Chapter 16: Santa And The Burnt Tree

Thursday...

"Sigh, tomorrow's Christmas Eve!" Caitlin sighed as she paced around the room. Bossy clung close to her and also seemed to worry about his father. He wore a tiny elf hat that Caitlin had bought for him.

"Ah well, I guess. That's all I can say. Those flyers haven't done any good... What do you think, Bossy?"

Bossy looked up at her with his bright, sapphire eyes.

Later that morning...

The Ham-Hams were now around the tree. Everyone was at the clubhouse now.

"None of you guys have seen him since he disappeared?" Caitlin sighed.

All of the Ham-Hams shook their heads. Caitlin looked up at the tree...

"Kayla, what the hell are you doing?"

Kayla glanced down from the top of the stairs. "Oh, just playing with the lights..."

"Wait, don't do that!"

Kayla glanced down and got distracted. The light bulb she was handling fell off. Kayla fell back onto the stairs and rolled down the stairs. The tree then caught fire!

"Oh no!" the Ham-Hams screamed.

"Hurry, everyone, go get buckets and water!" Caitlin shouted at them. The Ham-Hams quickly grabbed buckets out of a closet and ran out the tunnel to the river to get water to pour on the fire. When they came back, Kayla tried fanning the fire, but it got bigger. The Ham-Hams dumped their buckets of water on the fire and eventually got it out after about ten minutes.

Caitlin stared at the tree with Bossy clutching her with the death grip. "It looks...like...a big ashtray."

Only the star remained on the tree.

Natsu began singing. "O, BURNT TREE! O, BURNT TREE! HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE YOUR ASHES!"

"It looks like a big ashtray!" Caitlin laughed hard as Bossy stared at her with a scared look.

"Um, we should go...," Megan whispered as she grabbed Caitlin by her shoulder and dragged her out of the clubhouse with Natsu and Kayla following them.

The four double agents walked over to the Bad Hams Place. They walked through the front door and into the living room. Mike was not in there are the moment unlike the rest of the Bad Hams. They were awaiting Santa's arrival.

Mike walked into the living room. "Alright, Santa's supposed to be here any minute now. Got the banner?"

Number 1 held up a small sign that said, "Welcome Santa.?!"

"What the hell is up with the punctuation?"

"Oh, I made it." Number 1 nodded proudly. "I have to act like a four year old because I told Santa I was four..."

"O, BURNT TREE! O, BURNT TREE! HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE YOUR ASHES!" Natsu sang loudly.

"What the...?" Mike sighed and slapped his forehead.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. Mike got up and walked out of the living room. He walked down the hallway, through the front room, up the stairs, and opened the door. The poor guy Santa stood there with a big bag slung over his shoulder.

"Are they gone?" Santa looked somewhat relieved.

"No, everyone's waiting in the living room. C'mon in." Mike led Santa to the living room.

"WELCOME, SANTA!" everyone shouted in annoying, high-pitched voices. Number 1 held up his illiterate sign.

Santa stood in the middle of the room. He opened his sack and muttered, "Alright, my magical elf-"

"YOU HAVE A MAGICAL ELF? GASP!" Natsu gasped.

"...Anyway... My magical elf-"

"HE HAS A MAGICAL ELF!"

"...HE picked for me. And he picked..." Santa got out a piece of paper from his pocket. "...Number 1."

"YEAH!" Number 1 shouted. "YEAH, I WIN! YOU LOSE! HA, I WIN BECAUSE I'M AWESOME!"

Santa brought out a wrapped box from his bag and handed it to Number 1. He shook his head and sighed. Number 1 giggled, "HEHEHEHEHEHE, I GOT A PONY!!!"

"Oh my God," Kayla laughed.

Number 1 ripped off all of the wrapping paper. He shot the lid of the box off and looked inside with a high look on his face. Number 1 looked confused as he brought out a big plush pony.

"...I WANTED A REAL PONY, SANTA!" Number 1 looked up, but Santa had disappeared. He shrugged and threw the pony at Caitlin. "Give that to your son."

Caitlin glared at the pony along with Bossy. "You want him to be like what you wanted to be?"

"Oh, shut up, I was hilarious... Fine then, take it to your husband."

Caitlin sniffled, "He's not home yet..."

Stella nudged Mike in the ribs. Mike jumped up. "Then give it to Natsu to give to Kay."

"YEAH!" Natsu took the pony and hugged it.

Stella sighed.

"I think we should leave...," Caitlin muttered as she got up from her seat on the couch.

"Wait, Cait." Mike flashed his brown eyes. "...Um... I... You know the Christmas party is tomorrow, right? It starts at six..."

Caitlin nodded. "We know." She turned around. "Let's go see what happened to the tree now, shall we?" She and the three other double agents then left.

When the four double agents got back to the clubhouse, the Ham-Hams were around it mourning over it. Natsu began singing her Christmas tree song, and Caitlin was just laughing. If Bossy could have talked then, he would have been asking her what her problem was just by the look on his face.

"Christmas is ruined!" Hamtaro cried.

"How is it ruined by a little Christmas tree?" Caitlin inquired as she barely kept from laughing.

No one really could answer that.

"See? Christmas is still Christmas, no matter what. If you have your loved ones..." Caitlin's face turned red, and Bossy started crying. She also joined in the chorus.

Through a little camera Mike saw this. He flashed his chocolate brown eyes. Stella glared hard at him.

"She loves him, you know that, right?"

"Yes, but..."

Stella shook her head and walked out.

Mike glared after her. "I'll never understand her problem..."