9

Woody sighed to himself, mindlessly watching the cars drifting by like the lazy clouds on a lazy sunny day. He leaned against the window pane feeling the sunlight kiss his cheek, which brought a faint smile to his face.

Bo….

Woody rubbed the imaginary kiss on his cheek. Her kisses reminded him of honey, too sweet for his own good. His heart sank further into the abyss whenever he thought of Bo Peep, the most beautiful girl he'd ever met. Nothing was a match for her stunning beauty, her delicate golden hair, her azure blue eyes, and snow white skin that made white roses wither with shame. He had to let out a small grin when he remembered the kiss underneath the mistletoe several years ago.

Where was she now? Was she with another child? Was that child treating her well? Did she ever think about him?

The last time he had saw her was during the garage sale a few years back, when Andy and Molly were forced to do spring cleaning. He never forgave himself for not rescuing her in time. If she were here with all of them, she would absolutely adore Bonnie.

"Hey Woody, you okay?"

Woody turned to see Buzz standing there. He tried to make eye contact with Buzz but had to quickly turn away, not wanting Buzz to know what was bothering him.

"I'm fine," replied Woody, tipping his hat slightly, stopping himself from crying. "I was just..you know….enjoying the view out there…and…"

When Woody looked up, he knew exactly what was written in Buzz's eyes; Buzz knew Woody well enough to know that something was wrong. Woody was in no mood to bother him with his troubles of not having Bo around.

You should consider yourself fortunate to have Jessie….enjoy every moment with her as much as possible was what Woody wanted to say, but couldn't bring himself to say it, instead sighing loudly.

"Look…Buzz, I'm fine really," assured Woody, straightening his hat. "You really don't have to worry about me, you know."

Buzz didn't look convinced but figured took the hint that Woody wanted to be alone. "I know. If you need to talk, you know where to find me."

Woody thanked him before turning back to face the window. He really did wish that Bo was here right now. If only he could have one more day, even just five minutes to see her, so that he could tell her how much he loved her. Every time he saw Jessie and Buzz together, or the Potato Heads together, he felt like he was missing out and alone. Even Rex and Trixie seemed to be getting closer these days.

"Come on Woody! It's your turn to go to Sunnyside with me!" yelled Bonnie, who was rushing into the bedroom.

The toys rushed around quickly transforming into their neutral selves. Woody wished that he could tell her that he wasn't in the mood to come with her, but knew better than to break the rules. Bonnie lifted him up in the air, pretending that he was a flying cowboy who was on his way to the moon castle. It was at least cute enough to cheer him up for a little while.

#

Darkness enfolded the abandoned bedroom. The sparkling pink walls with white flowers looked like the stars about to disappear from the sky, never to shine again. Empty bottles scattered everywhere like a pest infestation, the reek of alcohol poisoning the room. The tiny table and chairs were laying upside down, their broken legs hanging limply, awaiting death to put them out of their misery. Fragments of toys were spread throughout the room, like an eerie graveyard.

In a musty corner underneath the bed, Bo Peep's delicate tears were flowing along her porcelain cheeks. She was huddled next to the empty bottles, wishing that the stench would poison her. The bedroom was so dark that she wondered if the sun would ever slip through the curtains again.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Bo Peep was convinced that her fear was the real cause of the floor's tremble. Her body had quivered so much that she was amazed she had not been broken into pieces. She closed her eyes tight, not daring to even take a small breath.

BOOM!

The door swung open with a force that could slay a giant. A large man with flaming red hair and bloodshot eyes glared around the room; his anger burning through the bedroom like a wildfire. He ripped apart the nearest chair's legs, throwing them against the wall with all his might. His cussing was loud enough to travel into space, shaking the entire planet, or so Bo believed. He ripped out another leg, pounding it against the floor, muttering incomprehensibly.

"Witch…..money….booze…Sa.."

He lowered his arm, his limp body sinking to the floor, his speech slurring further and slowly fading away as sleep overtook him.

Bo's shivering continued.

#

Woody had a long day at Sunnyside Day Care. He was impressed with Barbie and Ken's improvements all the toys after the fall of Lotso's dictatorship. Although he felt lonely when he saw Barbie and Ken together as a couple, it was nice to see them again after a long while. It was nice to know that Barbie was feeling better after the trauma with Molly's rash decision.

