(A/N: Seems that a lot of you guys were glad to see I.B. go. I was hoping to have people be able to sympathize with him, but I guess I made his character a little too bad for that. Well, he's gone either way. Now there's a big mess to clean up. Hopefully the Emotions can repair the damage I.B. caused.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 15: Mother Knows Best

"I.B., no!" Sadness shouted, but it was too late, he was already gone. She couldn't believe it. Why would he do that? He'd just threatened to throw the Core Memories into the Dump less than a minute ago. Why would he suddenly sacrifice himself to save them?

The answer had been in his final words. "For Riley."

Had a part of him truly believed that everything he had done had truly been for Riley's benefit? Had it really been more than mere jealousy from a lost and forgotten imaginary character?

They would never know.

"Hey!" Disgust called. "What's going on down there?"

Sadness struggled to find her voice. "I.B.'s gone…"

"What?"

"I.B.'s gone," she said louder. "He fell into the Memory Dump."

"Good riddance," Anger snapped. "Now work with us here."

Without the extra weight, they were able to pull Joy and Sadness through the window. Once inside, they collapsed on the floor in relief and exhaustion.

Finally, after several long moments, Disgust spoke. "Well, this whole adventure may have been the worst experience of my life. Sadness, you've got horrible taste in men."

The blue Emotion was deep in thought, still contemplating I.B.'s actions. "He sacrificed himself. He decided to let go rather than let the memories fall in. But why?"

"Who cares?" Anger snapped. "Just don't go breaking the rules anymore. No more boyfriends allowed in Headquarters."

"Boyfriends!" Joy exclaimed, jumping up. "Jordan! We've got to fix things with Jordan!"

She snatched the bag of Core Memories I.B. had removed and quickly went to open the capsule where they were meant to be. She plugged them back in, and the Islands began functioning again. Upon reinserting the Romantic Love Core Memory, the collapsed Island of Romance was made anew, and the Emotions breathed sighs of relief.

Next they turned their attention to the blackened controls. They tried a few buttons and such, but to no avail.

"It not working," said Joy. "Until they fix things in Heartquarters, we've got no control."

Anger's gaze landed on the breakup idea plugged into the control panel. "It's this idea that's causing her heartbreak. We've got to get it out."

He grabbed the light bulb and pulled, but it didn't budge. He struggled with it for a few moments before throwing his hands in the air. "It's not coming out! It's just like two years ago!"

Disgust looked at the blue Emotion beside her. "Then we need Sadness. She was the only one that was able to remove that other idea when it wouldn't come out."

The blue Emotion looked uncertain. "Oh, well, ok…"

She walked up to the control panel and tried to remove the idea. It didn't budge.

Fear's hands slapped against his cheeks. "Oh, no! We can't get it out! What are we going to do?"

Sadness stared at the idea for a bit before turning to the others. "It's because for ideas like this one, the right Emotion is needed to get them out of her head. Last time, she needed to feel sad about the idea when she tried to run away. This time, she needs something else."

She motioned to the wall of memories for the day. "Riley only took the idea to breakup with Jordan because I.B. made her feel sad, angry, and disgusted when she was with him and thinking about him. So those feelings won't get the idea out of her head." She looked at the purple Emotion. "Neither will being afraid. She needs to remember how good it felt to be with Jordan, how happy she was. She needs to feel joy to get this idea out of her head."

They all looked at the yellow Emotion. Joy blinked. She supposed what Sadness said made sense. It was similar to the running away incident. "Well, ok, I'll give it a shot."

She stepped forward, hoping and praying this worked. If it didn't work, she didn't know what they were going to do. Would they need to wait for the repairs to her heart be finished? But this idea was the reason her heart broke in the first place.

Taking a deep breath, she placed her hand on the idea, and pulled.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Down in Heartquarters, the Heart Workers worked furiously at the generator, trying to repair the damage done to her heart. But whatever was happening up in Headquarters was affecting things down here. If it didn't stop, then they'd never be able to make the repairs since the generator kept breaking down because of it. They wouldn't be able to get Riley's heart working, and she would remain depressed indefinitely.

"Come on, hurry up," Hate snapped. "Riley's depressed. I hate it when Riley's depressed!"

"We're doing the best we can," a Heart Worker told him. "But once we fix one problem, another one occurs. We can't fix things if the same problem keeps occurring over and over again. Quite frankly, I'm getting tired of making the same repairs so much."

Hate shoved the Heart Worker. "It's your job to make repairs. So make them!"

"It takes time to mend a broken heart," another Heart Worker told him. "It'd be easier if those in Headquarters could stop the cause."

Love was anxiously pacing back and forth. "They can't, not until they get rid of I.B."

"Forget I.B.," Hate growled, kicking one of the Heart Workers' tools. "As long as Riley's heart is down, the controls won't work, and Riley will remain depressed. AH! What a mess!"

Placing a calming hand on his shoulder, Love gave him a reassuring smile. "It's ok. Have faith. We all love Riley. Love will find a way."

