A/N: My little brother is three, and he's picking up all of my old Chipmunk movies. So of course, I'm re-watching them with him. Our recent favorite (as well as my all-time) is the Chipmunk Adventure, and I can't help but want to cover that mysterious gap of time when the Chipmunks and Chipettes are on their way back to California in the same balloon basket. This is currently a one-shot, but may develop one or two more. Let me know what you think please. So, picking up with loveable Theodore…
---
"…they were very sweet to me!"
"Send them a postcard, Theodore," Simon replied, as he and his brothers swung over the village sacrifice they had just escaped, narrowly missing being crocodile dinner. Thankfully, the Chipettes had come along just in time to save them before they were dropped into croc invested waters.
"Higher Jeanette, higher!" He heard Britney yell as they dodged the villagers' spears. "If they hit the balloon, we're goners!"
"Not to mention us!" Alvin yelled up at them, rolling his eyes.
"Hang on guys, you're almost in!" Eleanor called down to them as Simon felt the rough straw of the basket brush against his bare arm.
When the stakes were resting safely in the Chipettes' air balloon, Simon finally relaxed. The first things he saw were Jeanette's worried expression and frantic hands as she pulled knives out of her pocket and passed them amongst her sisters to release the boys.
"I never expected you to carry the weapons," Simon joked, trying to bring relief into her face. Jeanette's cheeks reddened ever so slightly as a laugh bubbled up out of her.
"Yeah, I guess not. We never expected to be using them to cut our friends off of stakes either." She smiled back at Simon, wrapping one arm around his bare back to keep him from falling as she cut the final ropes from around his torso.
He shivered from her touch, and she worried aloud that he was cold. After declining her coat, Simon got a good look at Jeanette and her sisters. They were clothed in rich, gauzy materials that flowed around their legs and arms, while scarves and gold jewelry adorned their hair and bodies. Over this they wore overcoats and hats, as if they were preparing for snow. Before he could open his mouth to ask where they'd been, Jeanette began struggling with the heavy stake by herself, trying to throw it overboard as the others had done.
As he helped her rid the balloon of some of its load, Simon focused on the banter he heard coming from Alvin and Britney, which was not surprising to anyone else along for the ride.
-
"Oh yeah? Well look who rescued you from near death? Me!"
"Get real. We had already come up with a plan to get out of there. You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Really? So if we hadn't have just so happened to spot you three hog-tied over a crocodile pit in loin-cloths, no doubt, you would've gotten out just fine?" Britney snapped, just now noticing the boys' attire.
-
"Are you sure you don't want my coat, Simon? You're freezing." Jeanette asked, rubbing Simon's back lightly and breaking his concentration from Alvin and Britney's banter. He felt his cheeks redden, and he looked out over the dark blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, cleaning his glasses to avoid meeting Jeanette's eyes.
"O-oh no. I'm fine. You keep it on, you barely have any warmth in these," he replied, rubbing the thin material of her sleeve.
-
"Yeah, we would have!" Alvin continued, arguing with Britney. "And what about you? Who have you been hanging out with, Aladdin?"
"I'll have you know I was about to be engaged to a prince—! " Britney stopped abruptly, her eyebrows bunched together in her angry expression. She leaned forward toward Alvin as they took their normal stance: basically nose to nose. Britney's lips were pursed tightly together, yet she said nothing, as if she was trying to hold something back. Finally, it exploded out of her.
"Oh Alvin, it was horrible! There were snakes and we were taken captive and some guys tried to tear down our balloon and I almost got eaten by a shark and I'm so glad we found you guys!" She launched herself into Alvin's arms, much to his surprise. However, as Simon knew he would, Alvin's tightened his grip around her fiercely, burying his face into her hair. Simon looked over at Jeanette, who was smiling at the pair.
--
"So where's the ring?" He asked, smirking at her.
She giggled again, rubbing her left hand absentmindedly. "Oh no, I wasn't engaged to be married. Just Britney. The prince was about five years old, and he liked Britney because she called him a pint-sized twerp." She laughed again, warming Simon's heart despite the cold air that whipped around them.
"The engagement ceremony was scheduled for dawn, but we got away that night. So no ring, but he did present her with a baby penguin as an engagement present," Jeanette explained, her expression wandering off into the distance as she remembered."
"Well, I do remember the time you and your sisters fought over a four-year-old before," Simon chuckled, leaning back against the basket.
Jeanette stood on her tiptoes to check the fuel in the balloon, her nose wrinkling at the memory. "Oh, Wubeen Voltaires. He was such a stud," she giggled, coming to stand beside Simon as she looked out at the ocean herself. "Look at that sunset, Simon."
He turned around, taking in the beautiful oranges, yellows, and pinks blending into the sky. The colors reflected down onto the blue-gray ocean, giving them miles and miles of sunset, engulfing the little balloon as it drifted along the sky. Jeanette sighed, shivering as a bit of breeze blew around them. She almost jumped when she felt a warm arm wrap around her shoulders, until she blushed at the realization that it was Simon's. She smiled to herself as she pressed her head against his shoulder. This was possibly the most beautiful sunset she'd ever seen.
--
On the opposite side of the basket, Eleanor and Theodore looked out at the gorgeous sunset like their siblings.
"I can't believe we went through with all this just to find out we were being used to smuggle diamonds. It just blows my mind that we didn't see it before. I mean, honestly, why else would two millionaires like Klaus and Claudia send six children in a race around the world. Obviously people who don't care about the well-being of children are up to no good," Eleanor ranted, pulling her green winter coat tighter around her.
"I think we were just so caught up in actually getting there that we didn't even think about their motives. I even helped Alvin pull one over for two packages of Tutti Fruttis," Theodore answered sadly. "I don't even know if I got to finish all of them. We lost them with our stuff in the balloon."
Eleanor's soft laughter wrapped around Theodore like a warm blanket, bringing a smile to his face instantly. At that thought, he noticed her thin clothing and her subtle shivering, despite her coat and earmuffs. Eleanor had always been cold-natured, that's why she always liked being in the kitchen near a bubbling stove and warm oven. Theodore pulled the turban that had been wrapped around his head and shook the fabric out, draping it around Eleanor's shoulders. She smiled over at him as she pushed her hands into her pockets, gasping quietly when she felt something inside them.
"What is it, Ellie?" Theodore asked.
She blushed as she shook her head, refusing to pull her hand out.
"Oh, it's silly."
"Come on, Ellie. What is it?"
She finally conceded, withdrawing a doll from her pocket. As Theodore got a closer look, he realized it was a replica of him.
"This was the first doll we picked up on the trip. We had to go scuba-diving to drop off our doll, and a man met us underwater. On our way back up, out of nowhere, a great white shark snatched up Britney. It's a wonder we all got out alive, let alone Britney," she explained to a shocked Theodore.
"Jeanette was the real hero, though. She pulled the hose on Britney's air tank and basically blew him away. She's so clever. Anyway, I had to swim down and pick up this little guy." She held the Chipmunk doll up to the dwindling light. Dropping her voice to a whisper, she turned to face Theodore as she continued, "I know it's really silly, but seeing it reminded me of you and home, and whenever I was scared or lost, I'd feel it in my pocket or take it out and it would remind me that somehow we would all be together again." She blushed and looked down at her bell-adorned feet, feeling Theodore's eyes on her.
Before she knew it, her head was tucked against his shoulder and a warm body was pressed against hers in Eleanor's favorite kind of hug: Theodore's.
---
A/N: Please R&R!