Author's Note: Seems appropriate for this next chapter to be about glass cases and boxes given the nature of the TS special…lol.

Chapter 20 – Two Doors Down

It was later that evening, and Lawrence had run upstairs to get Buzz. The little boy had promised himself to show his brand new toy to Lizzie earlier and it wasn't something he had forgotten in a hurry.

Meanwhile, Woody had been placed - by Lizzie - on the dresser, well out of Lawrence's reach, and he was busy acquainting himself with a set of small china dolls up there, all of whom were cooing over him and pushing each other out of the way in order to address the cowboy. Jessie had been amused to watch it from the bed, and it seemed from Woody's expression that it was just as hilarious up close.

With Buzz gone, and Woody at a distance, Jessie found herself sitting next to Ted, who suddenly grumbled out a question. "So who is Emily?"

The cowgirl turned her head to look at Ted. The memories came flooding back for a second time, and there was a tremble in her voice as she spoke. "E-Emily is my old owner."

"I gathered as much, from what you said earlier about being given to her in the hospice," Ted responded. "But I don't understand why you left Emily."

"I didn't leave her. She l-left me," Jessie whispered as she remembered her long lost owner. "She put me in a b-box with a bunch of other stuff for donation." She began to recount the many years previous, and before she knew what was happening, she was blurting out everything – her being found by Al and being kept in storage in a box in his apartment, Woody turning up and subsequently rescuing them from being sent to Japan, and their time with Andy before being passed to Bonnie. Then she went on to tell Ted about Sunnyside, Buzz's switch to Spanish mode and the incident in the incinerator. She recalled all the moments during and after Bonnie grew up, their being passed to Amber, and all the events that happened with that little girl, before the more recent episode of being found at the yard sale by Amanda. She cringed as she remembered being packed into the box for the yard sale, and the gift wrap that had surrounded her when Amanda gave her to Lizzie.

Ted listened attentively to all that the little cowgirl had to say, and even some of the nearby toys on the nightstand craned to hear her words, Firefly fluttering a little closer to listen. When she was finished, and near to tears from her memories, Ted nodded in sympathy before laying one large fluffy paw on Jessie's leg. "My dear, I sympathise completely with your emotions. Even if you have had many more adventures than I have, I can understand one thing."

Jessie raised woeful eyes to the teddy bear sitting beside her. "What's that?"

"Remember what I told you before?" Ted growled softly. "I too was sat in a box on a shelf in Lizzie's old room for many years."

Jessie didn't answer, she just shivered slightly. Even after all these years, the word 'box' always seemed to send a chill down her spine.

"Of course," Ted went on, "I suppose things are different between us. You were trapped in a cardboard box, I was trapped in a see-through one."

Jessie nodded solemnly. "That's right."

"Of course, glass cases in a shop are also see-through." Ted pointed out.

Jessie thought right back to the beginning of her life, and the glass case at the shop in Ottawa she had described to Woody and Buzz earlier that day. "Yes…"

"They're not scary, but they're still boxes." Ted said thoughtfully. "I suppose its how you view them."

"From the inside," Jessie muttered to herself.

"I heard that," Ted said gruffly, turning his head ever so slightly to look at Jessie. "You have to stop that train of thought. You can't let it rule you for the rest of your life. You do realise that's how things are for a toy? We're always put in boxes for transport. It's best you start getting used to that when you're young."

"There's only one time when I feel safe in a box." Jessie spoke up, almost interrupting Ted's flow of words, and his silence next to her made her feel as if she should explain further. "It's just when – when Buzz is there. He glows – so brightly - and it's not dark."

"So it's the dark that makes you hyperventilate?" Ted guessed, and Jessie shook her head.

"Not just the dark."

"You don't like being closed in?" Ted guessed again, a wry smile crossing his face. .

"I guess it's a combination of bo-" Jessie thought about her panic and the walls closing in on her. Suddenly something made her stop and look up at her companion. "Wait. How did you know?"

"Because Honey was exactly the same." Ted's wry smile grew softer with the thought.

"Honey?" Jessie questioned, her eyes searching the teddy bear's face.

"It may surprise you to learn that I also know what its like to be separated from a loved one. Like you and the toy gizmo himself."

"You do?" Jessie couldn't hide a smile at Ted's reference to Buzz.

"Yes, my dear. She's my twin. We were sold at the same time, same shop, as part of a set. We used to talk to each other at night, cocooned in our boxes up on the shelf. I distracted her from the walls around her during those years together. Her box over balanced one night, a long time ago now. It tore on the way down and she never returned to the shelf after that."

"So, where did she go?" Jessie asked.

"Lizzie took her out of the room the next morning. I understood from the other toys at the time that she went two doors down. After some time, I found the stories to be true." Ted paused. "But I don't worry about Honey. I know she's looked after, that's the main thing."

"You liked her?" Jessie asked curiously.

"Very much. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to tell her. After she got moved, and after my own box broke, I saw her less and less. If I see her these days, it's only fleetingly."

"That's so sad," Jessie whispered, remembering how her heart had broken when she hadn't seen Buzz during their brief period of separation the past few months. "When was the last time you saw her?"

"Yesterday. When Lawrence took me out of the room."

Jessie blinked. "But…Lawrence didn't take you anywhere, just downstairs."

Ted smiled warmly at the cowgirl doll. "I know. But I saw her as I passed Lizzie's parents room."

"Her parents room?" Jessie looked up at the big fluffy teddy. "But you said…"

"Yes. Two doors down." Ted chuckled. "You thought she moved to another house?"

"I…" Jessie stammered and then started to smile. "So…it's unrequited love?"

"I w-wouldn't s-say-" Now it was Ted's turn to stammer, and he glanced around nervously. "I w-wouldn't go that far!"

Jessie giggled at the teddy's protestation, rolling her eyes. "I would. You miss her. It's clear to me you take what you can get. But brief glimpses from afar never get anyone anywhere. Just ask Buzz. He didn't get anywhere with me by being shy, even if it was really cute."

Ted sighed complacently and muttered, "Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all."

"I don't buy that!" Jessie said sternly, getting up and placing her hands on her hips. "You haven't lost anyone. She's only two doors down."

"Well!" Ted looked surprised at Jessie's sudden determination. "I thought I'd lost my growl - but it turns out they gave it to you, cowgirl."

Jessie laughed, dropping her hands back to her sides. "I'm hardly scary, Ted. It's just we're in the same old briar patch and I know how you feel - just like you know how I feel about Buzz, and being enclosed."

"You know, you have a point." Ted said thoughtfully, "Maybe it might be time for both of us to shake off the enclosed feelings."

Jessie regarded the teddy bear for a moment. "Agreed. So…what are you going to do about yours?"

"Mine?" Ted smiled, and then got to his furry paws, and began to make his way towards the end of the bed. As he left, he called back over his shoulder.

"The family are downstairs. I think I might take a leisurely stroll two doors down."