EIKOSIENNEA - RESURRECTION

The applause had settled down long ago, and the rodents, chiropterids, dipterid, and the paseriform were sitting in three tables brought close together. Clarice's band had politely left, for they too, knew that something quite big had happened to their sciurid friend's friends. They had agreed on having dinner, which they ate in worried silence. Now, with their dirty plates having been removed long ago, Chip kept glancing at the stage door, his thoughts on Gadget placed on hold for the moment. After turning toward it for the NTH time, he decided he had waited enough and stood on his foot-paws-

“Settle down, Chipper,” said Monterey, sitting him down with a heavy paw. “For the las' time, this is somethin' between Dale 'n Foxy!!” Chip laid his ears down, stiffened his tail, and glared at the murid,

“Monty, the last time this happened it took Dale 30 hours to return, and when he did, he came back *without her*. I am NOT going to sit here and wait for that to happen again!!”

“Now, Chip, it's not as if they can sneak out of here,” said Clarice. “My friends are guarding the back door, and if anyone tried to leave that way, they would have stopped them and come and told me. And we can't exactly miss them leaving through the *front* door, can we?” Gadget was on Chip's side, however. With worried ears, she said,

“But that's not all, Clarice! You saw Foxglove's condition! She needed a doctor right away! And you *know* that she *and* Dale were dying!!” She was also worried that she might miss her chance to ask Dale for forgiveness for what she said about him and right now she could bonk herself for not having the guts to tell him that earlier because she had no idea how to do that even though all this time she had been racking her brain trying to figure out a plan to do this and it was frustrating her like never before because for the first time she *couldn't* come up with a solution to something which seemed so *simple*-

“And it *has* been awfully quiet back there,” added Otis, also quite worried.

“Otis, even for *us* it's difficult to tune out sounds. With all the ambient music, even *you* must admit that you can't hear what's going on back there!” said Richard, somewhat sternly, with his ears emphasising his point. The young pipistrell just echosounded toward backstage, trying to discern *anything*.

“Maybe youah friends should-at reast-a-check on them,” suggested Chirp Sing.

“But Dale was in a lot better shape than Foxglove was, and he would have come out if something had happened to her,” explained Clarice. “And my friends would have seen him first, too! Guys, just give them a little more tim-” The verspetilionids suddenly perked up their ears, and turned toward the stage, causing everyone to do the same thing. The female shrew was poking her head out a little, and was saying something to the chipmunks, fly, mice, bats, and nightingale, but none of them could hear her, except the bats. She then went backstage again. Clarice looked at Rosie and asked,

“Well?” The bats had gone into a deep blush. Rosie hesitated for a moment before replying, and then she stuttered,

“Um--guys--have any of you considered--that it's quiet back there--because--because--Dale and Foxy--may be---um--well--” she trailed off.

“Dead?” asked Gadget, almost panicking. That wasn't what the rest were thinking, seeing just how deep the bats' blushing was going and how low their ears and tail were getting. Chip looked at Monterey. The mouse had been through a lot, and he had seen a lot, and he was certainly not proud of some decisions he had made. Considering the circumstances, it *was* a possibility. Chip wondered if Dale could actually lose control of himself like that, *especially* after what Foxglove sang to him. It *was* a suggestive song, after all, and both were desperate as well. It was *wrong*, yes, and certainly not justifiable, with all the values they had been raised on. But just maybe it was possible-

“Laughing,” Richard told Gadget. “The band heard *laughing*.” She thought for a moment, and asked,

“But why would Dale and Foxglove be laughing? They're both in a very serious condition.” Richard blinked at her, and then turned to Chip. The chipmunk just shook his head. “Are you sure the band heard *them* laughing?” asked the mousemaid. Before anyone could reply, the audience began murmuring again, and the murmur quickly rose into yet another round of deafening applause and cheering. The others turned toward the stage door and saw/heard-

A chipmunk and a batmaid, covered in sweat, paw in wing, ears up, tails quivering, smiling, and waving at them.

Oh dear:

“Laughing,” repeated Gadget, with everything becoming clear to her now, as her ears lowered and her face blushed. Yes, she also disapproved of it, and while she certainly wasn't trying to justify it, Foxglove's moral upbringing wasn't very well defined, to her at least, and who knows what else she did during her absence. It was wrong, a mistake, but it had been done, unfortunately.

The rodents, dipterid, chiropterids, and paseriform stood and shuffled/padded/flew/hopped toward the couple-

Something wasn't right.

Chip took a *very* close look at the couple.

If he recalled correctly, *all* of them had a recent run-in with an owl, which left them *very* heavily injured.

Hence, *all* of the Rescue Rangers, and those they rescued, went to the hospital for treatment of their injuries.

Their injuries were quite serious, especially with Dale and Foxglove, for they had several broken bones and a considerable number of dislocated joints.

Hence, when they arrived here earlier, *all* of them had bandages taped to their fur, or wrapped around them, in one place or another.

But these two had more reminders than all of them *combined*-

*Had.*

They *had* reminders.

That is, they *used* to have reminders-

“Dale, what happened to your snout brace?”

“And all your bandages?” added Otis. Dale looked at Chip with the most sincerely ignorant expression he had ever made. He took a deep breath, waited a moment, and replied,

“Chip, when I find out the answer to your question-I will answer it::all I can tell you right now is that somethin' happened to us back there that we can't explain. And--we're not sure if we *want* to understand and explain it just yet. I mean, as Rangers, we've encountered a few things which we never could explain, and whatever happened to us--well, I guess it fits into that category. All we know is that all the pain is gone, all the arthritis is gone, and all our injuries are gone. And we don't know how or why.” Chip looked back at him. He was never one who simply let mysteries just be. The tone Dale was speaking in, however, was making him think otherwise. But there was another query concerning them.

“Dale, what were you two doing back there?” Dale looked at Foxglove, and then back at his best friend.

“Laughin'.” Maybe it was because Dale was smiling for the first time in months that Chip was getting tremendously suspicious.

“And crying,” added Foxglove, wiping another tear and causing everyone's suspicion levels to stop.

“Crying?” asked Zipper. It was then when they finally noticed their matted facial fur. Richard and Rosie then padded up to them, and sniffed carefully, yet discreetly. With a relieved sigh, they turned back to the others and said,

“It's ok. That's all they did. Laugh and cry.”

“Of *course* we did!!” said Dale, rather annoyed, laying his ears back and stiffening his tail. “What *else* did you think we did back there?” Chip stuttered, with ashamed ears and tail,

“Well, Dale--with what that last song said--and you two were taking so long--and the band told us they heard---and you're all sweaty--well--sorry if we thought otherwise.”

“Well, Chip, don't worry. We won't spoil anything for us anymore. All we did was laugh and cry,” said Foxglove.

“And die,” added Dale, quite naturally, eliciting raised ears and eyebrows from the listeners.

