This is my first song fic! Ham-human, sorry, but it fits more.
Disclaimer: This story is based on Hamtaro. DO I LOOK LIKE THE OWNER OF HAMTARO? NO I DON'T THINK SO! AND I DON'T OWN THE SONG "AMERICAN SOLDIER"! THAT BELONGS TO TOBY KEITH!
Dedication: To all of the soldiers out there fighting for America. Thank you so much for what you have done for all of us to keep us safe.
Into the Battle
I'm just trying to be a father,
Hamtaro woke up and looked around his room. Everything was dark right now, but it would soon be daybreak, almost making him cry. Even though it some of the story books when he read at the clubhouse with all of his friends that night meant that it was over, this time it would be the sunrise that would be his goodbye.
Raise a daughter and a son,
No, he didn't want to leave them. Not his only two kids. They couldn't take it that their father would leave them at such a strange thing especially since they were so young. He imagined the look on his son's face when Hamtaro would tell him that they wouldn't be playing Spiderman in the front yard anymore. He wouldn't be able to play catch with his only son or watch him celebrate his third birthday coming up. When he thought of it, it made him shut his eyes tight, not wanting to burst into cries of frustration and pain. And his daughter would surely burst into tears when she would have to take charge and take care of her little brother without her father to accompany on the journey. He cringed at the sound of her crying, she rarely did because she wanted to show how tough and grown up she was towards her father. But, what if Hamtaro was gone? No, he didn't want to think about that.
Be a lover to their mother,
Right next to him was Bijou, sound asleep, unknowing of Hamtaro's uneasiness. Even throughout all the pain growing in his chest, he smiled at her messy hair, not yet tied into her famous pigtails. Whenever he looked her, he beamed no matter what happened even through their childhood when he was still a clueless, naive leader of his friends. In late high school, Bijou "accidently" told him that she liked him, Hamtaro not exactly returning the favor. Bijou had cried for days and it was finally on a Tuesday night, Hamtaro could easily remember the drama, that Hamtaro finally got the message. He had sent her flowers, but only one rose because his parents wouldn't let him waste money for "a puny crush", but it turned out to be more. Oh, it turned out to be much more and around five years later, the two were married and Hamtaro's attention turned to his wedding ring.
Everything and everyone,
Then, of course, there was the problem of not seeing his friends for a good few years. They all would miss him, Hamtaro was sure of it, even if he was still a little clueless here and there. Boss, Pashmina, little Penelope, Dexter, Howdy, Maxwell, Sandy, Stan, Panda, Cappy, Jingle, and Snoozer. And Hamtaro winced at the thought of seeing Oxnard when he told his best friend over the phone that he would be leaving in a week. Oxnard immediately hung up, probably angry at Hamtaro for leaving him. After all, they were best since they were in preschool and the two started the clubhouse in about first grade, although some of the chosen people didn't exactly return the politeness of the idea, mainly Boss who didn't like the idea of staying in a stuffy tree all day. But, as Hamtaro promised, the clubhouse turned out to be a great thing to build and everyone had a good time there, the girls sipping tea and gossiping while the boys tried to do extreme sports, not listening to Maxwell's lectures of how unsafe it was to try and sky dive off of the top of the tree house. Hamtaro grinned wider, but it quickly vanished when he got up and started to pick out his outfit.
Up and at 'em bright and early,
I'm all business in my suit,
Hamtaro nearly choked himself with his orange tie. It was his only one considering the fact that he didn't do much business like Howdy. Howdy was completely a businessperson, although he got on some people's nerves sometimes, mainly Dexter's since the two fought vigorously especially when it came to personal space. Usually, it was Boss who had to separate the two, but even though they argued so much, Hamtaro knew that the two had been best friends from the start.
Yeah, I'm dressed up for success
From my head down to my boots,
Hamtaro gagged at what he looked like in his suit. He looked exactly like Maxwell, all dressed up for what looked like a meeting. The reputation of Maxwell was always known throughout every ham-ham, besides the fact that he and Sandy had a thing going. Sandy was so happy that she cried when Maxwell had asked her to marry him a few years back in front of hundreds of people, including Hamtaro and the others, maybe causing a few others to shed a few happy tears at the time. Despite Stan's disapproving point of view of the wedding, Maxwell and Sandy married. Hamtaro knew that Stan had always disliked Sandy and Maxwell's relationship since he didn't want "Maxwell to do anything to his sister" which caused a few people, including Sandy, in the room to laugh uncontrollably at Stan's logic.
