REGARDING REVIEWS:

Please review if you feel so inclined; that is awesome (I'm happy if you do, and I'm fine with it if you don't), but kindly refrain from using the review section as a way of self-advertising, please; if you liked (or, heh, hated) this enough to leave a review, that should be sufficient. If you want to talk about your own fanfics, let's not beat around the bush: just straight-up PM me with a message saying so, and I'll see what I can do there.

Now, onto the mindless drivel!

Riley Andersen jumped out of bed the instant her eyes were open. A grin exploded across her mouth. She flung off her nightclothes and was in her favorite outfit before scarcely a minute had passed. She then scurried to the kitchen, inhaled a bowl of cereal, and darted into the restroom to brush her teeth. Altogether, she was ready for the day in ten minutes flat, wile her parents were just waking up. She made her way back to her bedroom, bursting at the seams with the excitement and energy that only a ten (or, as of today, eleven) year old could muster. And why not? Today was the day she had been anticipating all month; her birthday! So much had been planned for that day, too - cake, presents, games, friends, more cake! She couldn't control her giddy feelings.

No, really, she couldn't.

In that girl's mind, Joy was at the console pressing button after button, turning knobs, pulling levers, warming its surface in her signature golden light. As she went to work, merrily humming to herself, it seemed that she was glowing even more than usual. With a beam brighter than the sun, she squealed in delight. "I can't wait!" she cried out, "We're gonna be eleven! I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait!" Spinning a knob one more time, she twirled away from the console, snatching up a nearby Anger from off of his chair and spinning him around in a klutzy improvised dance.

"Isn't this great?!" Joy yelled, smile only seeming to grow.

"Let go!" was the reply. Joy, taking that as a "yes," flung the little red brick right back into his chair, though he landed upside down. As his peer jumped back to the console, spouting off more exciting phrases, Anger flipped himself back with a grunt. He opened his paper. It was littered with headlines such as, "Today we're 11!" and "Happy 11th anniversary, readers!" and "What's ten plus one? Answer on page..." Upon seeing that the news had caught a birthday fever, Anger shrugged his shoulders and folded it up, tucking it neatly under his chair. He was excited, of course. All the emotions were; this day brought so much entertainment and all-around fun each year, that they couldn't help but anticipate it. Didn't change the fact that he wasn't in the mood to read paragraph after paragraph of mindless drivel.

Anger blinked, then spared a glance at the pitiful creature lurking behind him. 'Well, almost all of us are excited,' he thought. "Sadness," he said tersely, scrambling to reach for his newspaper in hopes that-

"H-H-Hi, Anger," she said.

He mentally screamed. But outwardly, a deep breath kept him calm.

"Hi," he spoke, remembering Joy's advice on being polite (he'd been trying to work on that). But it wasn't easy - especially with Sadness. Not that she was particularly hard to get along with or anything, it's just... well, she's one of those people you don't really know how to talk to without setting them off... and that means a lot, coming from the living embodiment of rage. "I, um... What's up?"

"Oh, just - it's Riley's Birthday today," she said shyly.

See? Like that! Should he be sarcastic about how she's pointing out the obvious? Should he laugh (if she was trying to be funny by pointing out the obvious)? Should he change subject? What?! He cleared his throat, still reaching for the paper, then settled on, "Uh, sure is! Eleven years old. It's great. Terrific, in fact."

"Yeah..."

'I swear to our dead Aunt Jemiah, you couldn't find a quicker way to make this awkward, could you, you little blue ball of-' but that thought was cut short with a relieved grin; he'd found his paper. He quickly whipped it out from under the chair, flipped it open, and dove right into a particularly repetitive block of inane rambling about being 11 years old. Hopefully it would send a crystal clear message: "Go bug someone else."

But he read and he read, and he read some more, yet didn't feel Sadness's eyes move away. Instead, they shifted locations from his back to his front. He flipped the top of the page down, glaring over it at the two blue circles looking timidly at him. 'Oh, great, now what?! Should I ask her how she's doing? Should I just get Joy? But I don't wanna ruin Joy's fun by dragging her down!' He cleared his throat once more.

"I thought you were done with the paper?" Sadness asked, almost inaudibly.

"Oh! Uh... uh, well- uh... nope! I actually, uh..."

"Nevermind..." And with that, she drooped off across the room, back hunched and eyes downcast. 'See?' Anger thought to himself, 'There's the other problem with her! Is she actually upset, or feeling just normal? They look the same with her!' But he got what he want - Sadness not bugging him. So he shrugged back to the paper, his sole defense against awkward conversations. Hopefully more interesting articles would pop up as the day progressed.

