Out of the Box

[usamichan13]

Title: Out of the Box
Fandom: Toy Story 3
Character(s): Woody, Bonnie Anderson
Genre: Drama, friendship, maybe some hurt/comfort
Rating: K+/PG
Disclaimers: Toy Story © Disney, Pixar
Notes: Written for jester_and_jane on the disney_uberland Fic Request challenge. She asked for a fic where either Andy or Bonnie discovered that the toys were alive. When I read that, I got an idea that I really wanted to try, but it was a lot harder to pull off than I thought. I really tried with this one, but I'm worried about it, especially the ending. It also doesn't help that I'm finishing this up at quarter to five in the morning, which might only add to its crap factor.....ugh, I suck.....But despite everything, I hope it's still tolerable.

Takes place a few years after Toy Story 3 Please enjoy!

Summary: "Toys are really alive, y'know."

Out of the Box
"Oh no! The evil witch is planning to take control of the world's last unicorn! We gotta stop her!"

"Don't worry! I'll take care of it!"

"Wait, Buzz! Not even your suit can protect you from her powers! What if she - ?"

"There's no other choice! If we don't do something, the witch will use the unicorn's magic to become unstoppable! We have to do something now!"

"Wait! I've got an idea!" Jessie suddenly gave a loud yodeling call, and in response Bullseye came running.

As Bonnie continued to play in the front yard, her father finished his task of throwing out some last-minute trash and placed the lid back on the trash can. He took a quick glance down the street, seeing the garbage truck slowly but loudly making its way before making its first stop.

"BOOM!" Bonnie exclaimed suddenly, for a moment louder than the truck some houses away. "Take that, evil witch!"

He chuckled softly, impressed by his daughter's liveliness despite how early it was. Though he supposed he should have expected it; after starting every day of her first year of school getting up early in the morning, it would take some time before she adjusted to the months of no school. Until then, there was nothing wrong with a few extra hours of playtime, though he did have to wonder how long his daughter had been awake.

"Hey, Bonnie?" he called. "Aren't you hungry?"

Bonnie looked up, broken out of her imagination by her father's voice. "Uh, I guess so," she replied. Actually, she had been so busy playing that she hadn't really thought about food.

"C'mon," the man said, motioning to the front door. "Let's go see what Mom made for breakfast."

Bonnie smiled. "Okay!" Placing her toys down, she jumped to her feet and skipped after her father, closing the door behind them.

As soon as they were both gone, the toys slowly got up, keeping a watchful eye out for any people that might be passing by.

"Looks like Bonnie's dad left the gate open again," Hamm mused, looking at the open fence door.

"Maybe he's a little tired, too," Trixie murmured as she tried to stifle a yawn.

"Another day, roused from a gentle night's sleep at such an untimely hour," Mr. Pricklepants sighed, though it wasn't entirely unhappy.

Woody smiled a little, sympathizing with Bonnie's first toys. This was the first time they've ever had to deal with switching from the school year, when they were able to get a little more sleep, to summer vacation when Bonnie was home much more often. "You'll get used to it," he offered. "Andy used to be the same way when school got out for the summer. She'll stop waking up so early eventually."

"Yeah, just in time for school to start up again," Mr. Potato Head joked.

"Well, at least we'll get a little break later, when Bonnie goes over to her friend's house," Dolly said.

Conversation among the toys fell silent as a mechanized roar echoed throughout the neighborhood, and they looked up to see the garbage truck approaching the house. They quickly dropped back to the ground, frozen in their inanimate positions as one of the garbage men hopped out of the truck.

The garbage man that approached was wearing a set of headphones, and he seemed to be listening to music as he worked, humming and wildly pounding in an erratic rhythm on whatever surface was nearby. Grabbing the trashcans on the curb, he emptied their contents into the back of the truck and gave the cans a quick bang against the truck in time with his music. As he was putting the trash cans back, however, he noticed the toys left in the front yard of the house and paused. He frowned, pulling his headphones down as he slowly slipped through the opened gate.

"Yo, Phillips," the driver called as he rolled the window down. "What're you doin'? We gotta get movin'."

