FINALLY! The ending chapter of Come Back, Bijou! Great job to some of the readers out there for this one! Thank you all for reading, especially some of you who stuck to it since the beginning.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hamtaro or any of its characters!

Chapter 5

Maria could hear her heart burst through her chest with every beat. The hamster that this one girl balanced on her shoulder was something that Maria was looking for the entire time Bijou went missing. Her heart broke with every glance to the blue ribbons tied into pigtails just like her old hamster had done. In fact, Maria could feel her head spin with excitement as she thought of the idea of obtaining her once run away hamster. Bijou wasn't gone for that long, but Maria missed her pet so much as did her friend Laura. Hamtaro was on Maria's shoulder and looked comfortable doing so. The French girl smiled as she thought of Laura's face when the brunette would get to see Hamtaro again.

Then, the two girls entered the room, leaving Emily, who's name was unknown to Maria, in shock as her eyes swarmed around the ball room. It was something that she could only find in her mother's fairytales. Not any books. She didn't know how to read, but Emily swore that next year, she would go to school and finally learn to spell her name. Her mother had said that Emily had a beautiful name and it would be even more extravagant when Emily learned to spell it out. The poor girl loved the idea of learning to read, but she had Snow White, which was Bijou, and that was all that mattered to her.

"Please, take a seat," Maria pleaded quietly and beckoned for Emily to sit down as Maria ensconced herself in her old rocking chair where she always cradled Bijou.

"What do you want?" Emily asked. Maria was a little taken aback by her tone, but she couldn't blame the little girl.

"Where did you find that hamster?" Maria questioned immediately.

"I just found her on a trash can in an alley. She let me pick her up! She is so amazing!" Emily spoke with delight and it pained Maria to take Bijou away from her. Maria nodded her head and cocked her chin towards Hamtaro who seated himself on the table in the middle of the two girls.

"And this poor little one was under a trash can lid. Boy, he looked really sad right then, so I took him," Emily said simply. She started to pat Bijou's head who didn't move a muscle, her eyes glued onto Maria. She leapt down and positioned herself by Hamtaro, horrified of who would really take her in.

"Oh, 'Amtaro. Vhat should I do? I feel so bad for Emily, but Maria is my legal owner," Bijou complained, almost crying. She had a right to cry. After all, she couldn't choose between her two most beloved humans. Hamtaro noticed how fast Bijou could break down into cries of agony and really hated it when she did this. He gave a reassuring squeeze to her paw. He smiled at her and Bijou beamed at how optimistic Hamtaro was being.

"It's ok, Bijou. We'll get this worked out or my name isn't Hamtaro!" he cheered as he confidently pumped his fist in the air, something Bijou knew that he did for hope and to help out the ham-hams.

"What do you want with them? And since when were they hamsters? They are my gerbils!" Emily cried, reading Maria's solemn expression. Hamtaro and Bijou looked at the two, sensing what could be coming and there would be tears.

"I just want you to know that those aren't your gerbil- I mean, hamsters. The orange one's name is Hamtaro and the white one is Bijou," Maria explained, trying her best not to be to forceful. Just as she hoped the girl not to do, Emily hopped up, screaming from the top of her lungs.

"I won't let you! You can't take them away from me!" Emily shouted, deafening poor Maria who was trying her best for Emily to take this reasonably and without a fight.

"I have Bijou's papers and I can call Hamtaro's owner over here," Maria countered.

"No! No, no, no, NO!" Emily shrieked, stamping her foot to the ground and pouting like a spoiled child.

"Listen, you need to face facts-" Maria began when she was interrupted brutally.

"No! You need to face facts! I have nothing in my life! Nothing compared to you and the only thing I look forward to is seeing my gerbils-"

"Hamsters."

