A/N: FINALLY! The last chapter before the sequel! Here, Sandy starts to suspect who Crystal's anomynous friend might be. Okay, enough blahblahblah. Let's move on!

Chapter 12: Who Is He?

"..Mom and the others left that day. And like she said, we were put into our own little species. Thankfully, since Nik and I looked so alike, we were put together. Since I was older, I was in charge; yeah...wasn't easy! I recently visited Haylie and Rose. They were alright by themselves. A few days later, my owner and her cousin--which is seriously ironic since me and Nikki were cousins--bought us. Life was good since that day. I guess I was so caught up with living with Catrina, that I ended up growing up without thinking about my childhood friend...whose name still slips me to this very second! I almost forgot about him...until today.."

"Wow! I never realized how tough it was for you! I mean, having your best friend leave, and the next day--your mom!" Pashmina frowned. "I am truly very sorry!" Dexter bowed his head. "Moi too." Bijou nodded. "Me three." Boss rubbed away tears before anyone could see him. Everyone else murmured their apologies.

Crystal simply smiled and shrugged. "Aww, it's no big deal really! Besides, that was a looong time ago!" Finally, Crystal hopped off her chair. "My butt's falling asleep from sitting so much!" she suddenly complained."What do you do for fun around here?"

The Ham-Hams exchanged confused looks at each other. Crystal had just told them one of the most dramatic stories they had ever heard, and yet she just let it roll off her back like it was no big deal! "I've told the story plenty of times. I don't need another pity party." Crystal said as if she could read their minds. "Uhh...okay then." Boss shrugged.

§Meanwhile, someplace in town not too far away from the Clubhouse... §

"And that was the last time I ever saw her. Then fast forward, fast forward, I grew up, and now I'm grown, mature and extremely handsome! The end!" Stan boasted with a wink. "Umm..riiight." Hamtaro sweatdropped. He secretly wondered if Stan was talking about Sandy when he had said that last part. "Whoa! It's late! We should be at the clubhouse! Besides, she's not home. We'll try again tomorrow." Stan hopped to his feet.

"Heke? That's it? You tell me your sad childhood, then put a smile on your face and move on like nothing happened just because it happened oh so long ago?" Hamtaro asked. "Umm, duh!" Stan replied as if it was obvious.

"Why? It sounds like you really liked her." Hamtaro pointed out. Stan almost choked on his spit.(A/N: Does that ever happen to you, cause I'll admit it--it happens to me! blushes) "Ham-dude...I was four years old! Not even I had crushes on girls when I was four!" Stan stated. "Just checking!" Hamtaro shrugged innocently. Stan glared. Hamtaro had his ways.

"Whatever, man. We should be going!" Stan sighed. Hamtaro nodded in agreement and stood up. "Say, what are you going to do with that?" Hamtaro asked, nodding towards the hairclip with his chin. Stan just then realized he still had the hairclip look-alike in his paw. "Oopsie! Gotta put this back!" Stan exclaimed.

Stan climbed the vine and set the hairclip carefully--almost respectfully--on the windowsill. Hamtaro followed him. It gleamed in the sunlight, almost blinding Stan, if he hadn't backed off. It looked so much like it. Just looking at it brought a familiarimage to Stan's mind. It was young Crystal's shocked face when she first saw it.

§ Flashback... §

"Do you like it, Crystal?"

"Well, duh I do!"

§ End of flashback... §

"Hey Stan, even though you didn't 'like-like' her as you say, would you still wish that was her hairclip and not someone else's?" Hamtaro asked. "I guess. I dunno." Stan shrugged his shoulders flatly, turned around and slid down the vine. Hamtaro stared after him. Then, the orange/white hamster's eyes trailed back to the hairclip. He innocently stared at it. Hamtaro just then noticed a ham-sized pencil and a slit of paper--tiny in a human's eye, but normal-sized for a hamster.

"Hey, Hamtaro! Ya' comin?" Stan's voice shouted at him. "Uh, just a sec!" Hamtaro called back. He grabbed both and scribbled something on the piece of paper. When he was done, Hamtaro slid the paper under the hairclip and placed the pen beside it. "Hamtaro, what are you doing up there? Leaving a message or something!" Stan asked impatiently. "No!" Hamtaro lied, a smile planted firmly on his face. He slid down the vine to see Stan on the sidewalk, waiting impatiently for him.

"Sorry. I just wanted to look inside." Hamtaro fibbed, giving him an innocent and apologetic look. "Well, did you?" Stan asked. "Uh, yeah. C'mon, let's go!" Hamtaro began to sprint off, Stan closely at his side. While they ran, Stan thought of Hamtaro's question.

Would you wish that was Crystal's hairclip and not someone else's? the words echoed silently in his head.

I'm not sure... he silently answered.

