discaimer: I do not own Toy story nor do I own Randy Newman's song "When I'm gone"

Here it is guys, the final chapter. I just want to say I had a blast writing this story and turning it into the grand adventure it's become, all in the spirit of Toy Story with its characters and life lessons. I was motivated to write it for several reasons. The first one was the fact that nobody had written a story where Andy was shrunk. So, I guess I can thank all those who didn't write a story like that. (Thank you). The other reason was to create another Andy and Woody story, which there are so few stories of (especially a long adventure and not a oneshot). And in the end, I hoped to inspire other writers to create unique stories, not only for Toy Story, but other genres as well. So many fanfics are the same. I always shoot for something unique and creative and I try to find stories like that. When I can't, I write them myself.

I hope to write another Toy Story fic, but if I do, it probably wouldn't be as friendly as this one was. It was always meant to be a kind of Toy Story 2 1/2. So once you finish this fic, I expect you'll probably watch Toy Story 3. (Or watch them in order, but include this fic after Toy Story 2). Like many of you who feel this would make an awesome movie, I think it would also make an awesome videogame (TS video game that is).

On to the conclusion. Enjoy ;)

Fresh Start

Andy groaned and turned slightly as the morning came. The sun was shining brightly through the blinds of his window. Slowly he opened his eyes and blinked. For a minute he did not move. He felt odd, like a great weight of exhaustion and fear had been lifted and was replaced by a great sense of something he couldn't identify. He stared up at the ceiling, frowning slightly. He felt like he had experienced a fantastic dream, but he couldn't recall a single detail.

Andy sat up, bewildered. His confusion only intensified as he looked down at his clothes. He was surprised to see that he had gone to bed without changing. What was even stranger was that the clothes he was wearing was the same ones he wore when he saw his mother and Molly off on their trip. His frown deepened. He pulled his legs over the side of the bed and glanced up at the calendar. A week had passed. It was like his clothing had confirmed it; and now that he thought about it, his mother's departure was the last thing he remembered.

He raised a hand and started massaging his temples as if it would stir up some explaination. Some reason for his loss of memory. But it was all something of a blur.

"Why can't I...," he started to ask himself, but quickly fell silent. He sighed, then stood up to try and shake himself awake. He was surprised that he wasn't alarmed by his memory loss. He knew he should be panicking; calling up everyone he knew for the details. The odd thing was, he wasn't scared. He was confused, but he wasn't disturbed. Andy shook his head. He figured something would come to him if he stopped trying to remember. The best way to keep his mind off his supposed loss was to keep busy. With one glance around the room, Andy saw that cleaning it was just the thing to do.

Andy stepped away from his bed and took a closer look around. The room already seemed to be cleaned. If he had been here all week, it would surely be in an unlivable state. Or at least half unlivable. He wasn't the kind of person to keep a messy room, but he did need encouragement from his mother to keep it tidy. But it looked like someone already kept it tidy for him. The only thing about were a collection of cardboard boxes. Andy recognized them immediately as the boxes he used to portray a western town for Woody and the rest of his toys. He picked up the box labeled as a jail.

"What the...what are these.."

He couldn't understand what it was doing in the middle of the floor. He had long ago folded them up and hidden them in the back of the closet. Andy decided it was another part of his missing memory, but he couldn't discard the box just yet. He couldn't help studying his childish handwritting as hidden memories on the surface. It was like trying to remember a dream from years ago. Everything was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't say what had happened, nor could he imagine it. He shook himself out of it and started gathering up the other boxes. He stopped when he came across a large green dinosaur. He was standing between the saloon and bank, looking as Andy remembered him looking. Andy picked up Rex and dropped the jail box. He ran his fingers along his back and realized he was mildly sticky. There was also a faint scent of lime if he wasn't mistaken. Andy took a moist towlette and cleaned the area.

He smiled at his handiwork, then became the voice of the dino by giving Rex a great roar. He laughed.

"Good ol' Rex, keeping the town...safe," he said as his eyes fell to two other familiar characters. There was Bullseye laying not too far away from a box with a pig's head drawn onto it. Laying against him was his old cowgirl. He stepped over and picked them up.

