A.N: Been a while since I updated this, but I'm back from vacation so I finally can! So, I won't keep you waiting, on to the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Inside Out.

This was Riley's first ever car ride as the blonde peered out the window of Delight's vehicle. Everything passed by them so quickly she barely had time to drink it all in. But she was relieved to see the city again, last night's events coming back to mind—though she felt marveled that something could look so tall from the ground and yet small from above. Seated next to Joy in the back of the car almost felt like that moment on the wheel, just seeing the world from a different perspective.

However, she did have to duck her head every time they passed by other cars. Some nearly noticed the presence of an odd being who was neither an emotion or anything relevant to this world. Those who did manage to catch sight of her couldn't help but stare and whisper amongst their passengers. But she wouldn't allow this to bother her again. She was free for the time being. Best of all, she would be going to school eventually.

Now she was going to learn what shopping was all about. And judging by the excitement erupting from Delight's tone, it must be that amazing. Maybe as exciting as bacon. Or pizza.

They parked at in a lot that was near a large shopping center that practically towered over them like a cloud. In fact, the entire establishment was one big cloud shaped to perfect itself as a place to shop. Riley gazed at it in wonder, amazed by the structure and puffy white beauty. Yet another part of the city for her to experience.

Joy helped her out of her seatbelt before both girls exited out of the car. While Delight gathered her purse, Riley bent her head down as the stares came at her once more. People stopped to look at the pale-faced being who possessed no sparkling particles or any other familiar attributes. She fought hard to ignore the ongoing whispers that were based on her appearance. Joy held her hand, squeezing it softly, and soon she had forgotten all about it and ignored them.

The trio made their way toward the entrance of the shopping center, and two large, cloudy doors parted automatically for them. Riley's eyes drank in the wonders that was referred to as a typical place to search and buy things. On every corner was its own special section where individuals would sell something. The cooling atmosphere was almost too cold, yet it didn't bother her anyway. The crisp air felt amazing given the entire place was conditioned. It was especially packed, left and right people were coming in and out of shops, carrying bags and eating delicious snacks, some of which Riley recognized. Like a slice of pizza.

She and Joy exchanged another smile, the latter's more euphoric as they followed Delight. Despite some people stopped and gawked at the sight of Riley, she was too absorbed in her own enjoyment and Joy's to even notice.

So this was another form of what Joy had called "fun". Riley bet Joy enjoyed coming here with her mother lots of times. Better yet with her own friends.

That in mind, Riley wondered what had occurred on the phone with the one named Fear. Joy sounded rather hasty in hanging up, almost as if something had happened on the other end. Maybe she was in too much a hurry to hang out with Riley that she just had to hang up, maybe in the middle of a conversation or something.

Or maybe it was about her again...

"Hmm..." Delight pondered, scanning from one store to the next. "Where do we start first..."

"Wait, mom!" Joy said excitedly. "I almost forgot! I want Riley to get that special lunchbox I saw at that small gift shop nearby! It's perfect for her!"

Delight smiled. "A lunchbox is a great idea, sweetheart. Why don't you take us to that store and show Riley? I think she'll be very surprised."

"Okay!" her daughter chirped before hauling Riley down the mall. "Come on! You are going to look so good for your first day of school!"

Riley just nodded, feeling her heart pound with both excitement and anxiety at the same time.

Riley tried not to make eye contact with the keeper of the little and tightly-spaced shop. Almost everywhere they stepped, there was some ultra plush toy in the way. And almost every turn they make, there was always some kiosk carrying trinkets and other decor. According to Joy, this was a gift shop that sold simple things. It mostly made its sales from selling accessories like purses, bags, backpacks, and especially lunch boxes given that this place was mostly popular with younger people.

She and Delight followed Joy at the end of the store. The yellow emotion beamed before reaching toward a row of hanging lunchboxes. Picking one off its hanger, she looked at it carefully before showing it to Riley.

"Here it is!" she exclaimed happily.

Riley looked over the lunchbox. It was brightly red with a purple handle on it. On its front was a picture of the city itself, the main focus on the image being the wheel she and Joy had rode last night. There were also some rainbow stickers covering around the image followed by the back of the box, making it a real sight to see.

And somehow Riley liked the way rainbows looked in her eyes. The way the colors swirled together seemed almost mesmerizing.

Riley stared in awe at the lunchbox. It shone with a glimmer in the light that was as beautiful as the city itself, especially with the Plutchik Wheel displayed so prominently, and all those happy memories came flooding back into her mind again. Sure, to some it might just have been a pretty school lunchbox, but to Riley it was as if she had just gotten a gift that was crafted especially for her.

"It's so pretty, Joy!" she said in wonder, taking it in her hands. "I love it!"

"I knew you would!" Joy exclaimed, giving her friend a tight and happy hug. After a second of their embrace, Joy's entire body was alight with her signature glow as she practically glided along the ground, pulling her friend eagerly along.

"Next stop, backpacks!"

"What are they?"

The golden-colored emotion grinned at her. "You'll see!"