Hate glared at her. "Was that a pun? You know I hate puns. And how can I have faith in those five idiots? They couldn't even get out of here without our help. You tell me, how are we supposed to have faith in them?"

"Got it!" a Heart Worker declared. "The repairs are complete. It looks like they stopped whatever was causing the heartbreak."

Hate stared dumbfounded as the generator began functioning again. The giant heart balloon began to inflate once more, and soon grew to its full size once again.

A big smile crept up the pink Emotion's face as she gave Hate knowing look. "See. I hate to tell you I told you so…"

Hate scoffed. "Yeah right. You love it."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Joy held the idea in her hand. Sadness was right; it had come out when she tried. Not wanting it anywhere near her, she threw the light bulb across the room.

"Nicely done," said Fear, "but the controls still aren't working. They started working again that time Sadness pulled out the idea to run away from home."

"I told you," said Sadness. "Riley's heart hadn't completely broken then. Not like this time. We need to give Love and Hate time to fix her heart."

"Great," Anger grumbled, pulling up a chair. "Nothing for us to do but sit down and wait."

He over exaggeratingly sat down and crossed his arms, staring at the controls. The others looked on as well, watching, waiting, wondering how much longer Riley would suffer.

They didn't know how long they waited. Minutes, maybe hours? But, finally, the blackness that had spread through the controls vanished.

"They did it!" Joy exclaimed. She pressed a test button, and smiled when she got a reaction. "All systems are working! Ok, people, we got a lot of work to do, so lets get busy."

"I'll say," Anger grumbled as he and the others took their places at the controls. "Thanks to I.B., we've got our work cut out for us."

"Yes," said Joy. "Lets deal with Jordan first. I think we should recall all the good times."

She pressed a few buttons, and several hundred yellow memories of Riley and Jordan's time together poured out of the recall tube.

"I'll get them," said Sadness, scooping up an armful. They immediately turned blue.

"Sadness, what have you done?" Fear shouted in horror.

"No, it's ok," Joy insisted, "Riley is full of unexpressed sadness right now, that's why they're turning blue. Once she allows herself to fell what she's suppressing, they'll go back to normal, just like last time."

"Except for the ones that stay blue," Anger grumbled.

Joy winced at that. He was right though. Two years ago, certain memories had stayed sad after Sadness touched them; things that Riley had once loved and was forced to give up when she moved. She missed them now, and thinking about them made her sad.

But they couldn't worry about which memories would stay sad and which ones would change back. They had to deal with the problem at hand before it was irreversible.

If it wasn't already.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Riley laid sideways on her bed, still streaming an episode of Bolt. She knew she should be doing her homework, but she just wasn't in the mood. She was depressed, very depressed. She hadn't felt like this since the time she ran away two years ago.

She thought about her relationship with Jordan, of how things took a dive. How had things gone downhill so fast? It wasn't just him not being able to come to her game. All day she'd felt… resentment towards him. She didn't know why, but that's just how she felt, had been even before he told her he couldn't come to her game.

She had no idea why, but the feeling was there all the same. And every time she saw him or thought about him, even when recalling happy memories, she had felt sad, angry, and disgusted. It was almost as if someone was telling her how she should feel rather how she actually felt. It was very confusing.

And then she had kept thinking about her imaginary boyfriend, the one she had dreamed up when fantasizing what her future boyfriend would be like, and she couldn't help comparing the two. True, Jordan was different from what she had imagined her future boyfriend would be like, but until today, she hadn't minded. Jordan was shy, sweet, caring, funny, reliable, or at least he had been until he told her he had to blow off her game.

That was where her resentment seemed to center around. She understood the situation, but for some reason, she couldn't seem to accept that. It was so unlike her.

That was when a little voice in the back of her head began telling her that she should break up with Jordan and hold out for someone better, someone more like the imaginary boyfriend she had fantasized about. And if there was no one like that, then there was no one worthy of her.

But she didn't want to break up with him. She liked being with Jordan. She wanted to be with him. She liked how he was different from the imaginary boyfriend she had thought she wanted.

Yet that small voice had been persistent, and every time thoughts of Jordan popped into her head, she would grow angry, sad, or disgusted while thinking of her imaginary boyfriend made her happy.

Her thoughts and feelings began to wear her down, but when she actually considered breaking up with him, she suddenly became depressed. Which was how she now found herself staring at the computer screen, not really watching, as Bolt tried to rescue his owner, Penny, from the evil Dr. Calico.

Yet as the minutes ticked by, she felt her depression lessen as more thoughts of her and Jordan together began floating through her head. And unlike the entire day, she found herself smiling as she thought about them.

Some memories brought tears to her eyes as she thought back on these happy times and how there would no longer be any more of them if they really did breakup. And unlike before, these emotions felt real, not forced, and they caused more tears to spill down her cheeks.

There was a knock at her door, and Mrs. Anderson stuck her head in. "Hey, sweetie. Everything ok?"

Riley quickly wiped away her tears before facing her mother, but was unable to hide her puffy red eyes. "Hey, Mom. I'm fine. Just taking a break from my homework."

