Authors Note: Okay, so this is a story I have posted up on Fanficion.net, so I decided to post it here too and see what people here think. WARNING: If you haven’t seen Toy Story 3 yet, this story will contain a lot of spoilers.
I’m extremely new to this site, so I hope I did okay on everything. Please read and review… Tell me what you think, and how I can improve ect. The first chapter is called “Lost Wishes.” I have written more, so tell me whether or not you like this enough for me to post the others.
"She replaced us..." The eerie words still echo in my head even until this vary day, still causing me to shudder a little. It's not because I minded being abandoned or replaced...I was used to it. Truth be told, unfortunate events such as this one never seemed to come as a surprise to me anymore. In fact, I had began to expect them long ago...sort of like a build-in instinct after thing that bothered me the most was the devastation in his hopeless eyes that night...the sorrow, the pain.. Yes, all of these were terrible to witness, but worst of all was the bitter rage that all of the different emotions soon enough accumulated into.
Soon enough, I found myself lost inside the horrid memory. A victim of my own mind...
"No, she only replaced you..." Chuckles had calmly tried to explain, but the soft pink bear would hear none of it. And honestly...who would blame him? I mean, talk about a major burn...
"She replaced all of us!" He roared along with the loud sound of thunder outside. Still, under all the raging frustration booming out of his vocal cords (or voice box..I guess you could say?), you could also hear the devastation he was trying so desperately to mask with a shield of anger.
"Isn't that right?"
I avoided his glare and silently turned away from the sad scene, rolling my eyes. While apart of me went out to him, the other part pitied him, knowing he should have kept himself a little more guarded.
"Mama..." I could hear the desperate cries as Big Baby reached for the window behind me, only to be harshly pulled back by the pink teddy bear known as none other than Lotso Hugging Bear. Eh..Lotso for short.
"She don't love you anymore... She never loved you! She never loved none of us..."
Now Chuckles would claim that on that one fateful rainy night, something just...snapped inside of Lotso. I'm pretty sure plenty of you have already heard the story.. Lotso was "no longer our friend..." He... "wasn't anyone's friend." And yet, while grant it there is a lot of truth to this story, like a lot of others, there are still a few missing pieces to add to the vary complex puzzle. Quit a few actually.
It is true however, that after having believed he had been replaced, Lotso's whole world seemed to crumble beneath his furry feet. I watched him grab Big Baby's hand as well as Chuckles and then called behind too, "Come on!" The other two were reluctant to leave...so reluctant in fact that Lotso practically had too physically force them into coming along with him. I, on the other hand, was more than willing to leave, and bolted after the others as fast as I could.
It's not that Daisy treated us badly...on the contrary, it was quit the opposite. I just simply did not like the idea of having an owner at all. Although I was relieved it was Daisy and not some stupid brat, I never once warmed up to the thought of being..'owned.'
I was bought the same day as Lotso, and was unwrapped on Christmas day, same as he was. Only...Daisy had never really taken too much of an interest to Barbie dolls, let alone Bratz dolls, so most of the time I was left alone on some random shelf while Lotso mostly stayed in Daisy's arms. Again, this didn't really bother me either. As I mentioned earlier, unlike most every other toy, I didn't like the idea of being owned by a human..or anyone, for that matter. As you can imagine, this did not make life as a toy vary enjoyable. Every night without fail (or whenever Daisy was away,) Lotso would come and find me only to gush, resembling a little annoying school girl, about his amazing day he had shared with his beloved Daisy.
While however painfully nauseating the cheesy stories were to listen too, I was glad at least one of us was happy living here. And if I wanted anyone to be happy back then, it was Lotso. You see...before the change, before bitterness took over, around Daisy's place Lotso was known as a kind, wise caretaker. I guess it's kind of hard to believe now, but Lotso was once someone that anyone could run too for advice. And they did. He was Chuckles best friend and Big Baby's surrogate father figure. And as for me...well, I guess you could say that my independent spirit also served as an outlet Lotso himself could go too whenever everyone else's burden finally got to be too much to handle, which usually happened on rainy nights when Daisy was away.
Yes, Lotso loved Daisy like he had never loved anyone else before. Daisy served as his entire world. And that world would rise and fall depending on Daisy's actions. If Daisy were Happy, Lotso was overjoyed, and if she were sad or happened to be sick, Lotso was convinced he could feel it too. Kinda creepy...if you ask me. I'll never forget the night Daisy was sick with a bad case of the flu and Lotso was sick with worry. Once she had fallen Asleep, the teddy bear had quietly crept out of Daisy's bed and climbed on the shelf where I sat with my knees hugged to my chest, silently counting the stars, barely visible through the rain...wishing I were one of them. Wishing I were free...
