A/N: Welcome back to the next chapter of the story. Sit back, it's the longest chapter of the story so far. This is almost wrapped up, but let's see how everything goes down. Before we start, all rights of the characters in this story go to their respective owners. So without further ado, let's get started.

Chapter 41: What is Lost, Now is Found

As streaks of lightning were in the background coming to the forefront, a taxi pulled up a dirt path surrounded by vegetation everywhere. When the back door popped open, Dave emerged from it looking around hoping that Theodore hadn't gone far in the hours that had past. He asked the driver who brought him to wait as long as possible which he was more than happy to do. As a generous token, he even offered free charge knowing how serious the situation was. Dave ran off looking around his surroundings and then to the sky, knowing that more severe weather was coming. If he was going to find his son, he needed to quickly.

He desperately called out the young chipmunk's name, hoping he was anywhere near the area to be able to hear his call. But he heard nothing, nor did he see anything. The rain started coming down harder, impairing his vision. Only being able to squint his eyes for sight, he pulled his coat over his head to aid his sight however hopeless it would be. But he had to keep looking, everyone was counting on him to find Theodore. Everyone from his kids all the way down to lowly Ian, and he was going to do it for all of them, some more so than others, whatever it would take.

XXX

Off in the far distance, a small, soaked chipmunk climbed up the tree he deserted to look for food. Unable to find anything he returned to the only source of dryness and shelter he had located since he arrived in this wretched place in his mind. He whimpered to himself when he tried to snuggle in a nearby tree branch.

"Note to self, Gumball trees don't have real gumballs." Theodore said with a yuck and sigh, still wondering what would have made himself do something as foolish such as running away like he did. No one knew where he was, and even if they did, who would come find him in this weather? He came to realization that he had to lay in the non-existent bed he made for himself. No one was coming, he knew it. And why would they? He deserved to be left in the rain and mud, he acted like a fool to everyone that forever cared for him, family and friends alike.

Theodore was so hungry he could eat the branch he was sitting on, but what good would serve that? To think to himself he could have stayed in the city at the perfect arena he was inside, all the goodies he could eat. And here he was in the rain, thinking about eating a piece of wood. Was this really better off than where he was? The more Theodore thought about it, Ian if he really didn't care for him, could have put him out in this mess from the start...but he didn't.

In fact, Ian spoiled him, almost to a fault. Gave him everything he wanted and everything he ever dreamed of wanting. And he thought he was better off here? What kind of a dummy could he have been he thought to himself. He looked off in the distance seeing nothing but more rain, distant lightning strikes, and what looked like a small figure walking around. The figure looked as if it was looking for something, Theodore could hear a very faint sound coming from it's direction. He tried to stand up to get a better view, but nearly slipped on the branch he stood on, which would have been disastrous. The limb he was standing on was over top a cliff side in the high valley terrain he was at, and it would a very long fall to any land. But there something about this figure that intrigued the chipmunk, what was he looking for?

He then heard a sound come from it again...

"Theodore!"

Through the howling wind, the booming thunder in the background, and the steady rain, he could hear the figure call out his name. But who would know he was out here. He heard the voice again...

"Theodore!"

He recognized that voice, it was a voice he knew for a long time. It was...

"Dave!?" The chipmunk called out to the shadow on the horizon, and to his surprise, the figure stopped in the distance like it recognized his call back. He called out the chipmunk's name again. The chipmunk answered back to it's call. After the third call, the shadow began to come at a faster pace as it trotted through the mud.

It was Dave, he could see and tell, he'd know him from anywhere. Dave had found him, but how did he?

Meanwhile, Dave was running towards the giant oak over top the cliff side, he could see the figure of a chipmunk on a high limb waving to him in the shadows. "Theodore, I'm coming!" He called back to him.

But suddenly, without any warning, a large flash of lightning came crashing down...it struck the tree that Theodore was in. The bang of the impact took Dave off his feet, and the scream that followed sent him into a panic. When Dave looked up, the tree had caught fire from the strike, the base of the tree and trunk were engulfed in flames. The frantic Dave attempted to run to the tree at his own lightning speed hoping his son was okay.