After a long day of play time, Bonnie's mother decided to reward Bonnie with an ice cream after four months of good behavior. They stopped at an ice cream place so that Bonnie could get what she wanted. She made sure to share a little bit of her ice cream to Woody, which he would sneakily steal a bite of from his face. During the car ride back home, Bonnie was telling him some stories about the monster that lived in the closet. She said that she could have sworn that she saw a large, fluffy blue monster and a little green monster with one eye. Woody listened to her tale, eager to know more about what happened next as he looked up at the darkening sky.

Suddenly, a loud popping noise came from the front of the car. Bonnie's mother was about to let slip out a curse word, but had to stop because of Bonnie's presence. She pulled the car over close to the curb, hoping that the tire could be saved.

"Mommy? What happened?" asked Bonnie, as she jumped out from the car.

Woody looked around the surrounding, taking note of the pale green house that was about two stories high, with a tiny porch and overgrown grass. The longer Woody stared at the house, the more he could feel the emptiness flowing from it. He couldn't explain why, but for some reason, he did. It didn't appear as though no one lived there anymore. More or less, it looked to be abandoned.

His eyes continued to travel along the house until he looked up at the window above the front door. He was about to look away from the window when a familiar figure caught his attention. A tiny woman dressed in a pink dress and bonnet…

Bo?

Before Woody could blink, she was gone. Woody's head spun with burning questions. Was that really Bo? Did she notice him? The questions left a huge burning mark on his mind increasing his desire to find out. He needed answers! If that really was Bo, he had to see her! For what that was worth, he was not going to give up until he sees her.

Bonnie's mother rambling buzzed in Woody's ears as he developed plans to get to that house, debating whether it was the right time to act or if he ought to go there tonight. While Bonnie's mother reached out for her cell phone, she ordered Bonnie to stand close. Bonnie, being the adventurous and curious girl, was the greatest advantage for his plan.

"Look cowboy, you think this house is haunted?" whispered Bonnie, lifting Woody up so that he could see the house properly. "I bet that we could find some ghosts in there….wanna find out?"

Yes! Yes! were the words that Woody wanted to shout out, but couldn't. Instead, he could only hope that Bonnie would take him closer.

Bonnie snuck up towards the house looking around to make sure that no one was watching them. She whispered to Woody that the coast was clear and that they were going to head in.

Woody had to let out a silent laugh in his head because of how much she reminded him of Andy. She would make up commands for Woody to lead because he had more experience with martial arts. As soon as they reached the porch, Bonnie quietly crept along the stairs, afraid to wake up the ghosts. Woody took a quick peek around, surprised to see how many empty boxes and bottles there were outside.

"Bonnie! Get out of there!" yelled out Bonnie's mother.

Bonnie squealed with fright, accidentally letting Woody fly up in the air as she spun around to face her mother. Woody landed against the floor, the pain traveling through his head. He scuttled towards the nearest box as soon as Bonnie's attention was focused on her mother.

"Bonnie! The tow truck is here. We need to get going."

"Okay Mommy!"

Bonnie turned around to pick up Woody, but to her surprise, he was gone. She searched around the porch frantically, calling out to Woody. Her mother marched towards Bonnie, asking her what happened.

"Mommy, I can't find Woody."

"Honey, it's getting dark, plus the lighting is terrible."

"But he's here! I can't leave him!"

"We can look for him tomorrow."

"But Mommy!"

"Well, you should have thought about it before you headed over here when I told you not to."

Woody looked out to see Bonnie and her mother walking away from the porch. He regretted leaving Bonnie in this miserable state while her mother was in a foul mood, but he wanted to see Bo. If he didn't find out now, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

Woody was surprised that the front door was unlocked. He opened the door wide enough for him to slip in. When he entered the living room, he had never seen a place so atrocious that he wondered if there had been a hurricane here. The coffee table was lying on its side, surrounded by the broken cups and bottles. Dirty clothes buried everything in sight like a horrendous sandstorm had occurred. The television was spitting out blurry images, as if attempting to revive itself but couldn't. Pictures were lying on the ground and broken glass was scattered all over the floor. Woody felt uneasiness stirring in his stomach when he noticed the pictures of a family, a mother, father, and daughter. All three of them appeared to be lively and happy with each other.

Did someone try to break into this house? If so, was the family okay? What about Bo? Woody wondered while still mesmerized by the mess.