"Hey, Daisy..." Yes, he is referring to me. My name is Daisy... Daisy had named me after herself because well, she was somehow convinced I looked just like her..even though I beg to differ. We look nothing alike..and if you had seen us together, you would agree. For one, my hair is jet black, Daisy's was blond. My cloths were torn and tattered, the company's attempt to create a punk-ish...sort of look. Still, Daisy was convinced...
I jumped a little at the sound of Lotso's voice in surprise.
"What is it this time Lotso?" I asked, slightly annoyed that he had interrupted my day dream. I instantly regretted how harsh it had came out, but luckily he didn't seem to notice.
"I don't feel good...I think I may have caught Daisy's flu." He said in a voice that did sound like he was telling the truth. Still...I wasn't buying it. Not yet...
"Wait..but I don't have the..." It took me a moment to realize he was talking about our owner, not me.
"Oh...you mean that Daisy. Of course..." I laughed a little before rolling my eyes.
"Don't be ridiculous Lotso, I'm pretty sure your just imagining things. Go back to your Daisy...I'm sure she misses you. " I shrugged it off, the last statement in hopes that it would be enough to reassure him enough so I could resume watching the stars and feeling miserable in privacy.
"No, I really don't feel good...I think we have a connection, me and Daisy..." Lotso whined, dramatically putting a weary paw to his forehead. I raised my eyebrows in a skeptical manner.
"Okay, now that is just creepy... Are you insane?"
"No, no my stomach is startin' to hurt..just like Daisy's was earlier before she got sick..." He let out a moan and clutched his round stomach, wincing in pain.
I let out a heavy sigh. So much for privacy tonight...
"I can't take it anymore!" Lotso suddenly exclaimed in a voice that sounded almost like he would burst into tears at any given moment.
I jumped a little at the sudden outburst before giving him a blank stare, all the while wondering why the heck he had to be such a Drama Queen. I mean come on...he is a guy...right?
"Woah, calm down! Fine...I'll eh...rub your stomach?" I offered despite myself, hoping it would be enough to calm him down so he could stop freaking me out. You have to keep in mind I was still contemplating whether or not he were actually sick, or just delusional.
"Oh, thank you Daisy...oooohhh...it hurts so much!" Although...he did act like he was in a lot of pain.
"Here...just lay down and try to calm down...please." I was still little freaked out, but I couldn't help but feel a little sympathy towards Lotso as well. I just hoped he was telling the truth. Either way, he did as I told him and I held up my end of the bargain. I began gently rubbing his soft stomach in slow circular motions.. The fur was actually welcoming to the touch, and after awhile his slow...painful moans started to grow faint as sleep took it's tole. When he finally did fall asleep, I took the time to watch him sleep, all the while pondering what, exactly, had just happened.
Apart of me wondered if this was all just a result of dilution...or did Lotso and Daisy truly have some sort of freaky connection? No... I shook my head. That just isn't possible. It had to be a dilution or Lotso really did catch the illness through passed germs, which was vary possible considering the amount of time he spent with Daisey on a daily basis. (Yes, even toys get sick occasionally.) Either way, I intended up spending most of the night "Nurturing Lotso back to health," and reassuring him that he wasn't going to die.
However, when the next morning arrived, Lotso seemed perfectly fine. Daisy decided to take him with her to her doctors appointment, yet the moment they returned and Daisy began to feel bad again, the same effect happened to Lotso... Meaning I got the lucky pleasure of once again playing "Nurse" until he felt he had recovered once again, which just so happened to be the moment Daisy had also recovered.
As Chuckles would put it, "They did everything together." I don't doubt that at the time, Lotso would have been more than willing to jump in front of Daisey at any given moment to take a bullet, as long as it meant keeping her safe. That is what mattered most to Lotso...Daisy's safety.
And that it was also just the kind of thing that terrified me the most. A kind of love like that was anything but safe...I'm not even entirely sure if it would be considered healthy. I guess you could say my theory could be explored a little more on the night I then sat upon the back of a truck in between Lotso and Chuckles. Big Baby sat on Lotso's other side, clinging to the bears arm for dear life as the rain began to fall even harder. No one spoke...I think the other too were still too shocked at Lotso's earlier outburst to find a suitable topic to converse about. As for me... Well, let's just say I had never seen Lotso so upset before over anything..I didn't see the need to upset him any farther by accidentally saying the wrong thing.
