Walk A Mile In Your Shoes

Chapter 15: Epilogue

Back in the Clubhouse, the other Ham-Hams were just sitting around the table with glum looks on their faces.

"Oh, I miss Hamtaro and zee others." said Bijou, her ears and pig tails drooping.

"Ookwee." agreed Penelope.

"Even I can't think of a joke to liven up this crowd," said Howdy.

"What a relief." said Dexter to himself.

"It certainly doesn't feel the same without the others here with us." said Sandy.

"I would give anything just to see Hamtaro's smiling face again." said Bijou. Just as Bijou had finished her sentence, the door to the Clubhouse swung open.

"Hamha, everyone." shouted Hamtaro to the Ham-Hams upon entering and almost instantly, everyone leaped out of their seats and ran over to greet Hamtaro. Bijou tackled Hamtaro in a hug.

"Hamtaro, you're back." said Bijou with joy. Boss was the next one to enter the room and when he noticed Bijou hugging Hamtaro, he quickly said, "Hey Bijou, I'm back too." When Bijou noticed that Boss was back, she ran over to Boss and hugged him.

"Boss, eet eez you." said Bijou. Boss blushed making his face as red as a tomato. However, Bijou quickly let go of Boss and hugged Oxnard once he came in.

"Oxnard, you're safe too." said Bijou.

"Well, you know I wouldn't just disappear on you." said Oxnard. Neteru, followed by Mara, stepped into the Clubhouse and said, "Hamha, we're back." At once, they were all surrounded by Ham-Hams all asking questions simultaneously about their trip.

"Did you get to see Rokugon?" asked Panda.

"Did you fight any villains, Boss?" asked Cappy.

"Was Rokugon as beautiful as they say it is?" asked Pashmina.

"Ookwee." said Penelope.

"What was Ankorbak like?" asked Maxwell.

"Who are those three ham-hams behind you?" asked Dexter. The questions finally stopped when they all noticed Jingle, Soshi, Nin-Ham, and Topaz enter the room.

"Oh, these are some new friends of ours." said Neteru. "Everyone, meet Soshi, Nin-Ham, and Topaz."

"Howdy, Nin-Ham, long time no see." said Howdy.

"Hello my fellow Ham-Hams." said Soshi. Without warning, Stan slid over to Soshi and grabbed both her paws.

"Hey gorgeous, where..." But before Stan could finish flirting with Soshi, Stan was grabbed by the tail by Sandy's ribbon wand and was dragged away from Soshi.

"Aw man." said Stan irritated.

They all spent the day at the Clubhouse telling stories about their adventure. After dinner, Topaz left the Clubhouse early, claiming there was something important he had to take care of. He didn't mention what it was he was going to do but he said he was coming right back. As Topaz was gone, the others continued to swap stories until that evening...

The sun was beginning to set in the distance changing the sky orange around the horizon. All the Ham-Hams were gathered outside of the Clubhouse entrance with Jingle, Soshi, and Nin-Ham standing before them, all packed up and ready to go home.

"Are you sure you can't stay longer?" asked Pashmina.

"I wish I could but I need to return to my home in Rokugon and report to the emperor about Tamori's treachery." explained Soshi.

"I wish I could stay too but I'm wanted back at my ninja school." said Nin-Ham.

"I wouldn't mind staying but I got to keep on wandering." said Jingle. "Besides, I have to go back to Rokugon so I can pick up Herbert. I left him there when we left for Ankorbak."

"I understand." said Hamtaro.

"Hey, I wonder when Topaz is coming back?" asked Boss.

"I'm coming!" shouted Topaz as he began to run up the hill. Everyone turned their heads towards the sound of Topaz's voice and saw Topaz himself running towards them with a large back pack on.

"Hey Topaz, what's with all the stuff?" asked Oxnard.

"I'm coming to Rokugon, too." said Topaz.

"Why would you want to come to Rokugon?" asked Soshi.

"Well, I've missed Rokugon so much that I've decided to move back to Rokugon." said Topaz. "Now that Tamori is gone and Ankorbak is safe once again, I can now move back there."

"Well have fun in Rokugon, Topaz." said Boss.

"Yeah, good luck on your journey, you guys." said Hamtaro. "Don't forget to come back and visit because you all will always be welcome at the Clubhouse."