Woody snapped back to reality, remembering what he was here for. He adjusted his hat, took a deep breath, and climbed up the stairs, making sure to remember the window where Bo appeared. He finally reached to the second floor, trying to see which room Bo was hiding in. He strolled around the hallway until he noticed that there was a door that had a large paper that read "Sally's Room" written in pink crayon. Was this the one? Woody took a deep breath hoping that he wasn't seeing things.

He noticed that the door was slightly ajar so he entered the room, shocked to see that the bedroom was in worse condition than the living room.

What happened here? wondered Woody, his nervousness rising up to grip his throat. He couldn't help but wonder if someone tried to hurt the child with all this chaos that had blown up here. He wandered around for a while, coming up with theories on what had happened here or whether Bo was okay. Woody felt the knot in his stomach when he saw the pieces of the broken toys, with a bad feeling that he shouldn't have come here. The reek of alcohol stung his nose, causing his eyes to water.

"Woody?"

Woody's ear perked to the familiar, charming voice. He quickly turned around to see if the voice was the truth he was searching for.

#

The gears in Woody's heart churned with disbelief and shock, both emotions going in opposite directions to create a shortage in his pulse.

"Bo?" stuttered Woody, reaching out his hand towards her face.

Bo let out a weak smile. "Woody….could it be you?" She gently touched his cheeks to feeling that they were indeed real.

Woody's heart finally exploded. "Yes…..yes it's me! You have no idea how much I've missed you! But…."

He was shocked to find that Bo was smeared with stains, cracks that looked like veins all over her body, her dress ripped apart, and her face had a huge gash on her left cheek. To the human eye, they would see it as a big chip, but to a toy it was considered a wound. Questions were pounding in his head like a hammer as Woody attempted to soothe the gash but to his surprise, Bo smacked his hand away from her cheek.

"You shouldn't have come….seeing me like this…I" muttered Bo, turning around so quickly that it was hard for Woody to comprehend what she was saying. "I am so ashamed….ashamed of everything…"

"What? Ashamed? Bo, what are you…."

"You shouldn't be here. You have to get out of here before he comes back."

"Why? Before who comes back?

"Just go. Save yourself."

"Bo, tell me what's going on!"

"Woody! Please! Just go!"

Unfortunately the tremor announced its arrival, determined to strike fear into anyone's hearts. The rattling of the bottles looked as though they were ready to be smashed into pieces with how strong the tremor was. Even Woody had to admit that he was getting nervous about its presence.

"Quick! Hide here!" cried Bo, pointing at the bed.

Before Woody could even allow one word to escape from his lips, he heard the door crash into the wall so hard that he thought that the house could fall apart any second. He had no other choice but to hide under the bed as Bo warned. He knelt next to the empty bottles, the alcohol's stench wanting to poison him. Woody ignored it, his attention still focused on Bo.

"Jerry, I'm leaving you, she says, we won't see you ever again, she says," muttered the man, swaying around. "Oh great….she takes away my money, then she takes Sally away…I'm left with nothing!"

When Woody met Bo's eyes, he could clearly see fear burning throughout her. His instinct was nagging him to jump forth and take her away, but Bo's face warned him not to take action at all. Woody looked around, noticing that there was a broken table leg that had a sharpened edge to it. He kept an eye on it in case something was to happen.

"That no good witch! How could she do this to me!" cried Jerry, his face swollen with anger. "She took away my home and now my daughter! I don't need that stingy wife! Leave me will she!"

Suddenly, Jerry kicked several of the bottles towards the wall, cussing to himself when the bottles didn't break. He kicked everything in sight like a monster destroying a great city into dust. Finally, Jerry noticed that Bo was in front of the bed so he quickly grabbed her, his hand tightened to crush the little figure.

"And why won't you just break you lousy piece of junk!"

Woody had seen enough of this abuse, so he grabbed the chair's leg to jab at Jerry's barefoot. Jerry squealed with anguish, hopping on his right foot, the foul words escaping from his lips. He released Bo letting her plummet to the floor, but Woody was quick enough to catch her before she breaks while avoiding Jerry's gaze. Woody took Bo to safety under the bed, clutching her gently, expecting his touch would heal her wounds. Jerry kicked the remaining toys out of the way before departing the bedroom.

#

"Now do you see why you had to leave…." sobbed Bo, unable to control her tears. "I didn't want to see you hurt like this….oh Woody I just…"

Woody pulled her close to him, feeling her fragile heart attempting to beat. "It's okay Bo. I'm here now. I'll protect you; I'll get you out of here."