I don't do it for the money,
There's bills that I can't pay,
Then of course, as Hamtaro grabbed his luggage, he remember little Penelope with her sister figure, Pashmina. The two were some of the reasons why the ham-hams got in so much trouble due to Penelope's little shenanigans and Pashmina's arguing that Penelope did not break the trophy on floor twelve of the building, although the pink loving girl knew that Penelope did. Although this proved to be a little too much for Boss to go a scarlet red, everyone loved the two as they made new clothes and fashion/party ideas for the clubhouse members.
I don't do it for the glory,
I just do it anyway,
As Hamtaro opened the door, he thought of how Boss would be taking this. Boss had always wanted to do if for honor or something that Hamtaro never understood. Hamtaro just wanted to do this. Something in his mind told him to walk out the door that he was still clutching and just go out onto the plane. Boss, however, always wanted to do stuff for glory and to "finally get some respect around here" as Hamtaro remembered one of his closest friends saying. It was a good thing that Boss became an engineer instead of a garbage man because Hamtaro had told him to become "the guy who drives down my street to pick up the molding strawberries that I saw last week". Afterwards, something told Hamtaro that Boss didn't exactly want that kind of glory.
Providing for our future's my responsibility,
Yeah I'm real good under pressure,
Being all that I can be,
Hamtaro was sweating buckets of salt water by now as he stepped out of the room, shutting the door as quietly as he could without waking up his wife. As he tiptoed down the hall to retrieve his shoes, he thought of Panda and Cappy and what they would say if he was abandoning them like this. Hamtaro couldn't exactly figure it out, but Panda and Cappy treated each other like brothers, always teaming up against the others. That was really unexpected for the ham-hams since Panda and Cappy were nothing alike, but the two respected each other and they were some of the closest friends of the clubhouse then. He thought of how Panda and Cappy would say how stupid Hamtaro was being, giving up on the things that mattered most to him. It made him want to just turn around and go back to bed, missing his flight.
I can't call in sick on Mondays
When the weekends been too strong,
I just work straight through the holidays,
And sometimes all night long
Hamtaro knew that he wouldn't get any rest days. He was up for duty soon and he knew of the trouble he was getting into. It reminded him of the time when Jingle had told Hamtaro to go to the lake for inspiration and make some kind of song for him. Hamtaro had prevailed in his mission, but it wasn't easy. Hamtaro was having one of his days where he couldn't even know how many fingers were on his hand. Jingle was a strange one, especially to Hamtaro since Jingle had always wandered off then reappeared whenever the ham-hams had lost something like Pashmina's scarf or Sandy's ribbon, which each girl would fight to the death for. Jingle was helpful, even if he received death notes from Boss and Stan saying that he better had stop rhyming or he'll have to learn to sleep with his eyes wide open. Hamtaro, thinking of how funny yet confusing this was, accidently tripped on his way down the stairs.
You can bet that I stand ready
When the wolf growls at the door,
Hamtaro leapt onto his feet, holding out his hands like he was holding a gun. He'd be holding one soon…
Hey, I'm solid,
Hey, I'm steady,
Hey, I'm true down to the core,
And I will always do my duty,
No matter what the price,
Hamtaro inhaled a huge amount of oxygen, ready to do this. Ready to get his shoes on, wake up his wife and children, and bid them goodbye. He exhaled as he shoved his foot in his shoe that Dexter had recommended since it was something formal.
I've counted up the cost,
I know the sacrifice,
He knew what he was up against. And he was going to do it proudly.
Oh, and I don't want to die for you,
But if dying's asking me,
Hamtaro never wanted to die. He had never thought about the case, as he walked back up the steps to see Bijou enter the bathroom with his little son by her, tugging on her nightgown asking where his father was. It pained Hamtaro to think that if he died, he would leave behind his son and never get to see him grow up to the big kid he is. And he looked so much like his father. But, this was his job and duty to do this so if he died, he would die with honor, he promised the heavens that.
I'll bear that cross with an honor,
'Cause freedom don't come free.
