moment. You just relax."

The corners of Fear's mouth curl into a brief, timid grin. "Thank you, Joy," he says dimly, winking one eye closed as Disgust licks his thumb and stubbornly cleans an imperfection away from Fear's cheek.

Stepping over the chains draped across the floor, Joy approaches the console again and rubs her hands together. His view obscured, Fear finally lets his eyes fall from the display above us and turns his attention onto his tea, trying desperately to drink without spilling.

Now, I watch as Joy endures a physical argument with the console. Her buttons are still faulty. Her warm glow permeates panel for several hopeful moments before flickering out, at random. She tugs at levers and cranks and joysticks and tries to make June feel something good, trying to create just one sunny memory in a vast, nighttime sky of those which are saddened and afraid, as we drive to the hospital on this chilly afternoon.

The hospital begins to take shape on the View…and predictably, Fear's chains shift and jingle on the floor…he has stood up, so as to see out to the world better around Joy's shoulders. She pretends to pay him no mind…even as several Worry Orbs float aimlessly beyond her shoulder.

No matter how hard he tries or how painfully exhausted he is, now that he's chained to the console, Fear can't resist taking control. It's this endless exposure to the View that tempts him into it every time.

Inside the hospital, Mom takes June's hand and leads her and her father down a hallway and up an elevator. Justice is on floor 8, in room H-808. "Well…that's easy enough to remember. It's has our age in it so many times," Joy says in a desperate attempt to stay positive. I half-expect to see a Worry Orb of her own appear from behind her head.

Dad knocks his fingers against the side of a doorway, and we step inside.

Fear's teacup slips from his fingers and shatters on the floor. He stumbles back to the console, rotating a gear immediately with his left hand while inputting various codes, disregarding Joy's continued attempts to drive. He has the console mastered now, memorized from left to right…he doesn't even need to look at it. It's hard to decipher who is driving whom.

"Justice looks so wrong," Fear gasps. "He's pale, and - and why are there tubes in his arms? Do they hurt? And, those clothes – don't they only put the sickest people in those kinds of outfits? Is Justice okay? Is he...dying?"

Where Joy had been incapable of producing so much as one memory, Fear has just created several in less than thirty seconds. Fear commands the console for the remainder of the visit, and Joy, defeated, moves to lean against the shelving again, closing her eyes.

"...You're awfully quiet, Junebug," says Justice, out of nowhere. His voice is hoarse…he's still in a lot of pain, but he's trying to hide it. He can't hide anything like that from me, though. "What's on your mind?"

June looks up to him and gnaws her lip. Unbelievably, after being down for so long, Bashful Island noisily shudders outside and tries to power up. Fear looks over his shoulder to it and gasps, as stunned as I am. "Wh-what? But why?" He looks down to the console, as though he'll find the answer down there somewhere. Of course, when he comes up empty-handed, Fear looks up again to see that June has redirected her attention to the floor. She can't quite look at Justice anymore.

There are plenty of Worry Orbs now…there is plenty on June's mind. Why can't we just tell him?

Mom and Dad distract Justice with questions for a while, but just as Fear begins to relent, Justice looks down to June again, and offers us another opening. "…C'mon, buddy. You okay? Penny for your thoughts?"

"She's had a rough few weeks, dear," Mom says for us. I groan silently. "You know…Given the circumstances."

"…Yeah. I can imagine." Justice looks well into June's eyes…It feels almost as though he's looking directly at us. Trying to find the thing responsible for June's silence. Fear locks up at the console and suddenly removes his hands, eying Justice with great respect, suddenly…terror, in fact.

And then, Justice breaks away. He looks down and back up again. "I'm sorry for killing the mood this Christmas, June. If I could have had it my way I would have waited until, I dunno…maybe until finals week. Maybe they would have excused me. I never studied anyway."

He waits for something. Fear is dumbfounded, searching the console again for an answer.

"Fear," says Joy insistently.

"—Oh. Ah, yes. Um." He pushes down a key…June flashes Justice a very brief, nervous smile. The look Justice gives us, the strange, furrowing of his brow and parting of his lips, is powerful enough to create yet another fearful memory.

It is the last memory June is able to keep of this visit before the rest of our stay becomes somewhat of a haze…before we know it, we are saying goodbye. June reaches up on tip-toe to give him a tight hug around the neck. We feel warmth…When June closes her eyes, it's almost like we're home. Like nothing's changed. If we ignore the eerie hospital smells and the sounds, it could be just like we were in the living room, saying goodbye before Justice goes on long class trip.

A dozen Worry Orbs appear at once. Fear cringes and races to twist a knob on the console, causing June's grip to strengthen in desperation around Justice's shoulders. She opens her eyes, splashing all of us with the cold reality of where we really are. She doesn't want to let go. She's too afraid to let go. But eventually, she has to. It's time to go home.

Fear collapses back into his chair the moment we're in the car and have fastened the seatbelt. He slowly lowers his face into his hands. "I don't know how much longer I can take this..."

I slowly take it upon myself to resume control of the console.

Halfway home, a memory is unexpectedly recalled, obstructing the View. It's the latest memory we have of Justice. The lack of trust in his eye. The enigmatic appearance of knowing we aren't being true to ourselves anymore. The visible fact that he must know there's something wrong with June. With us.