“And resurrect,” added Foxglove, also in a natural tone, confusing them still more.

“Resurrect?” asked Monterey.

“In more ways than one,” replied Dale. “Somethin' happened back there, and we're not quite sure what, but it made us-it made *me* realise-that I have been foolin' myself all along.” Monterey asked,

“You don't mean-”

“Yup. But first I want to thank all of you for what ya'll did. Clarice, I know you set up the songs, and we can't thank you enough. Thank you all, for helpin' us. Now then-” Dale then turned to Foxglove, who was more than surprised to see and hear him get down on one knee, take hold of her now painless right wing, and ask one more time, and this time without hesitation, doubt, or with the volume or pitch fading out,

“Foxglove, do you think maybe you'd mind very much if you kinda sorta maybe just married me a little bit?”

The batmaid inhaled like never before and was so shocked and overjoyed at this question that for a moment she actually forgot how to speak. But she had to control herself. She had to control her response!!

“I----I-----I---DON'T-----KNOW--------!!!!!!!!” she finally shook, pulling her wings away from the chipmunk, folding them to her chest, and turning away from him, contorting her face so she wouldn't squeal her acceptance. She also had to forcefully stiffen her ears and tail. This shocked Dale to infinite levels, as well as everyone else. Dale looked at her incredulously, with his jaw sagging, ears drooped, and tail frozen again, and tried to ask while pointing around awkwardly,

“B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-but wh-wh-wh-wh-why???!!! A-a-a-a-a-a-after all we--you--back there--!!!” Foxglove growled, trying not to smile,

“I--I fell in love with a *Comedian*!! And from all I've heard, that Comedian is dead!!” She humphed slightly, turning fully away from him, quivering a trifle. Dale looked at her for a moment, calmed down, raised his ears, quivered his tail, and slowly stood, with the most determined expression on his face.

“Is he now,” he growled sinisterly, sending shivers through her body. “Take a seat then, *Interpreter*.” Foxglove didn't know whether to feel scared or excited, or both, with that tone of voice he was using, so she hastily did as she was told, with the others following. For a moment, the other Rangers felt just a twinge of jealousy at the couple. They were able to move with grace and nimbleness, while the rest were still plagued with that annoying arthritis. Dale then padded toward the stage. The squirrel emcee was standing just below the stage, watching them from a distance, and then he saw the chipmunk pad toward him. Dale padded up, looked at him in the eye, and asked with a dangerously low voice,

“GIVE ME::A MICROPHONE::NOW.” His voice was so low that the emcee thought he was listening to a lion. He nodded in fright, laid his ears and tail back, swirled, and tumbled onto the stage, searching for the requested equipment. He finally grabbed one that was on the floor, and he stood and turned to hand it to the tamias-

Dale was suddenly next to him, causing the sciurus to gasp in fright.

“THANKS,” he growled, slowly taking the mike from the squirrel's paws. He then turned toward the audience and was about to say something, but then he turned to his right again.

The squirrel was still there, frozen in place.

The chipmunk scowled at him and ordered,

“YOU CAN GET *OFF* NOW.” A frightened sciurus hastily made his way off the stage. Dale turned to the audience once more, and he saw the Rangers, the bats, Clarice, and Chirp Sing at their tables now. The rest of the audience was now turning toward him as well. He was about to say something, but there was something wrong, something missing, and he couldn't figure out what it was.

Suddenly, Monterey stood and hollered,

“Hey, mate! If yer goin' to do this, yer goin' to need *this*!!” The murid then pulled something from his jacket and tossed it at the chipmunk onstage. It was-

“Monty, what were you doing with Dale's Hawaiian shirt?” asked Zipper. The mouse looked at his best friend and replied,

“Jus' followin' Chipper's advice. It always pays to be prepared.”

“And how long did you have that shirt with you?” asked Chip.

“Let's jus' say from the day the Comedian left. I always knew that 'e would come back one day. Never lost faith. You can't change who you really are. You never can, mates.” The mouse sat again, with raised ears and a satisfied smile.

“Thanks, Monty!!” chattered Dale. He fumbled with his old shirt and the microphone for a moment. Foxglove, meanwhile, had her ears straight up, her tail in a blur, and her heart racing once more as lascivious thoughts rushed through her brain. Dale was going to STRIP in front of EVERYONE?? Her hopes were dashed when she heard Dale pad up to the emcee and say,

“Hold this for a moment, please,” while handing him the microphone. He then padded off stage left, and padded behind the curtain. Several moments later, the emcee heard from stage right,

“Well, what are you waiting for?! Introduce me!!!” The squirrel was shaken from his fright-trance and returned to emcee mode again. He perked his ears up and tail up, jumped to the stage, ran toward stage right, spoke with Dale for a moment, and then he turned back to the audience. The lights dimmed and the stage lights turned on him once more,

“Males and females, it's The Nutshell's honour to present our next number! He's a Comedian, native of New York, and just recently come back from the dead-I mean-retirement! Will you all welcome with me, Mister Dale Segoleh Oakmont!!!” Chip's ears relaxed as he sighed in immense relief when he heard Dale's original middle name. He stood and applauded, and the rest did the same, as Dale, now wearing his trademark shirt, padded out on stage. He was holding his grey shirt with his right paw, and he took the microphone from the emcee with his left. He shifted a bit, because with all his larger muscles this shirt felt just a trifle small. He then turned toward his loved one, whirled his right arm a few times, and tossed his grey shirt toward her. Foxglove caught it and clutched it to herself, as if it were a treasure. She inhaled his scent deeply for a moment, and then turned her attention back to the stage, to the Comedian, to *her* Comedian.

The applause died, and the Comedian began speaking, or at least that's what everyone else thought he was doing. His mouth was moving, but no one could hear a sound he was making. Foxglove and all the other bats present strained their ears trying to capture what he was trying to say. And he appeared to be saying something *very* interesting, because he was gesturing towards her and waving his arms and moving his ears and tail all over the place and making all sorts of expressions and even laughing. Strange, even with a broken microphone, they would *at least* be able to hear some sort of *whispering*-

Dale looked at the confused audience, and began looking confused himself. He glanced at his microphone for a moment, tapped it, but no sound came out of it. Finally, he turned to stage left and hollered,

“HEY, COULD YOU GET ME ANOTHER MIKE? I CAN'T EVEN HEAR *MYSELF* WITH THIS ONE!!!” Practically everyone jumped at his outburst, especially the bats. And they all laughed at his little practical joke. The emcee himself sat back down because he was *about* to get him another microphone. Dale continued, with happy ears and tail,

