Petals Chapter 21: Light Speckled, a hamtaro fanfic

Did you guys really not recognize the description of the mansion I gave last chapter? Ahh, well…it was Maria's (Bijou's owner's) house from the show. See, I kept some things from the show in here!

Petals

Chapter Twenty-One: Light-Speckled

Hamtaro didn't remember falling asleep, but he woke up to an unmoving carousel and furthermore, to an empty bed. Sitting up quickly, he glanced around Bijou's sky-themed room and realized she wasn't there. His cobalt eyes finally looked over to one of the windows and realized it was close to sunset outside.

With a groan he got himself out of the incredible piece of art that Bijou called a bed and walked into the hallway. He wasn't expecting to run into anyone when the house was so big, so when he heard voices coming from all the way down the hall, he looked up in surprise.

"Do you think that's the tree?" Sandy asked Pashmina as they both leaned to get a good look out the window.

Sandy didn't answer; Stan did.

"No doubt about it, sis," he said as he looked over the two girls, also trying to get a good view of whatever it was the three of them were looking out at.

"What's so special about a tree?" Hamtaro asked, startling the three Ham-Humans who had their backs to him. They all turned around too quickly, showing smiles that were way too frightening to be sincere.

"H-Hamtaro!! Did you just wake up, man? Your voice is a little groggy," Stan attempted to change the subject, but Hamtaro was awake enough to not let that happen.

"Yeah I did actually…but why were you guys talking about a tree?" he asked as he cleared his throat. He then tried to see out the window, but all three Ham-Humans took a step forward in their best effort to block him.

"It's just some really, really…big tree that Bijou told us about once. And whatdya know! It really is big," Pashmina laughed as she moved her hands in a grandiose manner around her body. "But you should probably get washed up since dinner is…" she checked her watch, "…in a couple of hours…" She finished sheepishly.

"I wanna see the big tree." Hamtaro was more or less testing them, waiting to see how they'd respond. He slowly took yet another step forward, but this time they all cried out in unison.

"NO!!!!"

Bijou sat with her legs tucked underneath her as she looked up at the only foliage in the massive garden that was made up of one-hundred percent pink flowers. She rubbed some of the petals between her fingers, trying to distract herself from the knots in her stomach and the stinging in her eyes.

"I made a mistake," she said as she peered up at the sky through the rosette branches.

The wind caught her tears and blew them away as she continued looking up.

"I hope you can forgive me…"

"It's not that special, Hamtaro! Just chill!" Sandy exclaimed, standing with her back pressed against the window and her arms spread out wide so that his view was as obstructed as possible.

"If it's just a really big tree, you guys are acting pretty stupid-" Hamtaro reminded as Stan, once again, attempted to push the man away from the window. The strawberry-blond sidestepped Hamtaro and prevented his way every time the married man took a step.

"We are not; we're simply preventing you from wasting your time. Now I heard that the Ribons have a beautiful…err…kitchen…so why don't we go check that out?" Stan suggested while Pashmina nodded much too enthusiastically.

"You guys are definitely hiding something!"

"You're delusional!"

"Why is he delusional?" a new voice asked as she ascended the stairs.

"Bij!" Sandy cried happily. Realizing that she didn't have to guard the window anymore, Sandy, feigning innocence with an extravagant smile, quickly took a step forward.

The white-haired heiress looked quizzically at the four Ham-Humans standing in front of her. Her question was never answered as an entirely new scenario was brought up. She had on a white coat, something she wasn't wearing when she was outside.

"Are you going out?" Hamtaro asked as he stepped towards her (she had yet to move from her spot near the banister), however Bijou held out her hand to tell him that coming towards her was unnecessary.

"Yes, but I should be back by dinner time," she explained, her lips pulled tightly in a smile. She had originally come upstairs to see what all the noise was, and at the moment didn't feel the need or desire to elaborate any further.

Stan, Sandy and Pashmina pretended like they didn't notice the softer timbre of her voice, or how her eyelids were just a little too lowered. By now, they had become used to this even if they didn't like it.

However, Hamtaro picked up on the minute changes and was instantly alarmed. Bijou was already on her way going back down the stairs when she heard his voice.

"Is everything alright?" he asked immediately.

Her emerald eyes turned and locked with Hamtaro's for a second. More than once, her mouth moved as if she were on the verge of saying something, and Hamtaro waited with baited breath at the top of the stairs.

The three others came behind Hamtaro and gave Bijou a reassuring look, letting her know that they could handle this. For a suspended moment in time, Bijou looked past Hamtaro and glanced at Stan's brilliant lime-green eyes, finally realizing what was going on before she arrived.

"All the pre-weeding stress," Bijou started, her eyes moving from Stan to Hamtaro, "and the jetlag…it's a combination of a lot of things," she explained, her voice back to normal and her eyes taking on their usual appearance.

"Do you want me to come with you, wherever you're going?" Hamtaro offered, about to descend the first step.

"I just have to take care of some Ribon-related business. I should be back within the hour," she assured. Leaving no room for debate, she turned on her heel and sped down the grand staircase. The four Ham-humans standing atop the steps saw and heard the front door be opened and then promptly shut.

