Chapter 11 - Unconditional Love

He must have fallen into a light doze, for when Woody came around again, the digital clock on the nightstand read 9.47am. Glancing around, the cowboy noticed three things – firstly that Bullseye was awake, but still had his head on his folded hooves. Secondly, the bed below him was empty, and there was no sign of the girl Amanda. And thirdly, Buzz was still missing.

Panic set into Woody, and not even Bullseye's sudden good morning lick could do anything to change that. He petted the steed.

"Where could he be?" He wondered aloud, and Bullseye regarded his master for a moment before giving the cowboy another lick. Woody wiped his cheek from all the slobber and frowned again. Something was very definitely wrong.

Buzz rolled over and fidgeted, brushing something out of his face. He opened his eyes lazily and the first thing he saw were strands of Jessie's hair, which had come un-tucked from her now ponytail styled hair. They wafted in front of Buzz's face, tickling his nose. He brushed the hair off his face with a sigh, drinking in his girlfriend's face in the morning light seeping through the blue covered window, just above where they lay together.

Her big eyes were closed, her little nose wrinkled in sleep, and her freckles – why had he never noticed her freckles? - dotted just over the bridge of her nose. They were slightly darker than her pale skin, and her lashes, which were darker still, contrasted even more against the paleness. Buzz marvelled at her features for a few minutes more before the lashes twitched and her eyes fluttered open slowly.

"Hey…" she murmured, snuggling into the space toy's arms. "Mornin'."

"Morning." Buzz felt like his heart might burst.

"It's so cosy here." Jessie mumbled.

"I know." Buzz murmured back.

"I don't want to get up."

"We don't have to." Buzz grinned, and Jessie lifted her head.

"True…" she smirked naughtily, reaching up to place both her hands on his cheeks lightly. Her lips closed the remaining distance between them, and in the morning light, they kissed softly. Buzz's arms, now wrapping around her slim waist, pulled her yet closer, almost crushing the soft stuffing of the cowgirl doll against his plastic chest.

"I thought I was going to lose you," He murmured, as they broke apart for a few moments to catch their breath.

"Me too," Jessie responded, "I can't believe you're here." She closed the distance between them again, her kisses more urgent this time.

Buzz didn't stop her. The room was quiet, and whether Lizzie was sleeping or not even in the room, he didn't care. The feel of Jessie in his arms was enough to make him throw caution to the wind this once.

He opened his eyes, and was about to speak when something caught his eye and he froze. Jessie was trailing kisses down his neck and didn't notice him go tense.

"Buzz," she murmured, and only when he didn't respond did she look up. "Buzz?" She followed his gaze and in doing so had to turn over. She almost shrieked aloud when she realised they had a audience in the form of Firefly, the little pony Jessie had met the day previous.

"Good mornin' lovebirds," Firefly shrilled prettily. "Sorry to interrupt, Jessie, but I thought your new friend here might like a tour?"

"Oh….right," Jessie's cheeks coloured the same as her hair as she rolled away from Buzz. "Yeah, a tour sounds good, I haven't seen the whole place yet," she jabbered, her anxiety at being caught at getting up to no good overtaking her.

She glanced around at Buzz, who had propped his head up on one arm, still half covered with the blanket. He was evidently posing, just for her, and she shot him a look that said everything her mouth couldn't at that moment.

She turned back to Firefly. "Give us a minute, will you?"

The minutes ticked by longer and longer as Woody paced the bed. He was alone in this room with Bullseye. Amanda did not seem to be the sort that kept toys in vast quantities for giving away, like Andy had done. She did not seem to have any type of storage at all for toys, and the room was cheaply, although tastefully, decorated.

She did, however, seem to have a vast quantity of reading material. In fact, there was a huge bookcase to one side of the room, filled with book after novel after book. Hardbacks, paperbacks, some in good condition, others lovingly thumbed, dog eared pages, some torn and battered. They piled and sat and lay everywhere, in columns and rows and heaps.

The shelves that Woody and the others had been sitting on contained miniature storage crates, which mostly seemed to house papers and other random objects that didn't have any immediate use. Trinkets were scattered on the desk next to the computer, along with a pot full of pens, pencils, and other stationery items.

The bed that Woody walked to and fro on whilst fretting was covered in a simple duvet with a beige cover, the two pillows with pink check patterned pillowcases. The mattress was hard and firm against Woody's boots as he muttered and paced yet more.

Bullseye's eyes followed him as Woody paced by once more. This time right to the window to check the surrounding paths and lanes outside. Nothing.

He glanced at the clock. 11.39am.

