I do not own Rocket Power.

Rocket Wedding Redux

Reggie Rocket gripped the hand of her soon-to-be stepmom tightly. It was horrifying to think that she and Otto had almost lost Noelani because of a few hastily spoken words exchanged out of nerves. But everything had been fixed and the wedding was back on (thankfully not as soon as Momi had initially planned).

The group stepped outside, the sun shining brightly down on them. Otto Rocket scanned the vast parking intently and grinned upon seeing his two best bros rolling down the asphalt towards them. "Dudes, I was wondering if you'd ever get here!"

Ray Rocket stared in surprise and concern as the two boys halted before them. "Geez! What happened to you guys?"

Sam Dullard panted heavily, his glasses sliding down his wet nose. The blonde boy was sopping wet, the water dripping down his body and forming a puddle on the tarmac. "I was skateboarding...and then I had to swerve to avoid being whomped by a car door...flew over a fence...landed in a pool."

Twister Rodriguez rubbed his faint black eye. "Same story. 'Cept I got whomped by a luggage cart."

"What about the contest?" Tito Makani asked, removing a handkerchief from his shirt pocket so that Sam could dry his glasses.

Twister shrugged. "Eh, there'll be lots more contests we can win."

"This was more important," Sam added, gratefully taking the piece of cloth from Tito and rubbing it across the lenses of his glasses.

"So sweet!" Momi exclaimed. She bent down and crushed the two boys into a hug. "The spirits are smiling down on all of you!"

"It was nothing!" Sam rasped, half-heartedly trying to pry himself out of the death-hug.

"I can't breathe!" Twister protested.

Momi finally let go and the two boys dropped to the pavement. Twister grabbed his board and grinned. "Now that you apologized for messing up, we can hit Mad Town!"

"No, he can't." Reggie smirked slightly. "Otto's grounded for pulling the stunt with the omens."

"Oh, thank you for reminding me." Momi reached over and cuffed Otto across the head. "Naughty boy! You scared poor Momi to death."

"Sorry," Otto said meekly, rubbing the back of his head gingerly.

Tito eyed Sam and Twister pointedly. The blonde swallowed nervously before hesitantly speaking up. "Er...Otto wasn't alone in putting the omens around the house."

"We helped," Twister muttered.

The two boys yelped when they received a cuff across the head as well. "What kinds of things go through your heads?" Momi demanded.

Ray sighed as Noelani giggled. "I ask myself that question every day. Come on, gang. We're crowding the lot and that security guy over there is giving us the death glare. We better move."

"Okay. See you dudes later!" Twister hopped on his board and attempted to skate away but Ray easily pulled him back by the collar of his shirt.

"From what was just revealed, you were also involved in the stupid scheme to get the wedding date changed," Ray said calmly as they started across the parking lot, the elder Rocket dragging Twister along. "And that means that the two of you are also grounded."

"Busted!" Otto laughed.

"...and by grounded, that means the three of you will be helping us with the wedding preparations."

"It was all Squid's idea!" Twister cried, jabbing a finger at the husky boy. Sam gaped at his friend and scrambled to defend himself.

"It wasn't my fault! I got caught up in the awesomeness that is ZGZ!"

"You heard him! Verbal confession!" Otto backed Twister up. "Sammy is the one who should be punished! Not us!"

"All of you get in the car." Ray rolled his eyes.

Grumbling, the males piled into the very back with Reggie. "This reeks," Otto groaned. "But...I guess we deserve it."

"Oh sure, you say that after trying to pin the blame on me." Sam pouted and slouched against the cool material of the seat.

"It was your idea," Twister pointed out. "And we were desperate! Why guy wants to spend time planning a wedding?"

"Good point," Sam conceded and rested his chin in his hands. "So...what exactly does our grounding entail, Raymundo?"

Ray buckled his seatbelt and started up the car. "It means no skateboarding, no biking, no blading, no surfing and especially no Zero Gravity until after the wedding."

"When's the wedding?" Otto cried. "It's not, like, a year away or anything is it?"