He heaved another deep breath, ready to go wake up his daughter. As he walked towards his daughter's room, he couldn't help but manage a few tears tearing out from his eyeball. He didn't want to leave his little girl either. Never before had Hamtaro thought he was this mature, but he never wanted to think about it. He whispered in his daughter's ear for her to get up, shaking her shoulders a little and the girl slowly got up, her white hair all in her face. She smiled at him and Hamtaro felt a true sense of pain building up in his throat. Hamtaro then carried her out of bed, the girl giggling as he did so. He walked her down the hall where Bijou and her brother were, all waiting for him. Bijou had a solemn look imprinted on her face, but her son smiled at Hamtaro, showing all his brand new teeth, his front a little too big, but it made Hamtaro smile back.
I'm an American soldier,
An American,
Ever since Hamtaro had moved to America, he knew that this was a great place to live, besides the fact that he would be leaving it all in a few hours.
Beside my brothers and my sisters,
I will proudly take a stand,
When liberty's in jeopardy,
I will always do what's right,
Bijou kissed Hamtaro on the cheek as they led the children outside, the truck where they would pick up new recruits alive with impatience as Hamtaro sat down on his knees to get face to face with his five-year-old daughter. He held her face in his hands, a few more tears dribbling down his cheek. He took in that she looked more like Bijou, but with Hamtaro's eyes. He didn't want to leave. But he had to do what would be right.
"When are you coming back?" his daughter asked him, shocking Hamtaro a little and he noticed that there were a few tears in her eyes. It slapped him in the face that he saw that she was crying. He hugged her, trying to not to squeeze her too hard. Hamtaro looked into her eyes, beaming and replied, "Soon. I promise you."
I'm out here on the front lines
So sleep in peace tonight.
He got up and moved to his son, who obviously didn't know what was happening. He tugged on Hamtaro's wrist, afraid and worried.
"Where are you going?" he cried out, making Hamtaro want to cry himself. Hamtaro ruffled his son's orange hair, trying his best to smile.
"I have to do something," Hamtaro explained, his eyes glancing over to Bijou who didn't say anything. His son's eyes lit up as he said, "Maybe, when you come back, we can play monster trucks in the backyard tonight! I already have it set up!"
Hamtaro choked on his own spit, guilt stuffing into his throat and what felt like broken glass shoving into his arm that he had his hand on top of his son's head. It tore his ligaments and joints when he told the truth.
"I'm not going to be back by then."
American soldier,
I'm an American soldier,
Instead of him bursting into tears like Hamtaro predicted, his son shrugged in the kind of way that Hamtaro would miss and assured, "Okay, then we can play tomorrow."
An American soldier,
An American,
Hamtaro coughed dryly as he stood up to kiss Bijou. He wanted to avoid this situation so badly that he had paid attention to Bijou to avoid the question.
"Take care of them for me," Hamtaro pleaded, looking into Bijou's sapphire eyes.
"I vill," Bijou promised, still talking in her French accent as she held her daughter's hand who was still confused. Bijou started to sob, her children looking at her as if he was crazy. Then, the car outside honked its horn, obviously making Hamtaro rush.
Besides my brothers and my sisters,
I will proudly take a stand
Hamtaro turned back to his daughter and son to see that their blue eyes would glittering and tears of anxiety dribbling down their necks. They didn't know what was going on and Hamtaro looked at Bijou who mimicked Hamtaro's worried look. Their son tugged on Hamtaro's pants and sobbed, "Where are you going? How long are you leaving?"
Hamtaro once again looked at Bijou for help and she nodded a little. She crouched down to her son and whispered, " 'E is going some place far away."
Their daughter's eyes widened in shock, but the son still didn't get it. "For how long?"
"For a while," Hamtaro sighed and his daughter immediately grabbed his legs and hugged them, indicating her brother to do the same. Soon enough, they were both crying onto Hamtaro's suit.
When liberty's in jeopardy,
I will always do what's right
The car beeped again, causing Hamtaro to look over his shoulder, trying not to trip over his two little children and making a sign with his hand for it to wait awhile. He bent down and hugged them, Bijou joining in and they all wept.
I'm out here on the front lines
So sleep in peace tonight
"Don't worry, I'll be back," Hamtaro assured, a promise he made hours ago. He let go and started to walk to the car, heaving his luggage bag in it. As he opened the door, he turned around to see his entire family waving at him. He waved his hand back, Bijou blowing kisses at him, and his two children holding their hands together as the waved with one hand. Hamtaro grinned and got in the car. He closed it and waved goodbye one last time. I'll be back, don't worry everyone.
American soldier
I'm an American
An American
An American soldier
I promise.