"Just a sec," the other garbage man replied over his shoulder. Removing his gloves and sticking them in his back pocket, he reached down among the pile of toys and picked Woody up.

"Well, well," he murmured. "Haven't seen one of these in a while..."

He looked the cowboy over carefully, turning it over in his hands before he grabbed the pull string and gave it a sharp tug.

"Reach for the sky..." Woody's voice box drawled as his string retracted.

The man suddenly scowled, dangling the cowboy by his arm. "You wouldn't happen to come to life, would you?" he asked, his voice low and tight. He shook the toy a little, rough enough for his cowboy hat to fall off. When it didn't answer him, he smirked. "That's what I thought."

"Uh...'scuse me..."

The garbage man looked up as Bonnie slowly walked down the porch step. His smirk deepened a little as she reluctantly approached him. "These your toys?"

Bonnie nodded slightly. Though she wasn't as shy as she used to be, she was still a bit timid around strangers.

"Well?" He held the doll out to her, dangling the cowboy in front of her face. "Here."

She hesitated a little, slowly reaching for the toy. When the man didn't resist, she took Woody into her hands and hugged him to her.

He watched her a moment as she reached down to retrieve the discarded hat. "I'd be careful if I were you," he said suddenly, pulling his gloves from his pocket and slipping them on.

Bonnie blinked and looked up, her curiosity outweighing her shyness. "Huh?"

"Those toys," he clarified, heading back towards the gate. "Toys are really alive, y'know."

Rising to her full height, she looked down at the cowboy doll in her hands. "Really?"

"'Course." The garbage man closed the gate behind him. "You ever wonder why your toys are sometimes not where you left 'em? It's 'cause they move around. As soon as you leave the room, they get up and move on their own, doin' who-knows-what."

The girl's eyes widened, a smile spreading across her face. "Really?"

Glancing back at her, he glared when his eyes came across the Woody doll again. "Don't sound too excited, kid. If you do something they don't like, they'll come to life and attack you."

Bonnie's face fell then as she gasped. "Attack?"

"Yup. They may be fun to play with, but the whole time, they're just watchin' you. And if something goes wrong and you ain't careful, they'll come after ya, and...well, who knows what they'll do?"

The girl swallowed nervously. "Did...did you ever see that happen, mister?"

The man's expression seemed to darken. "'Course. It happened to me once."

Noticing the child's frightened expression, the truck driver honked the horn. "For cryin' out loud, Sid. Would you quit scarin' the girl and c'mon already?"

"Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on," the other garbage man, Sid, retorted, grabbing the leftover trash bags and tossing them into the back of the truck. Glancing back at the little girl, seeing her clutch the cowboy doll with shaking hands, he smirked a little. Slipping his headphones back on, he hopped into the truck.

Bonnie watched as the truck slowly drove off until it turned a corner and disappeared. Then she looked down at the toys on the ground, an uncertain look on her face.

"Bonnie," Bonnie's mother called. Soon she appeared at the front door, looking out at the yard. "Is everything okay?"

"Uh..." She looked at the doll in her hands. "Yeah, I think so."

Bonnie's mother approached, kneeling beside her daughter. "Didn't you want to hurry to Sarah's house?"

She looked at her mother, her expression quickly changing as she nodded excitedly.

The woman smiled. "Well, we'll need to put your toys away first before we get going, okay?"

Bonnie frowned a little, once again looking at her toys. "Okay," she finally said, reluctantly picking up some of her toys as her mother helped.

As usual, they waited until Bonnie and her mother left the room. They listened until the footsteps faded into silence, just to make sure the people were out of earshot, to be completely sure they were really alone.

Woody sat up slowly, placing a hand to his head as he stared blankly at the floor.

"Woody?" Slinky said, approaching the cowboy. When the other didn't answer, he tried again. "Woody, you alright?"

"Huh...?" Woody blinked, snapping out of his daze and looking at the dog. "Oh yeah...I'm fine."

Overhearing the conversation, Dolly approached the two, frowning when she noticed that Woody's expression negated his words. "You sure? That garbage man wasn't too rough on you, was he?"

