A/N: Hello and welcome to "Through Thick and Thin", my tale of Stan and Sandy's strong bond as siblings! Like the description says, Stan's been having trouble lately, and it's all because of this terrible dream he's been having! Sandy, of course, ends up helping him. But at first, he feels like he can't face even her! Why not? Read and find out! And please, R/R!! ^_^
Chapter 1: Don't Let My Dream Come True
"It's just that...Well, you kinda haven't been actin' like yourself lately. You're sure nothing's wrong?" Hamtaro asked.
"Heh... Chill, dude, it's all good!" Stan said, sweating nervously.
"Okay Stan, just lemme know if something's wrong, though, alright?" Hamtaro said, smiling.
"Yeah...sure." Stan said, breathing heavily.
"Okee dokee then, see you tomorrow, Stan! Bye-q!!" Hamtaro said with a wider smile as he waved his paw fiercely.
"Bye-q! Hehehe!" Stan said, sighing. "Lucky ham you are, Hamtaro." he thought as Hamtaro walked off.
Stan was, in fact, not alright. For the past four days, he hadn't been himself at all. Instead of the confident, cheerful, flirtatious Stan that everyone knew and loved (though some often lacked showing it every time he came near their girls), he was panicky, nervous, and shy. He shrieked every time someone walked up to him and said 'hamha'. He was constantly sweating, mostly when he was around any of the ham-hams except for Hamtaro, Snoozer, Cappy, Penelope, Panda, Oxnard, and Jingle, whenever he would show up. Whenever Pashmina came up to him, he said 'hamha' and walked off somewhere else---FAST. Whenever Bijou came to talk---"Ehh, oh, hamha, Bijou! Uhh, sorry, I, ahh, gotta go!"---ZOOM. Sandy?
That's right. Stan couldn't even face his own sister. Not since he had that terrible dream, anyway.
"Damn you, you horrible nightmare," he thought, "this is all your fault! Because of you, I can't bear to approach anyone. Because of you, my entire lifestyle has completely transformed. I can't think of anything but you. Every time I nibble a sunflower seed, what pops into my head? The dream. Each morning I wake up, what's on my mind? The dream. Before I get what little sleep I am able to fit in each night, what am I thinking about? The dream. Every night, what happens? What do I see? The dream. That stupid dream has been haunting me since the night before I was affected by it. Since then, I've been able to think of nothing but it."
"Each day my fear of the dream coming true grows more and more. I'm trying to avoid them in order to keep my life from becoming like that. After all, if I don't, my very presence in the clubhouse could cause everyone to turn on me... Even Sandy, and she's my own sister. Damn this dre-- no. This isn't a dream. It's not a nightmare either. It's hell's curse upon me for flirting with the girls all my life."
**********Later that night**********
Stan curled up in the corner of his cage. Insomnia had found him once again. He tossed and turned for two hours. Yes, Stan, such a small creature, had been kept up for 120 minutes...all because of the awful dream. And, as expected, he'd come face to face with the dream once again.
~~**~~
The clouds were high in the sky and the thunder softly began to roar, but that didn't stop the ham-hams from coming to the clubhouse. Everyone was still staying outside the clubhouse to play, though. No one knew why, but no one asked either. When Stan got there, he ran first thing right over to Pashmina.
"Hey there, gorgeous. Hows about you and I--"
"Ahem!" two voices said in unison. Stan turned around to see Dexter and Howdy, arms folded, eyes glaring.
"Yeah, you guys want something?"
"You know exactly what we want!" Howdy screamed.
Stan was on the ground. He opened his eyes. Suddenly, Pashmina was gone, along with the other hams, and all the scenery which was there before had turned to black. It wasn't long until he felt pain on his chin and cheek. He rubbed his cheek, then his chin. When he took his paw from his face he saw what looked to be a mixture of blood and dirt on his palm.
"Aww, does yer face hurt? Cuz it's killin' me! Haah hahahahaha!" Howdy bellowed. Suddenly Dexter and Howdy looked much closer and bigger than before. Dexter picked Stan up, only to slap him as Howdy had done before. He was back on the ground, but when he opened his eyes, Dexter and Howdy were gone, Pashmina was behind him again and the ham-hams were back--along with the scenery.
"Man, what was with them?" Stan said, turning to Pashmina.
"What was with who, Stan?" Pashmina asked.
"Those two! They must have seen me and you together." Stan said.
"Stan, what are you talking about? What 'two'?" she answered.
"Um..." Stan looked around. Dexter and Howdy were nowhere to be seen.
"If you mean Dexter and Howdy, they're not even here yet." Pashmina said.
"Ookwee!" Penelope added.
"Uh...right. I'll talk to you later, Pashmina, doll." he said.
"Okay, bye Stan!" she said.
"Bye! Heh," he began, "I get the feeling it's not safe to be around you anymore." he muttered quietly.
Stan decided to try for Bijou. She didn't have quite as many boys after her as Pashmina did.
"Good morning, beautiful! How is the petit ham-ham sweetie doin' today?" Stan said.
