"Happy birthday, Bijou!" her orange and white knight in shining armor said with a smiled, holding out a small, paw-made teacup. Gasps came from the rest of the ham-hams as he put the teacup in her paw.
Tears welled up in her eyes. "Hamtaro..." she sobbed. "Thank you." She saw a few of the girl ham-ham's eye her enviously, though they still smiled at her happily.
It came as a bigger shock when Bijou wrapped her arms around Hamtaro's shoulder's, giving him a big hug...well, as big as a hamster's hug can be.
No one looked too shocked, except for Boss and Stan. Hamtaro didn't look shocked, either, he simply returned the hug. An "AWWWW~" was heard from Pashmina, but other than that, everyone stayed quiet...
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"What do you MEAN your leaving?!" Boss cried, slamming his paws down on the small table in the Clubhouse, making Bijou clutch her teacup tightly.
Hamtaro nodded slowly, avoiding Boss' gaze. "WHY?!" Boss yelled louder, snarling. Bijou began to tremble.
"To help Bijou," he answered simply. Bijou was touched that Hamtaro would go through this to help her, but she knew that if he left, there would be no certainty that he would return.
"Hamtaro, I know of Bijou's disease, and I understand why you would want to go find a cure, but..." The sympathy in Boss' eyes was replaced by a look of fury. "You're not even certain if there IS a cure! How can you just leave us behind on a slim chance like THAT?" Bijou flinched, but Hamtaro wasn't vexed.
"Boss, Bijou will not survive unless a cure is found," his amber gaze narrowed. "and no one else will go and look. Everyone else is so afraid to look. That's why I'm going to look."
Hamtaro...Her eyes filled with tears. She couldn't believe he would go through all this just for her. The other ham-hams obviously couldn't believe it, either, because they gawked at Hamtaro with their mouths hanging open.
"Hamtaro..." Howdy began, though he was silenced by a stern look from Dexter.
"I forbid you to go," Boss said defiantly, crossing his arms. "and thats that."
Fury burned onto Hamtaro's face, looking as if he could scorch the clubhouse with just a glance, "I'M GOING, BOSS! NO ONE CAN STOP ME! NOT YOU, NOT BIJOU, NOBODY!" And with that, he stomped to the clubhouse door and slammed it shut, leaving everyone staring after him with astonished looks on their faces.
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No one talked to Hamtaro the entire day. Everytime someone opened their mouth to talk to him, he glared at them with such fury that they flinched. No one was angry with him, though they still didn't want him to leave.
It wasn't to long before sunset came that Hamtaro was packed and ready to go. All of the ham-ham's gathered to see him off. Bijou was directly in the front, staring at him with wide eyes.
Hamtaro shook paws with some of the hamsters, and some he hugged goodbye. When he got to Bijou, he stared at her for a long while, then hugged her, too, "Goodbye, Bijou...take care of yourself while I'm gone, okay?" She nodded into his shoulder, the tears falling.
He smiled at her, whispered on last "Goodbye" before walking over the hill. Hamtaro was a long ways away when Bijou finally called, "Hamtaro, I--" she tried, but she couldn't finish her sentence. She fell to her knees, sobbing. I love you.
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Bijou shot awake, cold sweat on her white fur. She shook her head from side to side, wanting to dismiss the memory from her mind. Her mind kept repeating what she should've said. I love you. I love you. I love you...
END OF CHAPTER 2