Theodore watched in horror as the flames trapped him on the limb he stood on, there was no way for him to climb down, there was no way for Dave to climb up as the flames crept closer to the limb he stood on. The chubby chipmunk was shaking harder than the leaves that remained on it as Dave got as under neath the limb that Theodore perched on, he couldn't get fully under him though, for the ground ended in front of where he was. Theodore was slightly off to the side of the cliff from the limb he was on, and the fire was getting closer to him from where he stood, making him move further away from overtop Dave's reach.

"Dave! HELP!" The terrified Theodore called to Dave from the limb, Dave tried to inch as close to the edge of the cliff side as he could while Theodore stood some twenty feet above. Time was running out, they were both in danger if they didn't act quickly, the flames grew hotter and bigger as the heat was getting to them.

"Theodore! You need to jump!" Dave told him to do, but the chipmunk was trembling as he looked to the fire some ten feet from him and then down to the drop below him.

"I can't, I'm over the ledge..." He responded back, scared to death.

"I'll catch you Theodore..." He promised the chipmunk on the limb. "...but you need to jump before the limb burns!"

"I can't!" Was the only thing Theodore could say back to Dave as he covered his eyes in fear.

"Theodore!" Dave got his attention as he looked down from the limb, Dave reached his arms up ready to catch his son. "I believe in you."

The look on Theodore's face was of shock, Dave believed in him. "I always have." Dave followed up.

Believing...that's how this whole mess started. Theodore didn't think his family believed in him, but Dave assured him that he did in a time that mattered most. Theodore looked down and gathered himself as he prepared, the flames were mere feet from him. It felt like fire was close to singeing his tail if he waited any longer. It was time, he took a deep breath, and he jumped from the limb twenty feet from the ground.

Dave looked to see his son coming down through the rain and reach out over the ledge to catch him coming down, but Dave was losing his balance as Theodore was farther out than he believed, he was slipping off the side. The chipmunk in Dave's hands realized this and in a desperate attempt, jumped out of Dave's hand and knocked himself into Dave's chest. The force of Theodore helped Dave fall back instead of forward. Granted it resulted in slipping and tumbling on the rock he stood on, but it was better than a fall off the ledge entirely. Theodore laid in Dave's arms, both completely shocked, in the moment, and out of breath.

"Dave..." The green sweatered chipmunk grasped Dave's now soaked shirt holding him for dear life. Dave though exhausted, smiled knowing he found his son.

"It's okay Theodore, you're gonna be okay..." Dave assured him, no other words were said for a while. Only a few sniffles and more gasps of airs as Dave retreated from their current spot of danger.

After a while had passed, Dave looked over as the once downpour started to weaken little by little, also putting out the flames from the tree that once trapped his son on it. Before long, the fire subsided and the rain had halted, leaving only a very cloudy sky with a small break in the clouds to see the midnight black horizon. Dave and Theodore looked up as the star filled sky began to show, amazed how Mother Nature could change so sudden.

"Well, at least the rain has stopped." Dave stated, having finally got his wind back, though his back was definitely sore from his tumble on the rockside.

"But...how did you find me?" Theodore asked his dad as Dave carried him over to a nearby stump, seeming they were in for a long talk.

"I had some help, from some good people...including Ian." Dave's statement confused little Theo. How did Ian help Dave?

"But why would Ian help? He lied to me about...about..." Theodore's words were stopped when Dave placed his arm around his son, making Theo look up.

"About saying you could leave after your concert tonight?"

The chipmunk was getting more confused with every sentence.

"How did you know that?" He asked.

"Ian told me, I'm afraid he wasn't lying about that Theo."

The sentence that Dave said sent a sense of reality to the situation. "But, that's means I...oh no..." Theodore thought about what could possibly be happening where he once was.

XXX

After a lengthy delay, Staples Center was high and excited and the interior crowd was in a loud chant of the young chipmunk they were waiting to see. After a moment, the Sound System rose aloud over the audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen...it's the moment you've all been waiting for. Here he is, the one...the only...it's Theodore Seville!''

