Riley was getting older. That was inevitable. She was thirteen now, for goodness' sakes! But growing older didn't mean you had to grow up, right? Even when you had to juggle a whole new batch of feelings and emotions on top of that, which Joy and the other preexisting core emotions quickly discovered upon the abrupt arrival of said new emotions at Headquarters. To say that it was jarring for them would be an understatement, and once upon a time, Joy would've fought to stay in control... but she wasn't like that anymore.

Joy knew each emotion mattered, that no one could be sunshiny and happy 24/7. Sometimes you needed sadness, you needed fear, disgust and anger. You needed all of it in order to function. And the fact that it took her so long to figure that out made her ache. Sure, Sadness had forgiven her for being selfish, and none of the other emotions held it against her (not even Disgust or Anger), but every now and again, in the quietest of moments... Joy felt guilty. Ashamed of herself. But Sadness was always there with a hug. And Joy felt a little bit better.

...

Joy was up late, as she usually was, minding the console alongside one of the... newer emotions. She wasn't sure what for, but they seemed to have the hang of things so far - thanks to her training, of course - and they were able to help her balance things out while Riley slept, which was a double plus.

Things were remarkably quiet at the moment. It was nice. They were nice.

Joy gazed towards the monitor at tonight's offering from Dream Productions as she leaned against the console with a smile. "You know... I've been with Riley through thick and thin. I've watched her laugh, I've watched her cry... I've known her cover to cover from the moment she was born. Now, though?" Her smile faltered briefly as she looked at them. "Well... that's why you're all here, isn't it? To... to help us figure all these new things out."

She then shut her eyes, looking away with a wistful sigh.

"...I just wish she didn't have to grow up so fast."