A/N: Took a while to get this up, I know, but here it is! Finally e'll be able to see a bit of interaction between Riley and the other members of Team Happy! So with that said, on we go!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inside Out.

Dreams were still vividly new to Riley, given that most of her process, from her first realization of consciousness, had consisted of ongoing blackouts followed by blurriness. At first dreams, with their sudden colors and sounds that came to her when she wasn't awake, scared her, almost as if she was seeing double and Aggravation merely wanted to replace a "stranger emotion" with something far more obedient. Like dreams were meant to frighten her into submission.

But dreams were now a blessing to Riley. Like pizza. And this one was far more incredible than the first one.

There she stood, in the center of the park where she and Joy had been the first time. The sun was bright, the grass was lush and trimmed, and Riley knew how to put on her mitt. Across from her Joy had a ball ready in her own.

But it wasn't just her. Anger, Disgust, and Sadness all had their mitts ready, prepared for some serious softball catching. They were all smiling at Riley, as if they had known her for such a long time.

As if they loved her as much as Joy did.

The feeling was amazing as Riley opened her palm for Joy to toss at her. She caught the ball without any difficulty, and when she tossed it to Fear, the purple emotion grinned at her, giving a broad wink.

The catching and tossing became more enjoyable as they all conversed with each other. Fear asking how she was doing with his dad, Anger suggesting Riley try something like hockey, Disgust complimenting on her throw, and Sadness saying she was probably born with this skill. The fact that they were all talking to her, not even one bit afraid of her, it was everything Riley never expected.

Best of all, it warmed Joy's heart too. The yellow emotion grinned at her, catching the ball made by an amazing throw of Riley's.

And later after some catch, the six entered the Plutchik Wheel together. And before them the city lit up, just like the night before. Joy slipped her hand into Riley's, squeezing it gently as they all drank in the beauty together.

At that moment Riley felt another hand. Fear's.

He was smiling, not the least bit worried, and it amazed Riley that he had dropped all barriers he had put up just because she was different. She found herself loving the purple emotion even more.

"Look," he said, pointing toward the city. "Ain't it swell?"

Riley could only nod, still in awe that he was this close to her. "It's beautiful."

"Exactly," he said sweetly, "and we'll all show you the world together."

Together...

However, the next time Fear opened his mouth, he began to chirp, frightening Riley. Fear wasn't supposed to sound like that!

Eyes flew open as she let out a gasp, Joy waking up seconds later with her. The blonde breathed heavily, wondering what in the world just happened. However, she calmed down as she glanced at her side. Joy's phone was going off.

"Ooh, sorry..." the yellow emotion said sheepishly. "I forgot to mention I turned on my alarm."

"Alarm?" Riley repeated with a rasp.

"Yeah, it's something we use to wake us up at a certain time," Joy chuckled nervously. "I thought you'd need it too. I mean, this is the first time you've gotten a bed..."

She quickly reached over and grabbed her phone. Turning it off, she glanced at Riley who shuddered a bit from the noise.

"You okay now?" Joy asked, relieved that Riley's structure at least seemed stable. It seemed that the two of them sleeping next to one another had paid offm ad Riley looked as healthy as ever.

"Y-yeah..." Riley sighed. "I'm good."

"Awesome!" Joy beamed. "Hope you slept well in your first time ever in a bed!"

Riley managed a smile. "I did. Thanks."

She watched as Joy bolted out of bed, like a flash of electric yellow mixed with some blue as the emotion rushed to her dresser.

"We should dress you up in something cute," she stated as she searched all her clothes. "I mean, yeah, the jumpsuit it okay, but you could use something else! I can talk to Disgust's mom sometime, but for now, you should wear something I got!"

Riley slowly slipped out of bed and stood before Joy patiently. Her friend pulled out something something white and something yellow.

"This top should help," Joy informed, "it's good for nice sport-days like this! And here, you can borrow my yellow jacket. It's real cozy."

Riley accepted them, looking over the yellow jacket that sported a large zipper in the middle. In a few moments Joy took out some dark pants that would cling well to Riley's lithe frame.

"You try those on!" Joy called. "I'm gonna go get changed in the bathroom, okay?"