As they vanished from the mansion, the paper and pen Hamtaro had left behind stayed in it's place. The words in itwere clean, clear and perfect to see. It said:

"You dropped this.

XXX

Stan and Hamtaro"

A/N: Aww! How sweet!I think...

§ Meanwhile outside of the Clubhouse... §

"Ahhh! Nothin' like the smell of fresh air!" Crystal smiled brightly. She twirled around like a graceful ballerina as the Ham-Hams caught up to her. "This is a really nice town, you know. What's first?" Crystal asked eagerly, her cute, bright eyes sparkling. She seemed so curious and lively when she blinked. Almost like an innocent child.

"Weellll...we could go tothe Ham-Ham Amusement Park! It has everything you could imagine in a theme park! Panda came up with the idea and we helped built it ourselves!"Pashmina suggested. "Cooli-o! I've never been to an amusement parkfor hamsters before!" Crystal squealed. "Then, let's go!" Panda said.

"Hmm..." Sandy hummed out loud. "What eez eet Sandy?" Bijou looked at the tiger-striped female. "Well...don't you like, get this totally wierd feeling. About Crystal's friend?" Sandy asked her in a whisper.

"What do you mean?" the french hair ribbon-lover cocked her head to the side.

"Well, everything she said about him. Think about it, Bij. Crystal said thathe looked like me, he was kinda flirty, he caused some trouble--with her of course, and he was slightly older than her! Don't you think it sounds a little like Stan? I mean, he's my twin bro, he's a total flirt machine, a troublemaker and he seems a bit older thanCrystal if you compare those two. Do you get where I'm like, going here?"

"Hmm..you are right about zhat. Zhere are alot of coincidences zhat match up her friend's character traits with Stan's." Bijou nodded as she thought it over carefully. "But are you completely certain and convinced eet eez your brozzer? Eet could be anyone!"

Sandy sighed. "See, that's the part that's got me all twisted up. I'm not sure! " she replied.

"Sandy! Bijou! Ya' coming?" Pepper called. The hamsters were already on their way. "Oh oui! We shall catch up with you shortly! Go ahead, we'll be just one moment, pleez!" Bijou shouted back. "Ookaay! But make it snappy!" Pepper nodded and kept walking.

"What does she mean by 'snap-py?'" Bijou squinted at the unfamiliar word. "Doesn't matter. We should catch up. Who knows! It could be Stan. It could not." Sandy said.

"You are right. Eet could be just about anyone. And if eet eez Stan, zhen what a surprise eet will be!" Bijou added with a smile and took off to catch up with the other hamsters.

When Bijou was out of hearing distance, Sandy's lit smile faded into a frown. "But like, seriously..." There was one question that continuously bugged her mind.

"Who is he?"

§ § §

To Be Continued...

A/N: Well, there it is! The very last chapter of "Childhood Friends", but the beginning of a new second-part-of-a-story, A.K.A, The Sequel! YAAAAAAYYYYYY! I'M SO TOTALLY PSYCHED!

The sequel to Childhood Friends is gonna be called...it's gonna be called...cricket chirps...holy crap! I have a problem. I don't know what the title of the sequel should be!

WEE-OO! WEE-OO! WEE-OO! TITLE ALERT! TITLE ALERT!

Hey, I know! Do any of you have any suggestions for the sequel's title? If you do thendo me a favor and pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasePLEEEEEAAAAASE tell me in your review! I'm totally beggin' you! I really need a title! If I don't have a title, I don't have a sequel! And no sequel means no official end to Childhood Friends! If you don't have any ideas, at LEASTlemme' know you got nothing! If you have the best--wait! You don't even KNOW what the sequel's about! How can you come up with a title if you have no summary? Stupid me!

Okay here's the deal:

The Ham-Hams finds out who Crystal's friend is.(who's OBVIOUSLY Stan!)How do they find out? You'll have to read that! Sorry, but I'm givin' away enough info as it is! Anyways, they plan a surprise reunion party for them, but the hard part? Keeping Stan and Crystal from running into each other before the party even starts! So, in order to keep the two hamsters distracted, they have to make some pretty desperate decisions and do the stupidest things that they would never IMAGINE doing!

Now you know.

If you have any ideas for the title, puuulllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaase lemme know! If I like your title the best, I'll dedicate the first three chapters to you. That's right, THREE! No, I'm not desperate, I'm being super-generous...okay I'm KINDA desperate. Buta majority of you arewriters, right? Riight!And you can think of something, right? Riight! I mean, why else would you BE in fanfiction for?(Besides browsing around and reading stories and writing reviews for each story you read)

Exactly!

Okay, I'm gonna stop right here.

There, I did my job, now you do yours--REVIEW!

Until then, bye-bye!

XOXO

crystalgurl101