(A/N) Sorry for the long update! This chapter mostly sets up the remaining few chapters...
Cappy was on top of a sunflower, gathering some seeds and throwing them down to Boss. He jumped from one flower to another, talking the whole time, and occasionally Krmpkrmp'ing on a seed or two.
"Boss! There's so many on this one! Oooh, and this one, too!" Cappy jumped to the next sunflower. "Diggi-duggi... WOW! Even more here!" Cappy threw some more sunflowers to Boss, who wasn't talking very much. "Hey Boss, you ok down there?"
"What? Yeah, just go back to gettin' some more seeds..."
"Hmm... Boss is bummed out about something," Cappy thought to himself. "It's probably about a girl. Hehe, I'm so glad I have Penelope!" Penelope flashed in his mind and he started to daydream.
"Hey, you still workin' up there or what?"
"Aah, sorry, Boss! Diggi-duggi..."
"I wonder if Maika's already made his move on Harmony," thought Boss. "I guess I have to really hurry before he gets to her! ...But how? Maybe I can give her a really big sunflower seed... Do ham-goddesses even like sunflower seeds?" Boss kept rambling in his thoughts as Cappy found a really big sunflower seed.
"This one's HUGE! Here 't comes, Boss! Grrr...ooba!" The large sunflower seed fell down straight at Boss, who was still lost in his thoughts. "Boss!"
Boss looked up, but not really paying much attention. "Wow, that big one might win her heart if I can give it to her... But how am I gonna hide that big seed from the other hams? Cappy could probably help m-"
PLUNK! The seed hit Boss in the head, knocking him down. "Hey, Boss, you ok?"
Boss lied on the ground for a little.
"Umm... Boss?"
"WHY YOU NO-GOOD HAM! WHY'D YOU HAVE TO LUG THAT HUGE THING AT ME! I SWEAR, IF I GET MY HANDS ON YOU-" Boss waved his arms angrily at Cappy.
"S-sorry, Boss!" Cappy quickly went back to the sunflower and tossed more seeds at Boss. "Diggi-duggi Diggi-Duggi DIGGI-DUGGI!" More and more seeds flew but Boss couldn't keep up. The seeds started to pile on top of each other and covered Boss completely, creating a small pile of seeds with Boss underneath. Cappy finally stopped and looked down.
"Eh... Boss?"
"Cappy... I think we have enough seeds for now," said the muffled voice underneath the sunflower seeds. Cappy scratched the back of his head and did a sweat-drop.
"Harmony! What are you doing up?" Maika and Melodie were the first ones home, and Harmony was sitting on the couch with her wand.
"Oh, hi Maika! I'm all better now, see?" She pointed to her cheek, completely scratch-free as if it never happened.
"Umm, I kinda threw your wand at one of the cats... how'd you get that?"
"I "poof'd" it of course!" Harmony smiled and laughed a little, and Maika laughed with her. "Want some help with those seeds?"
"Sure, thanks!" Maika and Harmony unloaded the seeds on the table and sat down on the couch.
"Umm... Maika... There's something I've been wanting to tell you..."
"Me first, ok? Ok ok, get this... MELODIE TALKED!"
"Huh? Well it's about time!"
"Heke?"
"Ham-goddesses are a bit different when they age," Harmony explained. "You see, for every one day, ham-goddess babies age a whole month!"
"Then why don't you look old, Harmony?" Maika realized that his question sounded a little weird, so he shied away a little.
"It's ok! Well, after a certain age we slow down a lot and preserve our age for the most part. We grow up quick in case we're needed, but after that we stay around for a long time... probably about three of your lifetimes."
"Ok... Well, what did you wanna tell me?"
Just then, Boss and Cappy rushed through the clubhouse door. Boss was carrying most of the seeds, and Cappy carried the really big seed to Boss's room.
"Harmony! You're better!" Boss dropped his sunflower seeds and rushed to Harmony's side, pushing Maika off of the couch with a loud thud.
"Umm... hi, Boss! Lots of seeds you got there..."
"Yeah, and they're just for you!"
Maika tugged on Boss's leg, still on the floor. "I thought they were for everyone, Boss?"
Boss gave Maika a dirty look that screamed "why don't you just shut up!"
"Yeah, they're for everyone... Why don't you go and set up the table until the rest of the hams get here?"
Maika slowly got up and looked over to Harmony. "I'm glad you're feeling better. I'll have dinner for you so just sit tight, ok?"
Harmony's eyes lit up as she thought to herself, "dinner... for me? He means he's making it especially for me? Wow..."
Boss glared at Maika as he thought the same thing. "Grr... I gotta make a move here before Maika takes her for good!"
"So uhh, Harmony..." Boss raised his arm and put it on the back of the couch. "You look especially pretty toda-"
"Hey, Boss! Seed's all hidden!" Cappy rushed in, making Boss jump a little from the shock. "And it looks like everyone's coming back, too." Cappy pointed to the window at the other hams with arm-fulls of sunflower seeds.
"...Great... Thanks, Cappy..."
"Alright hams" Boss said, "let's go ahead and eat!" The ham-hams started Krmpkrmp'ing down the bounty of sunflower seeds they gathered. Bijou kept secretly looking at Maika, and knowing that he ate fast, she finished her meal earlier than usual.
"Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?" Bijou grabbed Maika's paw and pulled him into the next room. Hamtaro wondered if every thing was alright, Boss moved a little closer to Harmony, and Oxnard didn't even notice since he was so happy to be eating so many sunflower seeds.
"Maika, there's sometheeng I need to ask you..." Bijou blushed and looked at Hamtaro who was still clueless. "Do you... believe een true love?"
"Of course! I did have a wife, ya know..." Maika moved around a little awkwardly and frowned.
"I'm so sorry eef I made you uncomfortable!"
"Nah, don't worry about it... But, why did you wanna know?"
"You see that girl right there?" Bijou pointed to Harmony, who was trying to move away a little from Boss's advancements. "She ah... cares very much for you. Don't you feel ze same way about 'er?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, of course! But umm... I don't know... I don't know if Julia would appreciate me being with another ham-girl... And besides, she's a ham-goddess! I'm sure she wouldn't want a regular ham like me or anything... I-I just don't know..." Maika sat down on the couch and looked up at Bijou. "You should go back to Hamtaro; he's probably wondering what's keeping you."
Bijou frowned and started to walk away when Maika added, "umm... thanks for talking to me, Bijou... And no matter what, she'll always be my ham-goddess."
"'Yours'? So you 'own' her like a genie?"
"Nah, that's not what I meant... She's 'my' goddess just like I'm 'her' ham-ham. We've been through so much that we're just part of one another now." Maika paused for a second before he continued. "...Maybe I'll have a talk with her later on..."
"I hope you do eet soon; Boss iz trying to ween 'er 'eart I theenk." Bijou let out a small sigh of relief that at least Boss wasn't going for her anymore; or at least, not at the moment.
"Thanks for your advice, Bijou. I'll talk with Harmony after everyone's done eating."