The loud eruption from the fans that came mostly from screaming fan girls and kids, the roar continued on until a voice came over the loud speaker.

"Hello everyone! I'm Theodore!" Came a voice from the curtains, but when the figure came through the curtains to the main arena. It was far from a chipmunk. A bald man with glasses wearing a green shirt, stuffed with pillows entered the main platform in front of the tens of thousands of screaming fans...who were doing far from screaming once they saw what they saw.

The deafening silence inside Staples Center when the crowd saw a half naked Ian trying to look like Theodore was about as funny as it was sad. An extremely nervous chuckle came from Ian before he tried to continue his bad case of persuasion.

"Umm...I like food!?" He said to the crowd. Until a murmur and holler came from the crowd.

"It's that crazy old man again!" Came a random yell from a fan, which got on Ian's nerves.

"Hey, I'm NOT old!" Ian yelled back at the critical fan. The comeback was followed by a chorus of boos and trash thrown at Ian's direction. Ian covered up from the debris, he was grabbed from behind by security, just as he was years ago with the Chipettes incident.

"What are you doing? I'm getting famous! Hey stop it! Not again! AHHH!" He yelled as he was carried backstage to end his embarrassment.

XXX

"Oh great..." Was the only words that came to Theodore's mind when he envisioned what happened with Ian back in L.A. "I messed up again! I'm making everyone's lives turn to poop." He jumped off the stump he was standing on the rockside they were recently on, as Dave looked on still sitting. The chipmunk was sniffling and wiping his nose, as he tried to gather words.

"Why would you even come find me? I've ruined everything...I ruined my career, Ian's career, our whole family's career...this is worse than anything Alvin's ever done." The little chipmunk walked over to the rock floor by the ledge side and sat down on it, staring at the city on the horizon, letting out a melancholy sigh after his speech. Dave walked over to his son and sat back down next to him, his feet dangling over the side as they both gazed over the L.A. city limits.

"I came to find you because I love you Theodore..." Dave told Theodore with love and assure, Theodore could only sigh again. Deep down, he knew Dave was saying this just to make him feel better, but that he was still extremely disappointed in him, to run away from his problems. It was something Dave always spoke to them about, never run away from problems they dealt with. That was what family was for, but Theodore ran away anyway; after all; why would they help him after what he said or did? Dave collected his thoughts, and thought about what his son would possibly be thinking about also. "Theo...think about how many times Alvin has done something wrong..."

Theodore actually chuckled at Dave's question. All the trouble that his brother had always gotten them all into. Heck, he remembered that Alvin was the reason Theodore was ever able to get this opportunity in the first place.

"Hmmp, more times than I count." Theodore said with a smile.

"Exactly. And...even though Alvin has done...a lot of things that make me want to pull my hair out, I still love him very much." Dave looked down. "Theodore...look." As his son looked up to him with his big round eyes, he put a smile on his face. "There is nothing...absolutely nothing, that will ever make me stop loving you."

"Really?" Theodore told him, which Dave gave an assuring nod to, making the young chipmunk jump back into his dad's embrace. "Oh Dave...I missed you so much."

"I missed you too Theodore, what do you say we get out of here?" Dave stood up with Theodore still in his arms and allowed him to get as dry as he could. It would be a long walk back to where they came from, but this time, they both knew they would be together.

While Dave was carrying Theodore back to the place Dave was dropped off to head back to the city, the chipmunk remembered something.

"Oh no Dave!" He said with a gasp. "I made you miss the entire concert." Looking up to Dave, making himself feel more miserable than ever.

"Somethings are more important than a concert Theodore." Dabbing off his son's soaked fur, trying to dry him off. Theodore gave a small smile in response, but not much of one. He knew that tonight meant so much to Dave with their final concert, and he ruined it for Dave. He knew that Dave had to be devastated deep down, not being able to see his kid's final show.

Theodore was silent the rest of the trip back to the pick up spot.