"…Sadness?"

I turn around at the waist, keeping my hands on the panel.

"…Send that memory back to Long-Term. Please?"

I sigh and banish it as we pull into the driveway.

Mom and Dad head indoors, but I convince June to ask to remain outside, using Ace, who probably needs the fresh air anyway, as an excuse. It's starting to snow…June used to love the snow…she and I just want to watch it fall together, and try to remember what it used to mean to us. When it's time to go back in…I just don't feel ready or able too. I don't want June to go back inside. She opens the door for Ace, but, perhaps able to sense her heartache, Ace sits down dutifully on the step and pants, his brown eyes staring up us.

Eventually, June shuts the door and sits down next to him, putting an arm around his furry shoulders.

She does love his doggy smell and his big, meaningless grin. June reaches to idly scratch him gently behind the ears, and listens as his tail thumps hopefully against the icy steps to the house.

Joy has tip-toed to my side. She is watching Fear closely, at first, who is struggling to keep his head upright. His eyelids bob and he appears faint and incoherent. She turns back to the View and gently deploys a single button that, to her surprise, works. June gives the tiniest of smiles, and scratches Ace beneath his chin, where he really likes it, and he leaps up to sloppily lick her cheek.

A happy memory tumbles out at long last, lined up for the journey to Long-Term. Joy issues a deep, satisfied sigh and closes her eyes. "…Ah…Finally..."

There is the soft jangling of chain, suddenly, indicating movement from Fear. Admittedly, I'm worried he has found something new to fret over, in spite of this single, happy moment at last – but when I turn, I come to find that Fear has fallen asleep at long last, and has tumbled harmlessly from the chair. He curls into himself slightly before his body goes limp, save for his deep, slumbering breaths from his chest.

This must be the first time he's slept in days. Joy rushes to quietly snatch a cushion from the couch to gently tuck beneath his head, before returning to the console, next to me me. "...Sleep tight, Fear...it's about time."

June sits out on the step for a while afterward, and Joy and I share the console together for once, as a strange, erratic team. For the most part, June simply contemplates me, holding my hand, so to speak, in silence, watching the snow…Joy takes baby steps in re-mastering control of the console. She hits only tiny buttons at a time, turning to Ace for small comforts. Pleasantly enough, lights in Puppy Dog Island begin to shine and sparkle. They flicker and cut out, but Joy and I exchange hopeful glances with one another.

It's while I'm driving, and June is seated with her chin in her hands, elbows on her knees, when Ace suddenly stands up and his tail wags wildly. June looks up and we see that someone is heading down the driveway. To our surprise, we find that it's Riley. Her hands are tucked in her coat pockets…she has sad, strange eyes to offer June, as she approaches and invites herself to sit down, letting Ace sniff and lick at her un-gloved palm.

I look over my shoulder. Fear is still sound asleep on the floor.

Joy means to race up to the console, but I shake my head. "Joy...the console's still not acting right. I think you need to give it a little time. Do you mind if I keep driving?"

It's painful for Joy to do it, understandably. Riley sits in silence next to us, while I patiently wait for Joy to take a step back. Drawing a brief, steadying breath, she finally let's go.

I look up to the View, as June slowly turns to Riley.

"…Hi, June."

"…Hi, Riley."

I begin to wonder if Riley is upset with us, because we have definitely missed her big game by now. I'm surprised, instead, to hear her say something different.

"I'm really sorry to hear about your brother."

I blink. My hands hesitate over the buttons.

"The teacher told us what happened the day before Christmas Break. I told my mom when I got home…I guess our moms used to work together a long time ago. She says you and your parents are welcome over for dinner sometime. I think she's already on the phone with your mom…but I wanted to make sure someone told you, too."

June looks to Riley with lost eyes. No one has ever reached out like this before. Riley grins lopsidedly and digs about in her pockets. "Oh…also, we made this for you." She dips into her pocket and pulls out a tiny paper snowflake, signed by all of the kids in her class in the corners. "The teacher called it a Hope Flake. We hope everything is going to be okay, June."

June takes it into her hands and beholds it, turning it over and over in her hands. It's so beautiful. So beautiful. June turns to Riley and together, she and I struggle to find the right words. I push a button, and a lump forms in June's throat, silencing her.

Joy, smiling understandingly to me as she does so, reaches to the console and turns a crank by a single rotation.

"…Thank you, Riley," June whispers. She is smiling, with her eyes full of tears. The memory to tumble out in response is bright yellow with swirls and spatters of blue.

It must be the most beautiful memory I've ever seen…

…And I helped create it.


Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or landmarks from Disney Pixar's Inside Out. Cover Image belongs to Creative-Dreamr on deviantART . com.
Thank you so much for reading. I appreciate all of the kind words and criticism! I hope this story resonates with anyone who can relate to June's experience and state of mind. Please enjoy! ~KQSimply

***UPDATE July 21st 2015: Had to change the title. It's been driving me nuts since Chapter 2. :C I'M SORRY. I REALLY SUCK AT TITLES. (Fic formerly titled Wound Tight.)*** ~KQSimply