“Just kiddin'. Good evenin', everyone, as you just heard, my name is Dale Segoleh Oakmont-” He waited for a moment, looking at the audience a bit confused-like. “No, I'm not the evil twin brother of the guy Clarice introduced a while back!!” It was mostly his way of speaking that was eliciting laughter from the audience. “Yes, you all saw me before, I had all the braces and bandages on myself, and now I don't, and if you want to know what happened, *please* tell me as soon as you find out??” He said that with the most pleading puppy-dog expression that was so comical and yet so tender that Foxglove didn't know whether to laugh or try to eat him. Dale raised his ears again, “So, Clarice introduced me a while back, and I apologise for not standin' up, and I hope that *this* 'stand up' makes up for that. Anyways, I'm a Rescue Ranger, Fightmaster, Body-Builder, Cook, Mechanic, Stealth Expert, Detective, Entertainment Expert, Clown, Klutz, Goof-up, Comedian, Romeo, and hopefully, a Fiancée,” he looked longingly at Foxglove, “Though not necessarily in that or-der,” he added. “But right now I think I'll stick with the Comedian bit, after all, when have any of you seen a body-builder tell a joke while he was liftin' ten kilograms above his head?” The audience laughed at this query. “I mean, can you just imagine:” Dale put the mike on its stand, hunched down, laid his ears back, stiffened his tail, and “lifted” an invisible dumbbell. He did all his movements correctly, with his cheek pouches puffing out almost to his shoulders, and his face turning red as well. The audience, naturally, took it all right in. When Dale “jerked” and moved “under” the invisible bar, he slowly brought himself upright, teetered to the mike, and spoke with a *very* strained voice,

“Why------did-----the chicken----cross----the road-????!!!!” He was getting guffaws now, and even some screams as he swung and “threw” the invisible dumbbell to the audience. He sighed a bit, raised his ears again, relaxed his tail, and continued,

“You know, maybe those guys who were here a few weeks ago should have gone to the gym and brought their equipment here.” This was rewarded by laughs and applause as well. The Comedian took the mike from the stand and said, “Anyways, I want to apologise for not comin' up here that night, but I was very dead at that time--” He paused and let the confusion sink in for a moment. “And if you don't believe me just ask my friends over here-but now, let me tell you a bit about myself. I like watchin' TV and reading comic books--wow, I'm your top-notch detective, aren't I?” Even Chip had to laugh at this one. “I love chocolate--wow, now *that* really shows, doesn't it?” he asked, showing his slim profile to all. Foxglove laughed and wanted to take that profile for herself NOW. “And now I'm also a Stealth Expert. I was just solving a crime on 'Don Ho'.” The audience guffawed again, and he continued, “Yes, loud Hawaiian shirts are the latest trend in camouflage fashion, ladies and gentlemen!!” He had to wait a trifle for the audience to settle down. “I'm into the art of fencin'-I make fences-” Pause for laughter, continue, “No, not really. Fencin', as in:” He pulled out an invisible rapier and swung it angrily while chattering, “FENCE!! FENCE!! FENCE!! GATE!! DOOR!! BELL!!” Foxglove could just cry. Dale put away his invisible rapier neatly back in its invisible sheath. “I'm a Rescue Ranger, and I tell you, puttin' all those rescues on the range gets pretty tirin' after a while-” He began singing for no reason,

“*Home, home on the range,

Where the rescuin' rodents all play-_y_-*” He hunched, laid his ears back, and gave a strained take as his voice cracked, causing some spit-takes in the audience. He raised his ears again. “I'm also a klutz. Yes, I'm a klutz. We went through ten sets of dishes the last time I insisted on cookin'-um-” Time yourself, time yourself, “So basically, with all my talents, I can make you laugh while scaring a cub with my rainbow wig as I get a pie I just cooked and smash it on my face while I break open a door with my sword to repair the lock later and trip over the door to give CPR to the guy who was in the closet chokin' himself without him even knowin' it was me and I tell you what he had for dinner two weeks ago and recommend a good movie and then go and get married-you know, what a deal here-” Chip had his ears down and his tail was a blur and was laughing and laughing and laughing-

“But enough about me, let me tell you now about my roommate and fearless leader, *Chip Maplewood*!” Dale looked at him as he said his name almost gossip-like.

And Chip suddenly perked his ears up, held his tail still, and stopped laughing.

“Yes, you all saw him up here earlier, and you're goin' to see him again. Chip, could you stand up, please-” Chip was about to oblige him, but then Dale quickly said, “Oh, no-waittaminute, I forgot you had a little problem here, sorry, you don't have to stand up.” He then turned to the rest of the audience and explained, “You see, he's afraid that if he stands up and everyone sees him, some of you might have the sudden urge to sing:” Dale then gave a perfect rendition of the theme of “Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom”, a fragment, at least.

*Funny. That was actually _funny_!* thought Chip, as he lowered his ears and quivered his tail again and laughed at himself.

“He's no archaeologist, but he has found plenty of treasures over the years-namely--*me*.” Chip just laughed and shook his head. “He has a very interestin' personality, I mean where else can you find Sureluck Jones, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and Sergeant Slaughter all rolled into one?” Chip kept it coming. “But really, folks, I *really* admire this guy. He's my best friend, after all. He's got me out of plenty of jams-and jellies-and marmalades-and syrups-and-” Dale stopped for a moment, perking his ears up, as if he had just heard something *really* weird. “Wow, that's the first time I hear 500 stomachs rumble at the same time!” The audience kept it going, too. “Anyways, Chip and me go back a long way, as Clarice can tell you. And another reason I admire him is that after we both very much harassed a duck for a year or two, Chip suddenly said, 'Hey, let's form a detective/rescue agency!' I mean, WHAT AN INSPIRATION that must have been, really--!!” Chip was laughing so hard his fedora almost fell off his head. “But hey, don't ever get him mad, or he'll bonk you on the head-and you can bonk him back, but he won't feel anythin' because he has that fedora of his glued to his head and so it acts like a helmet, um-” Still more guffaws. Chip was laughing so hard now that he didn't notice the pain in his thigh and joints start to fade. “So let's hear it for Chip Maplewood, males and females!!” Dale paused a moment to put the mike on the stand and clap at his best friend, who simply laughed and waved a paw at him, and then wiped a tear from his eye.

“But now, let's move on to *another* dear friend of mine, whom you *also* saw earlier, Gadget Hackwrench. Gadget, please do all the guys here a favour and stand up.” Blushing a trifle nervously, and with bashful ears and tail, Gadget stood, waved, and sat back down. There were a few wolf calls, but Dale continued, ears down and tail stiff, hushing them, “Hey, SHHHHH!!!!!!! That's my friend you're whistlin' to!” He put on a slightly annoyed expression and added, “She's no dog, she's a MOUSE, man! But really, I had my whistlin' days with her as well. And I'll never forget the first time we met. She was actually about to kill us because she thought we were THE *ULTIMATE* INCARNATION OF THE MOST *EVIL* BEINGS YOU COULD *FATHOM*:” he spoke sinisterly, with low ears and tail, rubbing his paws. Pause for effect:

“*Salesmen*.”

