It wasn't hard to find Andy's gallery, since they saw a few posters on the street advertising it. However, it did take them a full night to get there from where the truck had stopped.
"So, if I'm looking at it correctly" said Woody holding in his hands a map they had borrowed-without-any-intention-to-return, "this must be the fastest route".
"I don't want any more fast for the next decade or so" murmured Bunny, dizzy from the truck ride.
"He can't take adventure like I do" Ducky whispered to Bugs in a flirty voice.
"I just hope we arrive as soon as possible" Bugs sighed.
"Yeah, don't worry, guys. The gallery is just thirty blocks away" Woody's voice sounded from behind the map.
"What?" many voices came together in surprise.
Woody dropped the map and saw their shocked faces and open mouths.
"Come on, people, relax! We can handle it" he reassured them.
"Talk for yourself!" Bunny protested. "Unless you offer to carry me".
"And I can carry you if you want" Ducky said with a supposedly seductive wink to a disgusted Bugs.
"Nobody is carrying anyone" Woody said while pulling Bugs away from Ducky.
"Woody, be careful! Her antenna!" Bo pointed at Bugs' antenna falling off.
"Oh, that's alright, it was already broken" Bugs calmed down everyone. "One more reason why Molly stopped playing with me. Mom promised she would sew it back, but it seems she has forgotten about it" she added with a sad look.
"Why didn't you say something before? Girls!" Bo shouted to her sheep. "Thread and needle, please!"
The shepherdess fixed the antenna in no time, and the love bug couldn't stop hugging her.
"Oh, it feels brand new! Like I just got out of the box! And my hearing is so improved! Thanks, Bo! Really, thanks. Now I may have another chance with Molly!"
Bo hugged her back.
"Bugs, we are so happy for you" Woody added. "But I think it's high time we started walking".
Sounds of disappointment came from Bunny and Ducky's side.
"We are going to make it just fine if we just adopt a system and stick to it" Woody encouraged everyone.
"The cowboy is right" Duke agreed. "Thirty blocks are nothing to Duke Caboom!"
"You are one to talk! You have a motorcycle!" Ducky said.
"Do you have any space there for me?" Bunny asked.
"Don't be silly!" Ducky cut him off. "If anyone is sitting with the Canadian in the motorcycle, that's me!"
"I asked first!" said Bunny.
"But I am lighter! And in a very good physical state" Ducky bragged placing one arm around Bugs.
"Why are you two even arguing? Even if he wanted, he couldn't take just one of you, since you are tied together" Giggle pointed out.
"Solid thought" Bunny admitted.
"Whoa!" said an impressed Duke.
"Besides" added Giggle, "I should be the one with Duke on the motorcycle, since I do not take up much space".
"But we—" Ducky began protesting before Woody cut him off.
"Hey, that's what's gonna be like from now on? You are making such a big deal out of it. We'll be there before you know it. Besides, we are all refreshed after our sleep in the truck so—"
"You didn't sleep" Bo interrupted him.
"What?" he sounded surprised. "No, I am fine! But if we delay with all that talking we'll never make it, so let's just go".
A few not so eager "fine" and "okay" sounded and they were on their way, with Woody leading at the front with the map on his hands.
"You are never going to drop the bossy style, right? Good thing it suits you" Bo smiled as she was walking next to him.
"Um?" the cowboy looked up from his map.
"Nothing, don't let me distract you" she said and gently rubbed his back, where his voice string used to be, as if her touch wasn't distracting.
"Sheriff?" the tiny McDimples said as she landed onto his shoulder.
"What is it, Giggle?" Woody asked, not taking away his eyes from the map. He liked it that she called him "sheriff" even though he no longer had his badge.
"May I suggest we split the distance in two parts? We go half way tonight and the rest tomorrow?" she proposed.
"No! Why would we ever do that?"
"Well, it is a long distance, especially for our small friend" she nodded towards Bugs, "and perhaps it would be more manageable with a rest in the middle".