And new events did happen throughout the day, though all were of a Joyful nature; friends came over to visit, presents were opened, and a big birthday cake was eaten after Riley made a wish. After that, it was off to watch a hockey game with her friends, topped off by a fun-filled hour at the movies before returning home. Even then, the partying wasn't over! No, indeed - it was just starting! Meg had stayed behind to stay the night, and the two of them were busy coming up with things they wanted to do that night.

Sleeping, by the way, wasn't on the sleepover's to-do list.

"We're gonna do it!" Joy yelled, "We're gonna pull an all-nighter! No sleep for us!" This was punctuated by another excited scream of delight. Far from sucking away her energy, all the partying and festivities had added to it throughout the day. Her coworkers weren't quite as enthusiastic, but - certainly - they were enjoying the day as much as they could. Even Sadness occasionally wore the tiniest of smiles (or, where she's concerned, "non-frowns").

They were almost all gathered around the console at the time, as Meg suggested a game of "Truth or Dare" to pass the time until their pizza rolls were done. Riley had readily accepted it; no dare was too gross for her.

"I dare you to..." Meg began, thinking hard.

Joy giggled in anticipation, while Disgust had her fingers crossed, hoping against hope that it was nothing bad. All the while, Anger had a "bring-it-on!" snarl plastered across his features.

"...lick that spoon!"

Riley looked over; there it was, in the sink, the spoon that had been used to make the cake, now covered in slimy remnants of flour and chocolate.

"Ew! No!" Disgust screamed, diving for the console. She only managed to brush a button, though - Joy pushed her back, determination stuck on the happy emotion's face as she shoved the button down.

"Piece of cake!" Riley said. Meg laughed at that, unsure if Riley meant to make the pun. Either way, she laughed even harder at her friend's revolted expression as she licked that spoon.

"I can't believe you let us do that!" Disgust screamed, having just managed to press the button (for real, this time), "Why, Joy, why?"

"You can't just not accept a dare!" Joy explained, "Where's the fun in that?!"

"Well-... but-... you-... Ugh!" the green emotion slammed her hands into her face, adding, "If you need me, I'll be on the couch, trying not to barf!" She made her actions match her words, stomping over indignantly and planting herself roughly on the cushions as she glared up at the others. They'd gone back to the game, completely zoned in, concentrating on giving Meg a dare sure to trump the previous one. Disgust was so lost in her own brief brooding that she didn't notice a blue figure sit down next to her. It took a small tap on her shoulder to get her attention.

"Hey, Disgust?" Sadness asked.

"Oh, uh, hi," Disgust said, then - remembering she'd been asked a question, "What, Sadness, what is it?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just, I was wondering if you... if you remembered... what I'm trying to say is that Joy-"

At the mention of Joy's name, Disgust's eyes went wide and she slammed a "shush" finger over her mouth. She used her free palm to cut off Sadness before another word could come. The green emotion quickly jerked her head over to the console, but Joy was still enthralled in the game of "Truth or Dare," and so hadn't heard Sadness's mouse of a whisper. Disgust sighed in relief, then took her hand away before explaining, "Don't you know that today's Joy's birthday, too?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, actually, I mean that's kinda what I wanted to-"

"And we're getting her a present! It's a surprise!"

"O-Oh, we are?" Said Sadness, now confused... and somewhat hurt, "I didn't know... Nobody told me we were gonna start celebrating birthdays..."

"Oh, uh, well... that's because, uh... you- I... How about-" But Disgust was spared from having to make up an elaborate excuse by Meg, of all people who said:

"Alright, truth: Have you actually ever cried? 'Cause, like, I've never seen you cry. Ever."

That, naturally, got Sadness's attention. In fact, that got everyone's attention, and all watched intently as the scene unfolded. Had Disgust been looking, she would have seen Sadness's fingers grip and ungrip imaginary buttons and levers, so eager was to get up to that console. The chance did come, too, as Joy turned around and - quite hesitantly - asked, "Hey, uh, Sadness... do you... uh... you remember a time when you ruined- No! Not what I meant! Ahem... uh... a time, when you... made Riley cry?"

"Oh, yeah," Sadness said, "There was the time we stubbed our toe, and when we broke the vase once, and when-"

"No, no, nothing that will make Riley too upset!" Joy said, hands frantically held up in a 'stop' gesture. Suddenly, though, her eyes brightened, "Oh! I know! Last year, at our tenth birthday!"

"Oh, yeah..." Sadness smiled, "That was a good one."

Joy hummed and put in the code, and a memory came right to mind; at this time last year, Riley had cried as she tearfully said goodbye to her single-digit years, feeling quite upset that she'd never see them again. Sadness hopped off the couch with that smile still lingering, eager to move up to the console for the first time in a while.

"Oh, last year!" Riley said, "You weren't there - but I cried when I realized I was actually turning ten!"

"What?" Meg snorted, not believing it for a second, "Really?"