Hamtaro turned around and looked at the three Ham-Humans who formed a little semi-circle behind his back. The way their startled expressions slowly turned into overtly large smiles was more than enough to give them away.

However, he paid no attention to that as he decided to walk past them and towards the window. Noticing that Stan, Pashmina and Sandy were following him but were not objecting to his proximity towards the squared glass, he treaded to the end of the hallway and looked out the window.

It wasn't as big as Pashmina had made it sound, but it was still a fairly big cherry blossom that looked out of place in the French, red, green and yellow chaparral.

"It's…just a tree," he finally admitted, placing a hand over his chin and thinking aloud.

"Chhhhhyeahhh!" Stan laughed nervously, looking over at the two girls to give him some support. Sandy looked down to her feet and slouched, though she did her best to put on a bittersweet look.

Pashmina also smiled, albeit forcefully as she spoke.

"We already told you that…!"

Hamtaro spent the next few minutes looking through the little details of his wife's childhood room. She had a whole dresser dedicated to holding ribbons. They had all different colors and textures and patterns that for a second he forgot he was in a house and instead thought he was in some sort of craft store. Bijou especially had an affinity for navy blue ribbons, as it seemed.

For some reason, there were only pictures of Bijou as a child in the room. Although the rest of the house had plenty of Bijou-based memories throughout its halls, this room seemed to be a little speck of the universe that was suspended in time.

And Hamtaro had a decent guess as to why that was…

Which was why Hamtaro found himself sitting on Bijou's bed once again, staring at the portrait of the man with his daughter. There was no mistaking it: the girl was like a clone of her father.

He let his head fall backwards as he searched through his memories, trying his best to recall any instance where the man was mentioned.

Bijou had never mentioned him once, that he could recall at least. Hamtaro turned over and thought the situation over some more. Hamtaro didn't even know his name…and this was definitely the first time Hamtaro had ever seen what the man looked like.

What was he like? Was he like Josie, strict and tradition-following, or was he more lax, like the picture with him and Bijou depicted?

In fact, all he really know about his late father-in-law was that he died when Bijou was four years old.

Losing a parent at that age…it must be difficult, he thought as his eyes shut tightly. He assumed the emotional trauma (as Bijou was weighed with truckloads of it), was enough for the girl to never tell him about it.

With his only half-right thoughts clouding his mind, he once again fell asleep.

Hamtaro didn't exactly need another nap, therefore it was through fate's hand that his slumber ended up being cut short.

About forty minutes later, Hamtaro heard a giggle. At first, he shut his eyes tighter and decided not to worry too much about it. He figured someone somewhere in this massive house was having a good laugh. Good for them. However, when he heard a subsequent giggle, and then another one, and then finally a third one—all of which were in too close of a proximity to each other to be one person—and he realized just how close the giggles were too him, he felt the need to open his eyes.

Hanging onto the three poles of the carousel in front of him stood three miniature Bijous. Well, not exactly miniature, as they looked to be in their midteens, but still resembling his wife to such a degree that Hamtaro felt himself shoot up.

They were all dressed in winter coats and each one was wearing a different color beret tilted artistically over her white head. They all had their hair styled in layers similar to what Hamtaro remembered Bijou's hair looking like when they were in high school. Hamtaro figured they were some triplets…then again everyone in this family seemed to look the same. They all had Josie Ribon's slate gray eyes, yet the excited smiles and giggles they revealed at Hamtaro's confusion diminished any resemblance Hamtaro saw to Jewel CEO.

The one in the middle turned to glance at the girls standing on either side of her as she put a hand over her mouth and giggled some more.

"Il est mimi!"

Whatever she said, the other girls giggled some more and agreed.

"Il a de beaux yeux!" the one on Hamtaro's right chimed in.

"Oui, oui!" Hamtaro didn't quite understand why they were so excited about everything they said, but his discomfort level had risen tenfold as soon as the triplets had started speaking, so he didn't waste any more time.

"You probably can't understand me…so I'm just gonna be leaving now, ok?" Hamtaro quickly moved to get off the bed, however, the triplet on the right quickly moved to block his exit from the circular mattress.

"Non, s'il vous plait séjour?!" she exclaimed, pouting, as she stood between two of the poles.

Just as Hamtaro thought there'd be no escape, someone was heard clearing their throat.

"Excusez-moi," the voice came, startling the three girls. Hamtaro and the triplets immediately turned towards the door to Bijou's room and saw the heiress standing there with her mother.

Hamtaro's eyes widened. He wasn't expecting to see Josie today (or perhaps it was the oddly-eerie resemblance Bijou displayed as she stood next to her mother). Bijou's hair was pulled into a ponytail, and her clothing—from her coat down to the heels she wore—mirrored the ones her mother had on.

Was getting her mother the Ribon-related business Bijou had alluded to?

Josie opened her mouth to say something, but anticipating the worst, the triplets quickly scurried out, pushing past the CEO and her daughter, afraid of whatever sort of lecture they may receive.

Everything happened so quickly that Hamtaro found himself looking at the two women in the doorway quizzically.

"Hmph!" Josie didn't seem to be in the mood for any nonsense, so she quickly turned on her heel and moved away. Bijou's eyes trailed after her mother for a few seconds before they drifted back to her husband.