For the first time in her life, Gadget realised the absurdity of her behaviour. So, she had no logical response to this. She could only lay her ears back and laugh. And as she did, she took hold of Chip's paw. Dale raised his ears again. “And for a long time Chip and me were trying to woo her--hey, doesn't that sound weird? 'Woo'? Who came up with that word? Did someone at the Royal English Academy suddenly say,” he then laid his ears and tail down again and tried to speak with a British accent, “I sayy, I have the pehfect wohd that will mean 'to troi to win summeone's affactions.' 'And whot is it?' 'Woo.' '*Woo*, jolly, that's pehhhfect, wot!!'” Pause for laughter, raise ears and tail, continue, with normal voice. “So we were tryin' to-'woo' her, and I'll tell you, she is a *very* complex mouse. She'll take a socket wrench over flowers and chocolates ANY day!” He looked at Gadget, and she was laughing and blushing like never before. Pause for effect, give confused take, continue. “I'll tell you, she can fix anythin', build anythin', install anythin'-hey, she can even *program a VCR*! Man, you can program your VCR and everyone thinks you're an alien or somethin'-hey, the FBI wanted to capture her JUST FOR THAT REASON, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???!!! YOU'D THINK *THEY* WOULD KNOW HOW TO PROGRAM THEIR VCR'S!!!!!” Gadget couldn't help but feel better by laughing at that horrible experience she had a while back. “Just don't ask her to cook, or everythin' will taste like machine oil, um-”

“Hey!” she called out, in mock anger, as the audience laughed.

“Sorry, Gadget. Well, the FBI actually wanted her for another stupid reason which wasn't her fault at all, but that's not important now.”

No, it wasn't.

And it would never be again.

Gadget was finally free from that.

Thanks to the COMEDIAN.

“But really, folks, she's a *very* sweet girl who is *very* intelligent and smells like crazy glue, axle grease, and strawberry jelly--”

“Golly, Chip, do I really?”

“S-s-s-sorry, Gadget, I---PA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!”

“Hey, Gadget, don't worry, I know someone who won't trade that scent for ANYTHIN' in the world!! Uh, oh, I'd better stop with her, or she'll get mad. And you *don't* want to see her mad, folks. Because if you get her mad, she won't bonk you.” Pause for the punch line. “She'll tie you up to a rocket, launch it, and have it drag your tail all over the house until you BEG the police to take you to prison-amazin', isn't it?” Gadget also cried, and didn't notice the pain fading away, either. “Let's hear it for Gadget Hackwrench, males and females!!” The audience applauded, and Dale padded off the stage and over to Gadget, laid his ears back, hugged her, and kissed her cheek. Foxglove heard that, and oddly enough, she did not feel jealous, though Dale's tail was wagging again. She *knew* Dale was simply being a *true* friend. Gadget then held Dale's paws, lowered her ears and tail, looked into his eyes and cried,

“Dale, I'm sorry for not taking your input seriously, and for thinking of it as worthless. I'm sorry for making you feel worthless and insignificant, and for not letting you be the detective you tried to be, and:and:for calling you a Goof-up back in Paris. Please forgive me.”

“Forgive *us*, added Chip.

“*All* of us,” added Zipper. Dale replied,

“Gadget, guys, I forgave you a long time ago.” He was about to go back, but she held his paws firmly, and still kept her ears back and tail down.

“Dale, I mean it! I never wanted to hurt you! I never knew that those things I said were so painful to you!”

“I-I know-but in many cases, you, and all of you guys-were-were right-”

“No, Dale! From now on, ALL input from you will be considered the same way we consider everyone else's! And-Dale-all you had to do was tell us-tell *me*: 'Gadget, you must know that what you just said about me has caused considerable emotional injury on my person.' Dale, you would not have hurt my feelings at all, and I would have immediately apologised and tried to make amends with you. You were always considerate of my feelings, and I should have been considerate of yours. I would have even let you bonk me if I thought I needed it!”

“Really?” asked Chip and Dale.

“Yes. And if Chip would have then thought that *you* were being inconsiderate of me and bonked *you*, I would have bonked *him* twice as hard!” She then looked at her love sinisterly, causing Chip to shiver and lower his features. She then looked back at Dale. “Dale, again, forgive me for hurting you. If I ever do it again, please tell me right away.” Dale smiled.

“That goes double for me,” added Monterey. “Specially the bonkin' part.”

“Triple for me,” added Zipper.

Chip concluded, “And because I very much started it, a quadruple for me.” Dale smiled and said,

“Guys, Gadget, you're forgiven. Thanks.” They hugged, and Dale kissed Gadget's forehead. Again, Foxglove did not feel jealous because as Dale bounced back to the stage, they all sat down and Gadget took hold of Chip's paw again. Dale skipped back to the stage and continued,

“Sorry for the delay, folks, we were just fixin' a few things there. But now let me tell you about my *other* friend, 'Monterey' Jack Colby. Monty, could you stand, please?” Monterey obliged, and he was applauded. He sat down again. “And from his name, you can probably guess what his favourite food is--broccoli-no, I mean-” Pause for laughter, give “mistaken” take, continue. “Monty is our resident cook and former globetrotter, and MAN does he love cheese!” He then turned to the mouse and explained, with ears down, tail stiff, and a “stern” tone, “Monty, *please*! You *do* know there are other types of food out there other than cheese!! I mean folks, Monterey Jack is the only mouse I know who can make cheese out of roast beef, isn't that incredible?” Pause for “response”, continue. “Here, Monty, I'll show you-” He took the microphone again, padded to stage right, pulled out a thimble covered with a lid from behind the wall, and padded toward Monterey, pointing the thimble at him.

“Look here, these are cashews:” He popped open the thimble, and multicoloured spring-loaded snakes shot at the murid, causing him to lay his ears down, stiffen his tail, yelp, and almost fall back with his chair. The audience nearly wet themselves in unison. “Wasn't that fun,” asked Dale, monotone, ears up, tail still, and with a completely straight face. Monterey laughed and laughed and laughed. Dale padded pack to the stage and continued,

“Ah, you gotta love that Monterey Jack. And you know folks, before I met Chip and became a Rescue Ranger, I've always wanted to see the world, like Monty has. But I could never afford it-like Monty. And what always got to me was that whenever I watched biographies of people on TV or readin' about them, was that *that* has never stopped anyone else, right Monty? In fact, it's when they can *least afford it* that they *really* start travelin'. I mean, it's like, 'Alone, broke, and destitute, AND HE EMBARKED ON A ROUND-THE-WORLD TOUR'!!! Am I MISSIN' OUT ON SOMETHIN' HERE, MONTEREY JACK???!!!” Monterey was guffawing like never before, and he, too was relieved of his arthritis pain. “And, of course, don't get him mad, or he'll beat you up. Let's hear it for 'Monterey' Jack Colby, males and females!!!” Pause for applause, next subject.

