Thunder's Storm (Raggedy Ann & Andy Fanfiction)

Chapter 4

It was noon the next day, the sun was shining high in the sky, streaming warm beams of light down upon the earth. Marcella was over at a friends house for a play date and wouldn't be returning any time soon. Thunder lounged on the windowsill, miserably staring out into the unknown world he was thrust into. He barely slept at all last night, the wounds on his heart dealt by his homesickness were still fresh and agonizing. He hadn't spoken a word, only a couple of mumbles here and there when the other toys asked him if he wanted to join them in any activities. The answer was always no. A concerned Ann watched him from the other side of the room, she hated seeing anyone so miserable. "Andy what are we gonna do?" "I thought we were gonna finish colouring this page?" He said, putting his crayon down and looking up from the paper. "Not that, I meant about Thunder," She gestured over to the depressed plush, "We can't just let him sit there and be sad all day." "Why not?" Andy replied back while rummaging through the tin of crayons they had sitting beside them. "Everyone in the playroom has gone up to them and asked if they wanted to do something, and each time he turned them down. If you ask me it sounds like he wants to be left alone." He finally pulled out the red crayon he was looking for and continued his work on the colouring page, making sure to stay inside the lines. "No one ever wants to be alone, I bet right now he's thinking about being with his friends and family again." Ann said sympathetically, putting her hands over her candy heart. "So? He's likely never gonna see them again, and there's nothing we can do about it." Andy replied, keeping his eyes focused on his paper. Ann stood up, "Yes there is! We got to show Thunder that we're his new family now, and family doesn't sit around doing nothing when others are sad!" She turned around and looked at her brother, hoping he'd share the same enthusiasm, "Right Andy?" "I'm mean sure, go knock yourself out I guess." Andy wasn't really listening, he was forced on getting the colours just right. Ann marched over to him, "Well you're coming with me mister." She grabbed him by the ankle and started dragging him across the floor, over to the window. "Aww come on, I was working here!" He complained but to no avail, as his sister continued pulling him. After reaching the window she let him go, and he sat up arms crossed. Ann jumped and just barely was able to grab the edge of the windowsill, and with great effort pulled herself up. "Hiya Thunder!" She greeted cheerfully, but he showed no signs of acknowledgement. She sat next to him, leaning her back against the glass and letting her feet dangle off the edge of the sill. "Me and Andy were just doing some colouring, would you like to join us?" Ann put an enthusiastic smile on her face, hoping it would be contagious. "No thank you." Thunder murmured, not shifting his gaze away from the window. Ann looked over at her brother hoping for some help but all she got was an "I told you so" look, but she wasn't about to give up that easy. "Well if colouring isn't your thing, we've got plenty of board games, why not play a round or two with us?" This time she didn't get an answer, just more staring off into the distance, his eyes glazed over with grief. "We also have plenty of books to read on the shelf, or we could run around and play some hide and seek, or we could have a tea par-" Thunder finally spoke up and cut her off. "Thank you for your offers Raggedy Ann, but I really rather just be left alone right now." turning his back to her, he curled himself up into a ball, much like a dog would when going to sleep, and hid his face under his paws. "Oh brother, I've seen enough." Andy muttered to himself, heaving himself up onto the sill and sitting next to his sister. "Come on now Thunder, we're only trying to cheer you up." Ann put her hand on Thunder's back, "We know you must be awfully upset about what happened, and you must be missing your family very much, but things will get better." "How?" He answered back, his paws somewhat muffling his response. "I'm never going to be able to see them again," Ann caught the shimmer of a small tear starting to run down the side of Thunder's cheek, reflecting the sunlight from outside. "I never even got to say goodbye..." She could just barely make out his whisper. Her Candy heart ached seeing him so distraught, she leaned over and gave him a big hug, petting his head and smoothing out his little tuft of hair. "I know, I know. Sometimes terrible things happen and there's nothing we can do about them. But what we can do is make the best of a situation." "How can we do that?" Thunder sniffled, still hiding under his paws. "We'll be your new family!" Ann replied giddily. "Huh?" Thunder raised his head to look at her, wiping the wetness from his eyes. "We will be your new family!" Ann said again but slower, she put an arm around her brother pulling him close. "Me, Andy, everyone in the playroom, even Marcella! We'll do everything we can to make sure you feel just as loved here as you did back home." "Yea," Andy chimed in, "We want you to feel like this is your new home." Ann nodded along to Andy's words. "You know, even if you don't have much of a choice." He added. Ann gave him an elbow to the ribs. "Andrew, don't say things like that." She scolded. "So Thunder, what do you think?" She held out her hand to him. "I-I don't know Ann," he hesitated, "It's an awfully kind and considerate offer but..." He turned his head and looked longingly out the window once more, then looked back at Raggedy Ann. She had such a sweet smile and a kindness that Thunder had never seen in someone before. "I... I... I, suppose it wouldn't hurt to try..." Forcing his answer out finally, he put his paw in her hand. Letting out a little squeal of excitement she pulled Thunder close for a group hug. "We won't let you down no matter what." Ann promised him. "Thank you, both of you, it really means a lot to me." Thunder said sincerely. "It's no trouble at all." Andy told him, and he jumped down from the windowsill and held a hand out for his sister. "Would you like to join us?" Ann asked once more. Thunder nodded and leaped down, landing with a bit of a thud. "Yea, anything beats sulking by that dumb window all day, right?" Andy joked while helping Ann get down gently. "Heh, ya, right." Thunder added, and together they made their way back to the colouring area.