XXX

Dave rushed into the cab that had patently waited what seemed like forever, the driver was more than happy to hand them accessories to help both his passengers dry off from the severe weather they faced. When they were finally dry as they could be, the driver looked back at both of them; Dave looked exhausted, breathing heavy and his clothes a damp mess, little Theodore was a sight, his shirt was muddy, torn, and almost looked slightly singed like it had been burned. Theo's whole body was covered in disgusting, crusty mud all over his fur, which was embarrassing to him, but the driver was just happy that the young one was safe. The driver then asked to his passengers...

"Welcome back Mr. Seville."

Dave looked down at Theodore with a smile, then back to the driver. "Thank you. Let's go." With that, the taxi began to pull away and began what would be a long trip back into the city.

"I'm sorry I made you miss their show Dave..." Theodore said to him with his head down, but he was surprised by the response he received. "Well, I won't have to miss all of it. Driver, can you turn your TV to channel four?"

After a couple seconds, the TV located in the back of the cab changed and what Theodore saw shocked him. His family and friends were on the screen performing live in front of the crowd before them. Theodore looked back to Dave... "I made some arrangements to have the show air." Dave's words sent cheer to the face of the chipmunk who had hardly any joy in his life over the past few days, looking up at the screen he saw them putting on an incredible performance. They finished the song they were singing which Theo and Dave watched as well, and applauded along with the sold out arena that was viewing it live in person. Theodore's brother Alvin then grabbed a miniature microphone to address the people.

"Thank you everyone!" He said aloud to the crowd attending. "We...have one final song to perform tonight...and it's something that's very important to me."

Alvin looked over to Brittany, who had a look of disappointment in her eyes. Alvin though allowed her to do what she wished, with that her hand slipped away from Alvin's grip as the others looked on. Members of the audience looked on in puzzlement when Brittany left the stage, head down, paying no attention to the onlooking audience. Alvin in a desperate attempt to help his friend, tried to cover for her.

"Please excuse Brittany, she's uh...had a cold all day." Alvin told the crowd, Brittany tried to aid also, giving a fake cough to try and make it look genuine. Soon Brittany had left the stage, leaving the four remaining in front of a sold out attendance. Alvin continued on, pulling his collar on his shirt to collect himself. "As I'm sure all of you know, there's only been five of us here tonight, and that's because...m-my brother Theodore couldn't be here tonight."

The reaction from the crowd was a sense of betrayal, with some people starting a spattering of boos, followed by a distant cry of "He's stinks!", which even from miles away, hurt the young chipmunk, who was now subjected to watch the reaction of people who once cared for him, who cuddled next to Dave's leg in embarrassment. But the red clad chipmunk on the screen, the big brother to the one the remarks were lashed out towards, heard the hateful remark, and was quick to act back at the nay sayers.

"No, my brother doesn't stink, if anybody stinks, it's me. And I'm gonna tell you why!" A hush over the crowd ensued, as well as a hushed silence that occurred miles away in a small yellow cab containing a fellow chipmunk and human. "Theodore has always been my best friend...even in the silly, stupid things I've done, he's still always looked up to me, he's always believed in me. The only thing that I had to do in return, was believe in him in the moment he needed me...and I didn't. But Theodore didn't give up, he believed in himself and what he could do, and he's done a great job...which brings me to this..."

The other chipmunks on stage looked on as Alvin pulled out a small sheet of paper that he began to unfold and hold in his tiny hands, he looked up to the crowd with proud confidence. "Everybody knows by now about the song that Theo made that lead him to all his amazing things...but you don't know about this one."

A gasp was heard in a cab as Theodore hopped up looking at Alvin on screen.

"Theodore and me had one talk about a song he was making, he wanted to sing it here tonight, but since he can't...I felt it was important that it still be sang, because...it's meant for someone very special to him." To which Alvin then reached to hold the hand of the Chipette in green next to him, which surprised her as she looked around to the audience in confusion, not sure what Alvin was talking about.

The statement put a feeling of awe upon everyone, including a feeling of shock not only from the Chipette that was being referred to, but shock upon the Chipette standing right behind the curtain, having gasped at the words spoken. Were they true? Was Alvin telling the truth? Her thoughts though were cut out by Alvin who continued on, with Eleanor under his shoulder.