“And now we move on to our smallest Ranger, would you all give a paw to Mister Zipper Lightringer, please.” The audience clapped as Zipper hovered above the table-

“OH, NO, ZIPPER, WAIT!! STOP!!! EVERYONE STOP!!!” The audience, and Zipper, wondered what Dale was so worried about, and why he had his ears and tail down and was frantically gesturing for the audience to stop Zipper's ovation. When the audience was settled, Dale raised his ears and tail again and explained, “Sorry, Zipper, buddy, but you wouldn't want to get splattered by your own applause, would ya?” Zipper laughed like never before. And the slight burning in his facial exoskeleton slowly began fading away. “But seriously, folks, don't let Zipper's size fool you. I mean, he almost poked a *cat's* eye out!! So, don't trash his home-just throw trash in it, he loves it, really, um-” Pause, continue. “Zipper's my stealth mentor, and my sidekick if I should ever become a spy and need a sidekick. But you gotta love Zipper, otherwise he'll trip you and make you smear your face on his favourite food-” Dramatic pause, hold it, lay ears and tail down, “grossed out” take, accept a few “grossed out” takes from the audience, deliver:

“Apple cores.” Foxglove was a bit relieved for this particular punch line. But at least the Comedian didn't resort to blatant double meaning, or get nasty all of the sudden. Dale paused for a moment to catch his breath, raised his ears and tail, and continued, “Zipper's Monty's best friend, and he has a big heart. So big, it's been medically proven to occupy 95% of his thorax and abdomen, um-” Pause, “And he's there when you're feeling down, when you *are* down, and trust me, he won't miss the opportunity to be next to you if you happen to be *dead*, here-” Zipper laughed and cried. True, that had double meaning, but he *knew* what Dale meant. “He's the world's strongest fly! Can lift fifty times his own weight!! Can be practically invisible!! No snake can swallow him-” Pause, wait for confused takes, continue, “Yes, a snake tried to eat him once. That snake was then hit with the *true* meaning of the saying, 'you are what you eat', when he tasted Zipper-” Wait for guffaws, continue. “Unfortunately, there are times when, because of his size, we kinda forget he's there. And Zipper, yes, we admit it, we *do* forget sometimes. But even though we may forget, we'll never let you out of our hearts. You're small enough to fit there, after all, here-” Pause, “You may be small, but you pack enough energy to beat even the worst of bad guys. Zipper Lightringer, males and females, and please keep your paws down when you clap!!!” The audience gave yet another ovation filled with laughter, and even clapped with their paws down as requested. The Comedian was unstoppable now.

“And so, we're the Rescue Rangers, and we rescued Clarice and several others, as she told you earlier, but let me tell you that we would not have been able to do so by ourselves. So, let me introduce-again-my next victim-er, subject-er, fiancée-er, Ranger.” Pause, “Would you all welcome once again, the female who sang her heart out so much that it nearly jumped out of her throat, the ultimate in beauty and sweetness-and she's so sweet she'll give you cavities-the greatest bat of all: FOXGLOVE!!!!!” The pipistrell's heart was pounding so hard it was making her head throb, but without any actual pain. She stood proudly for her Comedian. The audience cheered immensely and gave even more wolf calls, causing her to blush all the blushes that had been repressed as well. Dale just looked at her for a minute:

“::Luceeeeeeeeeelle::”

And then he suddenly shook himself back to the present, trying hard to keep his ears up and tail still, amidst the sudden guffaws from the audience, Clarice, the bats, Chirp Sing, the Rescue Rangers, and his fiancée. Both he and Foxglove were blushing like never before. “Um, sorry about that, she kinda distracted me-but in a nice way. So-let me tell you about Foxglove. She chose that name for herself because she didn't like 'Orchid' very much-” Pause, “And there's no way she wanted to go through life constantly spelling out to *everyone* the name: 'Chry'-'Chrysan'-'Chrysan'-” Pause, brace yourself, deliver, “'Chry-san-tha-na-ne-ne-mu-mun-um-anum-” He said that last word with deliberate mumbling and fading and low ears, as well as with a *very* exaggerated confused take, which the audience liked. “Or somethin' like that,” he finished among light laughs. “Now some of you may be wonderin' if Foxy, a bat, actually works with Zipper, a fly. And just let me tell you: they do. Zipper, could you fly next to Foxy for a moment?” The dipterid did so, and alighted on the chiropterid's shoulder. “There, you see? A fly and a bat workin' together! She has never looked at him funny or nothin', they're great friends, believe me. Thank you, Zipper.” Foxglove even gave Zipper a small kiss on the cheek before he sat on the table again. Dale then perked up his ears, looked at Foxglove strangely all of the sudden, and commented, “Gee, Foxy, I could hear your stomach growl all the way over here! Man!” Pause, wait for those two to stop guffawing, continue. “Like most lovely females, she's a bit shy, so shy, that she began flirtin' with me within ten seconds of seein'-er, hearin' me-” Pause again. “And why did she start flirtin' with me all of the sudden? Well, I guess it has to do with how we met. I was fallin' from the top of a lamppost and she suddenly swooped me up, savin' my life, and apparently she liked what she heard. And I'll tell you, if when you're covered with bubble gum and smell like pizza with plenty of garlic AND candy AND are fallin' down from twenty feet in the air AND screamin' your lungs out, you then SOUND *so nice* to a female that she suddenly falls in love with you no questions asked-” Pause, let it sink in, let them laugh-

Dale looked at her again. Gosh, those eyes were beautiful. And they would only be focused on him now, forever and ever.

“Well,” he continued, a trifle tenderly, “who wouldn't want to love her back?” The couple looked/echosounded at each other, blocking out the audience, their friends, the distance between them-

“Let's hear it for Foxglove, males and females!!!” Once more, the audience cheered. Dale was then locked into eye contact again, and this time, he could not resist. He put the mike away again, pranced off the stage, bounced to his love, ears down and tail in a blur, hugged her tightly, and gave her a light kiss on her lips. Foxglove was almost bursting with passion now, as her ears and tail showed. She didn't want his lips to leave hers, she didn't want his arms to let go of her-

*:we'll be holding on _forever_:*

Her struggle to contain herself would have been lost if she had not kept in mind that they weren't married yet *and* that they were in front of an audience. Dale released her, and reluctantly, she let him go:for *now*, with her lips ablaze. As Dale turned and padded back to the stage, the other bats were a bit surprised at just how loudly Foxglove was echosounding at Dale's backsi-

“HUSH, chiyild!!!” scolded Feyyanna, in ultrasound, stern, ears down, while holding her wing in front of Foxglove's muzzle, but smiling nonetheless. “Wayt 'teell thu hunnymoon!!” Foxglove was startled a trifle and shook her head a little,

“Um, sorry,” she replied, also in ultrasound. “But even *you* must admit you've never heard something quite like *that* before!!” All the pipistrells blushed incredibly at this statement.

