The Lessons they Teach Chapter 25: The Epilogue, an alvin and the chipmunks fanfic

Alrighty, as I said in the first chapter, go check out my petition, sign it and spread the word. Look up 'Remember the Chipmunks' on youtube to find my video for the petition and share that with as many people as you can.

As promised, my epilogue. The finale of my lovely story. Thank you for all the love you guys...over 130 reviews! That makes me so very happy. Please still review the epilogue, chat it up and tell me every single thing you want to tell me...But PLEASE! If you had any questions or thoughts that you've been dying to say, don't hold back. TELL ME! And if you have any ideas that came to mind when you were reading this, please tell me those too. I've got a lot thought out for the sequal, but not everything. Don't be afraid to be heard. I probably won't reply to what you say, but you can be absolutly positive that I'll read it. I read all my reviews and everything all my reviews say, k?

One more thing: I strongly encourage you to check out the song links! Some of the links lead to Chipmunk fan-vids that I made (and still others lead to even more fan-vids by other fans).

Thanks again, I hope you've really enjoyed!

Thanks for your time guys. Remember, spread the word! Things won't change if no one knows about my petition. Tell people you wouldn't expect to sign too. I did. I took my petition to my church and got live signatures from EVERYONE, old, middle-age, and young (they mostly signed it because they want to see family-quality cartoons back on TV, but it's still signatures). Believe me, good changes happen, but only if we fight for the change we want. Now, without further ranting, the Epilogue:

The Lessons they Teach

Epilogue

Within the first two weeks of January, Alvin had managed to turn the little concert that was just for the Chipmunks, Chipettes, and Batty Koda into a big all-out Benefit Concert for the Homeless of America. Dave couldn't have been more proud. Well, he could have, but not when it came to the concert. Alvin wasn't doing it for publicity. He was doing it for the people. He'd also managed (along with the help of his brothers and the girls and Dave and Miss Miller and Nate and Tammy) to get enough construction people on the job to not only turn the work site into a concert area (by tearing down and remaking the old abandoned buildings all around where the new homeless shelter was going to be), he'd managed to get them to start with the outer frame of the building. The outer frame was finished and they were starting to put the stone siding on.

The cranes in the background (along with all the other building equipment left around) were going to be turned into part of the acts (safely, of course) and pyro-technicians had volunteered to rig up a fireworks set (mostly white, pink, and red since it was going to be on Valentines Day). Everyone participating had met a week in advance to run through the basics of the show (the order and the flow and such, with as little singing as possible) and all the kids had been hugged by most all of the stars (girls hugged everyone, the guys only hugged the Chipettes and Koda). Now they were all backstage, dressed up and ready to go.

"Koda, you look amazing," Dave complimented as he came back make sure their headphones were on right. "Now remember, once these are on the audience hears everything."

"Got it," Koda nodded, latching onto Jeanette's hand. Jeanette was hands down her best friend, and the others could see that. Now that Koda could read and write, the two talked literature all the time. Well, that and musicals and, Koda's latest fancy, film-making. Then there was the bit where the three (Koda, Jeanette, and Simon) swapped science ideas. Koda gave tips to Simon on how to be more natural and use less chemicals, Simon taught her what chemicals would be catastrophic if mixed. Stuff like that.

"I picked out the dress," Brittany said cheerfully. Koda was wearing a strapless dress that hung down just above her knees. It was white with a black ribbon around the waist. Simple, but it looked as though it was tailor-made for Koda.

"We picked out the hat," Alvin snapped back. That was the only thing that had really gone back to normal since October. Alvin and Brittany's bickering, and that was the same little bickering they'd had from before the paparazzi had declared them 'the cutest young couple.' The hat was a white fedora with a black ribbon.

"So? The hat would be nothing without the perfect outfit."

"Enough," Dave said, putting his hands on their shoulders. "We're here for the homeless, not to bicker about who made Koda look nice tonight." Koda giggled. "Hurry up, you need to open the show." The sun wasn't going to set for another two hours, but this was probably the longest concert in history with all the celebrities that were there. All genres of music were represented too.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"When the working, when the working day is done,

Oh when the working day is done.

Oh girls, girls just wanna have fun.

(They just wanna, they just wanna-a-a)

Oh girls, girls just wanna have fun.

(They just wanna, they just wanna-a-a)

Girls just wanna have fun."

The audience cheered as the Chipettes and Koda finished their little song and hurried off the stage. Some other celebrity was up now and they hurried to their dressing trailer (a make-shift trailer that had been set up special for the kids) and grabbed some water, checked their hair and make- up, complimented each other, and annoyed Alvin half to tears after he came in from announcing Phil Collins, who would be singing the old hit song, 'Another Day in Paradise.' Alvin had just gone in to grab a light snack because he felt like he was going to pass out because he was so hungry.