"N...n-no, not really."

"What was his problem, anyway?" Mr. Potato Head scoffed. "I mean, can you believe that guy? They shoulda charged him for trespassing!"

"A perfect ruffian," Mr. Pricklepants agreed with a huff.

"But didja hear what he said?" Rex asked, his voice tinged with panic. "About toys coming to life?"

"He...he said it happened to him, too," Buzz said slowly, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. His gaze seemed far away as he thought.

"Impossible!" Mrs. Potato Head said, her tone expressing the absurdity of the notion. "How could it have happened?"

"Besides, he might've been just trying to scare Bonnie," Buttercup reasoned. "He probably didn't really mean anything by it. I mean, c'mon. Toys attacking people? Please."

Woody and Buzz exchanged worried expression, no longer paying attention to any of the others. "Did you hear what the other guy called him?" the space ranger asked.

Woody nodded gravely, his voice barely audible as he said, "Sid Phillips..."

Jessie, the only one who heard him, frowned as she glanced between the two of them. "Sid Phillips?" she repeated, loud enough for everyone to hear.

All the other toys looked over at the three, though Andy's original toys - the ones who were with him before the move - turned more sharply at the name.

"Sid?" Slinky said again. It had been so long since anyone had heard that name, and he looked at Woody for explanation.

"That...that was the name of the garbage man talking to Bonnie," Woody said, his eyes avoiding everyone. "Sid Phillips."

"So what?" Mr. Potato Head retorted, though a little uncertainly. "A lot of humans have the same name."

"And it's not exactly an uncommon name," Hamm added.

"But what are the chances...?" Woody muttered, more to himself than anyone. "If he's that Sid..."

"Woody," Buzz said, concerned. But the cowboy didn't seem to hear him.

Dolly continued to watch the two of them, noticing how uncomfortably nervous they were. "What's going on guys?" she asked.

Scratching the back of his head, Buzz sighed. "If that garbage man is the guy we're thinking of," he said slowly, "then there's a chance he knows. About toys coming to life..."

"But how?" Trixie wondered, asking the question on everyone else's mind.

Buzz hesitated, glancing again at Woody as he tried to think of what to say. After the incident at Sid's house all those years ago, they never did fully explain to the others how they had gotten away. All they had ever said was that Buzz was strapped to a rocket, Woody saved him, and they got away. Somehow they managed to avoid the details, and eventually stopped talking about it altogether. Jessie, Bullseye, the aliens, not even Mrs. Potato Head knew about the event at all.

They had avoided talking about it for so long, because they knew how much trouble it could be if the others found out. And Buzz wasn't sure how to start explaining it all now.

"I showed him," Woody said suddenly. "A few years ago, I came to life with some other toys and showed him."

"You what?" they exclaimed, staring at the sheriff in shock.

"I can't believe you did that...!" Jessie breathed, her eyes wide as she stared at Woody and Buzz.

"Why would you do something like that?" Mrs. Potato Head asked.

"Because he was trying to save me," Buzz interjected. "If he hadn't, I probably would be nothing more than a crater by now."

Realization dawned on Slinky as he looked between the two. "The rocket?" he asked.

Woody sighed. "Yeah..."

"That's how you escaped Sid's house?" Mr. Potato Head asked.

"It was the only way..." Woody insisted, his tone on the defensive. "You guys weren't there, you don't know how bad it was. I thought if we could scare him a little, then he would stop torturing other toys."

Andy's older toys fell silent as the memory of the sadistic boy they once lived next door to came flooding back, while those who never knew him tensed at the frightening image.

"All right, let's calm down," Dolly suddenly spoke up as she stepped into the center of the group. Looking at Woody, she said, "You did what you thought was right, and no one could blame you for that. Don't worry about it." She addressed all the others as she continued, "Whatever happened, happened a while ago. There's nothing we can do about it now. What's important now is Bonnie."

"She really seemed to believe what...Sid was saying," Rex pointed out, a little worried.

"And she seemed scared," Trixie added.

"She's young," Dolly replied reassuringly. "Kids get scared easily. Remember the monster-under-the-bed phase?"