"Oh, now you want the wedding to happen as soon as possible," Noelani remarked teasingly.

Otto gave a dramatic sigh and thumped his helmeted head off of the seat. "The world hates me."

"We'll get through it," Sam reassured. "We'll find something to do with our time when we're not helping to plan the wedding."

At her brother's grumpy expression, Reggie punched him playfully in the shoulder. "Isn't karma fantastic, bro?"

"That depends on whether you're watching the karma getting dished out or getting it yourself."

...

A week had passed and Tito had moved back into the Rocket household while Noelani and Momi stayed at his place. Ray had managed to convince Tito not to bring so much stuff and the place was a lot less cluttered than the first attempt.

The two males were in the kitchen with Noelani, making lunch. Momi was spending the day at the beach and her lack of presence was certainly noticed-it was way quiet.

Tito glanced up briefly from the stove where he was frying up hamburger patties. He could hear soft beeps and familiar video game background music coming from the living room. "Aren't the little cuzzes grounded?"

Ray snorted and pulled an armful of condiments from the refrigerator. "Yeah, but you and I both know that the kids need something to occupy their time or else they'll drive us crazy."

Tito laughed heartily. "True that."

The four friends were gathered in front of the sofa, their eyes glued to the television screen. Thumbs flew over plastic controllers as each attempted to best the others at the simple platform racing game. So far, Sam was in the lead with the others trailing behind on the track.

"No!" Otto cried in frustration as his little red car fell into a pit of lava. "Dude, I'm getting whipped by the Squid!"

"Does it burn?" Sam retorted.

Twister was in last place and so far behind that he didn't have a chance. He cast a glance at Otto, who nodded subtly at him. The redhead crashed his green car into the side of a cliff and a pixilated explosion occurred. "Sacrifice!" he hollered and tackled Sam, who shouted in surprise. His blue car swerved off-course when his controller flew from his hands.

"Not fair!" Sam cried as Twister pinned him to the carpet.

Otto cackled gleefully as he rapidly approached the spot where Sam's car was idling. "Now this is what I call teamwork! Keep him down, Twist!"

Sam grunted and tried to shove his friend off. The two tussled playfully across the floor, rolling towards the kitchen doorway. "Avenge me, Reggie!" Sam called.

"You got it, Sammy!" Reggie narrowed her eyes in concentration as Otto's car came into view.

The two boys crashed into the doorframe of the kitchen, catching the attention of the adults. Ray glanced briefly down at the kids before smiling fondly. "I suppose I should give you a warning. You marry into this family and you'll be getting those two losers as extra sons."

"I am not a loser!" Twister protested, momentarily distracted.

"You are too! A sore loser!" Sam took advantage of Twister's lack of concentration and pushed the boy to the tiled kitchen floor. He jumped to his feet and tore into the living room to see that Reggie had won the race. "Yes! Way to go Reg!"

"Aw, man. The sacrifice was a bust." Twister pushed himself up and grinned crookedly at the amused Noelani. "So, what's for lunch?"

"Hamburgers." Noelani smiled. "There's even some leftover chili in the fridge if you'd like to heat it up and put it on your patty."

"You are awesome!" Twister beamed and eagerly hurried over to the kitchen appliance that contained one of his favourite foods in the world.

"Hang on, little cuz." Tito pulled Twister back and nudged him gently in the direction of the living room. "You can wait until everything's ready."

"I can't wait that long," Twister whined.

"Maybe if you helped us make the food, the time would go by a lot faster," Ray suggested.

Twister screwed his face up. He knew from experience that cooking patties and hot dogs only made the time drag on (especially if it was a slow day at the Shack). "On second thought, I can probably wait." He turned on his heel and rushed into the living room before his friends could begin a second round of racing without him.

Noelani laughed. "He is very amusing."

"And he doesn't even try to be," Tito chuckled.

Five minutes later, the food was laid out and the kids swarmed in, slapping freshly-cooked patties onto hamburger buns and smothering the meat under various condiments.