"Okay!" Riley replied, looking at the clothes curiously as Joy exited.

Closing the door for Riley, Joy hurried to the bathroom with her own clothes, locking herself in it. Shedding her pajamas and putting on her dress, she then opened one of the drawers, shuffling around some of the things before removing the small bag of pills.

Popping one in her mouth and swallowing it, she thought over what she was going to do that day. She was going with Riley to the park to meet with Fear and her other friends. They'd play some sports at the park, maybe go out to eat somewhere...

She wasn't sure about the evening hours. Sure, she had some ideas, but it would all depend on how meeting with the others went, if Riley and the others got along. And hopefully, it would go great, ad Team Happy would have a new member!

Smiling at those happy thoughts, Joy made sure her pills were back in their proper place before she returned to her room. She knocked on the door.

"Y-You can come in!" Riley called.

That smile still on her face, Joy opened the door.

Wearing the clothes that Joy had given her, the blonde was staring at herself in the mirror, smiling. She wasn't seeing someone who just got created from a tube. More like she was someone who was just...normal. Or at least close to it.

Joy's reflection stood next to hers, wearing her trademark apple-green dress and her feet still bare.

"Looking good, Riley!" she complimented.

Said girl just blushed and gave a stiff nod. "So what are we doing now?"

"Well, we get some breakfast in the kitchen," Joy explained, "then mom and I can go teach you some school stuff."

Riley's face paled a bit at the mention of that. She was still on edge about being able to understand and be educated in the most basic of things. She only hoped she could do well enough to be considered a good student at Joy's former school.

"You're worried, aren't you?" Joy asked her, noticing her expression.

"Just a little..." Riley murmured. "Sort of...I don't know..."

The emotion offered her a gentle smile. "Hey, my mom and I will help you. You'll get this soon enough!"

She quickly took her hand, dragging her out through the bedroom door.

"Come on!" Joy urged happily. "Mom's making pancakes!"

Once they raced through the kitchen to the smell of batter being baked, both were seated at a large, round table where two glasses of orange juice were already being prepared. Delight came in with plates of their breakfast.

"Good morning Joy," she greeted her daughter as she placed a plate in front of her. "Good morning, Riley," she greeted sweetly as she slid in hers.

The girls gave their greetings before finally digging in. Riley found herself practically enamored by the delicious taste of fluffy pancakes. The syrup and better made it even better, like walking on a cloud of some sort. Almost as if she were flying and she never wanted to get down. Joy noticed this and giggled.

"I get that way when I eat chocolate too," she said.

"Is that a really good food?" Riley asked.

"The best thing ever invented!" Joy exclaimed. "Seriously, I'll get you a huge bar later when we go to the park."

Riley's lit up at the mention of her very first play area. It would be fun to just do all that stuff again with Joy.

"The park?" she said with excitement in her tone, recalling her dream. "Really? We're going to play some sports again?"

"Not just us!" Joy informed. "I invited my friends over too!"

The smile fell faster than the fork Riley had in her hand, falling onto the table with a loud clack.

"Y-You WAHT?!" Riley squeaked, dread bubbling up in the pit of her stomach as she suddenly didn't feel that hungry anymore.

Joy hurriedly tried to encourage her friend. "I figured today might be a good day for us to try again at all of us being friends!" She grinned at her. "I mean, look how much you've learned these past few days!"

The corners of Riley's mouth briefly twitched upward, but her pride in Joy's statement was quickly overtaken again by the worry concerning Joy's friends. "B-But, I'm still not comfortable around them, and Fear will probably try to run away again..."

"And if we show them what you've learned about what our world is like, they'll hopefully start to be more accepting of you!" She gave her new roommate a playful nudge. "Come on, always room for improvement, right?"

Riley couldn't share Joy's enthusiasm. Her first encounter with Joy's friends was still burned into her mind as one of her less pleasant memories, even if her recent dreams seemed to suggest otherwise. She frowned, looking downward and fiddling with her fingers, a gesture that had become a nervous habit. "I don't know... I mean, they didn't like me, and Fear especially is afraid of me—"

"Riley," Delight said gently, picking up her glass and refilling it with more orange juice. "I think that meeting with Joy's friends again is a very good idea."

