I know, it's been a while. Since my schedule's gone crazy after getting to college, I haven't been able to finish up any updates to this story. And just when I'm good and ready to work on it again, I logged on to find that the update I HAD been working on was atomatically deleted due to inactivity... which was just super. So (at least this next chapter) will be a series of really short, quick updates. I can't imagine I have any readers left at this point, but here it is.

HamtaroXbijouLover... if you're still reading, this next chapter and all of its updates are for you. Thank you.

Disclaimer: If I owned Hamtaro, Bijou and him would be married by now.

The tears falling on his fur were wet. Yes, they were very wet.

Hamtaro was a young baby, staring up into his mother's oh so bittersweet face as she gave him a broken-hearted smile that made him miss her like the sun.

Why was his mommy so sad as she sung him to sleep tonight?

Her eyes looked so strong, and her fur was so very warm.

"You are going to be safe, Hamtaro." Her voice seemed to be fading as Hamtaro's eyes slowly began to close. His vision became clouded. How comfortable he was, drifting off into slumber, nestled in his mother's kind paws for what would unknowingly be his last time.

"I love you very much, Hamtaro… I love you…"

Hamtaro awoke crying, tears staining his orange and cream fur. His eyes felt puffy and swollen, and although the droplets continued to fall steadily the hamster lifted neither finger nor paw to wipe them away.

It was morning and Laura had already gone to school while Hamtaro slept. There were more clouds in the sky than days previous, and he watched with amber eyes as their great shadows played across the ground outside the window.

With great effort, Hamtaro rose unsteadily off the floor of his cage and made his way over to the water bottle. He had cried himself to sleep last night and felt utterly drained of fluids.

Perhaps if Hamtaro had remembered the dream he had had last night there would be even more tears, but small fortune that it was his sorrow was rooted at a different source.

Even now, Boss' words rang in his ears.

"From this moment on we're no longer friends. I don't want you coming anywhere near the clubhouse. You're not a Ham-Ham anymore."

Pain had consumed Hamtaro. He felt weak and beaten.

Was this really it? All the smiles, the laughter, the good times that he had shared with his friends, and would more than willingly share again and again, was all of that now just…

"Gone?" Hamtaro spoke the last word out loud, his voice cracked and broken. The cream and orange hamster coughed.

Feeble shape that he was in, the boyham stumbled over to his wiz wheel, shakily climbing up. Placing one paw in front of the other, very slowly at first but picking up speed over time, Hamtaro began walking, then running, along until the contraption became a blurred mass zipping by beneath him.

When Hamtaro needed to think, he would hop on his wheel and run. And right now he absolutely, positively needed to think of a way to apologize to Boss.

Hamtaro loved all his friends very much. He couldn't just let all that end.

He had to find a way.

Until the next update. Thank you for reading.

~Macarov