So who else is excited that Toy Story 4 is reuniting Bo Peep and Woody? :D My co-author and I have been working on getting this fic wrapped up for the past week or two, but it's fitting now that she's mentioned in here.
Toy Story still doesn't belong to me… although if it did, I would've totally brought back Bo, so maybe there's something to that after all. ;) This chapter was written by Diane Clifford, and it's brilliant. Only the epilogue left to post, and we wrap this story up! Enjoy, and please leave a review! :)
Chapter 11 - Year Ten
Buzz flipped open the compartment on his arm. The sticker that used to belong there under the plastic flap was long gone, scrunched into a ball at Sid's house. For years, all that had been under the flap was a scratched, faded, unused area. But now Buzz had a use for it again at last.
Notes.
Not just any notes. These were things he was trying to commit to memory, lines he had heard Andy practising out loud. He'd watched his teenage owner swagger and strut, get all dressed up, comb his hair over onto one side in an attempt to look cool. But Buzz wasn't interested in the whole preening side of things. He wanted – and needed – more of a hand with the vocabulary that accompanied such behaviour. For this was the moment he had been equally looking forward to and also dreading.
He was going to have an entire conversation with Jessie.
Not that he hadn't attempted a conversation with her before. But she always managed to tip the scale in such a way that he felt he was blundering along and making a fool of himself.
'Well, not tonight,' he vowed to himself. Tonight he was going to show Jessie just what he was capable of.
Glancing up from the words written on the inside of his arm flap, Buzz took a moment to fully appreciate the view. Andy, Molly and their mother had gone to visit some friends for a couple of days over the New Year and in the absence of their owner, the toys had strung leftover Christmas fairy lights and tinsel all around the room and over every available surface. Hanging from the lampshade in the centre of the room was a disco ball – which was really a large silver multi faceted tree bauble.
The room was all set. The toys were going to have a excellent party, and Buzz was going to ask Jessie to dance. Right after he had his conversation with her. 'No-' he paused in mid thought to correct himself, '-during the same conversation.'
Right now Rex was flipping through the channels slowly – Hamm by his side should they need to go round the loop in a hurry – looking for the right one so the toys could watch the ball drop in Times Square.
That's when Buzz saw her. She had just come in from down the hall, and Buzz guessed she'd been to Molly's room. There was a strained look on the cowgirls face, and Buzz knew why.
Bo.
Woody had been reeling from the situation too, Buzz knew, and therefore it had not been a surprise when the cowboy had chosen to stay in the toy box and not participate in the festivities that evening. Buzz winced a little, feeling his friends' pain acutely. No doubt Woody felt that his arm had been ripped off, much like it really had been all those years ago when he'd been 'toy-napped' by Al.
With all his thoughts about his cowboy friend and his long lost love, he forgot that Jessie was nearby – that is, until a flash of colour in his peripheral vision jolted him into awareness. She had started to come closer towards him, and Buzz suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. He resisted the urge in his mid section, quickly flipping the panel on his arm shut so she couldn't see what was written there, and forced himself to smile at the approaching cowgirl.
"H-Hi… Jessie." That was good, only one small stutter.
"Heya Buzz!" She returned his greeting, complete with a smile that knocked the spacetoy sideways.
"H-How are y-you?" He forced himself to remain neutral and calm, but his voice failed him a little more with each syllable.
"I'm just fine. And you?" She was still grinning away like before, and he now found his resolve failing just a little too.
"I'm good, I was just thinking… er…" he stopped for a moment, trying to quell his nerves, and she regarded him, tilting her head to one side ever so slightly.
"Yeah? Whatcha thinking?"
"I was just… er… I mean I was gonna say… um, that is…" he took a deep breath, forced himself to remember what his notes had said, and took the plunge. "I was just g-gonna say, did you hurt yourself when you fell on the bedroom floor?"
Jessie blinked. They looked at each other for a split second before the poor space toy realised what he'd said. "No!" He blurted, his eyes widened as Jessie gave him a confused look. He struggled to regain control. "I meant… uh… those those jeans! They would uh… they would look great when you fall from space…"
Another confused look from Jessie tipped him off that this line too, was completely wrong. He flailed again inwardly, his nerves now completely shot to pieces, and decided to try again. He decided, for no good reason, to change tact. "I mean… that is to say… your eyes… yes, yes your eyes…" he was babbling now, but he was in too deep to back out of it. "Your eyes, they're as green as…"
He paused, coughed, and went to continue, but his mind had drawn a blank. 'Think, Lightyear,' he scolded himself. 'What things are green…?' Then he realised Jessie was still standing there, rolling her eyes in amusement.
"I was kinda waiting to see what comes next…" she grinned again and he swallowed.
"Oh yes! Your eyes… where was I?… well… they're green… and erm… they're nice! Yes, they're nice… and you can erm… well you can er… how about a dance?"
Buzz stopped babbling for a moment, and then noticed that the last four words he'd uttered had apparently had quite some effect. It seemed he'd thrown the cowgirl for a loop. Now it was her turn to stare at Buzz. There was a long, long pause, punctuated only by the faint clicking sound as Hamm took over from Rex in flipping through the TV channels.