“Reyelly?” Feyyanna perked her ears up, leaned over and echosounded-

Foxglove suddenly covered Feyyanna's mouth with her right wing.

“HEY! Get your OWN chipmunk!” Feyyanna chuckled and playfully wrestled Foxglove away from her, who playfully wrestled back, like two good sisters. Feyyanna kept trying to echosound at Dale before he turned around again, but every time she pushed Foxglove's wings down and took a deep breath, Foxglove's wings would suddenly smother her again.

*Nowe thiyis ees wonn a-jiyil bayat!!* Dale finally reached the microphone again and looked at the source of the disturbance.

“What's goin' on over there?” Foxglove and Feyyanna suddenly stopped and looked at him. They just gave him it's-okay-we're-only-playing smiles, released each other, raised their ears, held their tails still, and settled down.

*::Luceeeeeeeeeelle::* thought Foxglove, even though she *still* had not much info as to what that remark meant. Dale shrugged and continued his attack. He had it all planned now.

“Ahem-as I said, I fell in love with her, and we'll hopefully be gettin' married. Now wouldn't that be interestin'? Two Rescue Rangers gettin' married? Our honeymoon will probably be spent tryin' to *foil* a hotel robbery-we'd get aluminium foil and wrap the bad guys in it-” Pause, let it sink in, continue. “And later on we'll be havin' picnics at the police station, lookin' at each other's eyes while we beat up the bad guys,” pause, “and just basically have romantic evenin's as we rescue animals from floods, fires, and what have you. It's gonna be a GREAT life, folks!!!” He was saying that in a very excited manner, as his ears and tail showed. And Foxglove *knew* he wasn't being sarcastic. While they would certainly take their time with their friends and their duties, they knew they would have plenty of time for themselves. Dale continued,

“And that's just the tip of the iceberg! I mean, are there any mixed-species couples, here?” The Comedian raised his paw and peered out to the audience. A few mammals raised their paws. Squirrels and mice, mice and gerbils, even a fruit bat and a fox-nosed bat, but no chipmunk and bat. The Comedian continued, “Gosh, Foxy, it looks like we're goin' to be breakin' new ground! And it looks like we'll have to flip a coin to see if we sleep horizontally or upside-down and during the day or the night, um-” Pause, “And I can just imagine our first fight: 'You good for nothin' husband!! All you do is sleep all night!!!'” Pause to let them get the joke, wait for guffaws, continue. “And, of course, I'll never be able to sneak in at night-er-day, cause she'll be asleep durin' the day-but I'll still won't be able to sneak in cause she can hear me breathin' a mile away-” Pause, lower ears and tail, give “disappointed” take, raise ears and tail again, continue. “Actually, the only way I'll be able to sneak up on her is if we have a HUGE thunderstorm AND if she's already screamin' her heart out at somethin'-” Pause, hold it.

And their night with Strigidæ was forever placed behind them with that joke. Continue.

“We also have NO idea of what the cubs will look like. I suppose I'll be feedin' my cub by throwin' acorns at him while he's flyin'-” Pause. Yes, it was going to be new, and scary. But Foxglove wanted it. If it was with Dale, she would take whatever was in store for her.

“Anyways, my folks are okay with this, though I know that there will be some chipmunks and bats out there who're gonna make a fuss out of all this-they're goin' to take all our pictures and make them into fuss-balls, here-” Pause. “But hey, it's not as if I'm marryin' an *elephant*, gimme a break here-” Pause, wait for clapping, continue. “Animal society is a lot like human society: SICK.” Lower ears and tail, give “sick” take, pause again, raise ears and tail. “I mean, both are crime ridden, both are filled with extremists, both have mad scientists, both have lunatics, both have chocolate, and both have lunatics tryin' to take over the world by usin' *chocolate*-” Confused take, pause. The audience was putty in his paws now.

“As Rescue Rangers, we've met the WEIRDEST of bad guys, human *and* animal. SO weird, that we have to get just as weird to defeat them. We met this cat who wanted to get rid of all the dogs in Paris, so to beat him, I had to pretend to be a terrorist-” Confused take again, pause. “Another time this mad scientist wanted to steal things by usin' hi-tech carpets. We foiled him by scarin' a bunch of snobby humans in a party-” Pause. “But a particular bad guy has given us a lot of work, he's a cat, and one time he tried to steal an expensive statue and we foiled him by basically dressin' up as *females*, here-” Foxglove laughed hysterically here. She had *no idea* how Dale would look like in a dress, so as various images formed in her mind, she nearly fell off her chair.

“So this cat obviously doesn't like us, and he even tried to stop me from marryin' Foxy here---and he almost did-” Pause. The audience got quiet all of the sudden. “Well, I think it was because he didn't like the bat-ch of cookies we sent him-” Pause again, wait for sudden laughter, continue. “I mean, I thought we used the right bat-ter, here-” Pause again, “And, when I found out that he had actually kidnapped Foxy, I passed out--I needed to recharge my bat-teries!” Dale smiled. He *smiled* at this incident now, and kept his ears and tail up as well. It was forever placed behind him. It would never haunt him or Foxglove again. “So when I woke up, I decided to gather a bunch of bats to help me rescue her--we formed a bat-talion!!” Pause. This time Otis almost fell off his chair. And the pain in *his* body melted away as well. Clarice, who was also laughing like never before, was also gradually relieved of all her bodily pain as well. “So Otis here and I went to the nearest circus.” Pause, smile. “Ah, I can tell you all know what's comin' up next: We went to the circus to gather all the acro-bats!!” Lower ears and tail, give “bad joke” take, wait for amused moans, raise ears and tail, continue. “And I prepared them for the bat-tle!!!” Pause. He took a deep breath. Making people laugh was the greatest feeling of all, for now, at least: “And as we flew in, I lead them with my bat-on!!” Twirl invisible baton while pausing again. Finding idiosyncrasies and absurdities in traumatic events, for *him* to laugh at, to *laugh* at *danger*, to *laugh* at *evil*, to *laugh* at *evil ones*, to laugh at *curses*, very much restored his strength, his confidence; it helped him to see mistakes and correct them. No Rescue Ranger, Fightmaster, Body-Builder, Cook, Mechanic, Stealth Expert, Detective, or even Fiancée or Romeo could do that for him.

Only the Entertainment Expert.

Only the Goof-up.

Only the Klutz.

Only the Clown.

Only the COMEDIAN.

“And so, we got to his hide-out, but some hide-out, everyone knows where it is-” Pause, “And we defeated him by spittin' on him-and he hated being spit on by a whole flock of bats---so he went batty!!” Pause one more time. He looked back at his table once more. Otis and *all* of the Rescue Rangers were laughing like never before, laughing at an incident which was once a matter of life and death, and now they were *laughing* at it, *mocking* it, *defying* it, *daring* it to happen again, *daring* it to challenge them once again, because never again would they be caught off guard as it happened to them so long ago now.