Riley actually chuckled. "Yeah! Oh my gosh, I was upset about saying goodbye to all the single-digit birthdays!" Her chuckle grew to a full laugh, and Meg swiftly joined in. Upset at a birthday? What a ridiculous thought!

Sadness's smile disappeared, and her shoulders slouched over once more as Joy began cracking up, giving a good yank on the lever in front of her. Sadness looked over at Anger, who was grinning ear-to-nonexistent-ear. Disgust, too, was laughing. She even jumped off the couch to get back to the console, joining in with her friends as they remembered such a silly past event.

'Crestfallen' wouldn't even come close to describing how Sadness looked; 'borderline depressed' might be more accurate. She breathed in and out, keeping herself together - she had promised Joy she wouldn't cry today, a promise that she'd miraculously managed to keep. But this certainly was pushing her limits. That was her special moment with Riley! It was sad that the single-digits were gone forever, like a good friend you had to say goodbye to! 'And,' Sadness thought, 'Even Joy had to hold back tears! But look at them now; all laughing at it as if it were a joke.'

Nobody turned around, but had they done so, they would've seen her lips start trembling and shaking.

'It's cause it is,' Sadness decided, forcing her quivering lips to stop, 'It's cause I am a joke, and so's my job... but good thing they rescued that memory from me, I guess...' She looked up, just in time to see her orb go from deep blue to shimmering gold as Riley fondly laughed at her past self. She looked over, hoping she wasn't the only one who saw that... but she was. Nobody noticed, Sadness despondently pressed the button on the floor, and the memory went away, leaving her feeling empty and betrayed by everyone, including - dare she admit it - Riley herself.

Up front, as the laughter was dying down, Anger suddenly, deliberately distracted Joy. "Oh, hey! Can you get my newspaper?" he asked, "I think there's probably an article about that now, and I wanna see it."

"Okie dokie!" Joy said, skipping off back to the chair. Sadness looked at her, confused, then glanced over at Anger and Disgust, who were whispering conspiratorially.

"Is that moron done with the cake yet or not?!" Anger hissed.

"How should I know?"

"Why'd we put him in charge anyway?"

"Because he'd be too scared to burn it! At least there won't be a fire like last time-"

"What's that supposed to mean? At least it's not you, with your 'healthy cake' fixation-"

"Shush! Just..." Disgust rolled her eyes and groaned, then looked over and noticed Sadness staring at them. Rather than shrinking up or shutting up, she saw this as an opportunity. "Hey," she whispered, "You wanna help? Go get Fear and ask him if he's done with that cake yet!"

"Okay..." Sadness mumbled, then turned around to go to her task, nearly getting run over by a speeding gold bullet that came darting up to the console.

"Found it!" the Joy yelled, paper in hand, "It was over by the windows!"

"Oh, thanks!" Anger said, back to pretending like nothing had happened.

They all three returned to their discussion on the game of "Truth or Dare." Soon enough their voices faded to silence. Sadness skulked over to the kitchen, where Fear undoubtedly was fretting over whether or not Joy would like the cake. As she walked, she wondered if she really was all that important to Riley. After all, if her memories could be changed to happy ones just like that, why bother making them in the first place? Useless. Utterly useless. She shook her head in shame. The blue ball sighed and pushed the kitchen door open.

She was greeted by the sight of Fear, balancing a bowl of flour in one hand, a jug of milk in the other, and clutching a spoon between his teeth. His chef's hat was smeared with varying amounts of chocolate, and the floor around him had been cluttered with sugar and dough, all while the oven's top was caked with cake and frosting. He spat out the spoon as he saw her.

"Sadness!" He said in shock, "I didn't expect to see you here..."

"They wanted me to go get the cake..."

"Oh."

"For Joy..."

"Y-Yeah, uh... about that-"

"Because you guys want to give her a cake for her birthday..."

Fear nervously grinned, fidgeted, and set down the items he was carrying. "Yep!" he said, "That's- uh... that was the plan, and I... I was put in charge of baking! Can you believe it? Maybe it's because those cooking lessons are finally-"

"It's 'cause you wouldn't burn it like Anger," Sadness said, not a trace of irony in her voice, "And Disgust gets too worried about health."

"Oh," said Fear in response. His shoulders drooped slightly, "Yeah, that's... that's about right."

Sadness observed the mess all around again, not commenting, just taking in the sight. "Disgust is gonna have to clean this, isn't she?"

"She - she'll probably insist she be the one to do it, yeah," Fear laughed, "That sounds like her alright!"

Uneasy silence descended down, and Fear nervously looked everywhere at once, eyes darting to each nook, cranny, and detail except Sadness's face. Why? Sadness furrowed her brows and placed a hand on her cheek, trying to think of what it could be... 'He knows I know that they forgot me,' she decided, 'So he's worried I'll call him out on it.'

She sighed, then said, "So is Joy's cake ready or not?"