Riley looked at her in disbelief. "It is?" She wasn't sure how a situation like that where she would be directly shunned and geared could have any semblance of a good idea whatsoever.

"Because," Delight went on, "you'll be starting school in a couple days, and there will be tons of new kids there you don't know. Now hopefully they'll all get along with you and be your friends."

Riley bit her lip, unsure.

"But there's often bullies around schools and there is a chance that you could run into trouble. If you meet up with Joy's friends and they become more accepting of you then, well, it just might help prepare you to enter that school on Monday with gutso!" She went over to Riley and stroked her hair affectionately, to which Riley managed a greatful smile.

The grin was small, true, but it was enough to bring a wide smile to Joy's own face as she helped Riley to her feet. "You ready to go?"

Riley wasn't so sure, but at least she knew that Joy was going to be there to watch her back, just in case. Just as she always was.

"Great!" Making sure they had all their things together, Joy led Riley outside and leapt in the air happily as she noticed the weather.

"Sun shining, not too much of a breeze, perfect weather for some park-going with friends!" She took Riley's hand, hoping that her bouncy personality would prove to be contagious for Riley. "To the park!"

The pair finally reached the park in question, several families also around enjoying the day. Riley stayed close to Joy's side, hoping that she'd be able to avoid any stares and ridicule. Or scaring the crap out of the younger kids.

It wasn't long before Joy spotted a group of four emotions over near the park benches, ones both she and Riley recognized. It was her friends.

Riley felt her legs freeze up, suddenly doubting this was a good idea after all. encouragement from Joy finally urged her to move her legs forward.

Joy called and waved to her friends. "Hey guys! Over here!"

The moment the other four glanced in their direction, their expression of content were slowly replaced by uncertainty the moment Riley came into view. They tried not to show it, but the blonde could read faces even from afar. She couldn't blame them. This whole thing was awkward for her as well.

Fear played with his thumbs the moment he spotted Riley. How close she stood by Joy worried him further. Joy was getting too comfortable around her, and the purple emotion's concerns grew to the possibility that that the trust could possibly lead to Riley being able to hurt her if Joy wasn't careful. That was only number five in his list of "possible dangers"...

After last night's phone call, he and the others had discussed how they would be able to get through with granting Joy's wish for them to interact with Riley. Anger, as usual, was rather defiant and suggested they try and send Joy mass texts begging for her to reconsider. But that was just plain rude and they knew they could never hurt Joy's feelings like that. It was one of the things that made her so different from others, besides the fact she could actually glow like a morning sun.

She seemed really attached to Riley as she mentioned in the previous call, and others were worried that this friendship could step over their own. They had missed Joy these past few days, and wished desperately for her to come back to them. Movie Night had been boring, not because it was Fear's turn to choose a movie, but because there was no one to lighten the mood. Without Joy, there just wasn't any...joy.

It wasn't like they wouldn't do anything for their friend...but this was asking a bit much. But they would try to respect her decision and see if a second time would be the charm.

Disgust's eyes loomed over Riley's new outfit as she and Joy stopped before them. "Nice to see you not wearing the orange jumpsuit thing," she complimented almost teasingly.

Riley blushed, feeling even more awkward as she held onto Joy. She just gave a brief nod, eyes falling to the floor nervously. Fortunately, Joy spoke for both of them.

"I'm glad you guys came!" she said happily.

"Of course, Joy," Fear spoke steadily, glancing between her and Riley, "we really missed you."

"Movie Night sucked," Anger grunted. "The last few days were just boring without you."

"Aww!" Joy cooed, touched by their sincerity. "Well, I'm here now. And I brought Riley!"

She gestured to the blonde who felt her cheeks pale when the eyes fell on her once more. She still wasn't used to all those stares. Riley shifted from one foot to the other, unsure of what to say. She merely lifted a hand, waving shyly at the other four. At least Sadness gave a wave back.

"Um, yeah..." Anger murmured uncomfortably, "nice to see you again, Riley."

"Yeah..." Riley responded quietly. "You too..."

"See, isn't this great?" Joy chirped. "We're all here together!"

"Yay..." Disgust muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Anyway, I know a great hobby we can do all together," the yellow emotion suggested. "Let's play some catch!"