"Jane? No...Jessie?" he questioned, frowning at how he knew the name. He had gave her the name Jane, but somehow he knew that wasn't right. He glanced over at the toy box. He was fifteen years old. His toys should have long ago been placed in there. Andy turned back to Jessie.

He abandoned his job of collecting the boxes and instead started gathering up his toys on the bed. Old pals he hadn't paid much attention to in years, particularly favorites like Hamm and Slinky, and Rex, Jessie and Bullseye. He gathered up the aliens and Mrs. Potato Head. When he got to Mr. Potato Head, he was surprised to see a scratch on the underside of his legs.

"Where'd that come from?"

He shrugged and placed him next to his wife. As long as he was still in good shape. As Andy continued to go around the room, he made a few other startling discoveries. His old racer RC had somehow magically appeared back in his room after being sold. And there was a large red jeep that he had never seen before. It pushed Andy into wondering again about what he had forgotten. Andy still didn't know, but as he picked up his old Buzz Lightyear, he felt a nasty hollowness in his heart. If he wasn't mistaken, he was sure it was sadness. Andy pressed a button to release his wings. Then he pressed another.

"To Infinity and beyond!" cried Buzz's electronic voice.

Andy gave him a soft smile. For some reason he felt he had heard those words at a closer range, and not too long ago. He raised his eyes to look at Buzz's partner in crime fighting. Woody sat as he had whenever he first abandoned him, propped up against his desk lamp. His smile continued to grace his face as he looked back at Andy. Andy sat Buzz down next to Jessie and crossed the room toward his favorite cowboy. It was strange, but he was suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude as he looked down into Woody's eyes. With a gentle hand, he lifted Woody away from his solitary confinement. For a full minute Andy just stared into his face. A comforting warmness enveloped him. It was like all the confusion and missing scenes had fallen into place, even though he couldn't remember anything specific. Something was there. Something erased the fear and put him in tune with his transition from boy to young man. It had been a troubling situation mixed with conflicting emotions, but now that he looked at Woody, it all became clear. It was like they had talked about it, or rather he had confessed how he really felt about growiing up. Something he would be willing to share with his dad.
"Dad," he said quietly as he fingered the side of Woody's face. A new memory was resurfacing. One that involved chatting with his father, and him telling Andy it would be okay. Andy shut his eyes, unsure of how accurate that memory was. He was only roused out of his thoughts at the sound of a car pulling up. He moved to the window and peeked through the blinds. His mom and Molly were back. Andy's brows furrowed at the sight of seeing them so soon.

"What's going on here?" he asked no one in particular. "Why are they back so soon? Why can't I remember anything?"

But the questions didn't feel very important. The only thing that was important was Woody who was still resting in his hand. He smiled at him as he straighted his hat on his head. He then reached for the plastic loop and pulled his string.

"You're my favorite deputy" Woody confessed through his voice box.

Andy grinned. Something told him that wasn't suppose to be the next line he should say. But he could truly hear him saying that, without the use of a pullstring. But that would imply that he was real-alive in someway. 'If only you were, real', he thought. For now, he settled with his own imagined thoughts.

"And you're my favorite sheriff," Andy told him.

Andy hesitated before placing him near the window. Maybe now wasn't the time to imprison them in the toy box. He wasn't ready for that step in his life, but he was ready to grow up. He walked over to the door, but gave one last look at all of his toys before he left the room.

Andy gingerly moved down the stairs as he tried to come up with an explaination for his mom. As far as he knew, there wasn't a believable excuse to make about why he couldn't remember anything. He paused at the bottom of the stairs and looked at the door. Deciding he had a few minutes to kill, he crossed into the livingroom and turned on the t.v. A news anchor was delivering the latest news. The last thing he wanted to hear was information on some disaster. He was just about to walk away when the anchor mentioned a startling situation, classified as Breaking News.

"In other news, thirty one children were discovered in a warehouse just outside of the city limits."

"Huh?" Andy questioned as he sat himself down before the television. The scene switched from the anchor to the warehouse that was surrounded by many police cars. The officers were shown escorting kids out of the warehouse. What was strange was that a majority of them were wearing costumes, like they had been to a Halloween party.