As soon as Alvin left the trailer, however, the female celebrities were all around him talking to him and telling him how adorable he was and how it didn't matter how young the Chipmunks were, everyone could relate to their music. They asked all sorts of questions now that they had the chance, and Alvin found out that everyone (celebrity or not) was fascinated by the fact that they were not only still in grade school, but they were chipmunks besides. Besides the Chipettes, they were the only chipmunks that lived in the civilized world. He really didn't see what was so amazing about it though. Simon tried to push his way to his brother just to talk and entertain himself, but he ended up getting plowed back.

"Simon!" he heard a scratchy voice calling. "Simon, can I ask a favor?" The chipmunk spun around, a bit stunned to see the country singer Mark Wills standing there.

"Sure," he managed to gasp out.

"My throat's kinda sore and I won't be able to sing my song tonight, and Koda told me how much she was looking forward to hearing it since she missed out on hearing you sing it at your unofficial concert this last Christmas. Well, seeing as she seemed so excited to hear you sing it and seeing as how I can't sing it, could you get out there and sing it for me?" Simon was stunned. He stood with his mouth hanging open, just staring in awe and amazement. "He-llo? Anyone in there?"

"Y-yes sir…I mean, of course I'll sing it…I just don't want to butcher it…"

"Simon, you're one of the Chipmunks. It's the one after the next…Do I have to ask your dad or can you just do this and surprise them? You are a host, so you can go ahead and announce what's going on. I'll still be up there playing my guitar, so if anyone seems too shocked you can just hand it over to me and I'll talk for them to prove I can't sing. How's about it?"

"I…Yes!" Simon went and stood nervously by the edge of the stage as Brittany nearly jumped out into the audience with her enthusiasm as she announced the group that was singing before he was.

"Simon," the singer said as he stood beside the chipmunk, "don't you freeze on me. You're a big star. You're above stage freight."

"I know…I just…eh…" Mark glanced around, seeing Alvin freed up and talking with Theodore. He walked over to them.

"You two think you can calm Simon down?"

"What's wrong with him?" Alvin replied defensively.

"He's nervous 'cause I asked him to sing the song for me. You can hear that I don't have enough of a voice tonight, so…" He stopped short when he saw Alvin's glare. "What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you ask me?"

"Because the song suits Simon's voice better. Now, could you be ready to calm him down if he freezes?"

"Don't sweat. We live together. I know all the things that will un-freeze him once he's in a trance."

"All you have to do is mess with his science stuff," Theodore said, referring to all the times Alvin had gotten Simon's attention away from homework.

"But his science experiments aren't here right now. There's other ways Theodore. Believe me, there's other ways."

"Don't hurt him!" Mark warned, heading back over and giving Simon a push as the group finished up their song and moved away. He went to the center, waving, moving so that his microphone screeched, making Dave nervous, and then he froze completely.

"Now!" Alvin shouted and Theodore turned on the hose he'd found. Simon quickly found himself doused in warm water (they were lucky it was warm).

"Al-vin!" Simon and Dave yelled at the same time (Dave wasn't even on stage and he didn't have a headset but everyone still heard him perfectly).

"Take it away little brother!" Alvin laughed, darting backstage again.

"Why'd you do that?" Dave demanded.

"He froze."

"He did look nervous, but did you have to…?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

"Well, um…" Simon looked back at Mark Wills. "Mark has told me that he cannot sing the song tonight because he has a…" Mark laughed into his headset (he'd managed to keep completely silent up until now).

"I can't talk, let alone sing," his voice scratched out for the audience. Simon breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't have to announce this. Announcing groups was easier than announcing changes, especially when he'd never had a spotlight quite like this. "So I'd be very appreciative if you'd go ahead and turn my mike off, you people up there know who you are, and let this nice young chipmunk have the spotlight." Simon grinned as the audience broke out into cheers. "Take it away kid." Only Simon heard that. The mike was already off.

"I'm a little boy with glasses, the one they call a geek,

A little girl who never smiles 'cause I've got braces on my teeth.

And I know how it feels to cry myself to sleep.

I'm that kid on every playground who's always chosen last,

A single teenage mother trying to overcome my past.

You don't have to be my friend,

Is it to much to ask…?

Don't laugh at me, don't call me names,

Don't get your pleasure from my pain.

In God's eyes, we're all the same,

Someday we'll all have perfect wings.

Don't laugh at me."