The mention of the familiar sport lifted Riley's gaze. Last night's dream came to mind, and she believed that perhaps it was a sign. A prediction, hopefully.

"Catch, huh?" Fear said, glancing over at Riley for the umpteenth time. "Uh...does she throw really hard?"

Joy laughed. "No! She just knows how to play. Come on, guys! Everyone grab a mitt and let's get started!"

Reluctantly, the others followed behind her and Riley toward the familiar bucket that carried tons of gear. There were enough mitts to go all around. Soon Joy instructed each person where to stand. Between her were Riley and Fear, although it seemed the latter was trying to make some closer distance without Joy noticing.

Riley gazed at her mitt with uncertainty. When she and Joy played catch, it had been a fun and excellent experience. But with the four emotions joining, Riley wasn't sure if she would be able to perform the same way in front of them. She was even more nervous in this open space with them all watching her every move! Why did Joy have to set them up like this? She really wished it could have been another day just for the both of them.

Joy felt the wind whip through her blue locks as she bounced the ball from one hand to her mitt. Her eyes scanned the area, one person to the other. When they fell on Riley, she could feel the tension arise. But she was sure it would all calm down once the game started, and everyone would finally see the amazing stuff Riley could do.

"Alright!" Joy called out to everyone. "Let's play!"

With that she raised the ball before flinging it at Disgust. The green emotion had barely noticed it flying in her direction as she looked over her own fingers. Fortunately she caught it just in time, grimacing as she felt the mild impact through her own glove.

"Heads' up!" she called, tossing it toward Sadness.

The blue emotion caught it with little difficulty. She almost tripped on her own shoes, but she pulled herself back up. Adjusting her glasses, she lifted the ball and threw it toward Anger. The red emotion needed to be careful, knowing his own strength was pretty "bold" compared to the others. He glanced in Fear's direction, aiming the ball at him. The purple emotion nearly got hit in the nose, but thankfully his mitt had been right in front of his face. He caught it with a sigh of relief.

Gripping the ball, he turned and realized that he had to throw it to Riley. Anxiety washed over his features as she spotted the part-emotion blonde gaze at him patiently, her almost transparent blue eyes making him even more nervous. Why did he have to be the one to do it?

"Throw the ball!" Anger called out impatiently.

Oh, Fear hated working under pressure! Just like his dad! The ball began to feel heavy in his hands, as if a huge stone had substituted it for this occasion that was literally looking him in the face.

"Fear!" Joy called. "Riley's waiting!"

He secretly wished he could have thrown the ball back to his friend, but she was counting on him not to act like a total wuss. Not that she thought he was a wuss, after all, it was Anger who usually referred to him like that...

Lifting the ball, he clenched his teeth as Riley prepared herself. He threw it.

The blonde braced for an incoming fast one. However, the ball was not even close in her direction. In fact, it went much more on her left, and went father than she had expected. The ball fell about a few feet away from where she was, which was quite farther away from where everyone stood.

"What was that?" Disgust stated, her expression her usually unimpressed look.

Fear felt his cheeks grow pink with embarrassment. He gave a timid shrug.

"I..." he gulped. "S-sorry..."

Riley turned and hurried over to where the ball landed. Either Fear goofed up there for a moment...or he did so out of rational fear itself. She felt a prickle of hurt invade her feelings as the blonde thought that must be it. He was still afraid of her, and he was uncomfortable even playing with her. That toss was merely a way of hoping to keep more distance from her.

Still, she didn't allow her true expression to show as she returned to her post. Rolling the ball in her hands, she tossed it back at Joy.

"See?" the yellow emotion beamed. "Isn't this fun?"

Her friends glanced at one another.

"Yeah."

"Sure."

"I guess."

"Could you just toss the ball again?" Anger grumped, breaking the awkward answers to Joy's question.

Riley tried to keep her focus, trying to smile and at least get a word in, but it wasn't easy. Although hanging around with Joy had greatly improved her social interaction with the few she knew, groups who mistrusted her weren't exactly in her social comfort zone.

But she figured she'd try, for both Joy's sake and her own.