"Officers have discovered them to be the missing children who were recently vanishing without a trace. They were found with the help of one of the kidnapped victims, Cole Stevens who contacted police after being prompted to do so by an anonymous letter."

The scene focused on a small, confused, brown haired boy who's name was shown before his image as Cole Stevens. In his arms was a plush troll doll that he used to comfort his nervousness at being interviewed by a tall reporter. He had just finished asking him how he and the others were kidnapped.

"I don't, I don't know how we were, kidnapped. None of us remember how we got here. But I found this letter," he explained as he pulled out the note for the reporter to see. "It said we'd been kidnapped and we had to call the police."

"You don't remember anything of what the kidnapper did to you?"

"No, sir, but we found a lot of neat toys," he cried as he lifted the troll up to the camera.

"Aside from the children's lack of memory and their dress of costumes, police have discovered the warehouse to be a small toy factory containing many toys." The scene switched between the few kids who were holding toys to officers who were carting away a majority of the plastic creations in steel boxes. "They have discovered that a majority of the toys have been updated with various abilities and weaponry that pose a potential danger."

A mustached officer was now being interviewed as the boxed up toys were placed in a special vehicle.

"I've never come across any toys that can be considered as dangerous as the ones we found. But I suppose we can thank our abductor for that. But they may not be fully disposed of. We plan to have their additions removed to make them safe, and if they are savable, we'll find good homes for them."

"The abductor in question was discovered to be a resident named Wendall Warrick."

"Warrick?" said Andy in surprise. Andy saw proof as his old neighbor from down the street was being escorted out of the warehouse by two policemen. He was putting up a struggle and shouting out for everyone to hear.

"It wasn't just me! It wasn't my idea! You've got to believe me!" The police walked him right up to one of the police cars, but he struggled to get his last message out before being forced inside. "It's the toys! The toys are alive I say! Ask them, ask any of them! They'll tell you! It was their idea!"

It was all reminiscent of Al who had also proclaimed the same thing; the toys were alive. Andy shook his head at this latest delusional display. He had always thought Warrick was an odd fellow, especially with his love for toys. Apparently he had never grown up and was driven to madness with too much time around his toys.

"Officers cannot claim whether this display is an act or his actual beliefs. We are assured that he will be spending some time under heavy observation and treatment. In the meantime the families of all the missing children will be contacted. We may never understand the reason for their abduction or the circumstances that took place. But we can be sure that these children will be returned safely to their homes."

Andy smiled. He was happy to see that things had ended so well for the poor kids, but he couldn't help feeling that he had something to do with it. Either way, he had learned that he wasn't the only person who was feeling lost and confused. Andy turned away from the news and approached the front door as he heard the car doors slam. He was pushed back into reality where his mom was home. He heard her jingling the keys out of her purse. Suddenly Andy felt like he was one of the missing kids who hadn't seen his parent in a long time. Without waiting for her to open the door with the key, he unlocked and opened it himself. Andy's eager and relieved expression met his mother's surprised and confused one.

"Andy?" she asked. "What are you doing here? I didn't expect you for another week."

"Mom," he answered quietly. It was weird. He felt like he hadn't seen her in weeks when it had just been the other day; or rather, it was the last thing he remembered so he couldn't be sure. All he knew was that he felt a desperate longing for her, as if he had gone through so much in the past couple of days. The much he couldn't quite remember.

"Mom," he cried as he came forward and embraced her.

"Andy?"

"I missed you so much," he mumbled. Upon getting over the surprise of her son's sudden show of affection, she returned the hug.

"Oh? I've missed you too."

At her side, Molly was rolling her eyes. "What a baby," she teased. Andy took notice of her. For once she wasn't wearing something only a teenaged girl shoud try to pull off. She was wearing a decent pink blouse and jeans, and her hair was tied back with a pink scarf. But what had stolen much of Andy's attention was what was in her hands. She was carrying a blonde headed doll dressed for a sock-hop with her poodle skirt.