"Oh Woody…."

Neither of them said anything for a while. Woody had so many questions he wanted to ask, but was afraid that it might upset Bo greatly. He couldn't find the right words to take away her pain.

"Where are your sheep?" asked Woody, though he wished that he didn't ask that because he had a feeling he knew what the answer would be.

Bo shook her head slightly. "They were destroyed too…along with the rest of the toys. I made sure to give them a proper burial."

Woody rubbed her back. "I'm so sorry to hear that…."

The silence went on for a while like a moment of silence, "how did you end up here?" asked Woody, wondering if that was the right time to ask.

"Remember that yard sale a few years back?" asked Bo, rubbing the red from her eyes.

Woody's stomach stirred with guilt. "Yeah….I remember."

"Sally's parents came to the yard sale and when they found me, they thought that it was perfect because I could comfort her when she was scared of the dark. It was a birthday gift for little Sally, who was turning six that year….oh Woody, you should have seen her face when she saw me," her voice tinged with nostalgia.

Woody noticed that Bo was trembling uncontrollably so he carefully set her down on the floor so that she could cuddle next to him. "It's okay. Take your time."

Bo nodded. "Sally was such a little angel. I would watch her play with her dolls or even sing along to the princess songs. She was so scared of the dark, and I did everything I could to look after her, but a year later things were not going so great between her parents. Her father was struggling to keep his business running. Every night he would come home drenched with alcohol which is where all his money went unfortunately. Whenever her parents would break into an argument, Sally would huddle in her bed, crying herself to sleep. She sometimes would talk to me, telling me about her fears and hopes. She doesn't want her parents to fight all the time and hoped that they could be happy again. The only thing I could do was keep the light strong enough to soothe her hopes."

"Then, one night, Jerry, Sally's father that is, did the most unthinkable thing. He came in here, playing with Sally. He was drunk as usual and when her mother found him, she started nagging him about his job again. Finally, he was so fed up with his wife's nagging that he….he struck little Sally."

Woody brought Bo closer to him so that she had a shoulder to cry on. Bo had cried countless times, but she never had anyone to comfort her like this. How long had it been since she last hugged Woody like this?

"Oh Woody, I had never witnessed anything so horrible….I'm sure you would have understood if you saw Andy's mother doing the same to him."

Woody's lips quivered. "Believe me, I do."

"Well, after that incident, Sally's mother made up her mind about leaving him and never wanted to see him again. No matter how many times Jerry apologized, she wouldn't hear any of it. She told Sally to pack up her clothes and promised to buy her new toys. Sally had no other choice but to obey. She begged her mother to bring me along with her, but her mother insisted that they leave now. Ever since then….neither of us had seen them again. We don't even know where they are now. Jerry can never keep his temper locked away for too long. He took out his anger towards everything. Their bedroom, the living room….even Sally's room….."

Woody's fist shivered with fury whenever he imagined Jerry's wrath hurting the kind-hearted Bo and the other toys. The idea of a wicked person hurting a loved one was so repulsive that it made him sick. He wanted to make Jerry pay for what he had done!

"For as long as I can remember I've been stuck here. I've witnessed so many of my dear friends fade away. I've watched this room being destroyed by this man. As far as I can tell, I'm the only one who survived all of this mess. I feel that I am the one who was the cause of all of this."

Woody hugged her tighter. "No, it was never your fault. You were there for Sally when she needed you the most. You gave her something to believe in. Besides….the one who's really at fault here is me. I should have rescued you in time during the spring cleaning."

"Woody, you didn't know…."

"I should have! I'm supposed to be there for you!"

"There wasn't anything you could have done! Stop blaming yourself like this!"

Woody sighed loudly. He gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry. I just…I just can't forgive myself for what happened."

"You did everything you could. There is no need to hurt yourself like this."
Along came a pause.

"You are still my hero. Don't ever forget that," said Bo.

Woody had to let out a faint smile when he remembered the days Andy would always make Woody as the hero who goes off to save Bo whenever she was in trouble. This however, was a real situation, so he was going to actually be the hero.

"I'm going to get you out of here. I may have lost you once but I am not going to lose you again."

"How?"

"I have a plan. We just have to be outside first thing tomorrow morning."

"What if he comes back?"