The toys chuckled, if a little uneasily, at the memory. "She wouldn't sleep in her bed for two weeks," Buttercup remembered.

"Right, but she eventually learned there was nothing to be afraid of, and she got over her fear. And she'll get over this, too."

"You think so?" Woody asked, though he didn't seem to expect a definite answer.

"Sure," Buzz said, taking Dolly's cue and patting Woody on the back. "Don't worry, everyone. Everything will be fine."

The toys glanced at each other, slightly reassured by Dolly and Buzz's words. And, as they looked at Woody - noticing his still-worried expression - they hoped that things would really be all right.

They weren't, of course.

It was only a week after the incident when Bonnie's parents noticed that their daughter no longer played with any of her toys, but it felt so much longer for the toys themselves. No longer were the days filled with the girl's playful energy or imaginative stories, but instead they spent their time wondering and waiting in the toy box for their young master to get them. Those long moments were only made worse during the times when Bonnie seemed like she wanted to play with them. Times when she carefully picked up a toy or two and looked like she would. But the toys she held could feel the hesitancy, the nervousness in her touch, before their hopes were broken when she quickly placed them down again.

The toys tried to remain optimistic, however. Dolly and Buzz both continued to reassure them all, persisting that things would be okay. They were so sure about it that most of them believed it as well.

At least until the nightmares started.

There were nights, sometimes several times a week, when Bonnie would wake up crying. When her parents came to check on her, and she would tell them about the nightmare, they noticed that the dreams always were about at least one of her toys coming to life. Sometimes the dreams were so bad that Bonnie would end up going to sleep in her parents' room. But the nightmares continued for a while, and the toys were beginning to have significant doubts.

One night, the toys once again awoke to the sound of Bonnie crying. They waited, worried, as one of her parents came in to comfort the child. And they listened as Bonnie once again told her mother about her latest nightmare.

"Bonnie," her mother said gently, "it's all right. Toys don't really come to life, you know."

Bonnie said nothing in reply and only continued to sniffle. It was the only sound for a moment, silence otherwise filling the empty space. Then her mother sighed.

"Bonnie," she said slowly, "if the nightmares about your toys are bothering you this much, maybe...maybe we should give your toys away."

Bonnie gasped, her startled expression matching the toys as they looked at each other in alarm. "Give 'em away?" Bonnie repeated.

"Well, Bonnie, you haven't played with them in a while, and they only seem to scare you now. Maybe it'd be better if we gave them away. We can give them to Sunnyside. They'll be taken care of there."

"But," Bonnie hiccuped, "what about Woody, and those toys? I promised Andy I'd take care of 'em."

"I don't think he'd ask for them back..."

There was a small pause, followed by a timid, "He might..."

"Well...all right, how about we put them in the basement? That way we can keep them out of your room, but they'd still be safe."

Bonnie sniffled again. "I dunno..."

"Well, you can take some time to think about it, okay, Honey? But right now, let's get some sleep."

There was another pause. "...Mom?"

"Would you like to sleep with me and your father?"

They heard no answer, but they knew Bonnie nodded.

"All right," Bonnie's mother replied. The toys waited, holding their breaths as once again the lights went off, just before the footsteps faded down the hall.

Woody sighed as he stood looking out the window, one arm propped up as he leaned against the glass while his other hand rested against his side. He wasn't sure what time it was now, or how long he had stood there. All he knew was that it was already morning, and he still couldn't come up with any way to fix the mess they were in.

After Bonnie left with her mother last night, the toys had talked a lot about what would happen. There was some reasonable worry and questions, doubts and fears that came with the uncertainty of their fate as toys.

Once again, though, Dolly tried to reassure everyone - especially the toys who never had any other kid but Bonnie - with rational words, reminding them that they shouldn't worry about it for now, since Bonnie hasn't decided yet. They didn't know for sure if Bonnie would give them up. But even if she did, Dolly had said, they had to do what was best for Bonnie; if they were the reason for Bonnie's nightmares, then it might be better for them to go to Sunnyside after all.

Besides, she continued, Sunnyside wasn't a bad place any longer, right? With Barbie and Ken keeping the daycare in such good order, they would be all right if they did have to go.