"Is that a, toy in your hands?" Andy questioned in a playful taunting manner. Molly fidgeted on the spot with mild embarassment.

"Ah, Sarah gave her to me. She always thinks I'm such a baby."

"Really," he said as if he didn't buy her whole explaination.

"Okay," Molly sighed in defeat. "I actually took some of your advice. Sarah showed her to me and, I liked her."

Andy nodded. "That's good Molly. You see, I knew you weren't too old for toys. You were just willing to grow up too fast."

Molly looked down at the pavement and nodded. There was a connection there, he realized. His words connected with his own previous fears of growing up. But those fears seemed to have vanished overnight. One way or another, however it happened, he'd come to have a better understanding of what it means to grow up.

"Yeah," she agreed quietly. Then much to her surprise, Andy pulled her into a hug.

"I missed you too little sis."

Mrs. Davis watched the scene with much adoration, but also with much confusion.

"We're happy to see you too Andy, but what are you doing here so soon? Didn't your camping trip with Jen go all right?"

At the mention of Jen, Andy felt a pang of bitterness in his heart. He couldn't help feeling that the last time they spoke, it had ended in disappointment. Whatever the reason, he no longer felt exhilarated at the thought of her.

"That's just it mom, I don't know. I don't, even remember going on the camping trip with her."

"What?"

"I mean it. I can't remember anything that happened after you left."

His mother and sister stared back at him blankly.

"I'm serious. I can't remember anything," he cried. "But, I don't find that scary. Actually, I feel kind of content." There was silence following his words. His mother and sister exchanged a confused look before turning back to him.

"Okay Andy, if you don't want to tell me about your camping trip that's fine," said Mrs. Davis with a knowing smile. "Come on Molly, you can help me set up lunch." She moved past Andy and stepped inside.

"But mom, I'm serious. I don't remember anything."

"Well that's okay hon, we'll see what Jen has to say about it," Mrs. Davis replied.

"But mom."

Andy went on to argue, but it didn't last long. It didn't seem to matter anymore; not to himself or to his mother and sister. He decided to let it go and just enjoy his reunition with his family. So while he was sitting down to lunch, listening to their memories of what happened on their trip, someone else was eavesdropping.

Woody stood just outside the door of his room, catching the conversation as words drifted up to his ears. In the time Andy had left them in his chosen places in the room, the toys had kept up their lifelessness for quite some time. They had been on the edge since Andy had woken. Anticipating the possibility that Andy hadn't forgotten a thing. That the drug would to its magic and unshrink him, but allow him to retain his memories. But their owner had stepped around his room in total confusion. Nothing to recall except maybe the day his mother left and he went to bed, awaiting a camp-out with Jen. Woody wouldn't admit it aloud, but he had been dying to spring to life when Andy came to him. He knew it was the same for the other toys, even if they didn't admit it. They understood Andy was at a loss and they wished to fill him in. To explain what he had been through. But an obvious knowledge kept them still. Whether or not their coming to life before him arose the missing pieces in Andy's memory, they would be breaking their rule. There had been enough rule breaking, but it was all for Andy. And besides that, they had come to terms with the fact that Andy was growing up. He had his place to fill and they had theirs.

So for a while, the toys simply lay, thinking back on their adventure. But in order to confirm that Andy was really lost to them, Woody had walked wordlessly over to the door to listen. Andy's words downstairs confirmed it. He sighed and stepped back into the room as the other toys jumped down from the bed and gathered near him.

"I guess it worked, huh," said Hamm.

"Yeah," said Woody with an air of disappointment. "It worked. He doesn't remember a thing."

"Well that's good right?" asked Buzz. "It's what we wanted for him. To forget all the bad things that happened to him."

"Yeah Buzz, but what about the good things that happened?" asked Woody desperately. "I mean, us. He's forgotten all about us, again. He's forgotten how much we care about him."

Buzz and the other toys exchanged looks of disappointment. They hated the idea that their talk with Andy had been a waste. But, when they thought about it, they started to realize it might not have been.

"Well, he might not remember us, but that doesn't mean we'll forget him," said Slinky.

"What?"

"We got to talk to Andy!" cried Rex excitedly.