"Oh, yeah!" replied Fear (was that relief in his voice?), "Yes, it is! Here..." spinning around, he picked up a platter with eleven candles on it, each small yellow things perfectly arranged. They had fake flames on their tips ("No one gets hurt that way!"). The frosting was topped with a nice blue color, and the cake itself was golden. Sprinkles were dropped all around it. Altogether, it was a very nice cake.

"Wow," Sadness said, "That's nice... you didn't even mess it up much!" She looked up into his face, smiling genuinely, not even remotely picking up on the slight hurt she'd dealt out, "I bet she'll like it."

Fear's mouth turned to a stupid grin right away. "Really?" he asked, looking back at his handiwork.

"Yeah."

"Th-Thanks, S-S-S-S-Sadness," he said. She blinked. Was he starting to blush? Before she could ask, his purple body was out of the room, cake in hand. It wasn't a second before he quickly poked his face back in, still not making eye contact, and added, "Oh and b-b-by the way I did- I did- I d-d-d-didn't forget about you Sadness-s-s so happy birthday to you- to- t-to you too you have a present it's in the box b-b-b-b-b-bye!" He was off again. Soon enough, the sounds of "Happy Birthday!" echoed in from the main room, but Sadness's thoughts were far from the festivities being celebrated nearby.

She stood still a moment, puzzling out what in the world he meant, but - after several seconds of translation - the message became clear. And that made her all the more confused.

"A present for me?"

She turned around, looking past the spilled cake mix and heavy dusting of flower. Sure enough, there it was; a small blue box adorned with a nice little bow. Next to it was a note, "Sadness" written on it in big letters. She plucked it off the box, and read:

Sadness,

Boy, this is really hard to write, heh. Mostly because I'm pretty nervous as is, but you know what? Someone's gotta say it, and it might as well be me, I guess. Not that I blame everyone else, of course, but I think - and this is absolutely 100% true - I think you're not very appreciated, or appreciated enough, or something like that.

Gah, I'm so bad at writing things like this!

Uh, anyways, I guess... when we were discussing a present for Joy, I remembered that you were born on the same day, of course. But I figured we had a plan for you too! I mean, it made sense, but after the conversation, they didn't mention it at all. They already had two birthdays to plan for, Joy and Riley, so I guess they just forgot is all or something... uh, sorry. That was kinda rude.

ANYWAYS, the point is this: I know we don't always appreciate what you do... No, scratch that, we NEVER really do, but I notice.

Like when you made Riley cry about the single-digits last year, I remember I felt scared, too, and you crying made me realize I wasn't the only emotion who felt like that. So, that was good,! But more than that, Dad gave us a talk about growing up, and it was all because Riley was upset, and - well, I don't now, but that has to count for something, right?

So, Sadness, you DO have a job. I don't know really what it is yet, but you ARE important to Riley, and to us all... or me, at least. Because when I'm scared or when Riley's scared, you feel sad, and that makes me feel not alone, y'know?

Sorry, this is getting really sappy really quickly.

Uh, anyways, Happy Birthday, Sadness! I know it's not much, but it's all I had time to make. Here's to many more good ones in the future!

-Fear

Attached to the end was a sticky note:

PS - Sorry if I run out of the room or leave you alone with just the present: you know how jumpy I get. And I'd actually appreciate it if you don't bring this up again to the others... or even me. Sorry, it's just... well, you know how nervous I get, heh.

-Fear

Sadness dropped the note, numb with shock. There it was; a small little box, but it was quite suddenly the most puzzling thing she'd ever seen. "Really?" she asked out loud. Her hands automatically opened the tiny present and looked in, but it took her a moment to process what she was seeing.

It was a tiny cupcake, just big enough to fit eleven small candles on it (fake ones, again, with blue paper flames). The surface of the cupcake was varying shades of blue, but Sadness knew exactly what it was supposed to represent: a blue memory orb.

A hard lump formed in the back of her throat, and her heart heated up suddenly.

She dropped to the ground, not even caring that she was sitting in a powdery, floury mess as she stared at the box - at the cupcake. Tears crept up to take a peek at the gift, too, and a smile - an actual smile - sprouted over her mouth. Sniffling, she took out the fake candles and took a bite of the cupcake. At that, her eyes widened.

"Chocolate..." she muttered (though her full mouth changed it to "Chckflmt...") She swallowed it, then - voice breaking - said, "I... love... chocola-ha-ha-aaaate!"

At which point, Sadness devolved into a blubbery puddle of tears, flopping onto the ground and only barely managing to keep the cupcake from falling to the floor.

There ya go! Please don't be too hard on the emotions, here; they haven't gone through their character development yet, making Sadness still a bit of an outcast, and Fear is - obviously - too easily swayed by peer pressure to be this kind to Sadness anywhere but in secret. Lol, poor guy. I can relate.

Hope you have a wonderful day!