"I'm guessing it's not the jetlag that has her in such a bad mood?" Hamtaro asked as he got off the bed.

"You know my family's big on tradition, meaning guys and girls in different rooms before they're married," Bijou reminded as she folded her hands over her chest impatiently. Hamtaro wanted to remind her that yes, they were already married, but figured arguing against her was the last thing she wanted.

"Have you even seen the room we had set up for you?"

"Huh…" Hamtaro had actually forgotten about his guest bedroom. "Well I guess there's plenty of time for that later."

"That's right, because it's time for dinner," she explained tersely as she, like her mother, spun on her heel and walked out of the room.

Though she seemed upset with him, her annoyance—or was it her little pout?—only seemed to make Hamtaro smile as he silently followed her.

"Your bags were already brought it," Bijou explained as she gestured to the suitcases on Hamtaro's bed. "Everyone has already unpacked, because they didn't spend most of the day napping."

Hamtaro glanced around the yellow-colored guest bedroom halfheartedly. His mind kept drifting back to Bijou, currently standing at the foot of the bed with her hands on her hips.

There was something amiss about her. At dinner as well, her smiles seemed more polished and for-show than they did genuine. Her voice, though healthy and not carrying any hints of sadness in it, was missing that "it" factor that made it Bijou. For Hamtaro, the lack of sarcasm and witty retorts was what seemed to be lacking the most.

"So," Hamtaro started as he sat down on his bed, idly putting a hand over one of his suitcases. "Those girls who were in your room earlier and were at dinner…?"

"They're from my mother's side of the family," Bijou explained, her voice a monotone. She placed a hand over her forehead as she thought, "They're my third cousins, if I remember correctly. They go to a nearby school so they live here during the academic year," she said as she walked over to the dresser where a fresh bouquet of flowers had been set up.

"They said I was cute," Hamtaro reminded smugly, watching his wife rearrange some of the flowers in the vase to an arrangement better-suited for her desires. "…right?"

Maybe those French lessons Josie had suggested weren't a completely horrible idea.

"They only think you're cute," Bijou explained as she turned her emerald eyes to him, twiddling a white dahlia against her nose as she did so, "because you have color in your hair. Most of the French aristocrats, well, most men in France in general, have very little to no tint in their hair. You're different so you have that alluring quality to them."

"Most men in France, hmm?" he asked as he got off the bed. He surprised Bijou when he walked over next to her and also started looking at the flower bouquet. The petals' colors were gorgeous and vibrant.

"Your father had white-hair too, right?" he asked as his eyes slowly went over to her.

If Bijou was surprised, she didn't show it. She simply turned to her side, pressing her back against the dresser as she nodded, "He did."

"What was he like?" Hamtaro inquired as Bijou buried her nose deeper into the flower she was holding. With her free hand, she pulled her ponytail out and sighed, letting her white hair form beautiful frames around her face.

"I don't like to think about that," she said softly as her head lowered inwards, more towards the flower.

At this, Hamtaro was left with more questions. Was her father's death really that traumatic that she didn't like thinking about him, or was it something else? Maybe the reason Bijou didn't like talking about him was because he was a bad father.

At first, Hamtaro immediately rejected the idea. In the picture he saw on the carousel's roof, Bijou looked thrilled to be with her father. Then again, that was a painting an artist could've been told to make…it might not have been based after a real picture at all, and Bijou could've hated her father. Maybe he was neglectful…maybe he was too absorbed in the family business like her mother was…Maybe she never got to see him and didn't remember him. It would explain why she never talked about him, and why in this whole house there were no pictures of him…

Indeed, as Hamtaro watched his wife sigh, he knew he had to be right.

"I guess losing a parent is difficult when you're that young, and I'm sorry for what you had to go through," Hamtaro told her, voicing his earlier thoughts. Bijou didn't show any reaction to what he was saying, so he continued.

"But…" he stated to say cautiously, unsure of his wording, "you have a lot of people now who love you and want to make sure you do well. They're people who can give you what your father couldn't!" he said excitedly, hoping to cheer her up.

Slowly, Bijou looked up from her flower and then to Hamtaro, her eyes widening with every moment that passed.

"What my father couldn't…?" she asked quietly, her eyebrows arched in surprise.

"Yeah, like what I said, care and stuff." With every word that left his mouth, Bijou's posture seemed to stiffen and her eyes seemed to get just a bit lowered. Simultaneously, with every passing second, Hamtaro suddenly wanted to take back his words more and more and more.

"You think my father couldn't give me care…" Bijou repeated, at first looking straight at Hamtaro and then slowly moving her eyes to some undisclosed location on the ground. It sounded like it was meant to be a question, but the way she said, Hamtaro felt more threatened than interrogated.

The flower she was holding had its stem snapped due to the fist forming in her hand.

Bijou let out a small, sarcastic laugh, sounding almost like she was coughing.

"My father was the most loving man I ever knew. He was passionate, brilliant, so devoted to me and my mother and our business. He took the company and raised it to a level no other CEO in the history of Ribon Jewelers has ever been able to do. And he did all that while being the greatest dad a girl could ever ask for."