"And we got to know a lot more about the kid," said Mr. Potato Head.

"Something no other toy has gotten the luxury of," stated Hamm.

Their looks of sadness changed to warm smiles. They may have lost Andy in more ways than one, but the memories of what they had with their owner filled them with happiness. Buzz nodded at them, then turned to Woody.

"It may not be as bad as it seems," Buzz told him. "Even if he doesn't recall his little adventure with us, I think some part of what happened to him remained."

"And what part is that Buzz?" asked Woody in a tired manner.

"What he learned about growing up. He told us his fears about it, but now I don't think he'll have a problem."

"Well that's great," said Woody, though he didn't sound pleased about it. He walked away from the group and headed to the chair. He climbed up and from there, pulled himself back up onto the desk.

"Do you think he'll be okay Buzz?" asked Jessie, who was watching Woody with worry. Buzz patted her shoulder gently.

"I think it'll take him some time."

"What about Andy? Do you really think, he'll be all right?"

Buzz turned to her. Her face was scrunched up in deep worry for their owner's health and safety.

"Yes, I really think he'll be all right. And we know he can take care of himself. But if he ever needs us-"

"But, he might not need us now."

Buzz didn't want to lie to her. He didn't want to tell her that he would still be interested in them. This situation, the aftermath of the drama was meant for Andy to learn how to move on. But he still had a few more years before he was gone. In the meantime, he was still connected to them.

"Maybe not at the moment Jessie, but he has rememebered how special we are to him."

He crossed the room and followed Woody's path up onto the desk. Woody sat gazing through the blinds of the window.

"Be honest Buzz," said Woody who hadn't bothered to turn around when Buzz walked up to him. "He's done with us."

"Don't think of it that way sheriff. It was all for the best. We had to help Andy."

"I don't regret helping him Buzz," said Woody quietly. "I just, don't want it to be over."

Buzz looked at him with much sympathy, then he stepped over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"That may not be absolute Woody. Aside from remembering what he learned, I believe there's something else he retained."

"What?" he asked in a slightly bitter tone.

"His connection with us."

Woody gazed at the space ranger in wonder. It was as if those words expressed a meaning he had temporarily forgotten. If he had concentrated on the moment Andy had picked him up again and pulled his string, he would've recalled that he did feel that connection. That he had achieved success in reuniting Andy with all of them. Woody smiled. It was more than Woody could ask for as an after-effect of the cure.

"He called me his favorite sheriff." Woody paused and looked across the room at the bullitin board on the wall. Amongst the clutter of papers pinned to it, there was a picture of a young Andy, surrounded by all of his toys. Woody's smile widened. "I'm still his best pal."

And now Woody knew, it wasn't too late. That they were still Andy's best friends, and he would be there for them. Woody turned to the toys who were walking close to the desk. They too were happy that they could still carry hope that they would still be needed by Andy. Their smiling faces quickly dropped at the sound of Andy coming up the stairs. As quickly as they could, the toys raced back to their places on the bed. Woody corrected his position near the window and lay limp as Andy entered. Once again, it was a struggle for Woody not to spring to life. But he handled the temptation better this time.

Andy stood in the room and surveyed the clean up he had to do. The boxes had to be put back in their places, and the scattered items on the floor that seemed to create one of his old playtime scenes had to be reorganized. Then there were the toys. He raised his eyes up to the bed, staring at them with a look of regret. He really was too old for those toys, and it was time for them to have their place in the toy box. But as he started picking them up, he realized he just couldn't do it. Not now anyways. Where ever this new feeling of gratitude and devotion for them came from, he couldn't ignore it by hiding them away. It felt like a betrayal.

"What am I doing?" he asked himself as oppossed to asking them. "I can't just abandon you guys can I?"

He set Rex and Mr. Potato back on his bed.

"I don't know what it is, but I can't help feeling like we've been through more than we've ever been through before in the last couple of days. It's crazy but, for that reason alone, I think you guys deserve to stay out for a while."