"It's almost noon," Firefly said with a smile. "Lizzie's mom goes out about that time every weekday for her volunteer work, and she's normally not back for several hours."

Jessie nodded and squeezed Buzz's hand. They had completed their tour of Lizzie's room, and now they were sitting together on the bed with Firefly chattering idly. The other toys from the nightstand had come down to join them, along with a very large caramel coloured teddy bear, a smaller yellow fluffy plush bunny, and two woollen knitted dolls.

There were other various toys playing on the floor nearby, but Jessie only had eyes for the larger dolls, who were very well dressed and had a entire assortment of knitted clothes for both the winter and the summer.

"Clare, do take off that frightful wool jacket," one doll was now saying to the other.

"Only if you brush your hair, Brighteyes," the other doll said gently. She was removing her blue wool jacket as she spoke, folding it onto her lap, and Jessie could make out the design of a snowman on the back of it.

Brighteyes sighed and blinked a bit. Her round black eyes were large in her small head, hence her given name. She and Clare exchanged a look before turning back to the assembled group, where the teddy bear was grouching away.

"I never saw such toys in my life." He was exclaiming to Buzz, who had flipped out his wings as a means of showing the teddy bear his purpose. "Back in my day, Lizzie got me as her first toy. Her christening present. She used to keep me in a big plastic box on the shelf, until the box cracked and got so dusty she threw it in the garbage." He shook his head again. "All these fancy gadgets you have, and I cant even growl!" He pressed his soft middle. "No button for that I'm afraid."

Jessie looked sad. "You can't growl?"

"No." the teddy bear said. "What good is a teddy bear like me without his growl?"

"Well, you obviously mean a lot to Lizzie or she wouldn't have kept you." Jessie pointed out. "Where we come from we're used to being got rid of."

"That's too bad," the yellow fluffy bunny murmured, and the lavender bunny from the nightstand nodded in agreement.

"Primrose is right. It's such a shame you two don't know unconditional love like we have!"

"Unconditional….love?" Jessie squeaked. "Lizzie?"

"Yes. Well, if Ted here has been with her since just after birth, isn't that some indication?"

"She never throws any toys away. They never go in the bin." Primrose said. "If she can't fix them, they become either part of her room, or part of a display in and around her Dad's shop."

"Behind glass?" Buzz wondered aloud, fearing the worse. It sounded a bit like the museum in Japan, but Primrose shook her head, her big ears flopping around side to side.

"Nope. They sit on a shelf and they get looked at."

"Sounds awful." Ted exclaimed, "It was bad enough being stared at and staring out of a plastic box on a shelf for the best part of 20 years."

"You're 20 years old?" Jessie asked. Ted shook his head.

"Nearly 25."

"But that means….Lizzie…"

"Yes. She's a bit older than some of the others here have ever been used to. Some of us have been with Lizzie forever but others have been donated to Lizzie, sold to her father, you name it."

"It's kind of like a safe house for toys." Brighteyes said with a laugh. She rubbed one of her big black eyes with a beige plush hand and leaned down to look at Jessie closely. "What sort of doll are you?"

"I'm a cowgirl doll." Jessie said proudly. She reached around and grabbed her pull string and yanked it out. "YODEL LAY DE HOO!" her voice box proclaimed loudly and the toys all jumped, even Buzz, who was used to hearing Jessie's inners give off all sorts of weird exclamations.

"Shhh!" Firefly hissed, glancing at the clock.

Unfortunately the pull string wasn't all the way back in and continued merrily shouting away, "WE GOTTA GET THIS WAGON TRAIN A MOVING!" Jessie looked horrified as it kept going.

"RIDE LIKE THE WIND!" came next.

"Quick, shut it off!" Ted growled, as footsteps near the stairs tipped them off. The other toys all ran for their places, covering their ears.

"YEE HAW!" Jessie's voice box didn't know how to quit, and she groaned inwardly. Buzz hopped under the bed as the door opened, and Jessie slumped right where she was.

"Lizzie?" A shadow fell just inside the room, and a female voice called out. "I think one of your toys is making a noise. I can hear something."

"Really, Mom?" Lizzie appeared in the room. She walked a few steps in and her sharp eyes noticed Jessie on the bed, with her pull string just finishing retreating. She stifled a smile when she saw Buzz peeking out from under the bed.

"I'll have a look, Mom. I'm sure its nothing," she fibbed, waiting until the older woman was gone and out of earshot. Only then did she peek under the bed.

"Buzz Lightyear, I presume." She made eye contact with the space toy. "What on earth were you and Jessie playing at, huh?" She asked, with a wink.