"So worth the wait," Twister mumbled through a mouthful of burger, chili sauce dripping down his chin.

"And since you're all here, I thought we could go over some wedding details," Noelani said, reaching over and wiping Twister's face with a napkin.

Otto perked up. The sooner they started planning, the sooner the wedding would happen and the sooner he and his bros could get back to extreme sports. "What do you want us to do?"

"We know we want our wedding on the beach but we're not sure how to do it. We want something different. Something that suits us," Noelani explained. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Not off the top of my head," Sam admitted.

"Then dig a little deeper, dude," Twister urged.

Otto shook his head. "We'll give it some thought and let you know if we think of anything."

"Much appreciated." Noelani smiled. "And if I were you, I wouldn't tell Momi any ideas you come up with. I'm...sure she will have something to say and I wouldn't want you to get discouraged. Momi can be very picky."

"So we've noticed," Otto mumbled.

"I'll give you guys a hand," Reggie offered. "I think you might need a feminine touch to your brainstorming."

Otto blinked innocently. "And how will you helping us give any feminine touches?"

"Bust!" Twister cackled and high-fived Otto.

"We could use your help," Sam interjected quickly, seeing the dangerous glint in Reggie's eyes. The girl calmed down and smiled appreciatively at the blonde.

"Thanks, Sammy." She shoved her plate away and stood up. "Let's get thinking!"

"Yeah, the sooner the wedding happens the sooner I can rip it up at Mad Town," Otto agreed. Twister shoved the rest of his burger into his mouth and followed after his friends.

Ray eyed Noelani hesitantly. "The kids are great, but I'm not so sure their ideas will be...wedding appropriate."

"Have some faith," Noelani chided. "I'm sure they'll come up with something that we never would have thought of."

...

The foursome had gathered in Otto's room after lunch. Two hours later they were still staring at an empty notebook. Any ideas they had were either too extreme (Otto), too ridiculous (Twister), too simple (Reggie) or too complex (Sam).

"We will never get to go skating again," Otto moaned, thumping his head against the floor.

Sam bit on his pencil thoughtfully. "I think we're on the right track. Noelani and Raymundo both like sports. We just need to find a way to incorporate it into a wedding."

"What's a sport they both like?" Reggie asked.

"Surfing," Otto and Twister chorused.

Sam wrote that down. "Okay. How can we have a wedding with surfing?"

"Why not have the wedding on surfboards?" Twister suggested.

His friends looked at him in shock for a moment. "That's it!" Otto exclaimed, punching his bro playfully in the shoulder. "It's so obvious I can't believe we didn't think of it sooner!"

"Really?" Twister asked in surprise.

"Sure!" Reggie grinned. "The wedding can be out in the ocean. When Noelani and Dad are officially husband and wife we can surf onto the beach for the wedding reception!"

"And this way no one has to wear a stupid suit or a dress!" Otto pumped his fist in the air. "Oh, I so hope Dad and Noelani go for it!"

"Let's plan everything out so that they don't have a reason to say no." Reggie glanced over at Sam, who was scribbling madly in the notebook. "Whatcha got, Sammy?"

"Well, the choice of apparel is obvious for the wedding party," Sam explained. "Swim shorts for the guys and swimsuits for the girls. Perhaps we can all wear leis."

"Good idea," Otto praised. "What about Raymundo and Noelani?"

"Ray can just wear swim trunks like the rest of us," Reggie mused. "Noelani could probably wear a white swim wrap and maybe a white tank top. And a crown of white roses on her head!"

Sam hastily wrote all of this down. "Okay, so we have clothing for the wedding party down. What about the guests?"

"Casual," Twister spoke up. "If we're gonna have it on the beach then it's gotta be casual. Who wants to wear a scratchy suit on a beach?"

Sam nodded and added it to the list. "No dress code. Um...food?"

"Traditional Hawaiian foods and California foods," Otto decided. "A nice mix of both. We could probably hire a speciality caterer. If not, maybe we can convince Tito and Momi to make the food."