Just as the space toy was about to give up hope of her ever replying, Jessie's features softened. "Me?"
He hadn't exactly planned on her throwing herself on him with a joyful acceptance, but he hadn't thought her response would be quite so… shy? "Er… yes, you."
"What are we gonna dance to?" Jessie smiled softly at him, and Buzz blinked, raptured by her beauty, before realising that there was no music – because the party hadn't even begun yet.
"Oh, erm, I… I don't know, I guess, heh, we'll have to wait for the music to start or something, I hear Rex's got this song mix playlist thing on the computer or something, yeah." Buzz scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Right," Jessie responded.
Another long pause followed.
"Can you dance?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.
"I don't know." Jessie grinned. "I guess we'll find out, huh?"
"That makes two of us." Buzz said, somewhat shyly.
"Oh c'mon Buzz. It always looked kinda easy to me when I saw it on TV."
"You've seen dancing on TV?" Buzz asked, surprised. He didn't have Jessie down as the type that would watch dancing.
"Sure. Molly likes to watch these cartoons and in one of them there was this girl dancing with a monster, or a beast, or something." She noted Buzz's forehead furrow, and quickly laughed, "I don't mean that you're a beast, or anything, though!"
Buzz coughed to mask his nerves again. "Thanks." Briefly, he considered if this was actually a conversation. Then he realised that Jessie hadn't turned down the invitation to dance, although she hadn't accepted it either. The mere thought of this made his wingtips tingle with anticipation. Only the main light snapping off overhead made him take notice.
In the near dark of the room, the fairy lights above them glowed. The colours caught in the prisms of the disco ball tree bauble and danced off, sending swatches of pretty colours floating over the walls and the furniture. The light also flickered on the other decorations, and the whole room seemed to shine. But no light could outshine the wonder he saw in Jessie's eyes when he glanced over at her. Jessie's mouth was slightly open as she stared agog at the scene above her, taking in all the beauty.
The laptop suddenly flared into life, and music filled the room. Buzz tore his eyes off Jessie and fixed on the desk, where Slinky was playing at DJ.
A sudden touch on his arm made him look back over in the cowgirl's direction.
"Shall we dance, pardner?" she asked, her eyes meeting his.
Buzz glanced around hurriedly, and noticed there were quite a few others already boogying away. His nerves seeped in again however, as the cowgirl's hand remained on his arm. "Maybe in a moment." He was stalling, pushing for some time to calm himself down, and in doing so missed the disappointed look on the cowgirls face.
"Do you mind if I go ahead then?" Her soft Texan accent flittered past the confines of his brain.
"Um, no, not at all." Buzz replied shakily, too caught up with his own thoughts. She wanted to dance with him. She wanted him next to her. Oh he'd done it now! He'd asked her to dance and she'd practically said yes. She was shy and so was he. She was so beautiful as well. This was it. The nerves jangled around inside of his stomach and his wings and pattered around in his brain.
"You know, you're lucky. You get to watch her go."
The voice on his shoulder made Buzz spin around, jerked out of his inner monologue. "Woody! I thought you weren't joining us." He couldn't keep the surprise out of his sentence.
"Couldn't help coming out when the music started. A toy can't get any rest with this din. I should really tell Slinky to turn it down, the neighbours will get concerned."
"Why don't you?"
"Because there's something I have to say to you first."
"Oh?"
"Go and dance with her Buzz. You don't know how much longer you guys have together. Like me and Bo. How was I to know that last Christmas would be our last Christmas together? How did I know the last time I saw her would be the last?"
Woody was not usually so morbid and depressive. Usually he was a bit of a stickler and a downer for things such as rules, and he ran a tight ship. But hearing him so melancholy really wounded Buzz's spirits.
"You didn't," was all Buzz could find in his heart to say.
"Exactly." Woody paused. "Go and get her attention again. You have until I get up on the desk with Slinky. Go." With that, and not waiting for a reply, Woody turned on his heel and headed off.
Buzz gulped. This did not leave much time at all and who knew what Woody would do if he, Buzz Lightyear, didn't follow through. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with air, and looked for Jessie.
To his astonishment, he realised she was right there, in the centre of the dancefloor area, alone, and dancing like he'd never seen any toy dance before. The lights that glowed and splattered around the room above them also danced on her clothing, and off her lovely long red hair. Her hips moved to the beat of the music – she was intoxicating, and he wanted to be next to her, in the same way he now realised she wanted to be next to him.
With all his confidence built up in a little ball and stored firmly in his stomach with all the butterflies nestling around it, Buzz walked over and caught Jessie's hand as she danced. She stopped instantly at his touch, turning to face him, and the light around her now seemed to dance off of him too.
It was then Buzz realised that because of the half dark room, he was actually faintly glowing luminous green himself. Jessie giggled.
"I guess my eyes are as green as you, huh?"
Buzz blushed a little, unable to miss that she was referring to his own failed pickup line. Fortunately she either did not see or chose to ignore his reddened cheeks, because as the music suddenly slowed, she drew near, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Almost instinctively, Buzz looked up over the top of Jessie's head. He spotted Woody on the desk next to Slinky, and the cowboy was giving him a thumbs up. Then Buzz realised that not only had the music dipped in volume – as Woody had promised – but the song playing was a ballad.