"Oh, Stan!" Bijou said.
"My, my, Bijou, your graceful white coat's shine seems to break through the dim, grey clouds!" Stan said. Bijou giggled as Stan took her paw and kissed it.
"Ahem!" a deep voice echoed.
Stan turned around to see a furious Boss, with a throbbing temple and a face wrinkled by eyebrows pushing down upon it.
"Oh, not again..." Stan thought.
Boss's fist raged towards Stan's face. Stan shut his eyes tightly and dodged it. When he opened his eyes after feeling no pain, he grinned.
"Ha! Missed me!"
Stan wasn't smiling for a split second after that, for little did he know that another one of Boss's vigorous fists was already on it's way to it's target before Stan had begun speaking.
This time, Stan didn't have to wipe the blood off his face. It dripped right onto his leg. When he looked up from the spilled blood, he saw Boss's fist coming towards him again and quickly dodged it. Then he opened his eyes and, sure enough, everything was back to normal again. No blood and no Boss. Stan turned to Bijou and saw that he was still holding her paw out from after when he had kissed it. He immediately let it go.
"I'm sorry, Bijou!" he yelled.
Bijou tilted her head and frowned. "Sorry for what?" she asked.
"Uh... Nevermind." he said. He walked off without even saying goodbye, leaving Bijou in utter confusion.
"Hmph. How rude." she thought.
"Jeez... I better talk to Sandy about this." Stan thought.
He rushed over to Sandy, who was apparently waiting for Maxwell.
"Hey Stan!" she said.
"Yo, sis, I need to talk to you. See, I was--"
"Ahem!" a familiar, high-pitched voice said.
"Oh no," Stan thought as he swallowed hard and turned around to see Maxwell, angrier than he had ever seen him before.
"Stay away from my girl, you uncultured swine!" Maxwell shouted. He raised his book high as he could and threw it hard right at Stan's noggin.
Before the book hit him, Stan somehow managed to yell "But she's my sister!" with tears gushing out.
~~**~~
Stan opened his eyes and gasped. He felt his fur was riddled with sweat, so he sat up and shook it all out.
"Kushi-kush... If I can't talk to Sandy about this, who CAN I talk to?" he wondered.
As Stan slowly took his time on his way to the clubhouse--you could understand why he wasn't in a hurry--he didn't know what to do. He couldn't try talking to Sandy, or anyone else for that matter. What if it turned out that he was just dreaming again? Or what if the repetitive occuring of the dream was to warn him not to ask anyone about it? The only solution Stan could come up with was to continue avoiding everyone. At least he'd be safe.
That day at the clubhouse, he sat alone in solitude again, pondering the dream. Then, someone came up to him...
Chapter 1: Don't Let My Dream Come True
"It's just that...Well, you kinda haven't been actin' like yourself lately. You're sure nothing's wrong?" Hamtaro asked.
"Heh... Chill, dude, it's all good!" Stan said, sweating nervously.
"Okay Stan, just lemme know if something's wrong, though, alright?" Hamtaro said, smiling.
"Yeah...sure." Stan said, breathing heavily.
"Okee dokee then, see you tomorrow, Stan! Bye-q!!" Hamtaro said with a wider smile as he waved his paw fiercely.
"Bye-q! Hehehe!" Stan said, sighing. "Lucky ham you are, Hamtaro." he thought as Hamtaro walked off.
Stan was, in fact, not alright. For the past four days, he hadn't been himself at all. Instead of the confident, cheerful, flirtatious Stan that everyone knew and loved (though some often lacked showing it every time he came near their girls), he was panicky, nervous, and shy. He shrieked every time someone walked up to him and said 'hamha'. He was constantly sweating, mostly when he was around any of the ham-hams except for Hamtaro, Snoozer, Cappy, Penelope, Panda, Oxnard, and Jingle, whenever he would show up. Whenever Pashmina came up to him, he said 'hamha' and walked off somewhere else---FAST. Whenever Bijou came to talk---"Ehh, oh, hamha, Bijou! Uhh, sorry, I, ahh, gotta go!"---ZOOM. Sandy?
That's right. Stan couldn't even face his own sister. Not since he had that terrible dream, anyway.
"Damn you, you horrible nightmare," he thought, "this is all your fault! Because of you, I can't bear to approach anyone. Because of you, my entire lifestyle has completely transformed. I can't think of anything but you. Every time I nibble a sunflower seed, what pops into my head? The dream. Each morning I wake up, what's on my mind? The dream. Before I get what little sleep I am able to fit in each night, what am I thinking about? The dream. Every night, what happens? What do I see? The dream. That stupid dream has been haunting me since the night before I was affected by it. Since then, I've been able to think of nothing but it."
"Each day my fear of the dream coming true grows more and more. I'm trying to avoid them in order to keep my life from becoming like that. After all, if I don't, my very presence in the clubhouse could cause everyone to turn on me... Even Sandy, and she's my own sister. Damn this dre-- no. This isn't a dream. It's not a nightmare either. It's hell's curse upon me for flirting with the girls all my life."