"And the decorations can be luau-style!" Sam put in.

"Perfect." Reggie grinned excitedly. "You know what, guys? I don't think Dad and Noelani will have to plan a wedding at all. We're doing it for them."

"Who's gonna be the photographer?" Otto asked.

Twister perked up slightly. "Well, I'm not so much a photographer, but I think I can shoot a wicked wedding video."

"Nice! We could probably hire an amateur photographer around here. I don't think Ray and Noelani will want a fancy, expensive dude to take all the pics." Otto glanced at Sam to make sure he was writing everything down. "What are we missing?"

"Wedding invitations and music," Sam listed. "We could probably bring down more of Tito's cousins. They play music, don't they?"

"It would be better than hiring a band," Reggie agreed. "The plane tickets to get them down here will be expensive but with the money we're saving from Momi's original plan we should have some extra to spend."

"As for the wedding invitations, why don't we be the invitation?" Twister added.

"A verbal invitation," Sam mused.

"I guess so," Otto agreed. "That sounds kinda cool."

"What else?" Reggie asked.

"I think we got everything covered." Sam reviewed the list. "Why don't we give it to your dad and Noelani? While they look it over I can have a rematch against Otto in Car Clash."

"You are so on!" Otto tore down the stairs with his friends following closely behind. They entered the living room to see the adults gathered on the couch, watching television. "Yo, we're snagging the tube!"

"Excuse me?" Ray said indigently as the kids crowded on the floor in front of him. Twister plugged the console back in and started the game up. "I don't think I approved a munchkin invasion."

"What's the matter with you?" Momi demanded. "I gotta see if handsome man throws snobby woman to curb!"

"Hey, we planned your entire wedding." Reggie handed her father the notebook. "We deserve a reward."

Surprised, Ray scanned the neat script. "Whoa, we just wanted some ideas! Not an entire wedding plan!"

"We took initiative," Sam explained.

As the kids started their game, Ray, Momi, Tito and Noelani read through the simple plans they had come up with.

"This...is actually really good!" Ray said in awe.

"I love it!" Noelani clapped her hands together. "It's simple and completely us."

"It is not good!" Momi snapped. The kids tensed nervously and glanced over their shoulders. Momi's face broke into a wide smile. "It is brilliant!"

Relieved, the foursome returned to their game.

"Way to go, little cuzzes!" Tito praised. "This is a good old Rocket-style wedding."

"Now we have to choose a date." Noelani got up and retrieved Ray's surfer-of-the-month calendar from the wall. "I don't think the preparations will take too long. How about we have it on June 31st?"

"Are you doing anything that day, Otto?" Ray asked sarcastically.

"Nope. Go right ahead," Otto said idly, his attention focussed on the video game.

Ray rolled his eyes. "June 31st it is. Who's going to do what?"

"I can go look for my wedding wear this weekend," Noelani said. "It shouldn't be too difficult to look for. I can drop by the florist and order some flowers for the decorations."

"I still got some luau stuff lying around," Tito spoke up. "I can handle those decorations. And I'll take care bringing the boys down from the islands."

"Momi will take care of food," Momi promised.

"As in you'll make the food or find a caterer?" Noelani asked carefully.

Momi snorted. "Momi will make food! No Ocean Shores caterer will be able to make traditional Hawaiian dishes like me."

"If you're sure you can handle it," Noelani agreed. "Maybe Ray can help you. He does run a beach-side eatery, after all."

"Uh...I can do that," Ray agreed reluctantly. Noelani smiled gratefully and pecked him on the check.

"We can do the invites if you want," Reggie said distractedly. "Make up the guest list and we'll let them know the time and place. We'll check out local photographers too."

"Sounds like a plan." Noelani smiled.

"No!" Otto suddenly cried, his thumbs flying madly over the buttons. Sam let out a whoop of victory as he passed the boy and got the lead in the race once more. "Twister! I need another sacrifice!"

"No way, bro. I'm in third place!"

"That's only because you hit me with a stupid rocket-launcher!" Reggie snapped.