As the hours passed, Riley, Joy, and Delight went from place to place in their mall, looking for the perfect school supplies for Riley. Some areas were more sparse due to the schools starting their classes in less than a week, but they always managed to find something or other that caused Riley's face to light up, almost literally. Perhaps a bit of her emotion nature was shining through.

That was one of the things that Joy loved about Riley. She may not have had an external glow like everyone else, but she did have a powerful inner radiance that shone in her eyes and expression whenever she got excited. One just had to really look... why couldn't others see it too?

Riley was wearing her new backpack, a navy blue one that, when touched lightly, sparkled with light green stars. There was just something so intriguing about the hidden magic of it that Riley had fallen in love with it immediately. And she was glad that it was big enough to carry the other things they had purchased for her, or else she likely would have had her eye poked out by one of the pencils (as she nearly did when frantically trying to pick some up she had accidentally knocked over at a kiosk).

Overall, Riley could definitely count this as another "happy memory" time.

Joy began babbling excitedly to Riley about what her first day would probably be like. She tried to recall all her own memories of 5th grade, and reiterate them all to Riley in a way that would have it seem like the best thing ever. Same school, same grade, hopefully same experiences. After all, 5th grade had been one of her favorite years. Few days away or not, Riley was gonna be totally prepared!

Riley couldn't help but hang on to every word of Joy's chatter. Like everything else, Joy's description made everything sound so fun.

"I mean, we're gonna have to introduce you to the basic school stuff beforehand so you won't be completely behind—math, science, word comprehension..." Joy wondered with a curious amusement if Riley could read. On the one hand, she was biologically and psychologically equivalent to an 11-year-old human. On the other hand, it seemed that her knowledge extended to only the most basic knowledge about the world that would allow her to get by. Joy had to even teach her what food was, after all.

"But what's really fun are the activities you get to do!" Joy clapped her hands. "5th grade was like the best year for that, we got to play computer games, new sports, clay—oh, and maybe you'll even get to make a memory orb right away! We got to do that after the first week and oh man was it fun to do! It's like literally holding a moment of your life in your hands!"

Riley liked the idea of that, but was curious at the new terminology. "What are they?"

Delight turned around and smiled fondly at Riley just as Joy resumed talking, and Riley knew that whatever "memory orbs" were, they must be something good. "Oh, they're these pretty little sphere things that you store a memory in," Joy exclaimed, practically floating off the ground. "There's some in the lab's main office, and I have a few in my room I can show ya! You just gotta channel your energy and thought just right and it can be pretty easy for any Terracordian to—"

The bright emotion stooped as she noticed the slightly uncomfortable look in Riley's eyes. It didn't take her long to figure out why.

"—learn..."

Joy trailed off. It broke her heard that she was beginning to know that look all too well in her friend. Riley was doubting her own abilities again since she wasn't fully a Terracordian. She may have some attributes of an emotion, maybe some hidden abilities buried deep down, but she was also part human—maybe even predominantly so. And due to that prominent aspect of her nature, she lacked a particle-look, a glow and more flexibility of her body (though Joy felt they might be able to test the last one).

While Riley wasn't exactly sure what a human really was, the question still plagued her. What if she was deprived of having the very emotion talent of creating memories to hold and cherish in a way that humans could never do?

Riley voiced that very same concerning thought, looking at Joy with doubt in her eyes. "What if I can't?"

Joy hated seeing her friend so despondent. With Riley's mood starting to recover from the awful shouting ordeal this morning, she couldn't and wouldn't let it be brought down again.

Keep things positive.

She put her arm around Riley. "Hey, I'm sure you'll be able to do it! I mean, we haven't really tested out to see exactly what you can do yet." She gave he friend a smile that she hoped would be encouraging. "Just try to do as I do, and you'll see that you're just as Terracordian as the rest of us! It doesn't matter what you look like, we'll train you!"

"Train me?"

"Sure!" Joy exclaimed with a bright grin. "I'm sure these next few days can help us see what you can do a bit more, right Mom?"

Delight nodded, her heart warmed at seeing Riley and Joy so happy. "We have plenty of things that might be able to help with that at our house," Delight added.

Riley paused, looking as if she couldn't believe her ears. "Your house?" Her expression slowly got that bright look to it again. "You're gonna show me your house?"

"Of course we will, silly!"

Delight couldn't help but grin as Joy chatted away to Riley. She always loved how Joy had been so eager to talk to Riley back in her earliest development, and now that she was awake that bond had only grown a hundred times as strong.

Though the older emotion was absolutely thrilled that Riley was going to get to go to the elementary school—that she and even Panic, of all emotions, had stood up to Aggravation—one question nagged at her mind that she hoped wouldn't be too much of a problem, that she hoped she wouldn't meet near as much resistance as she had with her hot-tempered colleague:

Would they let a created, part-emotion being in?

Delight could only hope. For now, they needed to get Riley prepared for her first day. It would be just like when Joy was 11 and she taught her everything before her first day. If she could do so well, what more for Riley?

But if there was one con about schools, it's that there was always a moment when bullying would occur. There were days when Delight was called by the office to inform her that someone tried to pick a fight with her daughter. As enraged as she was that some other kid had the audacity to do that to Joy, she was always relieved because their side was always won on the case.