"So, uh, Fear..." Riley said hesitantly. She hoped that maybe if she talked to him, he'd become more accustomed to her presence. "What kind of movie did you pick?"

"Uh... um..." Fear's eyes darted, clearly wanting to avoid talking to her even when she was trying to engage a conversation with him. She was already too close to Joy—both physically and socially—for his comfort, and if that bond grew so close that they completely trusted each other, it could only result in danger. What if Riley used the opportunity to actually harm Joy, or any of them? What if something went wrong with her structure and caused her to have a mental breakdown? After all, she was a being composed of the makeup of two different worlds. And what of her defense mechanism he had heard about activated? What if she went berserk and attacked Joy?

Feeling a bid bad for Riley at Fear's constant stammering and looking like he wanted to be anywhere else, Sadness answered. "He picked Revenge of the Mutant Shoes Part 5." She shrugged. "Part 4 was better."

"At least it wasn't as stupid as Part 3," Anger grumped. "How can you even like those movies?"

"I should have been in charge of designing the shoes though," Disgust muttered.

Riley arched her brow.

"You wouldn't like it too much," Sadness said, tossing the ball in an arc to Anger though missing her aim since she was trying to look at Riley at the same time. "The plot kinda drags."

"What plot?" Anger and Disgust said at the same time. With a small grin at one another, Anger tossed the ball to Disgust with a roll of his eyes.

A sad smile crossed Riley's face. Would she be able to ever join in with them like that? To laugh an an inside joke or express a mutual feeling about something that furthered their bond? Perhaps it was just wishful thinking on her part, but she hoped that her dreams ended up having some truth to them.

"This is getting boring," Anger muttered. "Can't we play a game that's a bit more exciting?"

"Nothing too crazy," Joy pointed out. "We haven't exactly tested to see what Riley's capable of doing yet and she might not keep up."

"So I guess Raincloud Chase is out of the question?" Sadness asked.

"For now, yeah."

"Aww..." Sadness looked considerably more despondent.

"Well what, uh, can she do?" Fear asked, taking a few steps away from Riley as if he thought "destroy every Terracordian within 5 miles" was one of the things she could do.

"Well," Joy said slowly. "She can play catch and football and soccer. I mean, she's tried those, she could try more..."

Riley placed her mitt down a little, looking a bit confused. Sure, she could play those sports, but this Raincloud Chase thing that Sadness mentioned seemed like it could be fun, whatever it was—Sadness was Joy's one friend who seemed somewhat willing to give her a chance, and she seemed to indicate it was fun. So by default, it must be fun.

Fear looked down at his feet. "Well, uh, we're not exactly sure if her human-emotion ratio could—"

"Please, guys!" Joy begged, her glow brightening a bit hopefully. "I know that you're still getting used to Riley, but she's getting used to us too."

"But she's not fully an emotion! She's barely Terracor—"

"Well she's part Terracordian, Anger." Joy looked back and forth at her friends pleadingly. "Just because she doesn't quite have our mobility doesn't mean she can't play." She glanced at Riley, who had stepped a bit closer with a hopeful look on her face. "So you should let her play. If not an energy game, at least some sport like softball?"

They knew they were pushing her over the edge with their opinions on Riley, but her face wouldn't show it. They tried not to be too ride about her new friend, but it was still uncomfortable that the pitches were becoming less enthusiastic, much like Fear's. But it had felt like forever since they've last seen Joy, and they would do anything just to hang out with her again.

This was asking a bit much. Still, for Joy's sake.

Disgust dared to glance at Riley's direction, her focus entirely on Joy throughout the whole conversation. They were even closer than the others thought, and the green emotion found herself nearly envious that Riley received all this attention and coddling. Although the envy was mixed with a pang of neglect like the others did, Disgust knew that Joy would do a lot just for this so-called "emotion".

They were all here together, with Riley undoubtedly becoming their sixth wheel. They at least had to make the most of it.

Pushing a strand of green hair away from her face, she averted her eyes as she spoke to the lithe blonde. "So, Riley..."

Said person looked up in her direction ins surprise. Disgust tried to form the words in her head before finally rolling them off her tongue.

"W...which sport do you want to play next?"

