Timeline note: ...I'll decide after seeing Inside Out whether this is set pre or post movie. ;) (And I'm gonna see it on Tuesday at the Annecy festival! Still can't believe my luck there; we Germans actually have to wait until October.)

Dedication: For StoryLover149 and her friends and family. For being awesome.

Note: This was supposed to be about Joy only. Then my Fear bias crept in. (Actually, now that I think about it, my Fear bias creeps in a lot.) You might be wondering why this is part four of something for which you've never seen the previous ones - I decided to make this a series along with Commitment, Maturity, and Acceptance, and yes, there'll be such a story for Anger, too, to complete the set. ;)

"I still think we shouldn't be riding this," Fear grumbled beside her.

Joy just laughed at him. She wasn't going to explain it again. No matter what he said, he wouldn't be able to spoil their fun. Come what may, she'd enjoy the nice weather, and the conversations buzzing with excitement all around them, and Riley's pleasant chit-chat with Dad.

"Oh no," Sadness mumbled dejectedly on her other side. "That sign says we'll have to wait for another thirty minutes."

She reached out for the console, but Joy gently caught her wrist. This was their first roller coaster ride in San Francisco! An immensely memorable occasion! Riley needed to enjoy this! "Guys, this is gonna be fun! Think of how amazing it will feel when we'll be floating, and when the wind will rush through our hair! Isn't that just total freedom?"

Fear immediately launched into a lecture on General Roller Coaster Safety or the Lack Thereof, but she tuned him out. There was just no way a giant Velociraptor would bite off the front half of their car. Instead, she flipped a switch that made Riley cling to Dad's arm and snuggle up to him. Everything was nicer with a little togetherness.

"Can't these people go faster?" Anger snapped from behind her. "If they weren't dawdling like that, we probably wouldn't have to wait half as long! We can't even see the cars yet!"

"Well, the line in front of the ice cream place was also really long!" Joy pointed out as she kept operating the console. "So Mom is probably gonna meet up with us at the exit with totally perfect timing! How cool is that?" Her eyes widened in excitement when an assortment of delighted shrieks reached Riley's ears. This was gonna be so good!

"But that means Mom also has to wait that long," Sadness muttered. "And she's all on her own."

"At least it's not raining!" Joy noted cheerfully, navigating Riley around a corner with a slight spring in her step. "Why don't we enjoy the sun a little more?"

"Could be warmer," Disgust deadpanned from the far end of the console.

Joy grinned to herself. Why couldn't these guys ever look at the bright side of things? But she'd make them see eventually. All she needed was a little time.

She hummed to herself a bit, some tune they had picked up from one of the amusement park's many loudspeakers hidden in most of the greenery, and her face split into a dazzling smile when Riley followed suit without even having to be coaxed. Sometimes, it almost felt as if they could read each other's minds.

"Great, now that thing is gonna get stuck in our head," Disgust groaned.

Joy didn't let that kill her enthusiasm about the silly melody, though. She kept tinkering with the console to let Riley's gaze wander, reasonably sure that it would reveal something interesting to l-… "Guys, look at that, we can see the white-water ride from here! Maybe we can go there next!"

"Dad, can we ride the white-water ride next?" Riley asked as if on cue, and they could see his wide smile when she turned to look at him.

"You haven't even experienced this one yet!" he laughed as he reached out to ruffle her hair, getting a handful of bangs in their view for a moment. "But yeah, sure. I don't see why not."

"We're gonna get wet," Sadness whimpered, reaching out for the console a second time, but again, Joy stopped her.

"We're not wet yet," she pointed out warmly. "Just relax, guys, this is gonna be great!"

Anger started growling at that, but he stopped abruptly when they turned another corner and the entrance to the roller coaster came into view, its little roof overflowing with flowers of all sorts and colors.

There were only a few minutes left, then, as Joy didn't tire to remind them all in regular intervals, and time seemed to fly by until they were finally climbing into the car.

This was gonna be awesome.

"Excited?" Dad asked, and Joy made sure that Riley was as happy as possible when she confirmed that.

