Toy Story/Prep and Landing blurb

[walkyourownway]

Title: N/A
Fandom: Toy Story, Prep and Landing
Character(s): Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, Wayne, Lanny, Santa
Genre: General
Rating: K/G
Disclaimers: Toy Story, Prep and Landing © Disney, Pixar
Notes: Part of a crossover story I had been planning to write. Kind of a sequel to this story.

Summary: N/A

Santa seemed to be the only one comfortable with the silence hovering over the group as they walked down the workshop corridors. Yet he was the first one to break it as he said, “You all have something you wish to ask me.”

The toys looked up in surprise; his words were more of an understanding declaration than a curious question. However, after a quick glance at Wayne, they recognized the look on his face that told them that Santa really did know everything.

Looking at the group, Santa graced them with an encouraging smile. “Woody?” he gently prompted.

The cowboy hesitated, piecing his words together and sorting through all the things he wanted to ask. He finally settled on the questions that, until recently, he never would have considered possible. “I…I was made here?”

Santa chuckled. “Oh yes. I’d recognize any toy that came from my workshop.”

Woody looked up at the man; though Santa’s eyes were focused on the hallway in front of them, he knew that the words Santa spoke were meant directly for him.

"I could never forget the year you were made. Jacob was very excited for you, and the letter he sent was quite the read."

Jessie blinked. “Jacob?” she repeated, sharing a confused look with Bullseye. “Who’s that?”

Hamm and Mr. Potatohead glanced at each other, and Slinky gave Woody a slightly concerned look. Neither of them spoke, though, and Jessie wondered what they were keeping from her. Just as she was about to ask again, she was surprised when it was Rex who nervously replied, “Jacob…Jacob was Andy’s dad.”

"Andy’s dad?” she gasped, looking at Woody with wide eyes. But the cowboy, gaze downcast on his boots, seemed set on ignoring the others around him.

Buzz also turned his attention to Woody, his surprise giving way to contemplation. He always knew that Woody was an…older toy, but he never realized just how old. And Woody had been so devoted to Andy, had loved the child so much, that the space ranger just couldn’t imagine Woody ever having a previous owner. But though he never knew Andy’s father, discovering this piece of information…knowing this put things in a whole different light.

Woody had always been so dedicated to Andy, and Andy was once so attached to Woody – so much that he almost brought Woody to college. And while Buzz would never doubt how real their affection for each other was, he began to wonder just how much of it came from them seeing Jacob in each other.

Buzz was drawn from his thoughts when Santa spoke again, “The show that you were based on was fairly new at the time, Woody, but we did know of it. And we were used to making popular toys that children had seen on television or heard about on the radio. But Jacob’s request had been quite unexpected – he suddenly changed it from a new pair of roller skates, you see. And by then, it was so close to Christmas that we were actually in a rush to make you. We didn’t even have time to provide you with some…necessary information.”

The other toys looked at each other, unsure of what Santa meant. But Woody’s head snapped up. “Is that why I didn’t know?” he wondered. “Why I didn’t know about the show…about Jessie or Bullseye…or anything else about it?”

Santa nodded once again.

Hearing that, and glancing at Jessie, brought another question to Buzz’s mind. “So, Woody was made here in the North Pole…”

"That’s right," Santa confirmed.

Buzz looked at Jessie again, and as she motioned for him to go on, he continued, “But what about us? We weren’t made here…were we?” Even as he spoke, though, Buzz already knew the answer.

"No," Santa verified. "You were all made by the companies that created you."

"But then…" Jessie started, her voice unusually soft, "how are we alive too?”

Santa glanced at Wayne and Lanny for a moment before turning back to the toys. “There is a special group of elves that are deployed to toy companies and factories…any place that makes toys, really, and infuse those toys with the same kind of magic we use here to give toys life.”

Wayne frowned a little as he listened; he knew of the job that Santa spoke of. Southern-working elves often spent years in other parts of the world, doing their job until another elf from the same section came to replace them. It was a position that paid well, he’d heard, but only because of the difficulties of living away from home for so long. Having to cycle between being down South for years before coming back home…Wayne didn’t think he could handle something like that.

"It seems like a lot of effort," Wayne heard Woody say. He glanced at the cowboy doll; though Woody didn’t know what he was thinking, he must have also realized the kind of work it entailed to give life to toys in the first place.

"It can be quite a challenge," Santa admitted, though his tone sounded more amused than anything.

"So then what’s the point?" Mr. Potatohead suddenly demanded. "Why even bother doing it at all?"

Both Wayne and Lanny detected the angry edge in the toy’s voice, and were ready to detain him just in case things took another bad turn. But Santa waved off the elves’ guard as he looked to the plastic spud. “You don’t like being alive?” the man in red asked.

Mr. Potatohead’s irritation fell short. He didn’t mean it like that.

"It’s not that we don’t," Slinky answered for him. "It’s just…" He paused, looking to the others for help explaining what he wanted to say.

"It’s just…we want to know why we’re alive,” Woody finally said, looking up at Santa. Thinking back to Bonnie’s question about them before, he asked, “Why did you make us this way?”

A warm, soft smile spread over Santa’s expression as his twinkling eyes looked at them. When he spoke, his voice was very quiet, yet all those around him heard his words as clear as a bell, “For love.”

The toys stared, startled by the unexpected answer, and even the elves were bewildered by this. “What?” Buzz said.

"I grant life to toys so that they can love the child they are given to."

The group followed Santa, listening intently as he continued to explain. “All children deserve to feel loved, completely and unconditionally. And often, the first thing children are exposed, to besides their parents, are toys. So I give life to toys so they may love that child they’re given to, and so they may also help teach the child how to love others.”

"Uh…" Hamm hesitated, as though wondering whether to say something or not. But soon his curiosity got the better of him, so he pushed on, "How are we supposed to do that? If kids aren’t supposed to know we’re alive…"

Santa chuckled. “Children often perceive things that adults cannot. Just because you don’t move or speak in front of a child, it doesn’t mean they don’t sense the feelings deep down. I’m certain that Andy felt the love you all had for him, even if he never suspected your true nature.”

The toys looked at each other, curious and wondering…yet, somehow, they knew that Santa’s words were true.

"When children sense that love, even if they don’t know where it comes from or explain what it is, it helps them develop their own ability to love, and to share that love with others."

"But do people really need to toys to learn that?" Jessie asked. "Can’t they just learn to love by meeting other people?"

"They certainly could," Santa replied. "But it can be difficult, learning to love. Some understand love better than others, and people can be hard to deal with. Toys are a good way for them to practice until they’re ready to handle the risks and pains that people sometimes face, because toys won’t hurt them."

They remained silent, reflecting on Santa’s words. Then Buzz suddenly spoke, a thoughtful comment that bothered him, “Not all toys love their child, though.”

A moment’s pause, then Santa nodded. “That’s true. I gave toys the ability to love, but whether they use it is up to them.”

"But if you could make toys live, couldn’t you just make them love their kid?" Rex wondered.

"I suppose I could. But if I force a toy to feel a certain way, then it wouldn’t be real." He looked at the curious faces around him. "Love has to be a choice. If toys were obligated to love a child, we could never know if the toy truly cares, or if those feelings are simply because that’s all they know how to do. True love, unconditional love, must be freely given, a choice made to do so, even when it’s hard.”