It was only until well passed 4 A.M. that my eyes finally grew tired. I was just about to rest my head on Lotso's furry soft shoulder before the truck hit something on the road, throwing all 4 of us off the tail end and onto the harsh concrete. Upon recovering from the incident with little injury, I quickly leaped up and looked at the others to see how the fall had effected them. Big Baby began to cry as he struggled to pull himself off the ground, (typical) and Chuckles was slowly regaining his sense of the new surroundings as well. Chuckles and I didn't move. Lotso was the only one who could manage to get Big Baby to stop crying when Daisey was away, so we assumed he would be the one to console him in this situation as well. We waited for the moment Lotso would envelope him in a tight embrace, but it never came.
When my eyes finally found their way to Lotso himself I noticed that his own gaze was focused on something directly ahead of us. I followed his gaze to read a large concrete sign that seemed to glare back at us.
"Sunnyside... Hmm... Must be some sort of day care center. Oh, look it is.." I mumbled after examining the sign a little more carefully. I kept my tone as monotone as possible, as usual. Big Baby began to cry again, and Chuckles looked on the verge of tears. Seeing the pain in their eyes was enough to make me visibly cringe. They truly loved her...I didn't understand the so called "Natural" Attachment toys were supposed to feel towards children like the other three, but if this was the kind of devastation that came along with it, then I didn't want too.
"There's still time.. Perhaps maybe we could find our way back to Daisy's-"
Chuckles timidly began, but before he could finish, Lotso cut him off.
"I already told you...she don't love us no more. What part of that do you not understand? We're staying put." He stated defiantly.
Lotso's usually warm southern tone had taken on a cold bitterness none of us had witnessed before. I could tell the sudden change had instantly frightened the others and for good reason. The gleam in the bear's usually cheerful eyes had vanished, leaving only a vacant lonely stare behind a bitter wall of pure and utter rage. Rage I knew he was only using to cover up the hurt no one likes to broadcast.
I looked at the other two, letting myself show a little sympathy.
"Come on guys...let's just...do as Lotso says. Besides..he's probably right." I had known that long before the event took place, however. It was just a matter if time before we would all eventually suffer the same fate of being thrown out or donated...or, in this case, lost. In my mind, it was simply the facts of life...which is part of the reason I tried every single day to think of some sort of a way out of it. An escape...
How could children ever truly love inanimate objects anyways? In my opinion, it's just not something that is truly...well, possible. The normally tragic turn of events did not effect me the same as it had the others because I simply didn't care... Unlike the rest, I wanted to find some way to be real...truly real. Of course, I knew full well that it was an impossible dream, but a dream nonetheless, and I was never known as one to give up.
The feeling of a furry paw firmly grip my wrist startled me out of thought.
"Come on Da..." Lotso stopped for a moment... looking at at me as if I were a ghost. It was a look I had never seen before, and in that moment I almost began to wonder just exactly who was I dealing with? Where had our friend gone? I felt a sudden ache in my chest... I wanted him back.
"Come on darlin'..." This new stranger harshly pulled me close to his side and drug me across the pavement to the doors of the Daycare. I glanced back at the other two nervously, who only shot back same look I gave them. Yes, on the outside Lotso looked the same..but on the inside none of us could truly understand just how much he had changed. What terrified me the most was the shock... The fact that the change had occurred in merely one night.
"Hey! What's your problem?" I glared at the stuffed bear, yanking my arm back only to have it ripped away again a moment later.
For a moment Lotso seemed to be caught in some sort of a trance. I gulped, fighting to keep my voice calm and confident.
"Lotso, snap out of it!" I yelled once again attempting to yank my small wrist out of his paw, only this time I wasn't so successful.
"Lotso?" A shaky voice asked and for a split second I thought it might have been mine, that is until I glanced behind and realized it had came from Chuckles.
"Lotso, please...come back to us!" I screamed over the storm in a tone that was much more desperate than I had intended.
Lotso shook his head, finally loosening his grip, he placed a free paw to the back of his head and I instantly took a few steps back, though he still held tight to my arm.
"I...I-I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me." He apologized over and over again, hoping to earn my forgiveness, but somehow I couldn't find words. Breathing heavily, all I found I could do was stare at him in utter and complete shock.
"L-Let's just...get inside. I think the mixture of rain and cold is messing with your mind." I finally stammered a little. I shot him a look before slowly pulling my wrist out of his now loose grip and placed it at my side. This time, I marched a good distance ahead of Lotso and the others, leading the way into the day care.
Inside the day care, the appearance of Sunnyside itself seemed completely contradictory to the title in the cold dark of night with the storm raging outside. All of the lights were turned off for the night, giving the place an eerie sort of feel, and the toys who lived there seemed to all be sleeping. Lotso tripped behind me, only to fall flat on his face. Up until this moment I had purposely forgotten the earlier incident, but Lotso's fall seemed to be a painful reminder that he was not himself anymore. I whirled around at once at the sudden noise only to notice how heavy his breathing had gotten. It was the first time that I noticed Lotso had been walking with a limp ever since we had been thrown off that pizza planet truck. Laying on the floor like that, I couldn't help but picture the bear as a beat and broken rag doll.
