Disclaimer: I don't own Hamtaro or any of the characters within it, except for David and Jimmy. If YOU own it and have copyrights and all that stuff, don't sue me because I don't own it. Of course, if you own it, it's pretty obvious that I don't, right?

Hamtaro's Greatest Adventure! Chapter 5: A Midnight Stroll Through the Ham-Ham Amusement Park

How many days had it been since he'd seen Bijou and the other hams? Only three? It seemed like at least a week. Laura had been decorating her room for Christmas, not to mention the letters to her friends and the big man, Santa himself. With Laura constantly around, there was no way for him to get out and see the others.

"Hamtaro, it's Christmas Eve! Tonight, Santa Claus is going to ride down on his sleigh and deliver toys to all of the good little boys, girls, and hamsters!" Laura said as she danced around her room. "I hope you've been good, Hamtaro, because if you were bad, you won't get anything," Laura warned. Hamtaro thought back throughout the year. He had been pretty good, except for that incident with the tablecloth and the salsa...

"I know that going to bed at 9:30 is uncharacteristically early for me, but I'm going to bed so that I can wake up and see my new gifts tomorrow!" Laura said as she slipped into her covers. Hamtaro got an idea. "Maybe I can slip out and visit Bijou tonight." Hamtaro waited for about a half an hour until he quietly slid the cage door open. He closed it just as quietly and tiptoed to the escape route. Down the rainspout and onto Brandy's head he went.

Using some of the more recently constructed tunnels, Hamtaro was able to get to Bijou's house in half the time that he once could. He climbed up the tree and looked into Bijou's window. "Kushi kushi, how's my hair?" Hamtaro said to himself. He looked through the window, and nearly fell off of the tree branch in surprise! Bijou was staring right at him! She was out of her cage, and had her ribbons in her hair.

Hamtaro leaped onto the windowsill and pushed the window as wide open as he could. Bijou slid under and they both leaped back to the tree branch. "Bijou, why weren't you asleep?" Hamtaro asked. "I was just about to go and visit you," she confessed. "Well, let's go somewhere quiet and spend some time with each other," Hamtaro suggested. "I know just the place! Let's go and sit in the ham-ham amusement park!" Bijou said.

The ham-ham amusement park was "closed" for the winter, but it was still a nice place to walk around in. The rides didn't work of course, but they didn't mind that. Hamtaro and Bijou sat on a bench and cuddled making the shmubby-wubby sound. It was snowing lightly and the moon peeked through the snow-laden clouds.

"Hamtaro, I have dreamed of this night forever," Bijou sighed as she slid into Hamtaro's arms. Hamtaro didn't know what he should do next. He wasn't exactly the most romantic hamster in town. He just held her close and kept her warm. "Bijou, I missed you these past few days. It seemed like weeks since I had seen you last." "I felt the same way," Bijou said

"...thought I heard something..." "What was that?" Bijou asked, sitting up. Hamtaro had heard it too. It was someone talking, but he couldn't figure out who. "It sounded like it came from over there," Hamtaro whispered. They got up and walked over to a row of bushes hand in hand. "I know I heard something," one of the voices said. Hamtaro got up enough courage to peek over the top of the bushes

"There!" one of the figures shouted. Hamtaro hadn't seen anything, but the other hamsters had seen his ears pop up. He grabbed Bijou's hand just as he heard running footsteps. "Who is it?" Bijou asked. "I don't know, but I'm thinking we should run for it," he suggested. The figures leaped over the bushes and landed in front of them, blocking their only escape route, and filling them with relief.

"Sandy, Maxwell, what are you doing here?" Hamtaro asked. "I suspect the same thing you two are doing here," Sandy said with a wink. Maxwell blushed and looked the other way. "We just came out here for a walk together," Hamtaro said. "So did we, right Maxwell?" Sandy looked at him. "Yea, that's right." "He's too shy to admit anything. That's why he's so cute!" Sandy giggled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Well, as long as we're all here, why don't we turn this into a double date?" Maxwell asked. "Well, I don't know. What do you think about this, Hamtaro?" Bijou asked, trying to get him to say yes. Hamtaro had never heard of a double date before, but he was sure that it must be something worth trying if the rest of them wanted to. "Sure," he agreed. "This is going to be, like, so much fun!" Sandy giggled.

The first thing they did was to sweep the snow off of the merry-go-round. It took them well near a half-hour to do this, but finally they cleaned it off. They activated the spring mechanism that lets it turn freely on its axis and moves the horses up and down. The couples sat together, each couple took the two horses next to each other. When they finished with the merry-go-round, they went to the fountain in the middle of the park. Of course the water had all frozen up, but it was romantic nevertheless. The snow had stopped and the clouds were gone. The moon was full and every star was out in the sky.

"I want this night to last forever," Bijou sighed from beside Hamtaro. Hamtaro was very cold, but he held Bijou close enough to keep her warm. "Oh, Hamtaro, you're freezing cold," she said. She wrapped her paws around him and they kept each other warm. Maxwell and Sandy had gone to the frozen pond for a late night skate. Bijou and Hamtaro opted to stay off the lake for tonight, for obvious reasons. The ice was thick enough that the danger of falling through was non-existent, but why take chances?

"Hey you two, I think it may be time to head back to our homes," Sandy said as she and Maxwell walked up. "It's almost tomorrow," Maxwell explained. "Come on, Bijou, I'll walk you home," Hamtaro said.

On the way home, they kept each other warm from the low temperatures. The snow began falling again and quickly filled up their tracks behind them. When Bijou was safely inside her cage and Hamtaro began walking home, he was cold and wished she were around to keep him warm again.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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