"You have me to protect you. I won't allow anyone to hurt you."

Bo gave a frail smile, her hand embracing Woody's cheek. "Thank you."

Woody and Bo smiled to each other. Woody told her what had happened to him and his friends such as Andy's preparation for college, Sunnyside Daycare, Lotso, Bonnie, and the new home. Even though Bo was quiet the entire time, her smile indicated that she was listening to every word he said. Finally, Bo's eyelids became too heavy for her to handle so she fell asleep in his arms.

Bo had always been the one to comfort him whenever his spirit needed to be lifted up again. Now, it was his turn to return that same comfort.

#

Woody slowly woke up to the birds' cheerful chirpings, his face lit up with joy when he saw Bo's face. He was happy that the whole thing wasn't a dream; Bo really was in his arms, sleeping peacefully. He gave her a tiny kiss on her cheek, not wanting to wake her up. To him, it was soothing to watch her dreaming away about place that wasn't in this miserable place.

Bo started to stir, looking up to see Woody, with a smile that is sweet enough to savor.

"Morning Sheriff," she whispered.

"Morning little lady."

They hugged each other for a long time, afraid that they would vanish into thin air. They were relieved that they were together again, like the old times.

Woody explained to Bo that Bonnie and her mother will come back to look for him so they both needed to be downstairs as soon as possible. Bo never questioned anything but agreed to follow his plan. It made Woody feel empowered to know that she was willing to trust him. He was going to take her out of this miserable place once and for all.

As they approached the bedroom door, Woody told Bo to hold still while he inspected the hallway for any sign of Jerry. He slipped through the door, unable to detect Jerry anywhere in sight.

A thought dawned on him. What if Bonnie and her mother doesn't show up? Would Bonnie's mother forget about it? How were they going to head back home if they don't show up?

No, Bonnie will come for us, thought Woody, getting a grip on himself. Her toys mean a lot to her, so she is not going to give up on us. We will get home.

"Okay, we're good. I don't think he's home," he said, signaling to Bo to come out.

Woody led Bo out from the room, his hand gently squeezing her hand, as if her touch gave him the strength to carry on. When they reached the stairs, Woody suddenly lifted Bo up, smiling at her.

"Woody?"

"I don't want you to strain yourself."

Bo was about to say something but decided not to. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck, looking into his eyes with her heart warming eyes. Woody's cheeks warmed with the different shades of red.

Being careful to get a good grip on her, he raced down the stairs, surprised with how light Bo really was. They successfully reached to the bottom of the stairs, in which Woody had to give a quick kiss on Bo's lips before putting her down gently.

"Come on Bo. Let's go home."

They were about to head to the road to freedom when a horrible sight stopped them dead in their tracks. Jerry was lying across the floor, blocking their passage to freedom. Woody could have sworn that Jerry's snore was growling at them, threatening them that if they step one foot closer, the monster would be unleashed.

"What are we going to do?" asked Bo, her hand slightly shaking.

Woody scanned the living room, wondering what was here in this wrecked living room. He noticed that there was a window not too far from the front door. It was going to be a little risky but that was the only way they could escape, plus Bonnie and her mother would be here soon if they didn't hurry.

"Alright, we're just going to get through that window," said Woody, pointing at it. "We just need to find something to get up there."

Bo nodded. "Okay."

They quietly crept around, searching through the graveyard of broken furniture and objects for anything that could prove useful. Woody would occasionally look down at the ground so that he didn't step on anything that would make a noise. His hope went up when he saw several broken pieces of the coffee tables' legs that could work, but were not long enough to help them.

"Woody," whispered Bo, pointing at the plastic storage crate. It was similar to the one Sid had when he trapped Woody inside of it ten years ago.

"Perfect! This one will make it easier for us to get up there," replied Woody, as he grabbed hold of the storage crate.

Bo and Woody dragged the storage crate over to the window slowly, being cautious of not waking up the terrifying monster. They positioned the crate in front of the window, keeping it steady enough to support their weights. Woody helped Bo to climb up the holes, making sure that she didn't get her foot stuck in them. He picked himself up on the windowsill, turned to pull Bo up gently, and placed her next to him. Woody checked to see if the window was unlocked, which thankfully was.

Woody noticed the familiar car pulling up at the front curb. Bonnie and her mother had arrived, just as Bonnie's mother had promised. Now it was the only matter of time that they reached out to them.