That's what she'd said. And she did manage to calm the others down somewhat. But Woody could see how worried she really was about the situation, and how she was doing her best to keep her anxiety from them. He knew, because he had been in that position several times before.

He should have helped her, at least. He should have helped her and Buzz whenever they tried to comfort the others, convincing them that things would be all right. But he actually hadn't said much of anything since the day Bonnie had talked to Sid. Truthfully, it was difficult to. He was used to acting confident and saying things that he wasn't entirely sure of himself, but this was different. He'd known that this would be a problem since that day, as Sid spoke to Bonnie and Woody felt the way her hands trembled as she held him. He had felt then that something was very wrong.

It didn't help that Bonnie not playing with them reminded him too much of when Andy was growing up. That time when Andy drifted away from them was hard, and those feelings of emptiness and anxiety flooded back to him with each passing day in the toy box. It was happening with Bonnie much too soon, and he knew there had to be a way to fix this mess.

He had to do something. It had been his idea, all those years ago, to reveal to Sid that toys were alive, and that was the thought that was scaring Bonnie so much. He didn't regret what he had done - he'd done it to save Buzz, after all - but he had still broken the rules, and it was his responsibility to take care of the trouble it had created. But even now, after spending so much time thinking about it, he still couldn't come up with a way to do that.

Pounding a fist against the glass, Woody sighed in frustration and began pacing along the window sill. "There's got to be something I can do about this," he muttered. But the admission that he wasn't sure he could do anything sharply stung.

He jumped at the sound of a sudden gasp somewhere behind him. Startled, he spun around and his eyes widened when he saw a shocked Bonnie standing at the open bedroom door.

The two stood, unmoving in their places as they stared at each other, bewildered by what they were seeing. Woody cursed himself for not noticing that her bedroom door was still open, or for forgetting that Bonnie was still waking up early. How could he have been so careless?

Bonnie abruptly turned, and for a moment Woody panicked, fearing she would call for her parents. It was fleeting, however, and quickly replaced with surprise when she simply shut the door to her room before turning back to Woody. Slowly, carefully, she approached the window, her eyes never straying from the cowboy doll.

Soon she was close enough to place her hand on the window sill. Instinctively, Woody backed up nervously. Finally the silence was broken when Bonnie murmured in awe, "You are alive...!"

A million thoughts raced through his mind as he tried to figure out what to do. He even considered trying to pass the instance as simply a dream, but quickly remembered that this was the reason behind her nightmares in the first place. Perhaps this was his chance to fix things after all, and he was too tired to come up with anything else. So with a heavy sigh, he nodded. "Yeah..." he replied, "I'm alive."

If possible, Bonnie's eyes widened even more, allowing Woody to see the mix of wary and fascination she wore. "You talk too?"

Again, he nodded.

Bonnie continued to stare at him, her lips slightly parted in a surprised 'o'. Then she glanced towards the toy box at the end of her bed. "And the others? Do they all come to life too?"

For a moment, Woody thought about denying it. Maybe he could convince her that this was something only he could do. But before he realized what he was doing, he answered, "Yeah, they do too."

A look of terror flashed through her eyes as she looked at Woody again, and Woody was afraid that she might start crying. But instead she blinked the look away and, putting on as brave a face as she could, exclaimed, "I'm sorry!"

Woody blinked. "What?"

"I'm sorry! It's because I haven't played with you guys for so long, isn't it?" Bonnie continued, the tears once again welling in her eyes. "And you heard Mommy talking about putting you in the basement and donating you guys, right? That's why you're here now, right? Well, I'm not gonna do it, I promise! So you don't hafta hurt anyone - !"

"What? Whoa, whoa, hold on a minute!" Woody interrupted, waving his hands to get her attention - and ignoring how she shrunk back a bit as he did so. "Bonnie, we wouldn't hurt you."

"But..." It was Bonnie's turn to be confused. "The garbage man said that if you do something that toys don't like, they'll attack you. And I wasn't sure what you guys wouldn't like, or if there was something you didn't want me to do, but I was afraid that I might do it anyway if I played with you, so..."