Right about now, Hamtaro realized he should've kept his mouth shut. Bijou's breathing was hitched and both her hands were fisted at her sides. He could see an infuriated red color smudge her otherwise pale face. Her eyes were shaking as she continued.

Dammit…

"So who are you to judge him when you know nothing about him?! In fact it's kinda funny that you would ever say anything negative about him when he was twice the Ham-Human at his worst than you'll ever be!"

Realizing she was about to cry, and not wanting Hamtaro to see it for a second, she immediately spun around and walked as quickly as she could to the door.

As Hamtaro watched the door slam shut, he realized he could've gone after her. That would certainly fix the chest pain he suddenly acquired.

However, he knew he was wrong. He said something he should've kept to himself, and right now, his wife needed time to breathe. He needed time to work on an apology.

Hamtaro had never seen so much black before in his life.

Granted, he was in a French department store standing within the tuxedo department, but still…how many versions of a simple black suit could there be?

So far, the buyer Bijou had assigned to him had made him try on four different tuxes, not satisfied with any of them. Hamtaro wasn't worried so much about trying them on as he was when he realized he couldn't tell the difference between any of them.

"I think," Stan said, also donning a black tux, "you should try something completely different and wear a white suit."

"That's not gonna happen," Hamtaro countered, looking at his reflection in the large mirror.

"Why not, kid? It'd look cool." Hamtaro turned around to see Boss walk out of the dressing room, his brown eyes flitting between the buttons on his sleeve and Hamtaro.

"Because Mrs. Ribon actually gave Hamtaro a guideline to what his tuxedo has to look like," Oxnard enlightened. "The first rule was that it has to be black."

"It's what the buyer is for, to ensure the rules are followed." Hamtaro indicated the panicked European Ham-Human currently scouring the racks for a suit that was appropriate enough.

"Oh him?" Stan seemed appalled. "I thought he was just some guy hired to carry our bags! Sandy said the girls got someone to hold their bags! No fair!" He collapsed on the cushiony chair he was standing beside.

Hamtaro sighed and looked at the tuxedo he was currently wearing. There wasn't much to describe, as he didn't get that feeling that girls did when they just knew their dress was perfect. To be honest, he felt like a groom in every tuxedo he put on (or maybe that was because every tuxedo he has tried on thus far cost enough to be the budget for an entire wedding…he wasn't sure at this point).

This one didn't seem too different from the usual style: it was black with a shiny black lapel, with a white undershirt, a black vest and black pants. The buyer had decided that Hamtaro should wear a shiny black tie instead of a bowtie, and so that was all there was to what Hamtaro was wearing.

"Tch. No, no, no!" The buyer cried, appearing out on nowhere from behind the groom. He put a hand on his hip and the other on his well-moisturized face.

"That's all wrong! The color's too charcoal. I wanted more of a jet black for you! Ughhh!" With that said, he turned on his heel and went back into the racks.

Hamtaro stepped down from the little pedestal he'd been standing on and sighed yet again.

"Oh, I completely agree," Stan said, using a falsetto to imitate the shopper, "jet black suits you so much better, and it's completely in-season right now."

"I…think I'm gonna go upstairs," Hamtaro explained, completely ignoring Stan.

"Is that a good idea?" Boss asked as he stood up nervously. "Bijou's picking out her dress up there…"

"Isn't it bad luck to see her?" Oxnard reminded.

"Well, seeing how mad she is at me right now, my luck couldn't get much worse," Hamtaro explained, feigning a smile and putting his hands on the back of his head. "And I need to talk to her."

Stan rolled his eyes and wondered, Does he even realize what he's saying half the time?

"But you're in a fight," Boss reminded.

"We're always fighting. We just have to be a bit more conscious of it now since we're supposed to be newlyweds," the orange-and-white-haired male explained. "When what's his name comes back, tell him I went to the bathroom or something."

"I wonder what's taking Bij so long," Sandy asked as she spun around in a bridesmaid dress she had tried on. It was a beautiful shade of lime green, nearly the exact color of her eyes.

"Who cares?! We're in Paris trying on outfits that will be professionally tailored to fit us perfectly and cost more than a month's worth of rent!" Pashmina cried as she flung open the curtain to the dressing room, revealing the exact same dress Sandy was wearing just in a deeper green color.

"Pashy," Sandy started to say, her eyes a little lowered. "I thought we agreed on this color, since it's so much more festive and eye-catching."

"I know but for a fall wedding, don't you think this gorgeous jewel-tone is so much more appropriate?" Pashmina asked as she also admired her reflection in the mirror.

"No, I really think festive is better for a wedding," the dancer said, her voice getting tense.

"And I think," the brunette countered as her voice became equally as annoyed, "that richer colors make the wedding seem so much more elegant. The color you have on is better suited for an engagement party."

Both girls placed their hands on their hips and locked their eyes, trying to figure out a way to determine who was right and ultimately, which dress would be worn.

The head seamstress normally stayed in her office, overseeing all the other, lower-ranked seamstresses as they toiled away meticulously on various brides' dresses, making sure that not a single detail was left off. On any given day, she never had to touch a piece of silk or satin or lace, unless she was critiquing another seamstress's job and had to emphasize just how horrible it looked, which wasn't often the case.