"Perfect! They're here!" said Woody. "Okay, we should just…"

All of the sudden, a deafening roar erupted from Jerry's mouth, his large body contorted with anguish. He quickly got up on all four, complaining about the pounding headache as he searched for the aspirin somewhere on the floor. Woody and Bo struggled to lift the window. Bonnie was getting closer to the porch and they still hadn't opened it. Jerry was now on his feet, hearing the noises coming from the window. Woody and Bo barely got the window to open wide enough for them to slip through.

"Jump!" commanded Woody, as he held on to Bo's hand.

The two toys jumped out from the window, not daring to let go of each other. When they landed on the grass, Woody was worried that Bo's condition worsened, however she showed that she was still intact. Woody could hear Jerry's roar booming from the inside, screaming out to the imaginary intruders. They reached to the porch on time, sitting at the edge of it when Bonnie appeared, a huge grin plastered to her face.

"Mommy! I found him!" cried Bonnie, as she grabbed hold of Woody. She took notice of Bo, her eyes widened with awe.

The thrashing noises scared Bonnie out of her wits, hiding behind her mother for support and protection. "Mommy…what is that?"

"Come on Bonnie, we better get out of here," ordered her mother, forcing Bonnie to walk faster with her.

"Mommy, can I keep this toy?" asked Bonnie, shaking Bo in the air.

Her mother glanced at it. "Honey, that's broken, you can't play with it."

Woody's heart was blown apart when he heard that remark. He prayed that Bonnie would stand her ground and convince her mother to allow her to keep Bo.

"But mommy, she's a princess," argued Bonnie, putting the two of them close to each other. "Woody has fallen in love with a princess and he wants to be with her. If he doesn't, he's going to be really sad."

Woody was thankful that Bonnie had a wonderful over active imagination that had allowed her to understand what he was feeling. It felt like eternity until her mother finally gave her the answer.

"Okay, fine. Maybe we can find a way to fix her," she answered.

Bonnie cheered loudly as she jumped into the back seat of the car. Bonnie's mother started the car while Bonnie chattered to Bo about the new friends she will meet. Woody looked over to Bo, smiling at her. He couldn't wait for the two of them to head home to start a new life together.

#

Bonnie took Woody and Bo to her bedroom, giving Bo the tour of her new home. She promised Bo that she would get her own castle, and that she could use it to defend herself from the terrible witches, aliens, and giants. Bonnie had to rush out to eat lunch, so she placed the two of them at the bed. As soon as Bonnie was gone, the toys came to life once again.

"Woody You're back!" cried Jessie. "Holy smokes! Bo?"

Rex squealed. "Bo! It's you!"

"Well, I'll be! How the heck did Woody find you?" cried Slinky, his tail wagging with excitement.

Woody noticed that Bo looked happy and nervous about seeing the old and new faces. Woody introduced Bo to Trixie, Dolly, Totoro, Buttercup, Mr. Picklepants, and the pea children. They all welcomed her warmly assuring that she will have a wonderful time here. The old friends however were shocked to see Bo in a terrible state.

"Bo, was that kid rough on you?"

"Bo, where's your sheep?"

"How did you get that gash?"

Woody knew that Bo wasn't ready to tell everyone the truth. He stepped in, telling everyone that she went through a lot and that it would be best if she were to have some rest.

"You heard the man. Come on guys, let them take the time to rest," said Buzz, taking charge.

Woody tipped his hat in Buzz's direction as a way of thanking him. He led Bo to the windowsill, carefully lifting her up so that she didn't have to strain herself from climbing. They sat next to each other, just like they used to back at Andy's house.

"You know….I never thought that I would ever see the sun again," said Bo, her hand touching the window. "I didn't even think that I would ever remember what that warmth felt like."

Woody turned to face her. Seeing her smile again was a precious treasure worth keeping. "Well, at least you will always see the sun whenever you wish."

Bo nodded, her smile suddenly vanished.

"What's wrong?" asked Woody.

"I just….I just wished that I wasn't like this…" she answered, trying to hide her arms and face from him. "I can't even stand to look at myself in the mirror anymore. All I see is disgust, fear, and shame."

Woody gently turned her head slightly so that she was looking right at him. He took hold of her hands, stroking them gently to comfort both of them.

"What I see in front of me, is someone strong, compassionate, and most of all, beautiful," he replied, sealing their love with a kiss.

The End