"To everybody here, if Theodore was here, he would tell you all to never give up on anything you put your mind to, because you can achieve some amazing things...even when no one else thinks you can. And Theo..." He sniffled, but a paw from his brother Simon collected him back, they exchanged smiles and Alvin looked back to the crowd, while young Theodore stared into the TV screen, awaiting wait his brother had to say... "...I know you can't hear me, and I know that you'll never see this, but...I want you to know that I'm sorry...we're all sorry." Which was followed by nods from the other three chipmunks behind him.

Theodore watched and listened to Alvin's speech, and he was so happy that somebody out there was happy for him, even when nobody else was.

With that, the lights dimmed down to only Alvin, who still had Eleanor by his side, who he wanted to hear first hand of the song his brother made for her...and he began.

The melody was soft, slow, and riveting. The lyrics were impacted and embraceable as everyone listened and watched for those not present, putting everyone in amazement.

As Alvin continued to give his rendition of Theodore's song, off in the distance, a lonely pink clad Chipette looked on in awe, yet very sad at all that was transpiring. She wrapped her arms tight around her out of instinct. Little did she know that behind her, a familiar face approached, kneeling down next to her.

"Brittany, what's wrong dear?"

Brittany turned around quickly to see Grandma Janice behind her, who had been watching the show with the rest of the audience. Brittany went into a panic upon seeing her, that she tried to act on the reason she was not with the others.

"Oh, grandma, I just..." She coughed and hacked violently. "...just have a bad cough, don't feel very well..."

But the lady just shook her head.

"Brittany, I don't need to be a grandma to know when someone's not sick."

The Chipette stopped halfway through another hacking cough, and just sighed and ended the charade, wondering why she even tried. "What's troubling you dear?" Grandma asked her again.

"I can't do it Grandma Janice, I just can't be a part of this. It's not fair to the rest of us that our last song song of our last concert is spotlighted with Alvin tributing Theodore." Janice picked up the young lady and paced her into her own lap to engage in this conversation with her "grandchild".

"Why is that, I think it's a beautiful song. Don't you agree?" Grandma told her, which Brittany looked back out the arena, still hear the beautiful melody being sung by Alvin.

"Well, yes. But if this night was that special to Theodore, he would have been here." Brittany said in rebuttal, crossing her arms in retort. But Grandma Janice was quick to come back with her own reasons.

"And now, you're going to let down all the people down who came to see you one last time...over something one person did you didn't like?"

Brittany stood there to ponder those words. "Well..." She started, but was quickly stopped.

"That doesn't seem very fair to them either Brittany..." Grandma finished. What was Brittany thinking? She knew Grandma was right, the whole "Two wrongs don't make a right." saying spoken true again. She couldn't even say anything to explain her thought process. "Brittany, you know shouldn't let one thing ruin something for so many people. And deep down...I know you still care about Theodore."

"I just don't know..." She whimpered.

After an awkward silence between the two, Brittany asked the question that had been on her mind for the majority of the night. "Dave went to see him, didn't he Grandma?"

"Yes he did Brittany..."

Grandma Janice's remark was quickly followed by a harsh mutter of words under the Chipette's breath. "...but it's not for the reason you think."

The second part of her answer confused Brittany, making her look back in befuddlement. "What do you mean?"

Grandma Janice realized she perhaps made a mistake and saying what she did, but now the truth was out. She felt there was only one thing she could do.

"Oh dear...Brittany, Davey didn't want any of you kids to find out, because he knew you all would worry. Davey sent me this message a couple hours ago...he hasn't sent anything since."

She held the phone to Brittany's ear to allow her to hear the message that Dave had sent to them, that was meant to be kept secret for the moment. The words she heard made Brittany's eyes grow wide and her mouth opened in fear...what had happened?

XXX

Meanwhile, Dave watched the screen in awe as Alvin finished the song to Eleanor that resulted in massive cheers from the audience as they gave their final goodbyes to the crowd, followed by fireworks and a standing ovation, but all the while he would glance down to Theodore who looked on with a smile on his face. It finally got Dave's attention as he looked down to his son.

