Chapter 4: Together Again

The Chipmunks and the Chipettes enjoyed being guests with the natives of Manumalono for the next three days, and in that time, they had so many fun activities to enjoy during their stay on the island that for a while, they forgot their troubles and simply had fun. Alvin and Brittany went surfing together one day, Simon and Jeanette took time to study the island's ecosystem, and Theodore and Eleanor got a romantic view of each sunset that came. Every evening was "luau night", as Alvin liked to call it, and he and his brothers made Brittany and her sisters the happiest they had been in days. They had plenty of fun, but they still wished to be home soon, and Alvin, Simon, and Theodore were getting worried as to why their cruise ship had not yet found them. On the fifth night of their stay, poor Theodore had a bad dream where the cruise ship sank before it reached the island and he was so upset that Alvin didn't even want to be grouchy at his little brother for waking him. Even Brittany couldn't be mad, and she and her sisters stayed with Alvin and Simon to console Theodore for a while.

On Saturday, when they had been on the island for about a week, the Chipmunks and the Chipettes were on the beach with some of the islanders accompanying them. Alvin and Brittany were standing in the water as the waves lapped against the shore, Simon and Jeanette were sunbathing, and Theodore and Eleanor were building a sand castle, and none of them could think of being bored. However, they had no idea that their luck was about to change, for as they were relaxing together, Brittany spotted something a couple hundred yards out at sea. She grabbed Alvin's hand and said, "Alvin, look!"

Alvin looked out to the sea and gasped with astonished gladness. Then he called over his shoulder, "Simon! Theodore! Come over here!"

His little brothers came over with Jeanette and Eleanor and they all got a wonderful surprise, for approaching the island was their cruise ship. It sailed to a reasonable distance of one hundred and twenty yards from the beach and then a lifeboat was lowered into the water. And who should be the first person to climb down the ladder to the boat but the Chipmunks' adoptive father, Dave. He and the ship's captain rowed the lifeboat straight to the shore and jumped out, and then Dave jumped out and ran to his boys.

"Boys!" Dave called out to them. "Boys! Oh, thank heavens!"

Simon and Theodore threw themselves into their adoptive father's arms and Dave hugged them close, but Alvin was feeling a little reluctant because he feared Dave was going to berate him for the whole situation. However, when he looked at his adoptive father, Alvin saw that Dave was smiling. He approached slowly and then before he knew what was happening, Dave had grabbed him in the group hug with Simon and Theodore and was covering their little faces with kisses. When they broke the group hug, Dave let the Chipettes get some hugs and kisses which Dave explained were from Miss Miller back home.

Then Dave composed himself a bit more and said, "Thank goodness you're all okay. I was so worried about all of you, I wanted to have a search party sent to find you the minute you all disappeared."

"But, Dave, aren't you going to be mad at me for putting my brothers and our best friends in all this danger?" Alvin asked with a sad expression.

Dave placed his hands on Alvin's shoulders instead and replied, "No, Alvin. I'm not going to blame you for this. You all ended up here due to circumstances out of any of our control. Besides, Brittany sent her own message in a bottle and told me that you all got in the lifeboat for publicity photos because she made a mistake with the publicity photos for the ship concert. But I can see you've made up, and you're all safe. Nothing else matters."

Alvin felt his eyes well up with tears of joy, and he hugged Dave once more. Then Dave told the Chipettes that Miss Miller was wanting to know how they were and they would let her know once they were on the ship. Meanwhile, the ship's captain thanked the islanders for taking care of the Chipmunks and the Chipettes, and when the chief came with the rest of his tribe, the captain thanked them all for sheltering them. The Chipmunks and the Chipettes were decked in lei necklaces and so were Dave and the captain. Then as the group returned to the ship, the natives waved and wished them well as the Chipmunks and the Chipettes waved goodbye from the stern of the ship until the island was fading into the distance behind them.

Then Brittany said, "You know, I think we still have two weeks of our cruise to enjoy before we go home."

"And those two weeks will be on me," said the captain with a smile.

On Sunday, the Chipmunks and the Chipettes were perfectly happy again. With a little help from Dave, the boys had their publicity photos fixed up and they finally got to perform their concert with the girls. Brittany gave a formal apology to Alvin and his brothers (and to her sisters by making them go along with her suggestion of hogging the spotlight), and everything was back to normal. The next day, the Chipmunks and the Chipettes were having the most relaxing time on the cruise yet. Alvin and Brittany were relaxing on the sundeck on Deck 9 while Simon and Jeanette played in the pool, and Theodore and Eleanor were relaxing together in the jacuzzi on the same deck while Dave was sitting nearby to keep an eye on them. Brittany was stepping into the pool to have some fun swimming, and when she got in, Alvin hopped into the pool and doused Simon, Brittany, and Jeanette as well.

"Alvin!" they groaned.

But instead of being mad, Brittany and Jeanette were grinning while Simon was giving his older brother a surprised and humorous smirk. Alvin chuckled and then playfully splashed Brittany as Simon and Jeanette joined in, and Theodore and Eleanor joined their siblings as well. Dave smiled as his boys played happily with the girls of their affection. They had been through quite a scare getting lost at sea, but they were safe now and enjoying the rest of their cruise in peace. And there would be more summer fun to come before school started again.

A/N: What did you think of this story? Feel free to let me know in a review, and keep an eye out for updates on my other stories. Enjoy!