So rather than deliver them to the prison of the toy box, Andy began arranging them around various spots in his room. Most of them collected on the floor. It didn't matter if someone thought it was childish. They wouldn't understand. He himself didn't fully understand, but he was okay with it. After he dealt with the toys, he put the boxes away in a careful manner, then went about straightening up the rest of his room.

"That's much better," he praised.

"Andy!" cried his mother from downstairs. "Telephone!"

"Coming!"

He headed to the door but before he left, he gave one last look around, to confirm his satisfaction with what he had done. His toys balancing out the whole of his room. Then his gaze shifted toward Woody. If anything, his frozen plastic smile seemed to have gotten wider. Once again Andy didn't question it. He simply smiled and left the room. He headed down the stairs and turned the corner in the livingroom. There he met his mother, holding out the reciever of the phone and looking slightly shocked. Molly was hovering nearby and looking at the phone with a mix of different emotions. Andy frowned.

"Mom? What's wrong? Who is it?"

"It's your dad," she replied.

"My dad?" he questioned. "What does he want?"

"He wants to speak to you," she told him. Then she laughed softly. "It's been a while since I last talked to him. He said you called him a few days ago."

"I did?" Andy asked as he took the phone.

"You mean you don't remember calling him?" asked Molly. "That has to mean you had a few too many while we were away."

"Molly," her mother scolded. Molly buttoned her lip and focused her attention on her doll. "Why don't you help me unload the suitcases."

"But mom," she whined.

"No buts." Molly sighed, then followed behind her, grumbling as she went.

By the time they were bringing the last of their suitcases in the house, Andy had already finished his conversation with his dad. He hung up just as his mom passed by.

"Finished talking to him already? That was a short conversation."

"Well he didn't really want much. He said he was glad to hear from me, even though I don't remember calling him, and he'd like to see us again."

"Really?" said Mrs. Davis, a bit surprised. "When?"

"Well, I said I'd call him back and let him know, after I talk to you guys. That's okay right?"

"Of course it's okay," said Mrs. Davis smiling. "I want your father to keep in touch with you and Molly."

Andy nodded. "Well, if you don't need me for anything, I think I'll go for a walk."

"Are you okay?" she asked, suddenly concerned by his sudden troubled look.

"Yeah. I just, want to clear my head a little."

Andy stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed out the front door. If he couldn't remember whatever it was he'd forgotten, he wished he could recall his phone call to his dad. Something told him he'd had it, even if he couldn't remember the conversation. Either way, he was pleased to hear from him again. As Andy started to move down the sidewalk, he was distracted by the sound of something scurrying from behind him. He turned and saw a pretty black girl about his age, with her hair pulled back, rolling down the pavement on a skateboard.

"You're Andrew Davis right?" she called to him.

"Andy, yeah," he corrected.

She stopped when she reached him and flipped her board into her hand.

"Andy. I'm Rachel Harding," she said as she extended a hand. Andy shook it with a questioning look on his face.

"Okay," he replied, not sure of why some random girl would come up to him like this.

"I'm one of Jen's friends', well, was is more like it."

"Jen," he said bitterly. He thought back to her, even though he no longer had a desire to. She was often surrounded by a good number of girls. He didn't recall paying much attention to who they were. He stared back at Rachel, still taken aback that one of Jen's friends would approach him like this.

"Yeah, she told me about the camping trip."

"Camping trip?" he asked, still confused. He didn't recall having the camping trip with her, nor did he want to try and remember it if it had happened.

"She called and griped about how selfish and unreasonable you were. Well, I knew none of it was true."

"Really? How could you be so sure?" he asked curiously.

"Because I've seen you Andy. You're a good person. You're kind and caring, something Jen's failed to possess. Anyways, I got tired of it, so I stopped being her friend. I just...well, I was in the neighborhood, and I thought I'd see if you were all right." She smiled, which seemed to make her even prettier. "Jen never seemed to mind leaving a trail of broken hearts behind her."

"Oh, no it wasn't like that, I just wanted...I mean, I did like her, but..." he explained desperately. He trailed off at the look on her face which said she didn't buy his excuse. She could tell he'd had a crush on Jen. Andy sighed and shrugged. "It's a part of growing up I guess. A hard part, but it's okay."