"No, that's just unnecessary and it would really slow us down" Woody insisted.
"Look, sheriff, I understand you are really looking forward to getting there and seeing —"
"It has nothing to do with this, Giggle! I am just thinking what's best for the team! The more stops we have, the more we lose our pace and our patience" he raised his voice.
"Don't get upset, sheriff" she tried to calm him down. "I'm just saying that—"
"You're just saying that you want to slow down the entire operation simply because you don't feel like walking. You know, you are welcome to leave us if you want to" he stated, obviously angry.
"I'm not saying that! I only think that we need a little more time to—"
"A little more time!" Woody repeated with irony in his voice. "You realize Bugs is away from her home? Well, of course you don't! You have no idea what belonging to a child is like, so you can't understand, and then you shouldn't talk!" he shouted at her, causing everyone from the group to stop what they were doing and look at him.
Bo Peep's sheep got scared and hid behind her legs.
Woody took a few deep breaths and looked around him.
"What are you all staring at? Move on, we've got no time to waste!" he said, opened his map again and started walking, his pace now faster.
Bugs first hesitantly followed, and then the rest of them as well.
Bo had seen him like this before and she knew that he would soon, or eventually to say the least, realize how harsh he had been and apologize. But she also knew that the others didn't know that. No matter how much time they had spent together these past years, it was in fact Bo the one that really knew him well.
McDimples landed on her shoulder and interrupted her thoughts.
"Girl, you must be very proud of your sheriff!" she commented with a sarcastic tone.
"He's going through a lot, give him a break".
"What did I expect? Of course you're rushing to defend him!"
"I'm not defending how he acted, I'm only saying that when he cools down he'll see he was wrong and you two will make up. Besides, even though he went completely the wrong way about it, you gotta give him that he actually has a point. We need to get there fast, or Bugs will lose her family".
"Sure, sure…" she admitted. "It's just weird that he's so obsessed over taking Bugs to Molly".
"It's not about Bugs getting to Molly. It's about him getting to Andy. That's why he's acting so weird" Bo said.
"Oh…" Giggle lowered her look. "I guess that didn't cross my mind. But Molly was once your owner and you are not freaking out now we are about to meet her".
"It's different".
"How is it different?"
Bo took a few breaths as she remembered her past in Andy's room.
"Woody and Andy go very back. He was with him from the start, his favorite toy, his best friend. It's hard to understand that if you never had an owner, Giggle. Well, I can't understand it either, because no kid loved me anywhere near enough as Andy loved Woody. It was something truly special" she said smiling, all the memories filling her head.
"He must really miss him then" Giggle noticed after a quick glance over at the cowboy's side.
"Well, he was his toy. And I don't think he'll ever stop being. He still thinks about him a lot. He doesn't talk as much about him as he used to, but it's always there. He gets very sad and melancholic at times".
"I had no idea" Giggle sighed slightly.
"He just needs us to give him a little space and time. You know he'd never wish to hurt you".
"I suppose you are right. Deep down he's a really good guy" admitted Giggle, and Bo knew that her own words were not the only reason she believed that, as Woody had helped her in many occasions. "I'm glad you have him. You're lucky".
"Yes, I believe so", her porcelain cheeks blushed.
They continued walking in the empty pavements in the night. Everything around them was as quiet as anyone would expect at this hour, and silence came soon among the toys, who didn't seem to be in the mood for conversations.
After a while, Woody announced that the rest of the road was just a straight line ahead, no more turns or crossing streets. Then he moved to the back of the group, walking last, to make sure no one was left behind.
That was when Bo decided to slow down her pace, so she would walk next to him.
He had folded the map and carried it under his armpit, since they didn't need it anymore. His eyes were only focused on his boots on the ground.
His expression was… empty. Sad. He was walking there beside her, but he seemed like he was in a completely different place, galaxies away.
"Woody?" she dared ask, in a gentle and sweet voice, in full accordance to her kind sentiments for him.