That was *his* doing.

*His* achievement.

*His* moment of glory and triumph.

*His* finest hour:

The hour of the COMEDIAN:

The Comedian then calmed down a trifle, as he looked once again into Foxglove's eyes.

“Actually--no. The cat didn't go batty.” Pause, wait for silence. “The only one who went batty that night--” Pause once again, lower ears, quiver tail, fall into her eyes, “-was me. I went batty over her--and--I said some-stupid stuff that night-- and we both kinda died--and Foxy, I hope you can forgive for faintin' on you, and for what I did and said that night, because I never thought it would turn out so horrible for both of us-” In an instant, the batmaid, with matching ears and tail, was suddenly next to the chipmunk, giving him a very sudden and very deep kiss, which of course made the audience woo and clap. The pipistrell broke off for a moment, and whispered,

“Dale, you never fainted on me. You never said anything bad to me. You never did *anything* bad to me. You did nothing wrong, and I have nothing to forgive. Please forgive *me* for falling for Fat Cat's trick!!” Dale's response to that was to return the kiss just as intensely as she did it, eliciting more woos and clapping.

“I forgive you,” he whispered, after he pulled away a trifle. Foxglove then felt released from the incident, finally, as if a burden was lifted off her shoulders. But then, she realised that she had to say it too, in order for Dale to become free of the incident as well.

“And *I* forgive *you*.” He too, felt lighter as well. And now, the kidnapping was truly placed behind them and buried forever. Foxglove then let go of him and fluttered back to her seat. It took Dale a few seconds to recover among the clapping and chuckling among the audience.

“Um, so as I was sayin', we both kinda died--but we were brought back, and I *finally* know why. And I'm *still* batty over her, and I always will be, and I don't understand why *any other male* would not go batty over her.” Otis just smiled inwardly at this. He would have, if he had been allowed, but he knew when to back down. He would get his mate eventually, but Foxglove was not the one. He had already come to terms with that. “Because if she did all she did tonight just to win me back, well---Foxy, you won. And I don't care what anyone says--but I love you.” The chipmunk and bat just looked/echosounded at each other, smiling, as the audience stood and cheered once more.

“Dale, I love you,” she said.

And for some reason, Dale *heard* her above all the applause.

“Thank you all!! You can go to the bathroom now!! Good night!!” The applause and laughter intensified again as Dale did a little Vaudeville dance, complete with waving his invisible hat, while humming its respective comedic musical conclusion. He then took a bow, “hit” his head on the microphone stand, “staggered” a bit, and teetered off the stage. And once more, he embraced his bat lady, his loved one, his wife.

That was the final proof.

Segoleh had indeed been resurrected.

Monterey, still clapping, padded next to Gadget, and repeated,

“'If you luv somethin', let it go:”

“If it comes back, it's yours forever:” she continued, smiling and clapping as well. Zipper finished,

“And ever and ever and ever:” It took a while for the applause to fade, and when it did, Chip asked him,

“Dale, where did all of *that* come from?” The Comedian looked at the Detective, and replied,

“I don't know, Chip. It all came off from the top of my head.” Then he looked back at Foxglove and added, “Kinda makes you wonder what *else* is in there, right, Honey?” Foxglove just echosounded into his eyes, wanting, wanting, wanting-

Dale then released her again, much to her disappointment,

“Just a moment, Foxy, I have to do somethin' right now.” True. Now that the Comedian had been fully restored, there was one final thing to do. He padded over to Chip, and smiled. Chip smiled back, ears up and tail quivering, as Dale's were, happy and relieved that his best friend was now very much back from the dead. They hugged, naturally, though Chip was a trifle surprised as he felt him more solid, *and* that his arms were a lot stronger, too. They released each other, then Dale looked at him in the eye, and stated,

“Chip, I want to thank you again for all you did tonight. You're our leader, and I know you led the others in tonight's battle plan.”

“Um, well, thanks Dale. We couldn't have done it without the others, however. But it's great to have you back.”

“Anyways, I just want to tell you, from the bottom of my heart, and I *truly* mean this, that I think that you and the Rescue Rangers are all washed up.” The Rangers, the bats, Clarice, and Chirp Sing hushed at this blatant statement. Ears were lowered again and tails were held still. Chip looked at his best friend blankly for a moment, wondering if he heard right.

“Dale, w-why would you say that?” he asked, with confusion and concern. Dale tried again,

“Chip, I *said* that you and the Rangers are all washed up!” Why Dale was smiling, holding his ears high, and quivering his tail at this theory was beyond Chip's ability to understand. And why would he say that, after everything that happened tonight had just proven the opposite?

“Dale, what are you talking about?” Dale thought for a moment, and tried a different approach,

“Chip, you're stupid.” Chip blinked at him. That wasn't true, either, even with all the sincerity Dale was using.

“Huh?”

“I said *you're stupid*,” he insisted. Chip thought for a moment, and replied,

“No, I'm not,” as logically as he could. Dale lowered his ears and tail and wiped his face in momentary frustration, looked at Chip again, and suddenly slapped the back of his head, knocking off his fedora. Everyone was more than surprised at this, and even more so was Chip, who could not figure out what Dale was doing, wincing as his fedora fell. He looked at his best friend in total bewilderment-

Suddenly, something was triggered within him.

Dale's insane grin, his insane chuckle, his insane ears, his insane tail, his insane insult, his insane gesture-

A reflex, a trademark action that had been suppressed, *killed*, was trying to surface, to *resurrect*-

Chip's left arm twitched for a moment, and even tingled, as if it had been asleep and now blood was circulating again through it.

His left paw closed to form a fist.

Chip smiled.

He then jumped up and BONKED Dale on his head.

And both their tails quivered again, as their ears came to attention.

*Odd, his head feels harder:*

Dale blinked at the bonk, but chuckled nonetheless,

“Chip, you're stupid!!” And Chip bonked him again, this time with laughter. The others began chuckling, too, even Foxglove, who was about to give Chip a piece of her mind for “harassing” her husband if Dale hadn't laughed.

“The Rangers are all washed up!!” insisted Dale. Another bonk, with heartier laughter.

“You're *stoopid*!!” This time Chip pounced on Dale, and both began to wrestle. Gadget and Foxglove immediately looked over, but then they saw that they had nothing to worry about. This scuffle was nothing like they had seen, because now *both* chipmunks were smiling, *and* laughing, *and* were wagging their tails, *and* had their ears up, besides hollering in their indecipherable chatter. Chip was surprised at just how *solid* and *flexible* Dale had suddenly become. And he was even more surprised that no part of his own body was complaining of any previous injury from their night with Strigidæ, *or* from arthritis pain:

Just then two bouncers, two *very* large prairie dogs, ran up to see what the fight was about. Gadget and Foxglove stopped them with pleading paws and wings.