Buzz realised just what he had to do. This was a slow dance and Jessie was draped around him. Nervously he grasped her waist, cradling her gently in his arms.
Glancing around, he smiled at the sight of the Potatoheads doing some kind of clunky box step (Mrs. Potatohead was leading, of course). There were some other toys of Bonnie's dancing in pairs, ones he vaguely knew, but he was pulled away from this by Jessie's head on his shoulder.
Buzz's breathing quickened just as Jessie spoke.
"This is just like in the beast movie I watched."
"Is it?
"Yeah. In the end he turned into a handsome prince. And they lived happily ever after."
"Oh." What else could he say? She was clearly referring to a happily ever after with him. Again, the mere thought dived headfirst into his brain and stayed there as Buzz felt a grin spreading over his lips. Jessie brought her head up to look at him, and was about to question the broad smile when with a start they both realised simultaneously that the ballad music had stopped. They were still swaying together, inches apart, while some much faster track was playing.
Buzz stared at her, and she stared at him, and then without a word he remembered something Andy had spoken of once after his junior prom. Not missing a beat, the space ranger suddenly flung Jessie out at arms length, spun her around, and dipped her back over his arm. The surprise on the cowgirls face tempted him to go a little further. Buzz pulled her back upright, and sashayed her over into the middle of the floor, twirling her and pulling her close. Something, deep down inside him, urged him on, almost like he'd unlocked a third dimension of himself. He wanted to stop, but he went with that deeper feeling for just a few more moments.
When they did stop for air, Jessie was breathing just as heavily as he tended to when he was panicking. Buzz wanted to kiss her at that very minute. She looked alive, and he felt alive.
"That was amazing. Where didya learn to dance like that, Buzz?" She still had her hands braced on his shoulders, her breathing beginning to lessen after the exertion.
"I'm not sure," he replied, truthfully.
"Oh, so modest!" She smacked his shoulder playfully and let go of him. "Such a dark horse!"
"No really," he insisted, but Jessie wasn't looking. She was focused on the other toys moving towards the television, where Rex and Hamm had finally managed to find a channel screening the live coverage of the Times Square ball dropping down One Times Square.
"Is it that time already?" She vocalised the thought out loud, and Buzz turned to look too. The other toys were clustered tightly around the television now, and even Slinky and Woody had made their way across the room from the desk, and were clamouring for a position in the group. Jessie and Buzz therefore found themselves at the back of the crowd. There was a hubbub as the screen focused in on the flagpole atop the Times Square building, and Buzz turned to Jessie.
"Happy New Year, cowgirl."
She looked back at him, her eyes twinkling, and he realised it was nothing to do with the fairy lights this time. As the ten second countdown began, she smiled at him, and his emotions hit him in full at that moment. Once again he realised how close together they were, as the chant hit five seconds.
Gently and boldly, he raised his hand and pulled her down to him, their lips meeting for only the second time since they'd known each other. He felt her respond in kind, her lips soft and full against his. The kiss deepened as his fingers tangled in her hair, and her arms wrapped around him. There was no space between them anymore, no interruptions of any kind. The room melted away, the other toys were of no consequence to either of them.
There was a faint sound of cheering as the chimes rang in the New Year, and only then did they pull apart.
Turning, Jessie glanced up to where the television was, and Buzz noticed her cheeks immediately flush crimson. It seemed the cheers had not all been for the ball drop, in fact some of the other toys had seen them together in their passionate embrace. Buzz swallowed, and Jessie's cheeks continued to flush a hotter shade of pink. Heat was building in Buzz's wingtips, but he didn't know if it was from being spotted or from Jessie's earlier affections.
"Heh… um… I was just wishing Jessie a Happy New Year," Buzz began awkwardly, raising his hand to the back of his neck.
"Yeah, that was it, nothing else to it," Jessie agreed brightly. She shot a sidewards glance at Buzz, who looked back at her. She suddenly became aware they were still holding hands, and she abruptly let go of him, moving her hands up the side of her head and beginning to play with the end of her braid.
Silence descended for a few moments, until the beat from the laptop kicked back in. The other toys, seemingly distracted easily by the music, rushed off to dance, until only Jessie and Buzz were left standing alone.
Buzz dared to glance at the cowgirl, but her eyes were averted, concentrating on her braid. He dared further to speak.
"Thanks for the dance, by the way."
"You're welcome." Her soft voice was a lotion for the awkwardness he felt. It moved him enough to wonder why he – they – cared what the other toys thought. Woody, for a start, had told him to make a move, and that was all the justification Buzz needed.
Reaching up, Buzz removed one hand from Jessie's braid, and her gaze followed his movement in astonishment. She looked about; first down to their entwined hands, and then back up to his eyes. Neither one of them said a word as they stood there, clasping each others fingers, as the other toys danced, and the fairy lights continued to sparkle and flicker on the walls..
"Happy New Year, Buzz," Jessie breathed out eventually, and Buzz nodded silently. He had no doubts that it was going to be a very good New Year indeed.