"This is not a good idea," Fear wailed from where he was still eyeing the console, and he would probably have tried to use it as well if Joy hadn't playfully promised to make him pay if he ruined their anticipation. "This is really not a good idea."

"It's just a roller coaster, Fear!" Joy insisted as she clapped him on the back, which sent him nose-first into the floor and Disgust into a snickering fit. Whoops. "I mean, this thing's been around for years and gazillions of people have used this and the safety bar just came down and what could happen?"

Fear got to his feet with a scowl. "Well, the bar could break, or the track could give out from under us, or there could be an electric current in the metal, or…"

Oh, right. Wrong question. But Joy cut him off with a laugh. "Yeah, or we could just have a pleasant roller coaster ride!"

"If the guy in front of us doesn't lose his breakfast," Disgust commented.

He really did look as if he would, Joy noted with a giggle, and pushed the right button so that Riley could share her amusement with a giggle of her own.

"What a baby!" Anger snarled. "It's not as if this thing goes upside down!"

Fear blanched, so Joy loudly clapped her hands before his overactive imagination could get the better of him. "Look, it's moving!" she proclaimed.

And it was. With a little squeak, the car slowly started going forward to ascend the first slope right away. Any moment now…

Immediately, Fear's gaze hardened. "Everyone, step back!" he called loudly, surprising no one since this was how he always got when danger had just become unavoidable. No one argued with Joy most of the time, but no one argued with Fear when he was like this.

Joy wryly shook her head at him. While the others did as told and retreated to one of the sofas with varying degrees of grumpiness, she stood her ground. She wasn't gonna leave, but she knew he didn't really expect her to.

There was no way she could keep him away from the console for this, either, of course, even if she'd wanted to. But it was fine. She liked working with Fear. Apart from her own job, his made the most sense to her - Riley being safe gave her more room and reason to be happy, right? Plus, whenever Joy teamed up with him to make everyone enjoy something that might just be a little more dangerous than she'd openly admit to him, there was that sense of accomplishment when it was over, and it always made the resulting elation all the sweeter.

"Don't hog the controls!" she told him anyway with a playful nudge. "Only when it's necessary." For emphasis, she firmly placed both hands onto the console to keep it radiating its beautiful, yellow glow.

"If you put it like that, he's not gonna let you have a second to yourself!" Disgust called over.

Fear was fixing the screen as if hypnotized, muttering a countdown to himself, his hands hovering over the controls, ready for action.

Joy was fixing the screen, too. They had reached the peak.

She started carefully cranking one of the handles. "Here we go," she whispered.

And then they were off.

The first downward slope took a blissful eternity. Joy whooped on an impulse. So did Riley, even as Fear practically glued her hands to the bar.

A rapid curve at the bottom. A strong force pulling them in the opposite direction. The console turned purple as Fear flew into a frenzy. Dad was joining in the cheering.

Joy giggled as she pried Fear's fingers off a lever to pull it herself. Riley needed to enjoy this! This was the best thing ever!

Then a smaller slope, and a horde of butterflies fluttering in their stomach when gravity decided to take a time-out at the peak.

"We're falling!" Fear shrieked as he pushed her out of the way.

"This is amazing!" Joy argued, shoving back.

It basically became a play-fight, a good-natured struggle over who could get the most button-mashes in. The console kept changing color like a high-strung mirror ball. Sadness was telling them not to fight, but it was definitely in jest. Joy faintly registered Anger cackling at the commotion. Disgust tried to get some fun out of this by taking bets on who was gonna faint first, Joy from excitement or Fear from hyperventilation.

But Joy knew Fear was enjoying himself. She could always tell by that tiny smile of his, that rare glint in his eyes that never failed to make her proud. He was enjoying himself, and so was she.

And so was Riley. For once, all of her Emotions were in alignment, and Riley was having a blast.

And that, Joy knew, was all that mattered.

Note: After mostly looking at Joy through Sadness's biased eyes so far, I felt as if I should explore her awesomeness as well. I'm pretty sure I'll be proven wrong about my BadassInACrisis!Fear headcanon, though. But hey, as long as I don't know the actual canon yet, he's still fair game! :P

Feedback is welcome. Insiders, unite! ;)