It took Riley a moment for her to realize Disgust was actually asking her to make a suggestion. That was new. The blonde glanced over at Joy, who offered an encouraging nod, smiling brightly.

Riley pressed her lips together, noticing that all eyes were on her her. She scanned her mind for a good answer, reminiscing on what she and Joy had been doing the past two days. They had played catch, some basketball, and then there was soccer. No use for hockey right now because Riley doubted she was even good at it. She dared to glance up at Disgust, trying not to be anymore uncertain.

"Well..." she began shyly, "we could play some soccer."

"You know how to play?" Anger asked uneasily, still doubtful of her abilities.

"Of course she can play!" Joy answered for her. "Riley's getting really good at it!" She beamed at her friend. "Come on, Riley! Let's show them what you can do!"

The blonde merely nodded as the yellow emotion raced over to the sports bin. She quickly pulled out a soccer ball before hurrying to rejoin the others.

"Alright, first things first," she began before gesturing to the other emotions, "we're going to form two teams."

She pointed toward Anger. "Anger, your team will be with Disgust and Sadness."

He let out a mental sigh or relief, knowing that he got to lead a group without the inclusion of her. Even if Disgust wasn't exactly the best in most sports.

Fear's eyes dilated at the realization that he just ended up on the other team. With Riley.

He wheeled toward Joy who smiled tenderly in Riley's direction. The blonde girl rubbed her arms, more unsure than he was that she actually needed to associate with someone other than Joy.

"Joy..." Fear muttered under his breath, playing with his fingers nervously.

"Don't worry about it!" his friend promised. "Just have fun and make sure the other team doesn't get the ball!" She turned to the others. "Our goals will be the trees across from each other. Everyone got that?"

Murmurs of reluctant agreement sounded among the others, Riley remaining silent. Joy smiled before holding the ball up for everyone to see.

"Alright, let's play!" she announced before dropping it.

She kicked it toward Fear who nearly had a panic attack when it came at him. But he managed to get over it quickly and smacked it with the the end of his shoe. However, his quickness resulted in the ball accidentally ricocheting toward the other team.

"It's mine!" Anger shouted in triumph as he began to kick it from foot to foot, Disgust and Sadness behind him.

"Riley!" Joy called out. "Stop him!"

Flinching at the task suddenly given to her, Riley felt her chest tighten knowing she had to interact with the others on a whole new level. Still, she didn't refuse and her lanky legs pushed her forward. She felt sweat trickle at the back of her neck as she got in Anger's path. The short yet bulky emotion looked pretty tough, like the kind of person who could literally tear down walls. Still, she rushed at him.

Anger's eyes widened, realizing that Riley was really going to try and take the ball from him. He acted quick and kicked the ball to Sadness. The blue emotion's eyes rose in surprise but she accepted the change of course and took over. She maneuvered to the right just as Riley was about to block her. With her curvy legs and angled hips, Sadness was great at avoiding blocks. One of the best tricks she learned was able to do a twirl and swinging the ball to the other leg, almost pretending she was trying to make a kick.

She did just that as Riley tried to take the ball from her other foot. Blue locks swishing as she twirled, Sadness succeeded the other girl and rushed past her.

Riley grunted in frustration, a new feeling taking control. One that involved wanting to win so badly. Competitive streak, that's what Joy called it.

She felt the weight in her legs build up as she went after Sadness. Joy and Fear were heading in the same direction, all closing in on Sadness who kicked the ball from one foot to the next.

"Disgust!" she called before kicking it to the other emotion.

The green female almost didn't see it but she found her focus and took the ball between her legs. Now Joy and Fear were after her as raced toward the tree that served as their goal. Dress flapping as she ran, she felt a sensation that she actually would get her team a point.

Riley noticed the opening and took another direction. The moment Disgust was close enough, she kicked as forcefully as she could. The ball went flying, willing to strike the bark of tree it was aiming at.

However, Riley got in between just in time. She leaped with her hands held out in front of her. The soccer ball slammed her in the lower thigh with a loud thump.

Riley paused, staring down at the ball for a moment in shock. She had actually blocked the ball. From someone who wasn't Joy. Around other people.

And Disgust bore a similar expression of shock for an instant.