However, when she heard that Josie Ribon, the Josie Ribon, was in the store looking for a dress for her daughter, the head seamstress was on pins and needles. Josie had asked for an appointment with her. She rearranged the papers on her desk, sprayed some perfume around her office to get in that air of expensiveness, and arranged to have some chocolate truffles sent over from a local candy shop, once hearing a rumor that the CEO liked chocolate.

"Madame," her secretary told her over the phone, "Madame Ribon has arrived!" Though the seamstress had been preparing herself, she still felt her stomach tighten all the more.

"Good, good…send her in…"

With baited breath, the head seamstress watched as the door to her office swung open, revealing the white-haired, gray-eyed woman.

Josie carried what looked to be a small treasure box in her hands, and the seamstress knew exactly what that was.

"Josie!" the seamstress exclaimed, walking around the desk to hug the woman, but Josie quickly put a hand up, revealing she was not interested in any such affection. The CEO took her seat, and the rejected seamstress did likewise.

"So I hear your daughter is getting married! Is it to that pilot that was trying to court her last summer? The one whose parents are in the parliament?"

"Bijou's had several suitors, but her fiancé is," Josie paused, choosing her words with elegance and care, "Japanese."

"Ahh, I see…he must be some sort of technology mogul, no?" the seamstress pressed.

"You wouldn't believe it," Josie replied, ending that conversation.

"I remember adding the crystals and jewels to your wedding dress," the seamstress explained, indicating the little chest Josie held in her hands. "My mother did your mother's wedding dress, if you remember."

"That's lovely," Josie said impatiently, "but time is of the essence. Whatever dress my daughter chooses…"

She placed the chest on the desk and opened it, revealing enough crystals and diamonds that were brilliant enough to cause the seamstress to squint and plentiful enough to buy out the department store.

"I want all of these sewed onto them," Josie finished. As she saw the greedy flicker in the seamstress's eyes, she felt the need to elaborate.

"And I've counted how many crystals and diamonds there are, and I shall count how many there are on my daughter's dress. Should there be a single crystal missing…" Josie tilted her head to the side slightly, her eyes narrowed, "Well, you remember why you're mother went into retirement a little early…"

The flicker in the seamstress's eyes immediately vanished and in its place was the icy glare of the Jewel CEO.

Almost too scared to touch her reflection, Bijou hesitantly outstretched her hands and gently glided her fingers over the mirror's glass. Immediately, however, she pulled her hand back to herself and ran both her hands over the work of the dress she was currently wearing, unable to take her emerald eyes off it as they slid down the length of the gown.

This was only the sixth gown she had tried on, and she had heard horror stories of girls trying on well over 200 dresses to find their perfect fit. And though she wasn't expecting to find anything breathtaking, as she was admittedly doing this search a little halfheartedly because she didn't put much stock in this wedding, as soon as she saw the sales associate bring in this dress she knew she'd want to try it on at the very least.

Bijou's eyes went back to her reflection, and her posture immediately straightened. There was something about this dress that made her keep looking back at herself and smiling. It made her feel so beautiful. She suddenly lost all desire to stay in the store any longer, as it wasn't just in her mind but she felt a satisfying yet overwhelmingly amazing feeling all over as she kept staring at herself.

Bijou quickly, and almost excitedly, stepped off the pedestal and opened the door to her private dressing suite, wanting to tell the sales associate that she was done or at least wanting to show her best friends and her mother. However, as she looked down the white halls of the dressing area, she saw no one.

Slowly, the heiress closed the door and went back to the pedestal, lifting the gown as she stepped onto it.

She always knew she was to get married one day, as she was an heiress and she was expected to keep up the lineage. She had briefly thought about the types of dresses she'd want to wear. Bijou knew she wanted a big, fluffy gown, but she never had a really clear idea as to what else...until she saw herself wearing this. It just…fit.

It was a strapless, sweetheart-neckline dress that was the color Bijou always associated with clouds on a day at the beach. It puffed out in just the right amount beneath her waist, giving her that majestic look that made her heart beat fast. It was made of a satin underlining and had beautiful beaded lace that ran the entire length of the dress, including the corset top which tied in the back with a white, silky ribbon. As she stood, the train of the dress, with its beautiful embroidery, trailed a good three feet behind her.

There were already some crystals sewn into certain segments on the dress's embroidery. The way the light hit them, Bijou looked like she was wearing light-speckled snow.

The dress was just so beautiful, Bijou could feel her eyes shake with happiness. She never for a moment thought she'd find the dress of her dreams for such an impromptu wedding.

She was admiring the back of her dress when she heard the door of her dressing room open.

"Mother! I don't think I want any jewels added to this one because it's just so…"

She turned around, expecting to meet her mother's stare. However, when she saw her husband standing in the doorway, looking at her with a more dazed look than ever, she felt all her aforementioned happiness evaporate.

"…beautiful," Hamtaro finished for her as he stared at the girl standing before him. He had never thought of her as being exceptionally attractive, though he felt pride as he saw her standing there looking more stunning than anything he had ever seen before. She was glowing with beauty, almost overflowing with it.