"Whatever! Snow White and Spot are the only things in my life that I can actually call my own! They make me who I am. I'm called the dirty, poor, slob on my street where all of the other big kids go to school and I can't. I'm so stupid that I don't even know how to read and Snow White and Spot make me feel so hopeful that someday… I'll learn how to read. 'Cuz… I wanna be an author when I grow up. I want to go to college and make new friends and I want to write so badly. I try to read the red sign on our corner, but I can't! Everyone makes fun of me all 'cuz I don't know what it says and they do! I feel bad now 'cuz my Papa always said that you can be whatever you want to be if you just do a little hard work and have someone behind you, watching your back all the way. Snow White and Spot are the ones who always can back me up since Ma always is the one who has to work in the factory. She won't let me help 'cuz she says that she wouldn't want me to see any of it. I only have those two to help me get through it and I love them! And they love me back! I know it 'cuz they talk to me. I can hear Snow White say hi to me when I come in. My Ma thinks I'm going crazy, but I'm not! I'm not! Snow White can talk to me and I can hear it! She loves me so much and why would I give her away to someone like you? She loves me more than you! You got that? Why do you need a pretty hamster like her? You're already rich enough and you have another ger- hamster and now you want to take the only thing that lets me show something to my Ma that I'm really proud of. Just let me keep her! What's wrong with you?"

Emily was red in the face, panting and jabbing a finger at Maria who, on the other hand, was so pale that she looked like a ghost. A five year old had just sold her out in a huge speech that Maria could never protest against. Maria had nothing else to say to this stranger who just came waltzing in and stole her beloved Bijou. Maria reached her arm out to pet her hamster, but stopped midway as she gazed into Bijou's beautiful eyes. What did she do to deserve such a great hamster like her? Nothing. It was just by chance that she walked upon Bijou in a pet store around Paris and decided to pick her out because of the cute blue ribbons in her hair. Never before had Maria thought of it before and she felt ashamed. Although this girl did steal her precious Bijou, Maria was just trying to take her back when the girl had nothing on her side when Maria had just bought a new one in a pathetic attempt to replace Bijou. She closed her eyes and furiously twiddled her fingers together. Finally, Maria opened her eyes to see that Hamtaro was once again on her shoulder, looking at her with big, bulgy eyes that resembled how Princess, Maria's dog, looked like when she was begging. Then, Maria took a deep breath and gazed into Emily's eyes.

"You can't keep Hamtaro," Maria said, stressing every word without taking her eyes off of Emily. "He is Laura's."

Emily was waiting. She knew this Hamtaro, or Spot as she called him, didn't actually like her, but what mattered was Bijou.

"Keep her," Maria choked as she started to break down into tears. Emily smiled in delightment and quickly grabbed Bijou, then swiftly placed the hamster carefully on her shoulder. She was just about to open the door when the sobs pierced her heart and thrashed the pieces around her stomach and brain, paining her throat and making her dizzy. The room started to spin until Emily turned around to see Maria crying her heart out on the rocking chair where she spent so much time with Bijou. Hamtaro was on the table, looking as if he was about to cry too. Emily shook her head, trying to make a bolt for the door, but found all the feeling in her legs were gone with her knees wobbling in discomfort and ankles rattling from guilt. She inhaled a deep breath and couldn't find herself to exhale as she walked towards the bawling girl, putting Bijou in her quivering hands.

Very carefully, Emily stationed Bijou onto Maria's lap and started to walk towards the door, a few tears managing to run down her cheeks and onto her clothes. Maria looked up with red eyes and stopped sobbing as she caught sight of Bijou in her lap, who was looking at Emily tramping out towards the door.

"Wait!" Maria called toward the girl. Emily slowly turned around, wondering how much this girl could hurt her even more if that was possible. She watched Maria pick up Bijou and place her, for about the third time today, on the table and leap upstairs, Emily staring blankly after her when Maria reappeared with a small white- um, snowflake?

"You can keep this one," Maria said as she held the hamster with green ribbons towards Emily.

Emily started to scream as she immediately pick up her new pet and cradle it just as she had done with Bijou. She looked at her new, ahem, hamster and started to cry tears of happiness.

"I knew it! I knew it!" Emily squealed before putting the hamster on her shoulder. Maria smiled in confusion and replied, "Knew what?"

"I knew that miracles existed. Now, you're happy and I'm happy!" Emily squealed.

Bijou beamed at Emily as did Hamtaro who approached her side. She waved a little towards Emily who had her hand on the handle.

"Bye, Snow White," Emily said as she gazed into Bijou's eyes.

"Goodbye, Emily. I vill never forget you. I'll always be your Snow White," Bijou whispered as Hamtaro schmubby-wubbied her, blushing in the process.

"Did you hear something?" Emily asked suddenly to her new hamster when she was outside. Her new hamster just turned her head to the side. Emily turned around to get a good view of the mansion and something magical happened. Emily glanced at the street sign and squinted at it.

"Miracle Avenue," Emily silently read.

And that is some miracle.

THE END.