"I seldom get enough time for long trips but I'm sure I may one day be able to come for a visit." said Soshi.

"Bye you guys." said Topaz. Topaz, Soshi, Jingle, and Nin-Ham all walked off towards the forests out of town while the other Ham-Hams waved good bye. Once Topaz, Soshi, Jingle, and Nin-Ham were out of sight, the Ham-Hams all left to their own homes to be with their owners.

That night, Laura was once again at her desk, dressed in her PJs and writing in her journal with Hamtaro on her desk krmping on some seeds. In her journal, she wrote:

Dear Journal

When I left for my outdoor school, I never expected that it would be so adventurous. While I was at the camp, myself, Kana, Kylie, June, and Travis had all been transformed into hamsters by some magical statue or amulet. To make a long story short, we managed to meet up with the other hamsters in town, including Hamtaro, and because we were hamsters too, we could talk to the hamsters. With their help, we traveled to a small city run entirely by hamsters and then we had to come to an abandoned city in order change back. It was certainly the most amazing journey I have ever been in. I've had to encounter sorcerers, psychics, magic, samurai, ninjas, and the cutest hamsters I have ever seen. Once we managed to change ourselves back to humans, we easily snuck back onto the bus as it came back to school and amazingly, no one noticed we were gone.

Laura looked up from her journal and looked at Hamtaro and a sad expression crossed her face. She wrote:

Although I am glad that I'm human again, I still miss being able to talk to Hamtaro. Being a hamster was so fun and I wish I could do so more often. But I just miss being able to have conversations with Hamtaro. Although I knew all along that Hamtaro cared for me, actually being able to ask him was the best thing for our friendship.

Hamtaro read what Laura wrote in her diary and thought, "Yeah, I agree, I'm going to miss talking to you too, Laura." Laura closed her diary and picked up Hamtaro into both hands.

"We certainly had a great adventure these past two weeks." said Laura to Hamtaro. "I just hope I can one day relive it."

"Me too, Laura." thought Hamtaro. "We certainly had fun." Hamtaro was placed back into his cage so he could curl up into bed. Laura turned out the lights, crawled into her own bed and said, "Good night, Hamtaro."

"Good night, Laura." said Hamtaro even though he knew that she couldn't understand him.

Meanwhile, as Hamtaro and Laura were in bed, Mara and Neteru sat side-by-side on top of a rock looking up at the full moon. Through a gap in the trees of the park, the moon shown brightly, shining upon the two sorcerers. Without looking, Mara reached over and grabbed Neteru's paw and Neteru held on to Mara's paw.

"You know, Neteru, I never did thank you for saving my life back in Ankorbak." said Mara. "Thank you."

"Well, you would have done the same for me." said Neteru. Neteru gritted his teeth as a nagging question came to his mind. "Mara, there has been something I've been wanting to say to you."

"What is it?" asked Mara curiously.

"I...love you." said Neteru a little embarrassed. "I've always thought of you as a friend but ever since we first reunited after that one year of separation, I think my feelings for you have actually changed."

"Wow, that must have taken a lot of courage to tell me this." said Mara. "Want me to let you in on a little secret?"

"Uh, sure." said Neteru surprised about the offer. Mara leaned over and kissed Neteru on the cheek.

"I love you, too." said Mara. Neteru was surprised by this but he quickly got over it and his emotions made him feel like he was floating on air.

"Really?" asked Neteru.

"Yes." said Mara. "Ever since we got back together, I've been having the same feelings for you but I hadn't had the guts to say so before." The two held each others paws and faced each other. Then they slowly and romantically kissed each other. It was the most exhilarating thing the two had ever done together and when they finally let go of each other, they began to blush as red as tomatoes and they began to rub their heads repeating "Kushi-Kushi" as they did. When they finally stopped, the two began to nuzzle each other repeating "Schumubby-Wubby" as they did. It was indeed a magical night that evening as two old friends finally expressed their love for each other.

The End

Author's note: Did you like what you read? Well don't stop now. You're only halfway through the quadrilogy and it only gets better from here. Here are the remaining stories for you to read: Journey to the Island of Halastia, and Temple of the stories are currently on under the Hamtaro section.