"Whoo, go Riley! Come on, kick it!" Joy called enthusiastically and giving her teammate a thumbs up.

Shaking herself out of her daze, Riley kicked the ball forward so that it zoomed past Disgust and just barely managed to reach Joy. The glowing emotion turned to give Riley a congratulatory grin and kicked the ball to Fear just as the opposing team members tried to take advantage of her backwards look.

Fear nearly got hit in the face and had to fight to recover. He felt a twinge of unease in his chest when he noticed how Joy looked at Riley, and how often. There was so much protectiveness and support and outright love in her eyes that he was starting to feel left out.

And neglected.

And... jealous.

And most of all, fearful of the close bond that Joy and Riley had forged. Who knew what the part-emotion was capable of, or if something went wrong with her mental sate.

But these thoughts swirling around in his head were distracting him from the game. He'd have time to ponder such things later, maybe wracking up the nerve to talk to his dad about it. But he hurriedly kicked the ball toward the opposing goal and raced off toward it, barely managing to have avoided Anger's attempt at seizing the ball for their team.

But Fear's scatterbrained worry had disappated too late, and just when he thought he was safe from Anger, Disgust practically flew by him, and kicked the ball right out from under him, causing him to trip.

"Gotta be quicker than that, slowpoke!" Disgust teased. "Even Riley could have blocked that one!"

Right on Joy's heels, Riley looked slightly perplexed at Disgust's wording. She felt bad for Fear, but she wasn't entirely sure to take those words as an insult regarding her, or a compliment, or a little bit of both.

She decided both was a safe bet.

Joy lowered her head to pick up speed, practically neck and neck with Disgust as Riley raced to keep up.

"You're doing pretty good today, Disgust!" Joy exclaimed, complimenting her friend.

"Thanks," Disgust said, setting her eyes on the goal and hoping she could distract Joy enough. "Nice outfit choice for Riley, by the way."

Joy's mood and appearance instantly brightened. Yes, progress! "Really?"

"You hear that, Riley?" Joy called behind her. "Disgust likes your outfit!"

"Um, Joy..." Riley's face was slightly red at the compliment, but at the same time she was actually noticing that Joy was getting distracted by her.

"Sure... just hope she doesn't get it ruined when you lose!"

"Before Joy could even utter a "Huh?", Disgust kicked the ball out from under Joy, causing the other emotion to stumble as Disgust managed to kick the ball into the tree, grinning triumphantly at the satisfying thunk.

Riley paused in her steps, simply staring as Disgust gave a wave to her imaginary audience. Anger and Sadness cheered with her, making it very clear they were above the opposing team. The blonde glanced over at Joy and Fear. While the former was obviously a good sport about it, being optimistic as usual, Fear looked pretty glum from the quick loss. Riley felt pretty bad about that, but with Joy's influence, she felt that it was all in good fun. And the next game they would do better.

"Alright, nice one, Disgust!" Joy called toward her. "Now we can set up all over again!"

The teams didn't waste time as they stood against each other. The ball was placed between them, awaiting whoever would get it first. After a few moments of stares and preparation, both went at it. This time Joy managed to grab the ball from Anger as she sped past the red emotion. Growling from have lost his balance so easily, he and his teammates went after her.

Riley rushed to the other side of the field, Fear on her opposite. They watched over Joy as she continued kicking from one foot to the other, her yellow glow brightening as she became more restless.

"Fear!" she called, kicking it toward the purple emotion.

Although it had not been an air kick, Fear flinched as it came in his direction. It hit his side with an innocent thud, which didn't exactly hurt but still had frightened him. Looking over the ball, he quickly gathered his wits and dashed off with it. In elementary he was never exactly the best one in sports, but he always did give it his all. And there were moments when he succeeded above his peers.

Right now he was gaining the upper hand as the ball ricocheted between his kicks while the other team chased after him. Thankfully, it was only Disgust and Sadness who were hot on his tail. When they all played football that one time, Anger literally tackled him even after Fear already made it across the line. When it came soccer and Anger was on the other team, Fear was always afraid he would kick the ball too hard and hit him in the face. They had a few close calls before.

But this time Fear was outrunning the girls, both who were becoming a little breathless but still went after him. They all dashed across the field with the opposing team's tree/goal within view. He might just be able to get his team a point!