Despite myself, I cautiously walked over and bent down to see if he was alright, yet by the time I had gotten there, Big Baby and Chuckles were already at Lotso's side. Big Baby burst into a fit of tears for what seemed to be the millionth time that night, only this time it was Chuckles who took on the role of trying to console him.
"Are you okay there Lotso?" Chuckles asked in a voice of concern, trying to pretend that he was still the loyal friend we knew and loved.
"What does it look like?" Lotso snarled after a moments hesitation. "Are any of us okay?" He picked himself up off the floor, only wobbling a little before Chuckles helped him regain his balance. And this was the moment Chuckles and I tried so hard to deny the truth we each pretended not to know...that Lotso would never truly be alright.
"I'm so tired..." Lotso complained, suddenly laying back down on the floor, defeated by physical and emotional exhaustion. I gave the others a strange look in response to the bear's even stranger behavior, but it seemed they too were exhausted. Big Baby was the second to lay down, followed by Chuckles.
"Goodnight Chuckle, Big Baby." I said softly, trying not to disturb the other slumbering toys. The baby cooed in response as only babies can, and Chuckles gave a weak smile before closing his eyes. Finally, I walked over to Lotso and gently ran a few fingers through the soft fur on his back.
"Night Lotso...I hope you feel better tomorrow...they uh, say time heals all wounds." I said quietly, trying not to wake the others. Even though I don't believe the words myself, I hoped somehow I sounded convincing enough for Lotso to believe them.
"Not this one Darlin'...[i]nothing[/i] can heal this one." He muttered darkly. My heart couldn't help but go out to him despite the incident we had encountered earlier that night. I knew he was hurting, but couldn't think of anything else to say to reassure him, so I settled on laying down beside him. It was only then that I realized how tired I truly was.
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"No...Daisy...don't go...don't leave me...please!" Not even an hour later, I was awoken by the sound of a familiar panicked voice calling my name. I slowly blinked my eyes awake, barely noticing the sounds were coming from Lotso, who was flailing around restlessly in his sleep. It was in this moment that I could make a good enough guess that although my name is Daisy, I wasn't the one he was calling out too in his sleep.
I yawned a little before crawling closer to the bear as quietly as possible, feeling my own head pounding.
"Lotso?"
He suddenly turned over and grabbed me by the shoulders.
"You replaced me! How could you possibly claim to have really loved us..." Lotso yelled out, although his eyes remained closed. I let out a sigh of relief when I realized he was only talking in his sleep to a figure only visible in his own mind. The figure of our own...eh, I mean previous owner, no doubt.
"You ain't ever loved us really...did you?"
I stared at him, my eyes filling with sympathy. I, more than anyone, knew how much he adored Daisy. She truly was...well...everything to him. And now his whole was destroyed. I'm sure Daisy's parents had meant the best, buying their child a replacement Lots'O Hugging Bear...of course they didn't know we could come alive at night, so they, nor Daisy would never know the pain they had inflicted on Lotso. I sighed, finally deciding that if Daisy couldn't tell him herself in real life, than maybe she could in a dream. Maybe this will snap him out of it...
"No, Lotso...I'm here; it's Daisy. I'm right here, and I love you vary much. I never meant to replace you...no one could." I cooed in his ear using my best Daisy impersonation voice. I was careful to make my tone sound as sweet and loving as possible. Maybe somewhere deep down I knew that maybe it wasn't considered right, but it did succeed in calming him down for the moment because he wrapped his arms around me in a tight embrace. The action took me by surprise, but instead of pulling away, this time I embraced him.
"Stay with me forever...Daisy?" Lotso asked in a voice I didn't recognize. It was one of vulnerability, reveling a slight glimmer of a side of him I had never truly seen before. I froze for a moment...stared at his closed eye lids...his dark pink brow furrowed in concern.
"I...I..promise." I bit my lip, knowing it was wrong to make a promise you knew you can not not keep, especially when playing someone else's role...a role you had no right to even tamper with in the first place. I knew it was wrong...but apart of me longed to simply tell him anything he wanted to hear so I could see Lotso...well, happy again. And it worked... If only for a moment, a genuine smile lit up the bears face.
Looking back now, I absolutely hate myself for it...
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[b]Authors note:[/b]Sorry guys...I found out all too late that Bratz dolls were not released until years after Lotso's toy line release in the film, but by the time I had started writing the other chapters and getting the story set up, it was too late to change the mistake. So again, sorry about that, I hope it won't take too much away from the story.