"Theo, did you really make that song?" He asked him.

"Uh-huh..." Theodore answered with a nod, who was still shocked that Alvin decided to sing it. Alvin had once seen his little brother writing the finishing touches on the song he just did, little did Theodore know that Alvin remembered it. The words and lyrics fascinated Alvin that his little bro could come up with a touching piece. Of course, Theodore did chuckle during the song knowing that Alvin made up the rhythm, it wasn't how Theo envisioned it in his little mind, but he knew it was a good effort on Alvin's part, and he was proud of him, as were all the screaming fans in the arena as Dave and Theodore watched on the TV. Perhaps when he saw him, Theodore would show Alvin, Eleanor, and the others how it really went.

XXX

After all the fans had cleared out, Alvin, Simon, Jeanette, and Eleanor stood before an empty arena with nothing more than a few paid members cleaning the floors. It was all over. Everything they had built up to make themselves stars for the world, ended tonight.

It should have been special to them, it should have meant something, but it didn't. Dave, their dad wasn't there to relish this moment and feeling. They still had no idea why even though by now the rest of the world did. The four kids sat in silence until Jeanette finally broke it.

"I can't believe it's over." She murmured out, barely loud enough for the rest to hear.

"Too bad Dave wasn't here to see any of it." Eleanor added on in a sad tone, making the rest drop their heads, only looking at their feet. "But where did he go?" Jeanette asked her sister. Just then they heard a response from behind them.

"He's gone..."

The kids turned around to see Brittany shocked and scared, trembling in sadness with Dave's parents not far behind. Alvin quickly rushed to her to check to see if his Chipette friend was alright, and if what she said was true.

"Brit...Dave...Dave's gone?"

"No Alvin." She responded, confusing the chipmunk in front of her, as well to the others. "Not Dave...Th-Theodore..." The name she said barely came out before her voice cracked and she buried her face into Alvin's shoulder, sobbing loudly, bringing a state of shock to the kids.

Most noticeably though, was the Chipette in green who rushed to her sister's side, somewhat pushing Alvin out of the way to console her.

"Wha-What do you mean Theodore's gone?" Eleanor cried out, her sister didn't answer though, she was still sobbing and choking on her cries. Ellie then looked up to the humans before the kids. "Grandma? Grandpa? What is she talking about?" She asked again.

Grandma and Grandpa Seville looked at each other, after a nod from Dave Sr., Grandma Janice knelt down and approached them all. She pulled out her phone to reveal to the chipmunks what she knew, and what they told Brittany.

"I'm afraid it's true kids, Davey left this message on my phone just before you came out to perform. He didn't want you to get scared or worried about what was going on, but he told me to tell you about what was happening." With that, Grandma held the phone out with the speaker on as the chipmunks waited what they were about to hear, then after an awkward silence, they heard Dave's voice with his message to give them.

"Guys...it's me. I had to leave because something bad has happened. ...Theodore's run away, nobody knows where he is, or where he's gone. Guys...Ian told me to tell all of you the truth. Theo never meant any of those things that he said, Ian pressured him into saying them, doing this that Ian regrets now. He planned on telling Theodore the truth and let him come home after the concert tonight, but it looks like he found out before hand. I have a lead on where he could be, but it's outside the city and he could be anywhere by now. I'm going to do everything I can to find him guys, but if I'm not back before the show ends, I want Grandma and Grandpa to take you home. Don't leave the house, is that clear? Mom, don't show them this until the show ends, I don't want them to be scared about this during the show.

Cross your fingers guys...I love you."

The five chipmunks present all crossed their fingers upon Dave's words, hoping that everything would turn out as Dave said.

XXX

So all the pieces are coming together. Theodore's been found, but the others don't know yet. What will the reunion be like? How will everyone react to all coming back together? Also you might be wondering what that song was Alvin was singing, don't worry. You'll see the lyrics to that song very soon, when someone else sings it. ;)

We'll find out then, until the next update, thanks for reading! :)