"Oh, wait! I got a zap-blaster!" Twister grinned widely. "Who should I whomp?"

"Say bye-bye to your lead, Squid!" Otto smirked. "Hit him, Twist!"

"Sacrifice!" Ray bellowed. He wrapped an arm around Twister's neck and yanked him from the controller. Twister yelped as the man gave him a noogie.

"Aw, Raymundo!" Twister whined, struggling half-heartedly to get out of his secure grip. "I almost had him."

"Victory!" Sam cried, jumping to his feet and dancing around the living room.

Reggie giggled at the annoyed look on her brother's face. "You can't win everything, bro."

"No, but I can get pretty close."

"Whatever, Otto."

...

June 31st seemed to arrive in no time. Tiki torches lit up the beach and a long wooden table piled high with food stretched across the sand. Flowers of all kinds were strung up on high bamboo poles, adding a splash of colour. The guests at the wedding were close friends of the Rockets-Violet and Merv, Twister's parents, Sam's mom, Breezy, Tice Ryan, Conroy and Shirley. All were decked out in either their normal clothes or a Hawaiian shirt. Everyone was wearing at least one lei.

Ray and Noelani were already on their surfboard, bobbing gently on the soft waves in the distance. It was almost dusk and the glow from the sun made it a beautiful wedding night.

There was just one problem.

"I am going to kill him," Reggie growled. She crossed her arms over her bathing suit top and glared heatedly around the beach. "Of all times for Sam to be late!"

"Are you sure he said he'd meet up with us?" Otto asked Paula Dullard.

Paula nodded anxiously. "He said he'd be right down once he got ready. Oh, I hope nothing happened to him. Maybe I should go look-"

"I'm sure he'll be here soon," Reggie said quickly. They were already running behind schedule as it was and the girl didn't want a wedding guest on a hunt for the tardy boy.

"Sammy better get here soon. I don't think the officiate can stay on his board any longer," Twister whispered. Sure enough, the poor man who had been booked to wed the couple was rocketing nervously on his own surfboard.

Just as the words left his mouth the husky blonde came tearing down the street. Reggie put her hands on her hips as Sam jumped the metal rail separating the road from the beach and hurried towards them. "Everyone else is already out there! What took you?"

Sam panted heavily. "Couldn't...find...my...swim...trunks."

"Nice one, Squid." Otto rolled his eyes. "Now can we please get this thing going?"

When the kids had paddled into the water and assembled themselves in the proper formation, the wedding began. Those on the beach watched with binoculars. There were no fancy speeches. Simple and meaningful vows were exchanged, the rings were slid on and the wedding kiss was exchanged (and the photographer was snapping photos madly with his extra-zoom lens from the beach).

As if the spirits were indeed beaming down at them, a gentle set of waves rolled down the ocean. The officiate hastily paddled for shore but the wedding party waited for the waves to hit. First in the formation was Sam and Twister, followed by Otto and Tito, Reggie and Momi and finally, the newlyweds.

They reached shore and the wedding guests ran into the water, heartily congratulating the couple. A few family pictures were taken and many newlywed pictures. The kids snuck over to the buffet table and quickly piled some food on their plates and claimed a wooden picnic table.

"Best wedding I've ever been to," Twister commented.

"That's because we pretty much planned it." Reggie giggled. The soft Hawaiian tune in the background and the warm, family atmosphere gave her a fuzzy feeling inside.

"We should've gotten paid for this," Otto mumbled through a mouthful of shrimp.

"Well, this was technically our punishment for pulling the omen stunt. Reggie was just kind enough to help." Sam smiled gratefully at the girl, who winked back.

"It was actually kind of fun."

"Hey, where'd the officiate go?" Twister asked, glancing over his shoulder. "Did he get whomped by the wave?"

"Not even Sam could have whomped on that wave," Otto laughed. "Nah, I think the dude split."

"I think Ray and Noelani are getting ready to cut the cake," Sam observed. "Got the camera, Twist?"