Realization suddenly hit Woody hard. "Is that why you haven't played with us? Because you were afraid of doing something we didn't like?"

Bonnie nodded shyly. "I...didn't wanna make you guys mad. But then," she added, throwing her hands up in an exaggerated gesture, "I was afraid that not playing with you would still make you angry, and then you'd all come after me like the garbage man said. And when Mommy started saying all that stuff about donating you and putting you in the basement, I thought - !"

"Bonnie," Woody said, firmly but gently, and breaking through her rambling thoughts, "I think we need to talk about some things."

Bonnie paused, once again appearing a little wary as she eyed the cowboy doll. Still, she seemed willing to listen. As Woody took a seat, his legs dangling over the edge of the window sill, Bonnie grabbed one of the chairs at her play table and sat as well.

Woody tapped his fingers against the wooden ledge, trying to gather all his thoughts. "First of all," he finally began, "you need to know that we would never do anything to hurt you, Bonnie."

"But, if I do something bad - "

"Bonnie," he quickly cut her off, "I don't think you could ever do anything bad enough that would make us want to hurt you."

She frowned, fidgeting a little in her seat. Her fear was slowly fading, replaced by a growing curiosity. "But what about the garbage man? He said toys attacked him before."

Woody sighed shakily. "Well, he was probably telling the truth. But that was something different."

Bonnie blinked, puzzled, and Woody sighed again. He was hoping to avoid the whole story, but he was willing to explain everything if it put her mind at ease.

Scratching the back of his head, he then paused to straighten his hat. "See, a couple of years ago, when we were still Andy's toys, Andy lived next door to another boy named Sid. Sid..." A shudder passed through him as he remembered the boy's destructive days. "He was nothing like you or Andy. The only way he would play with his toys was by torturing them."

Bonnie's eyes widened. "Torture?" She was young, but she still knew what such a word meant.

Woody nodded. "He loved breaking them, taking them apart, and mixing up the pieces...and a lot of the time he would blow them up."

She gasped. "That's so mean! Why would he do that?"

"No one really knew why. All we knew was that toys that got stuck in that house were in a lot of trouble. And one day, that's exactly what happened to me and Buzz."

"You and Buzz?" Bonnie gasped again. "You two got stuck at his house?"

"Yeah. It was pretty bad for both of us, but it got a lot worse when Sid taped a real rocket to Buzz's back."

"He was gonna blow Buzz up?"

Woody nodded.

"But...Buzz isn't blown up..." Bonnie sat on the edge of her seat, eager to hear the story now. "So how'd you save him? And how'd you guys escape?"

Woody frowned, looking away a little uncomfortably. "Well, I talked to Sid's toys - who all looked pretty scary after what Sid did to them, but they were actually pretty nice - and convinced them to...come to life in front of Sid."

"Oh..." The news seemed to subdue Bonnie's mood a bit. "So...that was you?"

Hesitantly, Woody nodded again.

She paused, shuffling her feet across the floor. "Did you...attack him?"

"I wouldn't say we attacked him," the sheriff replied, a touch defensively. "We showed him that we were alive and scared him enough so he wouldn't hurt toys anymore. That's all. Otherwise, we didn't even hurt him."

"Oh." Bonnie was silent for a moment, and she seemed to be thinking over everything she was told. Finally she asked, "So...toys don't punish people."

"No," Woody said, frowning at her choice of words. "That's not what we're made for. And even if it was, you wouldn't have anything to worry about, Bonnie."

"Really?"

"Of course. You're a great kid with a big imagination. We have just as much fun as you do when you play with us."

"But you guys don't mind? Even if I do something you don't like? Like, Dolly and Hamm don't mind when I make them evil, do they?"

Woody couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Nah, they don't mind," he assured her. "Actually, they have a lot of fun with it. It's a game you like to play, and we enjoy playing it with you."

Bonnie smiled shyly, relief passing through her. But it quickly faded as she looked at Woody, concerned once again. "You're not mad...that I didn't play with you for so long, are you?"

"Not mad," Woody said. He wanted to make sure she really understood that. "Just...worried, I guess. And...a little sad, too."