Bijou picked up her gown and walked past Hamtaro, opening the door of the dressing room.

"Get out," she ordered as he looked at her.

Hamtaro was feeling quite dejected, but he nevertheless kept his composure.

"Don't tell me you're superstitious. Need I remind you, we're already married so this doesn't technically—"

"I don't want to see you, get out," Bijou repeated, enunciating every word.

"I wanted to apologize," Hamtaro said quickly, noticing her rising anger and not wanting her to be any more upset than she already was.

"Ok, get out," she said once more.

"You're really overreacting to this whole thing," Hamtaro explained.

"You insulted my father. I never take that lightly," Bijou spat back, eyes sharpening.

"Well it would help if I knew something about him! You never talk about him so I just assumed—"

"You assumed what? That he was a horrible man that I never wanted to mention again? Do you have any idea how ridiculous your theory sounds?" she threw her hands up in her hair and groaned.

"I really don't think my theory was all that crazy, considering how there's no sign of him ever living in your house. I swear, sometimes I think you just budded off your mother's shoulder!" he cried back.

Bijou walked to the mirror and then turned around, visibly shaking.

"I know you've never lost a parent, but surely, somewhere in your miserable little life, you must've cared enough about somebody to have them constantly be in your thoughts, so much so that to speak about them every time you think about them would have you talking all day." It was more of a question the way she said it, and she waited for Hamtaro's reply.

"Yeah, I have," Hamtaro said almost instantaneously. The feeling Bijou just described seemed incredibly familiar, but he just couldn't think of who.

"Then you must understand, on some level, how much my father meant to me," she said softly. Hamtaro nodded.

"You loved him, and that means he had to be something pretty special…" This time it was Bijou's turn to nod as her lips curved just slightly enough to be a smile, despite the tear running down her cheek.

"He was," she agreed. "It's why I can't ask anyone to walk me down the aisle. It wouldn't feel right."

"I'm sorry," Hamtaro said.

"Apology accepted," Bijou replied.

Hamtaro then did something Bijou wasn't expecting, but it wasn't completely unwelcomed. He took both her hands and held them, and was surprised when Bijou squeezed them in return.

"We'll be standing like this, in these outfits, less than a week from now," Bijou thought aloud.

"Well, I have to get a tux that's more jet black than charcoal, but yeah," Hamtaro agreed.

"We'll be reciting our vows in front of everybody, then moving into our house…" Bijou looked to the side, and Hamtaro realized the prospect of leaving her friends was still getting to her. He decided to change the subject.

"So, you like your dress?" he probed. Bijou let go of his hands and turned to look at herself in the mirror once more.

"Yeah, a lot actually," she smiled. "I sorta don't want to wear it to our ceremony. I kind of want to wear it to when I really get married."

Bijou didn't see Hamtaro's jaw lock in the reflection.

"You already did really get married," he reminded. His voice was nowhere near as charismatic as it was a few seconds ago. Now he sounded mad. Bijou turned around.

"You know what I mean." She sounded like she was trying to pacify a three-year-old.

"We have a marriage license and DVD to prove it. You're trying on dresses, I'm wearing a tux, and we paid more for the caterer than a year of school tuition. This is a real wedding and we're in a real marriage," Hamtaro explained, sounding surprisingly annoyed.

Bijou came up to Hamtaro and lowered her voice.

"You have to stop pretending like we're in some sort of committed relationship," she explained.

"And you have to start pretending like we are, at least for the next few months," he replied in a no-nonsense tone.

"Just leave," Bijou ordered frustratedly, pointing to the door. Hamtaro had no desire to put up with her stubborn attitude, nor she with his, so this time he did as he was told.

Bijou went back to the mirror when she heard the door close. Instantly, she fell back in love with the dress. Hamtaro seemed to like it, too, she thought at the back of her mind, and her eyes subconsciously softened as she recalled this, once again running her fingers against the embroidery.

After spending the hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the store, getting measured, buying the tuxedos, dresses, accessories and shoes and finishing up the details with how many jewels were to be added to Bijou's dress and in what pattern, the group of Ham-Humans exhaustedly threw open the doors to the department store and walked into the streets of Paris, completely and utterly worn out.

"Can we just eat now? We're in like major need of refueling!" Stan cried as he grabbed onto the nearest street lamp for support.

"I never thought being measured and watching other people get fitted could be so tiring," Boss agreed, also grabbing hold of the lamp.

"Huh. Whimps," Pashmina scoffed, with Sandy and Bijou nodding.

"You guys can go eat now, but I have to meet with my mother at Ribon Jewelers headquarters," the heiress explained. "She's making the announcement to the French Board that I'll be taking over after graduation."

Hamtaro knew why she was smirking to herself as she said this, but everyone else remained clueless or too tired to notice her facial expression.

"But, Sandy," Bijou started to say, turning to her good friend. "Doesn't that guy standing over there look sort of weird to you?" she pointed her head across the street, where a brunette young Ham-Human stood with a rose in his hands.

"Aww, that's sweet," Sandy said as she stared at the young man. "I bet this sorta stuff happens in Paris all the time…how romantic!"