"You handle that so well," she said, with a slight hint of envy.

"I didn't, before now. I realized that growing up doesn't have to be so scary, and that it doesn't mean I have to change."

A moment of silence followed his words. Rachel smirked at what he believed was the cheesiest thing he ever said. Andy turned away and studied his feet.

"I know, it sounds-"

"Like good advice," Rachel interupted. Andy looked up, pleased that she hadn't laughed at him.

"Yeah," he agreed. "A good friend explained that to me, I think."

Rachel nodded. "Hold on to him then." She released her board and stood back on it. "Well, I'd better let you get back to doing, whatever it was you were doing. Later."

Andy nodded as she started to roll away. He had a moment's indecision before he called back to her again.

"Hey! Ah," He stopped when Rachel stopped and looked back at him. "I'm not really doing anything important. You want to take a walk with me?"

Rachel smiled and nodded. "Sure. I'd like that."

He smiled back, then for some reason he felt the urge to look up at his bedroom window. There, to his surprise, were all his toys. Their frozen faces seemed to be directed at him. Andy couldn't help gasping when he saw the change. He knew for a fact that the only toy he placed near the window was Woody. Even though he was surprised to see them all there, he wasn't disturbed by it. He accepted it as another mystery, like his loss of memories. Nonetheless, he smiled and waved at them, perhaps regarding it as some kind of farewell. Then he turned and joined Rachel, now more confident about the future.

END.

'The time for us to say goodbye is near

The day I hoped would never come is here

Though many hearts are broken, we must somehow carry on

Cause I think you're gonna miss me when I'm gone

I thought my life was over when we met

So little to remember, so much to forget

Though it was you who saw me through the darkness to the dawn

Still I think you're gonna miss me when I'm gone

I'm a modest man

And it hurts me, to say these things to you

After all we've been through, it's the least that I can do

So instead of just goodbye I'll say so long

As for the light by which you see me, leave it on

I'm a better man than I was before

Knowing you has made me strong

And I sure am gonna miss you when I'm gone

Yes I sure am gonna miss you, when I'm gone'

There you have. It's the end. I know most of you are sad that it's over. I am too, but at the same time I'm glad I'm done with the writing for this story. Now I can go back and enjoy what I wrote lol ;). And also, I'm glad to have had so many fans for this fic.

So, in the end, Andy didn't remember his adventure, but at the same time he did. He remembered his feelings (even though he wasn't sure how he arrived at them). Like his feelings about his toys and growing up. I found that part kind of easy to write. It had to be that way because since I intended it to fit in with the Toy Story movies, Andy couldn't remember that the toys are alive. It would conflict with TS 3. And with the mention of TS3, Woody and the toys' feelings about Andy forgetting was the trickiest part to write.

Since this story takes place before Toy Story 3, Woody had to still be attatched to Andy. But at the same time for this story, he needed to let go, just a bit. The other toys have for the most part accepted Andy moving away from them, but Woody is still holding onto the idea that he can be there for him. And that in turn would lead to Woody trying to get Andy's attention in TS3 and so forth. It was choosing the right words. I feel at the end, I included myself as the character of Rachel Harding, even though my name isn't Rachel Harding, (but I chose it cause I liked the name), and I'm not a skateboarder. There are so few African Americans in disney animated films, so I took advantage of that for this fic and played the role of Rachel. A fun way for me to conclude this story by literally throwing myself in there.

Since I was looking at this as a movie, I thought about having the credit song. As soon as I saw Randy Newman's "When I'm gone" I was thrilled, because the song fit so perfectly. It's like Andy's words to Woody! So you can't finish the fic without listening to the song on youtube! Though I didn't really want a sad song to end with, I fell in love with the lyrics.

Anyways, Andy learned a lot about growing up and I hope you did too. In a way, this story is like a TS3 from Andy's point of view, since the movie focused on Woody's point-of-view. Like I may have said earlier, we didn't get to see how Andy dealt with growing up in the movies, so I tried to depict it in the best most exciting way possible.

Thanks again for reading and taking the time to review! I encourage you all to take advantage of writing the rare Andy and Woody stories!

Later!