**********Later that night**********
Stan curled up in the corner of his cage. Insomnia had found him once again. He tossed and turned for two hours. Yes, Stan, such a small creature, had been kept up for 120 minutes...all because of the awful dream. And, as expected, he'd come face to face with the dream once again.
~~**~~
The clouds were high in the sky and the thunder softly began to roar, but that didn't stop the ham-hams from coming to the clubhouse. Everyone was still staying outside the clubhouse to play, though. No one knew why, but no one asked either. When Stan got there, he ran first thing right over to Pashmina.
"Hey there, gorgeous. Hows about you and I--"
"Ahem!" two voices said in unison. Stan turned around to see Dexter and Howdy, arms folded, eyes glaring.
"Yeah, you guys want something?"
"You know exactly what we want!" Howdy screamed.
Stan was on the ground. He opened his eyes. Suddenly, Pashmina was gone, along with the other hams, and all the scenery which was there before had turned to black. It wasn't long until he felt pain on his chin and cheek. He rubbed his cheek, then his chin. When he took his paw from his face he saw what looked to be a mixture of blood and dirt on his palm.
"Aww, does yer face hurt? Cuz it's killin' me! Haah hahahahaha!" Howdy bellowed. Suddenly Dexter and Howdy looked much closer and bigger than before. Dexter picked Stan up, only to slap him as Howdy had done before. He was back on the ground, but when he opened his eyes, Dexter and Howdy were gone, Pashmina was behind him again and the ham-hams were back--along with the scenery.
"Man, what was with them?" Stan said, turning to Pashmina.
"What was with who, Stan?" Pashmina asked.
"Those two! They must have seen me and you together." Stan said.
"Stan, what are you talking about? What 'two'?" she answered.
"Um..." Stan looked around. Dexter and Howdy were nowhere to be seen.
"If you mean Dexter and Howdy, they're not even here yet." Pashmina said.
"Ookwee!" Penelope added.
"Uh...right. I'll talk to you later, Pashmina, doll." he said.
"Okay, bye Stan!" she said.
"Bye! Heh," he began, "I get the feeling it's not safe to be around you anymore." he muttered quietly.
Stan decided to try for Bijou. She didn't have quite as many boys after her as Pashmina did.
"Good morning, beautiful! How is the petit ham-ham sweetie doin' today?" Stan said.
"Oh, Stan!" Bijou said.
"My, my, Bijou, your graceful white coat's shine seems to break through the dim, grey clouds!" Stan said. Bijou giggled as Stan took her paw and kissed it.
"Ahem!" a deep voice echoed.
Stan turned around to see a furious Boss, with a throbbing temple and a face wrinkled by eyebrows pushing down upon it.
"Oh, not again..." Stan thought.
Boss's fist raged towards Stan's face. Stan shut his eyes tightly and dodged it. When he opened his eyes after feeling no pain, he grinned.
"Ha! Missed me!"
Stan wasn't smiling for a split second after that, for little did he know that another one of Boss's vigorous fists was already on it's way to it's target before Stan had begun speaking.
This time, Stan didn't have to wipe the blood off his face. It dripped right onto his leg. When he looked up from the spilled blood, he saw Boss's fist coming towards him again and quickly dodged it. Then he opened his eyes and, sure enough, everything was back to normal again. No blood and no Boss. Stan turned to Bijou and saw that he was still holding her paw out from after when he had kissed it. He immediately let it go.
"I'm sorry, Bijou!" he yelled.
Bijou tilted her head and frowned. "Sorry for what?" she asked.
"Uh... Nevermind." he said. He walked off without even saying goodbye, leaving Bijou in utter confusion.
"Hmph. How rude." she thought.
"Jeez... I better talk to Sandy about this." Stan thought.
He rushed over to Sandy, who was apparently waiting for Maxwell.
"Hey Stan!" she said.
"Yo, sis, I need to talk to you. See, I was--"
"Ahem!" a familiar, high-pitched voice said.
"Oh no," Stan thought as he swallowed hard and turned around to see Maxwell, angrier than he had ever seen him before.
"Stay away from my girl, you uncultured swine!" Maxwell shouted. He raised his book high as he could and threw it hard right at Stan's noggin.
Before the book hit him, Stan somehow managed to yell "But she's my sister!" with tears gushing out.
~~**~~
Stan opened his eyes and gasped. He felt his fur was riddled with sweat, so he sat up and shook it all out.
"Kushi-kush... If I can't talk to Sandy about this, who CAN I talk to?" he wondered.
As Stan slowly took his time on his way to the clubhouse--you could understand why he wasn't in a hurry--he didn't know what to do. He couldn't try talking to Sandy, or anyone else for that matter. What if it turned out that he was just dreaming again? Or what if the repetitive occuring of the dream was to warn him not to ask anyone about it? The only solution Stan could come up with was to continue avoiding everyone. At least he'd be safe.
That day at the clubhouse, he sat alone in solitude again, pondering the dream. Then, someone came up to him...