She only hoped no one would bully poor Riley. She had been through enough, and it wasn't like she didn't receive any from Aggravation. But with a heavy heart, she knew the odds of that were already stacked against the child. It was already bad that most thought of her as a strange being who didn't belong in the lives like emotions, abstracts, or any other of the myriad colorful beings of their planet, but to be completely rejected at school could emotionally damage her. And Joy would not be there to fix her back up...

But Delight recalled all of Joy's former teachers. They had been nice and very accepting, especially from individuals who had moved in from faraway places. Riley was something like that, and Delight was aware Joy's former homeroom teacher from 5th grade was still working at the school. She was certain he would be a great instructor and a very accepting friend to Riley.

The older emotion smiled at the young girl, watching as Joy showed her all the things they bought her for her first day. Riley looked very excited, her face practically glowing as if she possessed the same aura as Joy. That was a very good sign, and Delight hoped more of that would come in time.

"Alright, who's hungry?" she said sweetly. "Riley, I remember Joy mentioning you really love pizza."

When Riley's expression brightened immediately, that beautiful smile was everything to Delight, just as it was to Joy.

The trio sat at a table inside a pizzeria, Delight having ordered a large pizza with the pepperoni and cheese Joy mentioned Riley adored. They ate and talked while drinking up their sodas. The fizziness tickled Riley's nose but she loved it anyway.

Most of the customers within the establishment peered toward their table every now and then. There were whispers going around as fingers pointed toward Riley, but thankfully she made no notice of it. She was too happy and excited to care. That relieved Delight.

She knew very well that there were others who would not react kindly at all to "the project" being among them...

As Delight dabbed her napkin against her lips, she felt her phone vibrate. She quietly took it out while Joy and Riley continued conversing. It was a text from Panic.

Called the school. They said they were willing to put Riley in.

Delight smiled at this, glancing momentarily at said girl before looking down at her phone. However, the next sentence made her eyes raise in surprise.

They don't know about Riley being a you-know-what.

With the way those dashes were used, Delight could practically feel the tension in her colleague's tone, even through text. She couldn't blame him. Getting Riley enrolled as far as documentation was easy, but to actually show her face was a bit difficult. Also, how were they to explain to the principal that Riley was not like every kid at the school? She didn't have parents, of course...

But she did have a proper address for if the school sent anything to a student. Delight had told Panic to put her house number along with any other information, telling the school that Riley was in their care under their guidance for the time being. That was the other easy part.

Speaking of...

Making sure that Joy and Riley were more focused on one another and not what she was doing, she texted Panic once more.

Panic, what if Riley stayed over my house tonight?

The reply was almost instantaneous: What?!

Delight took a deep breath, thinking over what to say before her fingers flew over the keypad. I know, I know it's risky, but she's been doing pretty fine outside, and she can't stay in that recharger container forever. She needs some place to stay, to get used to sleeping somewhere normal before she leaves. And she already feels at peace with Joy around.

As she sent the text, she couldn't help but be a bit concerned—not necessarily about what Panic might think, for he was Riley's technician doctor and knew what was best for her physical and psychological well-being. At the very least, it had gotten Riley this far in her development.

It was Aggravation's view she was concerned about. The head of the operation might accuse her of being "too attached", as he often did even long before Riley awoke. But all she wanted what was best for Riley and her growth—adjusting to staying with a family would be the first step.

The older emotion was so lost in thought that she was startled back into the present at Panic's eventual reply.

As much as I hate to admit it, Delight, you're right. We can't keep her in there forever and we need to wean her away from it or she'll never be able to live on Earth. I'll let her stay and we'll see how she does, but I'll bring over some portable equipment and such to give her a check-up, at least for the first few days if this works. And if anything gets seriously wrong overnight that the portable stuff can't fix, bring her back to the lab, okay?

Delight couldn't help but smile in relief at the doctor's approval. This, at least, was a big step in Riley's progress, both physically and socially. She just hoped Riley would be able to make it through the night without any problems.

But even if the night did turn out well, there was still the concern of what more direct social interaction with others would eventually bring. As difficult as it was, Delight prayed to Imagination that Riley would make friends. Or at the least just acquaintances. Delight could imagine there would be whispers, stares, and overall just pointing Riley out who would be seated in her class like she was the center of everything. Delight could even picture getting a call from the school informing her that there might possibly be a scuttle.

But, like her daughter, Delight kept positive. She had fought for Riley's rights against her own colleague. She accepted Riley even before the part-human had opened her eyes, she had gone this far for her. And worry was not in her right intentions just because all this was going to be new for the kid.

Delight texted back Panic.

I'll make sure to look after her. You can come by later to check up.

Sending it, Delight smiled over the girls as they resumed eating their pizza. With shopping done and their bellies becoming full, all that was left was bringing Riley to their house.

Her new home.

A/N: Yay, some progress for Riley! So, next chapter we'll see a little more about what Joy's home is like and how Riley does with everything. I'll try to get the next chapter up in a couple days. Hope you enjoyed and remember to review!