"It's hard to tell with all the people trying to cross the street," Pashmina said as she placed a hand on Sandy's shoulder, "but with that chestnut-brown hair and that tall frame he sort of looks like…"

Sandy let out a yelp as the possibility dawned on her. If she'd been holding something, she probably would've dropped it.

"And he's walking our way," Pashmina added. Indeed, the young brunette was making a beeline for them. And as he became closer and his facial features started to become more and more visible, Sandy could feel her heartbeat get louder and louder.

"Ooh lala," Bijou said, also leaning in next to Sandy, in a French accent so cute her husband standing a few feet away simply smiled. Sandy's eyes were now locked with the man's, and it was almost involuntary how she started walking forward toward him.

Bijou looked pleased as Maxwell cried out, "Sandy!"

It was almost as if on cue that Sandy immediately heard her name and bolted, running right into his arms before he even finished crossing the wide street. Maxwell dropped the rose, embracing the love of his life after not seeing her for over three months.

Everyone, from Stan to Oxnard to Hamtaro to Boss to Pashmina and finally Bijou, watched the scene unfold with Sandy sniffling as she held onto him and Maxwell smiling.

"I can't believe you came to Paris and didn't tell me," Maxwell said softly. At this, Sandy pulled away from him and showed him her face, wet with tears like his shirt.

"But I thought you had exams!" Sandy exclaimed. "And I know how important those are to you!"

"I would've missed the exam if it meant seeing you," Maxwell reminded as he pulled out a napkin from his pocket and wiped her face, something he used to do when they were in elementary school.

"But just for precaution, Bijou had her mother call my dean—they're good friends, apparently—and had him reschedule my tests so I could see you," he explained. Immediately, Sandy turned around and looked at Bijou, who stood there smiling though she was biting the inside of her cheek.

"You did this?" Sandy asked, astonished.

"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?" Bijou asked, shrugging. "I couldn't let you two be in the same city when you're normally on different sides of the planet and not let you guys be together."

Sandy ran to Bijou and embraced her, whispering, "You're the greatest friend a girl could ever have," into her hair before she let go.

"Congratulations, Hamtaro," Maxwell said as he and the orange-haired male shook hands.

"I'm sure you know the circumstances of how this all happened," Hamtaro said, smiling, "but thank you."

Maxwell turned to Stan. "It's good to see you again, Stan."

Stan turned his head to the side and stuck his nose in the air. "Maxwell."

"How long do we have?" Sandy asked Bijou, then turning to Maxwell.

"We'll be leaving Paris at around ten p.m. tonight," Bijou explained. "If you could meet the limo here by then, you should be fine."

"It's only about seven hours," Sandy said sadly before her eyes immediately started to shine. "But I'll take them!"

"Come on, there's nothing like a strawberry crepe made fresh at one of my favorite restaurants," Maxwell invited, holding his hand out to Sandy.

Sandy turned to Bijou and the rest of her friends, mouthing a "Bye-bye!" to them excitedly before taking his hand and letting him lead the way.

Pashmina cried, part out of happiness, part out of realization that the only men who had ever treated her like that were Dexter and Howdy.

"I know this wasn't easy for you," Bijou suddenly heard Hamtaro's voice behind her. "But I want you to know that I'm proud of you." He put a hand on her shoulder, and just as he was about to remove it, Bijou put her own hand on top of it.

"Thank you," she said as she continued biting her cheek.

Approximately two-and-a-half hours later, Bijou was biting her cheek for an entirely different reason.

She wasn't expecting to be this nervous as her mother made her speech, but as her mother started to build more and more thunder about her retiring in six short months, she could feel her hands get tingly with anticipation.

She ran her hands over her business skirt, smoothing out any wrinkles. Any second now, her mother would make the announcement to all the men and women sitting at this ridiculously long, oval table, and Bijou would have to stand up and assure everyone this was true.

"With that said," Josie said, speaking in her native French to all the members of the French Ribon Jewelers Board…

Bijou's heartbeat quadrupled…

"After seventeen years of serving this company with the utmost I possibly could…"

Her hands were getting clammy…

"With the financial stability we have been in…"

She was gonna be sick!

"I feel this is indeed the most appropriate time for me to step down, and for my daughter, the young heiress Bijou Ribon…Haruna…to take her rightful place as the Chief Executive Officer of Ribon Jewelers. Bijou, if you please."

Bijou stood up, albeit a little clumsily, and stayed next to her mother, overlooking the group of employees who were all twice her age. As she stared at their faces, a new set of chills took over her.

None of them looked too pleased.

"In six months, she will be the one sitting at the end of this table," Josie finished.

"This, this is an outrage!" one of the men sitting at the table cried, banging his fist against the table.

"She's just a child!" another employee, this time a female, cried out. "She knows nothing about the business world!"

"You can't possibly expect such an inexperienced kid to take over a billion-dollar corporation!"

"Are you out of your mind, Josie?"

"Are…are you sick, Josie? Is that why you're doing this, because you don't have much time left?!"

"Silence," Josie cut in, ending all the indignant voices immediately. "If anyone had any specific problems with this, they can take them up with me privately—"

"But she's incompetent, Josie, in that she has no real experience running a company. This will be too much of a challenge for her," one of the female employees cut in. "Please reconsider."