It was weird, not having his brother's back him up. But Mark was ahead of that. He motioned for the two Chipmunks that were standing on the side beside Dave to come on out and he'd passed his guitar over to Alvin before the last 'don't laugh at me' in that chorus. Then he went ahead and went off stage, the three huge TV screens set up above the stage showing him leaving and going out to help some of the homeless people that were helping backstage. Simon was oblivious to this at this point, his face still pointed towards the audience.

"I'm the cripple on the corner, you pass me on the street,

And I wouldn't be out here beggin' if I had enough to eat.

And don't think I don't notice that our eyes never meet.

I lost my wife and little boy, someone crossed that yellow line,

The day we laid them in the ground is the day I lost my mind.

Right now I'm down to holding this little cardboard son."

Simon jumped slightly as he heard his brothers in the back this time singing the back-up. But he only turned his head for a second, then turned back to the teary-eyed audience (the right TV screen was showing what Mark Wills was up to, the left one showing the stage, and the center showing the life of the people that had to live on the streets, as filmed by Koda who was accepted as one of their own and no one tried to cover up their lives with her).

"So don't laugh at me, don't call me names,

Don't get your pleasure from my pain.

In God's eyes, we're all the same,

Someday we'll all have perfect wings.

Don't laugh at me.

I'm fat, I'm thin, I'm short, I'm tall.

I'm deaf, I'm blind…Hey aren't we all?

Don't laugh at me, don't call me names,

Don't get your pleasure from my pain.

In God's eyes, we're all the same,

Someday we'll all have perfect wings.

Don't laugh at me."

Again, the crowd erupted as the three boys slipped off-stage and got a hug from Dave (something everyone saw thanks to the TV screen on the right) as Jeanette tripped out on stage to announce another one of their groups.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"Ok everyone," Dave announced, taking his turn center-stage. "I've watched my kids and the Chipettes and Koda announce everyone all night long, with no one to announce them. But, since this is their only song with all of them singing together, I can understand that a little. Well, tonight's finale is the Chipmunks, the Chipettes, and Batty Koda singing 'Heaven is a Place on Earth'!" The lights that had been centered on him started darting around the audience as the intro music played out.

"Oo, baby, do you know that's worth?

Oo, Heaven is a place on Earth.

They say in Heaven, love comes first,

We'll make heaven a place on Earth."

Finally, the red, green, and blue lights centered on the Chipmunks (leaving the Chipettes in the dark for just a bit longer) as they sang the first verse. First Alvin sang alone, then Simon and Theodore joined in with their voices with the girls singing the back-up oo's.

"When the night falls down,

I wait for you and you come around."

"And the world's alive,

With the sound of kids on the street outside."

"When you walk into the room (ooo-ooo),

You pull me close and we start to move (ooo-ooo).

And we're spinning with the stars above (ooo-ooo)

And you lift me up in a wave of love (ooo-ooo)."

Then they reached back into the darkness and latched onto the hands of their respective Chipette (Koda was going to have a different entrance) and swung them around to the music as the girls sang the chorus with them.

"Oo, baby do you know what that's worth?

Oo, Heaven is a place on Earth.

They say in Heaven love comes first,

We'll make Heaven a place on Earth.

Oo, Heaven is a place on Earth."

Brittany stepped forward to sing her lead with her sister's back-up (and then, for the second two lines, she switched with Eleanor).

"When I feel alone (feel alone)

I reach for you and you bring me home."

"When I'm lost at sea (lost at sea),

I hear your voice and it carries me."

They'd been moving back towards the darkness as they sang, and now they spun and pulled their friend onstage with the main white spotlight shining straight down on Koda and Jeanette for their solos.

"In this world we're just beginning (ooo-ooo)

To understand the miracle of living (ooo-000)."

Jeanette reached forward and grabbed her friend's hand as she sang her two lines.

"Maybe I was afraid before (ooo-ooo)

But I'm not afraid anymore (000-000)."

It was everyone this time, the boys standing in-between the girls as the center TV screen started showing scenes of building the place they were at with the homeless helping and the chipmunks helping and everything was just going along smoothly. Well, except for Koda's hat flying off her head because of a sudden gust of wind, but she caught it and the audience marveled at her ears as they stood back up in their normal position.

"Oo, Baby, do you know what that's worth?

Oo, Heaven is a place on Earth.

They say in Heaven love comes first,

We'll make Heaven a place on Earth.

Oo, Heaven is a place on Earth."

Then it was time for a mostly-instrumental solo (aside from one word that repeated itself a bit), so they had their dancing in the middle. Somehow three boys had to dance with four girls…they managed to make it look fancy and professional even though they all felt like it was utter chaos. As for that one word, the boys sung it first then the girls echoed it a few seconds later.