"Oh, shoot!" Twist jumped from the table and ran to retrieve his camera, which had been resting on an empty spot on the food table (set on extra-zoom so that the wedding ceremony would be caught on tape). He snagged it up and wriggled through the crowd, trying to get a good spot where he could film the couple cutting the cake together. "Aw, man." He frowned when he realized everyone was way taller than him and he would probably be too late by the time he got to the front.

A pair of arms lifted him in the air and Twister found himself sitting on someone's shoulders. He glanced down in surprise and beamed at his helper. "Thanks, Conroy!" Twister said happily, sticking the camera lens between Conroy's dreadlocks and filming the cutting of the cake.

"No problem, mon," Conroy said dismissively. "Make sure ya get their good sides."

Ray and Noelani sliced a perfect piece of cake and placed it gently on a paper plate. "I know everyone wants some of this pineapple upside-down cake, but before we dig in, I know Otto wanted to say a few words."

Otto jumped on top of the picnic table and cleared his throat dramatically. "Noelani, you're a really cool person. My dad's a really cool person. Reggie and I are really cool kids. So, you married into the perfect family!"

"Bravo!" Twister cheered. "Good speech!"

"So poetic." Reggie rolled her eyes.

Ray shook his head. "I probably should have ignored him when he said he wanted to say something after the ceremony," he sighed. Noelani giggled and fed him a piece of cake. The adults moved in, grabbing plates and piling them with food, their conversations mixing in the air.

Otto turned his head towards the water. The wind had picked up slightly, making waves that were just perfect for shredding. "I can't resist. I gotta go catch some waves!"

"But you just ate!" Sam protested.

"Not a lot," Otto defended.

"But Dad said no sports until after the wedding," Reggie pointed out.

"Well, it technically is after the wedding." Sam admitted.

"Thank you, Sammy! Who's up for some major water action?" Otto asked eagerly.

Reggie cast a glance at their boards, which were stuck in the sand a few feet away. "Oh, why not? It's not like the adults are gonna involve us in their boring conversations anytime soon."

Twister hurried up to them at that moment, his Twist-Cam clutched in his hands. "What's up?"

"We're going surfing," Otto explained, getting up.

"Cool! I'm in!" Twister placed his camera on the table with the abandoned plates of food. They grabbed their boards and charged at the water.

"Whoa!" Ray cried upon seeing what the kids were doing. "Hold up! You boys are supposed to be grounded!"

"It's after the wedding!" Sam hollered over his shoulder.

"Beach rules! Wait an hour after you eat!" Tice called.

"Didn't eat much!" Otto shouted, paddling into the water.

Noelani smiled affectionately as the group paddled towards the waves. "Is this what you meant when you said that the kids have a habit of taking years from your life?"

"Yes," everyone chorused.

"There was the time they stayed out to kite-board in a hurricane," Ray began the long list of crazy situations the kids tended to get into.

"The time Sammy and Otto cut school and got stuck on a rollercoaster at the amusement park," Tito continued.

"The time they got lost at sea in a kayak," Raul sighed.

"The time Maurice and Otto snuck into an off-limits section on Mount Baldy and got lost in the snow for a night," Sandy added.

"The time they snuck out a night to play a game of street hockey," Shirley chuckled.

"The time they all surfed in the boating channel," Trice shook his head.

"The time Otto and Twister played at Zero Gravity when there was an aftershock warning," Violet smiled affectionately. "The little rascals."

"The time they drained my pool to use as a skate bowl and thought they could get away with it," Merv rolled his eyes, a slight smile playing across his lips.

"The time Sammy broke his leg when skating down the California Incline," Paula shuddered.

"And the list will continue on," Ray said knowingly, throwing an arm around Noelani's shoulders and kissing her gently. "That I know for sure."

Just then, a soft cheer rose in the distance, causing the adults to turn and observe the waves as four gifted and special kids expertly surfed them. The cheer occurred again, shouted with joy and enthusiasm of four friends who would be best friends for the rest of their lives.

"Rocket power!"