He didn't seem to notice. Indeed, galaxies away!
"Woody?" she repeated louder, but still calm.
"Um?" he said in surprise, as if he was waking up from a long sleep. "What—what is it, Bo?"
"I just wanted to ask if there's something on your mind that's bothering y-".
"No" he hurried to answer before she could even finish talking. "Of course not, why would it be? I… I don't know why you're asking… that kind of stuff. I'm fine! Really, I just… I…" he began stammering, and Bo knew exactly what that meant.
"Woody, I can't force you to talk to me, but I think it would help" she stated boldly, but not in an imposing way. "You know, you don't have to go to the gallery if you don't want to. We'll take Bugs to Molly and then we can meet again here".
"No, no!" he protested. "No, I… I want to go. Honestly. I'm just a little anxious".
"A little?" she asked in disbelief while raising an eyebrow.
He gave her a small push with his elbow.
"Okay, maybe a lot" he admitted. "You know that feeling when you were wishing for something so much and for so long and then it's finally here and you don't know how to react? You thought you were just going to be happy, but there are so many other feelings that overwhelm you as well, and that makes you feel guilty. Am… Am I making any sense?" Woody asked with a worried look on his face, lest he had been totally freaking her out.
"Actually, yes. That was exactly what I was going through when we met again. And I understand why you are feeling like this right now, but it's going to be alright".
"I don't know, Bo… I am afraid" he opened his heart in total honesty, something he could only do in front of her. "Who am I kidding? I am terrified! And I don't know why! It should be a happy moment and I'm ruining it!"
"Whoa, hold on! You're not ruining anything, you have the right to feel anything your heart tells you to feel!" she raised her voice, almost like scolding him, not because she wanted to sound mean, but because she hated the fact that, with everything he was going through, he had the extra unnecessary burden of having to suck his real feelings.
"Yeah, sure, but—" he began saying nonchalantly, but she immediately cut him off.
"No 'buts'! You have to understand that it's okay to be sad. You don't have to prove anything to me or the other toys. You don't have to be always composed and strong. I mean, it's about Andy! That's huge for you, I know".
At the sound of his name, the cowboy immediately turned his look to the ground again.
They continued walking in a silence for the next few minutes. But it wasn't awkward. Sometimes, Bo didn't have to talk. Just being there was enough. He could talk to her whenever he felt ready.
"It's stupid" he hesitantly began to voice his thoughts, "but a part of me almost feels like I don't want to see him".
She gave him a look that showed that she couldn't understand him.
"It will be perfect while it lasts" he continued. "I am certain of it. But then it will be gone".
"Woody, was it possible to be with Andy forever?"
"No, of course not" he replied confused as to where she was going with it.
"It sure seems to you like it didn't last long enough, but it was wonderful at the time, right?"
"Yes".
"But even though now these moments are gone, you don't regret living them, do you? And if you had a choice, you'd live them again, even if you knew how it would all end".
"Exactly" the sheriff smiled, finally understanding what she was trying to explain to him.
They kept on walking. Woody came a little closer to his shepherdess and, before they knew it, their fingers were intertwined and they walked hand in hand.
There was still sadness in his face, but Bo noticed that the end of his lips was almost a beginning of a warm smile.
"I just hope he is alright" he said in a low voice.
"I'm sure he is", Bo's shoulder hit his teasingly but gently.
"I think I should apologize to Giggle" he said, gave her a quick kiss on the forehand and let go of her hand.
He stopped for a second to look around.
"Well, I'm gonna have to find her first. She's too small for my tired eyes" he said and made Bo laugh.
When he traced her and moved to the front of the group, where she was, Bo couldn't hear exactly what she was saying, but her tone sounded angry and sarcastic.
"Typical McDimples" Bo thought.
However, it was not long before the tiny toy landed on his shoulder and the two of them were talking and laughing like old friends.
"That's my cowboy" she whispered, notably pleased at the sight.