The way Josie's eyes lowered and her face seemed to become tighter, Bijou'd bet her life that her mother was going to fire the employee. However, before Josie could let out another word, Bijou cut in.

"That won't be a problem," the crowned-heiress declared, imitating the look her mother had ruled the company with. "Because I love challenges."

Sparkle sighed as she looked at the soap opera on the screen. In today's episode, two of her favorite characters were getting married.

She looked down at her pedicurist and splashed her feet in the water, trying to get the pedicurist's attention, which she successfully did.

"So what do you think? Am I wrong for thinking that Hamtaro deserves better? I mean I know I said I tried to act all cool with them being married, but when I kissed him it felt like I should be the one getting married, not Boo-Hoo!"

"You're right, Ms. Sparkle," the pedicurist said, wiping some of the foot-water off her face with a carefully managed expression on.

Satisfied with the answer, Sparkle relaxed in the comfy spa chair and smirked. "Of course I am," she said as she tilted her head back and relaxed in the luxury of her terrycloth robe. However, another thought hit her, and she immediately splashed her feet in the water again.

"What if I just want to get married, and not necessarily to Hamtaro…Hmm, I guess that's not a bad idea. If things with Hamtaro don't work out, I'll just find some other guy. Can't be that hard, right? And I'm sure Bijou won't mind since they're not in a 'real' marriage, you know. I hope she can accept a challenge."

Once again, the pedicurist wiped the water off her face and started to rinse Sparkle's feet.

"She won't know what hit her," Sparkle said as she leaned back into her chair again and smiled, satisfied.

"I agree," the pedicurist said aloud, internally praying for whoever these Hamtaro and Bijou were that the Pop Princess kept rambling about.

OMG! I am so, so, soooooo very sorry for not updating since like June. But you have to understand, I was going through a bit of stuff during the summer, and of course college is completely back in-swing and I had three exams this week. It was a mini-hell.

This chapter I actually started maybe a week after I posted the previous chapter (20), but because I kept having tot end to other things, this chapter kept being written in installments. Finally, today I just decided to crank out the last twelve pages and post this thing already. So yeah, this chapter took the longest time to write.

Now for my reviewers!

AmyAddict1-I DO go for a lot of emotion! Thanks for noticing! :D Normally I don't get too affected, but today I admit as I was writing the Sandy and Maxwell scene I was a little caught up. Thanks for reviewing!

Bamy the ham-ham-Aww, your review was really sweet! Thanks for your patience and thanks for the review! (I'm glad to see I changed your mind about Ham-Human stories ;p)

Crystalgurl101-I'm glad you like snotty Sparkle! I think there was a ton of that in the last scene of this chapter! I'm glad you like the way Hamtaro and Bijou are bonding, as there will be a ton of it going on in the next few chapters. Thank for the review!

Macarov-I don't know about pacing for this story, I just sort of write what I think should come next. It just so happens that the story pans out nicely from there. Hehe. But thank you for your review. I admit, most of the minor characters are never really going to be integrated into the Hamtaro and Bijou story, so I give them little dialog here and there (which you referred to as stale, and I appreciate that since it gives me some critique!). Thanks for reviewing!

Moonlight-Milkyway-I can't tell you enough how much I want a Dunkin' Donuts Milkyway hot Chocolate every time I see your name. Anyway, you think the picture of Bijou's dad on her bed is creepy? Ok, maybe it is a little…but it served as a nice transition into the subplot that involves Bijou's father, which is brought up with this arc of "Petals". Thank you for the review!

Sandyandmaxwellfanatic-I'm hoping you liked this chapter? It was the first Sandy and Maxwell face-to-face scene in this story…it only took like three years…I hope your arm is feeling better. If I ever lost my ipod, I'd probably burn my entire house down in the hopes of finding it, so you're not alone in ipod love! (hugs ipod) Thanks for the review!

Shadow Bijou-Sparkle's mostly here to stir up trouble, like you said. She's in this mindset where she originally thought it'd be fun to point out Bijou's mistake to Bijou, but now she believes she wants Hamtaro and/or a marriage, and that means taking Bijou out of the picture. Then of course, we have Roger, who I purposely left out this chapter but not for long! So yeah, there's your spoiler. I'm not sure what you thought of this chapter as it was written over the course of about four months. I'm not exactly sure how it flows, but hopefully you'll like it? If not, I'm expecting critique from you…I can take it!! Thanks for reviewing!

And, as for Bijou's wedding dress, that's from a designer known as Amalia Carrara. I felt it necessary to describe her wedding gown, even though, as I've mentioned, I don't like describing clothes. I actually went looking online for a dress I thought would suit Bijou, and once I saw it, I couldn't get it out of my mind. I knew this had to be the one. The link to the dress is on my profile, as is the dress I had in mind for Sandy and Pashmina…though for those two, I couldn't find a bridesmaid dress I liked so I just picked one. That's why I didn't bother describing their bridesmaid dress. Try to imagine it in navy, since that's the color it's going to be in the story.

As always, thanks for reading, so please leave a review!

-CN