A knowing smile grazed her mother's face. "A break, huh? Well, breaks are good. Maybe I'll take one with you." She moved to sit on the bed, giving her daughter time to say something if she wanted to. She didn't. "So, how are things?"

Riley diverted her eyes and gave a small shrug. "Ok, I guess…"

"Mmm hmm," Mrs. Anderson muttered skeptically. "And how are things with Jordan?" Another shrug, and no response this time. "He certainly left in a hurry. Is everything alright?"

"She's probing us," Anger growled. "Does she have to do this right now?"

"Wait, this is good," Joy assured him. "We could use some help. Some motherly advice could do us some good. Lets open up a bit."

A third shrug. "I don't know. Things are complicated right now."

Mrs. Anderson raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

Disgust pointed at the screen. "She's going to try and interfere in our love life," she complained.

"It's fine," Joy insisted. "We can confide in her some of the concerns I.B. stirred up."

Sighing, Riley turned to her mother. "Jordan can't come to my semi-finals game. One of his band mates scheduled a gig on the same day, and they can't reschedule."

A look of understanding crossed her mother's face. "Oh, I see. I'm sorry, sweetie. I'm sure that's disappointing."

Riley scowled a bit. "How could he? He'd rather play with his friends than be there for me."

Her mother put an arm around her. "Now, Riley, that's not really fair. I'm sure he would be there for you if he could. He has a responsibility and a commitment to his band mates, just like you do to your teammates. We all have to prioritize the things in our lives."

"Yeah," Riley agreed, "and he chose his friends over me."

Her mother disagreed. "No, I don't think so. I think what it came down to was who needed him more. He wanted to be there for you, Riley, and you want him to be there, but his friends need him to be there for them, otherwise they can't play."

Riley looked away. "I know that. I guess I always did. But it's still disappointing. I really wanted him to be there. Shouldn't he be there for me whenever I need him? If he's not willing to do that, should we even be together?"

"Darn I.B. for putting that in her head," Anger growled. "It's not that black and white."

Mrs. Anderson sighed. "Riley, being in a relationship isn't all sunshine and rainbows. There will be times when you have to compromise and make sacrifices. You'll face disappointments and hardships, but that's life. Not everything will always work out the way you want. There will be disagreements and arguments. You'll have good times and bad times, but the bad ones make the good ones that much more precious and meaningful. As long as you love each other and want to be together, you can get through them if you try, no matter what problems come your way, even if you don't agree with each other. Is it worth throwing away all the good times because of a few bad? Isn't the fact that you're so upset about Jordan not coming to your game proof of how much you care for him?"

She looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "You know, there are times when your father and I fight. Sometimes we drive each other completely crazy, but we work through our problems and move on." She placed a hand on Riley's shoulder. "It's just like when you and I argue, or you and your father. Don't we always get over it?"

Leaning down, she placed a kiss on her daughter's head. "I know this is your first real fight with Jordan, sweetie, but it's natural to fight and have disagreements occasionally. Some couples actually enjoy arguing with each other."

Riley raised an eyebrow. "They do? Why?"

Her mother shrugged. "Different reasons. Some fight just because they enjoy making up afterwards." Her hand went to her mouth, as if she thought she had said too much. This apparently went over Riley's head as her mother continued. "The point is, we're all human, Riley. We all have our flaws. Your father has many, and I'm sure he thinks I do too." She nudged her. "Though nowhere near as many as him. But we still love each other regardless, flaws and all. It's actually our flaws that make us perfect. And even though there are times I wish your father were different, the truth is, I wouldn't change a single thing about him, even if I could. I love him just the way he is."

For several long seconds, or maybe several minutes, Riley stared at her mother as she absorbed all this. Her head suddenly felt much clearer, as if a fog had lifted, and she realized that she didn't want to breakup with Jordan. She never wanted to breakup with him, not even when the idea had occurred to her and she had actually begun to consider it. She didn't care that he was different from what she imagined her future boyfriend would be like. She loved him just the way he was.

And now she realized just how horrible she had been to him. She had been selfish, rude, and mean. That wasn't like her at all. Who had she been today? Certainly not Riley Anderson.

Wiping the remnants of the tears from her eyes, she jumped out of bed. "I'll be back, Mom. I need to go talk to Jordan."

She kissed her mother's cheek and ran out of the room. Mrs. Anderson smiled at her daughter's departure, and she wasn't the only one. Inside her head, her own Emotions leaned back, looking very proud of themselves.

"Still got it," her Sadness told the others.

"We sure do," they agreed.

(A/N: We're coming close to the end. Only a few more chapters left. Not that everything inside Riley is "working properly" again, the damage can be repaired. I.B.'s interference with Riley's relationship is meant to be a parody of the delusions and unrealistic fantasies and expectations we sometimes have when we have our first relationship. That's one of the things I love about Inside Out, the way they provide a "reason" for the way we feel in certain situations, because something goes "wrong" inside us.)