However, lo and behold, Anger rushed right in front of him. Next thing he knew Fear was being blocked in every attempt he made. He doubted he could kick from where he stood, on account of Anger possibly being able to steal the ball from him. And there was no way he could master the twirl-and-kick movie that Sadness was an expert of.

He glanced in his other direction to see Joy was already being covered by Disgust and Sadness. Green and blue blocked yellow, and Fear was worried they would lose yet another point to the other team if he didn't act fast.

"Hey! I'm open!"

The sound of that voice made his insides squirm as he looked over to see Riley. Her hands were up in the air, her lanky legs kicking the ground as she called to him. With he and Joy being blocked by their friends, no one had ever assumed Riley.

Part of him was unsure of the trade, mainly because he was still intimidated by the part-emotion and because he doubted she was that great with soccer right now. However, Joy was counting on all of them to respect and include Riley in everything. He was, after all, on her team.

He had to think fast because he couldn't avoid Anger forever. With that in mind, he reluctantly kicked the ball to Riley's side, completely surprising Anger and his teammates as it rocketed across the grass. Riley actually smiled at this, realizing that Fear had actually performed some sort of trust mechanism for her. Either that or he just really wanted a point, it was still something as she accepted the ball between her legs.

"After her!" Anger called out as he and others began rushing at Riley.

The blonde thought quickly as she hurried, her lanky legs kicking the ball just as Joy taught her. Left. Right. Focus. The yellow emotion's shouts of encouragement rang through her ears as green, blue, and red went after her. The adrenaline pumping through her veins felt amazing, and she realized that the burning sensation at her heels meant that she was really pushing past the so-called boundaries of what her "minimum strengths" were. She had never even tried to run this fast before!

She found herself grateful for this newfound freedom once more, because her body was reacting in ways that might possibly be relevant to emotions. And she felt the sweat further inside her jacket, which meant that she was becoming quite the sport Joy promised she would be. She was getting really good at all this sports stuff!

Narrowing her eyes, a smile tugging at her lips, Riley raced across the field with the ball being kicked in front of her. The other team's tree-goal was getting nearer, and she was just minutes away from getting her team a point. If she got that point, maybe it would make a difference between her and Joy's friends. And they would finally see her as one of them.

To her, it didn't matter in the end if they won or not, though her team winning would be a great bonus. What she mainly wanted was to be accepted.

Anger's eyes widened, realizing that she had a full opening to score. He turned to his side to one of his teammates.

"One of you gals go over there and block her hit!" he ordered desperately.

"I don't want to get smacked in the face!" Disgust whined.

Sadness sighed, rolling her eyes. "You're not going to get smacked! Okay, you know what, I'll do it!"

And with that said the blue emotion raced forward and headed past Riley. With her body covering up their tree/goal, she braced herself. Hands out with her legs spread, she awaited for Riley to make that kick.

The blonde halted for a moment, seeing as Sadness had a good chance of blocking her. She scanned for any possible openings, certain that a type of kick that would spiral past Sadness could work. Not wasting any time, she kicked the ball straight upward.

However, Sadness took notice of this immediately and used her body to block the ball. It was rather hard, but thankfully her sweater saved her from a more severe impact. The ball bounced off with a loud thud, making it fly back toward Riley. The blonde grunted under her breath, frustrated and feeling more keen to do a better job. When the ball came back at her, she knew what she needed to do. It was a strange and almost terrifying move Joy taught her.

She leaped up a bit and kicked the ball, using all her strength to ensure it would not let her down this time. The ball cannoned right off her foot, soaring straight at Sadness so fast that the ball was almost a blur of black and white.

Sadness didn't even have time to notice the ball as it raced toward her with the speed and force of a cannon. And it slammed right into her cheek with an even louder thump, what sounded like a crack reaching Riley's ears, sending the blue emotion's glasses flying straight off her face as she was knocked to the ground.

A/N: Uh oh, seems like Riley didn't know her own strength, and this could be pretty bad! I know, a bit of a cliffhanger there, but I'll get the next chapter up faster to make up for it! Hope you enjoyed and please review—they're my favorite form of feedback. :)