Hi-ho! ( I'm back and ready to play! I don't own Hamtaro, I do own all the characters in this story EXCEPT Citrine, Skye-Tye, and Flare. Amy owns Flare and Citrine owns Citrine and Skye-Tye. (Note to Citrine: I think you'll like this. It's all about you! ;D). Well, Enjoy!

Chapter 1 - Old friends and new rivalries

I blinked sleepily as the early morning sunlight hit my face. Yawning, I crawled over to the door to greet my owner, Sindi.

"Hey, goof, you're early," the twelve-year-old commented. Letting out a long yawn, she began preparing for school. "Y'know Citrine, I've been thinking about trying out for the dance team. What do you think?"

Running up the side of the wire mesh, I told her, "Yeah, Sindi! I've seen you dance. You're even better than Shelby!"

"See ya, Cid. Have fun." With that, the rambunctious redhead bounded down the stairs, her backpack making a resounding "thud" throughout the house. Leaping down from the wall, I watched as she disappeared around the block at full speed. I quickly pushed through the door and leaped onto the nearest oak tree branch.

As I landed in the soft spring grass, I spotted Chihiro and Shelby arguing, as always. Flare stood nearby, watching the fight with interest. I rolled my eyes and prepared to be referee.

"You don't even care! Why do you bother with him, anyway?" Shelby demanded angrily.

"You're wrong! I care! I care, like, a lot! It's just... I... Um... Oh, never mind," Chihiro grumbled.

"What were you going to say? That you like him or something?" Shelby challenged.

"NO! I was NOT going to say that!"

"Bet you were."

"NO, I WASN'T!"

I sighed. "Why can't you two ever get along? You act like little kids arguing over who got more cookies. That's really immature," I told them.

Chihiro spoke first. "Listen, Shelby, Citrine's right. We're acting totally immature."

"Yeah, I know. I'm really sorry."

"Me too."

They both hugged and grinned at each other.

I sighed gratefully. There was peace, for the moment. I looked up to see Jaysi, Penny, and Dakota approaching. We jogged over to them.

"Hey guys, what's up?" I grinned.

"Picasso says he can't come today. His owner's got the flu," Dakota explained.

For an instant, traces of sadness could be seen on the faces of Chihiro and Shelby, but they disappeared.

As soon as everyone had arrived, we set off for Terralinda Park as planned. Everyone partnered up and walked down the road.

I was walking with Flare, the short mahogany ham. As I watched her, I began to wonder, do I really know as well as I thought I did? After all, there were so many secrets hidden in those deep orange eyes. Hurt, betray, even death. I only hoped she would trust us enough to share them with us. Someday.

I stared thoughtfully ahead at Jaysi and Dakota, who were deep in conversation. Those two really hit it off. They seemed perfect for each other. I sighed, without even knowing why.

"Yo, we're almost there," Bandit called from the front.

"Um, Bandit, where are we going to sit? There's a lot of people here..." Penny asked nervously.

"Chill, Pen. We'll find somewhere," I reassured her.

"Ho 'bout over there?" Cleffy suggested, pointing to an empty spot near the forest.

"Great idea, Clef-man," Bandit exclaimed.

I grinned. "Yeah, that's perfect Clef-," I stopped midsentence, completely unbelieving about what stood right before me.

The gray hamster grinned. "Hey, Cid, what's up?"

I shrieked with joy and engulfed him in a hug. "Skye-Tye! I thought I'd never see you again! What are you doing here?"

He winked at me. "Well, let's just say a little birdie told me I'd find you here. How are you, Cid?"

"Great! I've made some friends here. They're really nice! Come meet them!" I dragged Skye-Tye by the arm over to the confused ham-hams. After brief introductions, I invited him to come eat lunch with us. He eagerly accepted. 'It figures,' I thought. 'He must be exhausted.'

As we nibbled on yogurt drops, we listened to Skye-Tye tell us about his journeys. Apparently, he had gone through a lot just to see me. 'He's such a great guy,' I thought to myself. 'I'm lucky to have such a great friend.'

On the way home, I asked him if he would stay here, at least for a little while.

"Hahaha! C'mon Cid, o' course I'm stayin'! I'm not leaving now that I found you. You're friends are really great, too. I like this place. Maybe I'll finally settle down here."

I was overjoyed with this news and skipped the rest of the way home. When I entered, Sindi was just arriving home.

"Great news, Cid! I-" She cut off her sentence with a moan of pain. "Can't... breath..." She gasped. I watched frantically, pacing my cage. Help... I needed to get help... I dashed out of the cage and down the stairs, hoping, praying, that I wasn't to late........