She frowned. "Sad?"

The sheriff nodded. "Toys are always sad when their kid is sad. Especially if there's nothing we can do to help."

Bonnie stared at him for a moment before slowly rising to her feet. Before Woody could figure out what she was doing, she picked him up off the window sill and hugged him gently.

"I'm sorry I made you sad," she whispered.

Woody tensed, at first surprised by the gesture. But soon he relaxed, and though he didn't say anything, he gently patted her shoulder. In response, her embrace tightened every so slightly.

"Woody...?"

Woody looked up at the sound of his name, and Bonnie even turned slightly towards the toy box. Beneath the partially opened lid, they could see the faces of the other toys watching them, curiously concerned. Somehow, the cowboy knew that they had been listening the entire time.

Bonnie eagerly skipped to the toy box, kneeling in front of it and carefully opening it, peering inside as all the toys looked up at her and standing on their own. "Wow!" she breathed. Even though Woody already told her they were alive, being able to see it for herself was so much better.

Glancing inside himself, Woody couldn't help but smile at their uneasy expressions, though he didn't really blame him for feeling a bit awkward about the situation. Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure how comfortable he was with it himself. But there was nothing they could do about it now, so he cleared his throat and said, "Well, guys? Say hello."

The toys glanced at each other, still a little troubled about their secret being exposed like this. But as they turned back to Bonnie, her eyes bright with excitement, they didn't know what else to do other than murmur some sort of greeting to the girl.

"Cool!" Bonnie exclaimed, undeterred by their hesitation. Placing Woody down, she then carefully gathered all the other toys, taking them out of the toy box and letting them join the cowboy doll on the floor. "Do you guys all talk?" she wondered, closing the lid of the toy box again.

"Well...not Bullseye," Jessie replied, slowly easing into the conversation. "He may not say much, but he's still a good critter." Bullseye nickered shyly.

"Totoro doesn't talk either," Buttercup added, the tension around them fading a bit more. "He's more of the strong, silent type."

"Other'n that, I reckon we all got something to say," Slinky said.

Bonnie suddenly grinned as a thought occurred to her. "So this means that all the toys at Sunnyside can come to life too, huh? Wow, I can't wait 'til Mom finds out."

"Hold on a minute, Bonnie," Woody said, approaching the girl. "Now, I didn't mind letting you know about all this because I wanted to make sure you understand that we wouldn't hurt you. But no one else can know about this, okay?"

Bonnie's face fell a little. "Aww! But how come?"

"It wouldn't be good if other people knew that toys came to life," Dolly explained. "They might get scared, just like you did. If that happened, then people might try to get rid of all toys, and then stop making new ones."

Bonnie gasped. "Oh...! That's not good!"

"Not at all," Woody agreed. "So you have to keep it a secret, okay? You have to promise that you won't tell anyone."

Thinking for a moment, the girl nodded. "Okay, I promise...but..."

Woody blinked. "But what?"

"Well..." Bonnie fidgeted a little. "If I'm alone, would you guys be able to come to life when we played?"

Exchanging curious expressions with the other toys, Woody then looked back up at Bonnie. "You'd really want us to?"

Bonnie nodded eagerly. "Yeah! If you guys talked and moved on your own when we play, it'll be a lot more fun!"

"Um..." Turning to the others and making sure it was all right with them, Woody shrugged a little. "Sure, I guess."

"Cool! There's so much more we can do now!" Bonnie paused, her eyes shining with a playful spark as a million different scenarios ran through her mind, and she gathered the toys closer around her. "Like, if we can have Mr. Potato Head..."

Somehow, Dolly and Woody managed to hang back a little. "You sure do find interesting ways to solve a problem, Sheriff," Dolly mused, a teasing smile on her face.

Woody chuckled nervously. "I didn't know what else to do."

"Well, it should be all right as long as she doesn't say anything to anyone. Besides..." Dolly paused, watching Buzz suddenly jump up onto the toy box, his laser following as Bonnie jumped to her feet, helping Buttercup spin through the air, "it'll make playtime a lot more interesting."

The End