"(Heaven.)"

Then it was back to the main song, this time with Simon and Theodore sharing the part before the chorus.

"In this world we're just beginning

To understand the miracle of living."

"Maybe I was afraid before (ooo-ooo),

But I'm not afraid anymore (ooo-ooo)."

Then the real guitar solo. They made this dance a little better organized. When they were done, the line-up was all jumbled. They just stood where they ended up (really, Eleanor and Koda were the only two out of place, Koda being in Ellie's spot in the line).

"Oo, Baby, do you know what that's worth?

Oo, Heaven is a place on Earth.

They say in Heaven love comes first,

We'll make Heaven a place on Earth.

Oo, Heaven is a place on Earth.

Oo, Heaven is a place on Earth."

They all took their final bow as the fireworks went off and the audience screamed their approval. Then they all ran out and leaped into Dave's arms (Dave was used to catching six kids sometimes, so adding Koda to the mix wasn't much difference, especially because she was so light she could perch on Alvin's shoulder if she needed to). "Guess what?" he whispered when the headsets were turned off (the camera was still trained on them though, and they were center-screen as the audience left).

"What?" Alvin asked, not wanting to wait.

"Disney studio wants us, that's all of us, to do a CD of some of their classic movie songs." He looked around for the general reaction. The girls cheered, the boys were skeptical. "It'll be done here in LA before schools out if you want, and it's all sorts of songs for everyone. What do you think?"

"Is the pay good?" Alvin asked.

"The pay is only a small part of the matter."

"And what's the rest of it?" Simon asked, not needing an answer but wanting to hear one anyway.

"You guys wanting to do it, you guys liking the idea of doing it, and you all enjoying singing these songs." The kids smiled, all of them hugging.

"So how did you get this information anyway?"

"The studio called while you were singing just now."

"Just now?" Alvin echoed.

"They were really impressed with how you didn't mind doing some older music on national TV and at how good you were at it. They couldn't wait to ask. I told them I'd ask you and call back soon."

"Yes!" was the instantaneous collective reply. Well, except for Koda. She stayed silent.

"What about you Koda?"

"Does that deal include me?"

"Weren't you just up there singing that song with them?"

"Yes?"

"Then, yes, it includes you." She grinned as Jeanette latched onto her, giving her a hug.

"Welcome to the life of a celebrity," the girls giggled. It seemed Koda was going to be a permanent member of their little group. Well, they wouldn't have it any other way. The only thing was, the Chipettes couldn't just change their group name…But Koda solved that as they headed for the car by telling them that she'd just sing with them as a 'special guest' and be a bodyguard and camera girl all the other times.

People waved and cheered as the kids all piled into the car, and the kids all waved back. "Sleep tight everyone!" Sophie and Jeremy shouted. The two of them were holding hands, and they had proudly announced that they were engaged. A cheap, junk-yard ring was all they had in way of normalcy, but it was an engagement all the same.

"Koda!" Nate yelled, him and his cousin running up to the car, reaching out to hug the kids. "You were all wonderful tonight…Koda, I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you," Koda grinned, wrapping her arms around him (only to be pulled down into her seat by Jeanette and Brittany).

"You're in a skirt," Brittany hissed. "We really have to teach you how to be a girl."

"You guys should make a CD for 80s music," Tammy said as she leaned against the door. "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Heaven is a Place on Earth…You guys really make 80s music amazing and appealing for young kids as well as people who have attempted to put the 80s into the past."

"That'll never happen." Everyone glanced at Brittany. "What? They can't deny that legwarmers are comfortable, that 80s music rocks, or that skating is fun."

"Skating?" Koda whispered.

"Don't even say it!"

"You've never been skating, having you?" Alvin asked her.

"No…" Koda whispered.

"Never ridden a bike, never skated…what next?"

"We can fix that," Jeanette giggled. "We'll just have to get you a pair of skates."

"This coming from the girl who can't skate without holding onto a person or a wall," Brittany teased.

"I love you too, Brittany." Jeanette hugged her sister from one side, Eleanor from the other. Nate patted Koda's shoulder, latching onto his cousin to drag her back to his car so they could get home. They had to work the next day.

"Come by and visit whenever you feel like it," Tammy encouraged, waving good-bye to everyone. "I know where he hid the candy!" Everyone cracked up as Nate shouted something about Tammy being just like that annoying baby sister.

"You guys need to get to bed," Dave decided as they all yawned. It started with Alvin and moved through the kids like some weird version of the wave. They didn't need a bed to fall asleep though. Everyone was already asleep before he reached the Chipette's house.