“Wait!! It's okay!” said the mousemaid. “They're *always* like this!”

“Yeah!” added the batmaid. “They're not fighting, they're having a-'spirited discussion'!” Dale had told her about these bouts they had, so it was all she could come up with at the moment.

“They won't bother the patrons, mates,” added Monterey. “We'll just tell them to keep it down.” The prairie dogs looked at each other.

“It's okay, guys. They won't cause trouble,” said Clarice, padding up to them. “Now be good sports and get back to the entrance, please.” The bouncers looked at each other again, shrugged, and left. Some three minutes later, the sciurids finally stopped. Dale stood, and held out a paw to help his best friend. Chip gladly took it, stood, and hugged his best friend once more. Then, he looked at him, lowered his ears and tail, and said,

“Dale, thanks. You don't know how much I missed doing that. And now *I* want to say that--you're *not* stupid. You *never* were. Like Gadget said, we're *all* sorry for not believing or wanting your input and for making you feel insignificant. Because you're *not* insignificant. You're just as smart as I am, maybe even smarter, it's just that you have different information than I do. I could never make others laugh as you can, I could never find humour in serious things the way *you* did. And-for all the times I bonked you and treated you like a clown--Dale---I'm sorry.” Dale looked back at him, also with low ears and tail, and replied,

“Don't be. I *acted* like a clown many times when I should have been serious. But this whole thing has made me learn a lot of stuff from you, from *all* of you guys. I understand you better now, and now I understand why you reacted the way you did to all my input and comments. I *know* how to do my job now. I'll--try to keep the Comedian and the Detective separated now--”

“Don't. Be as you always were--just--be more careful--and just *try* to *not* get us into more trouble than what *I* get you into.”

“I will. And don't worry about the bonkin', I know I deserved it. *And* I know now that they *also* help you relieve stress!! So if you ever feel like bonkin' me, just go ahead. And maybe I'll say somethin' stupid as well. You *might* even laugh.” Chip smiled and raised his features again,

“Thanks, buddy. I can always count on you.” Dale smiled back and also raised his features, and then he turned to Foxglove to say something-

BONK!!!!!

Foxglove laughed. Dale winced, but he smiled anyways as he turned back,

“See? *You* can be funny! But I'll get you for that, *Detective*.”

“I'm counting on it, *Comedian*,” he replied, still smiling. Dale patted down his headfur for a moment, turned back to Foxglove, but then she asked,

“Wait a minute, Cute Stuff. What about our enemies? How will our family deal with them?” The Comedian thought for a moment, and replied,

“Like I told Fat Cat, if he messes with you, I'll kill him, even if I have to make him die laughin'. As for the rest, well, if they get me mad, they'll be sorry. But its not just *us* they'll mess with. They'll have to deal with *all* of us Rangers, and if that's *still* too much for us to handle, we'll get all of our families, and the bat-tallion again if we need to. We *can* beat them, Foxy. They'll never catch us off guard again. And *I* won't put you in danger anymore; I know I can do that now. Of course, there will *always* be danger, but you *can* be safe from them, *all* of us can. We'll always be together, and we'll face whatever danger comes at us-together. And I don't care how much security we have to put at the weddin', but we're gettin' married, and they are NOT goin' to stop us!”

“And what about your 'family curse'?” she asked.

“We've broken Sir Colby's curse, and Chirp Sing's curse as well. And since *my* curse said that I'd never be able to marry my original fiancée, I-I-I think we broke that one as well, if you're still willin' to go through the weddin' again. And speakin' of that, um, where were we-? Oh, yes. Ahem:” Once more, Dale got down on one knee, took Foxglove's right wing, and asked, this time even *more* insisting, “Foxglove, do you think maybe you'd mind very much if you kinda sorta maybe just married me a little bit??” Foxglove kept echosounding at his gorgeous dark brown eyes, which sparkled with new life and joy, his face echoing in the most beautiful resonance she had ever heard, and his smile bringing wonderful sound patterns to her ears. Matching Dale's features, her ears were fully alert and her tail was a blur, and her heart was beating in her head again, she was so *happy* that the Comedian had asked her this-

“I----*STILL*----DON'T KNOW!!!!!!!!” Once again, she snatched her wing away from her beloved, and turned her back on him as well, halting her tail movement. Everyone else's jaws went slack as Dale sagged and his tail froze again,

“Huh? Why not? I just showed you that the Comedian is alive and well!!” Foxglove turned slightly to echosound at him and look at him angrily/coyly out of the corner of her eye,

“You may have come up with that from the top of your head, *Comedian*, but I *know* that you've wanted to do that for a long time now! I *know* that you had that more or less planned!! You did that inside your head many times, and *that's* why it came right off!! But even *you* know that comedy needs a battle plan, like detective work!! I *heard* you timing yourself, and carefully choosing your words!! And it was hilarious, yes, but predictable, even though I had never heard it before!!” Dale looked up at her, ears down, with a genuine confused take on his face.

“But that's comedy! That's how a *true* Comedian works! We're predictable to ourselves, or to a trained listener like you-*what* is it that you want from me?” The bat turned around again, gave him the most sinister look *she* could conjure, grabbed him by his shirt collar, pulled him up so their noses were touching, and growled,

“The Comedian was *predictable*. I fell in love with someone who was RANDOM. Show me RANDOM--and then we'll talk, *COMEDIAN*.” Panic and fear almost took hold of Dale's heart again when Foxglove did this. His mind went blank for a moment, as he nearly fell into her royal blue eyes again. He felt himself melting under her sinister gaze and sinister voice, and he was about to kiss her-

Suddenly, he straightened up, ears up, and tail quivering again.

“You want RANDOM, *INTERPRETER*??” he asked, also quite sinisterly. The batmaid released him, trying to keep her ears up and maintain her sinister take without much success,

“I *DEMAND* RANDOM, *CHIPMUNK*.” Dale returned a sinister *and* determined look again.

“THEN RANDOM IS WHAT YOU WILL GET, *BAT*.” Foxglove shivered again. She *liked* shivering under his influence. Dale suddenly turned to Clarice and growled,

“DOES THIS PLACE HAVE A DANCE FLOOR.” Clarice, with her tail down and ears laid back, like everyone else, needed eight seconds to snap out of the trance brought in by all this sinisterness.

“Um, y-yes, Dale, this club h-has a d-dance floor-”

“CLEAR THE DANCE FLOOR.” The chipmunkmaid looked back at him in total fear. Finally, she stuttered,

“I-I can't do-do that, Dale, you'll h-have to ask-” Suddenly Dale turned to the emcee, who was still next to the stage, and repeated his command,

“CLEAR THE DANCE FLOOR.” Once again, the squirrel lowered his ears and tail and froze in place. The sinister chipmunk stomped over to him and repeated in his face,

“I *SAID* CLEAR THE DANCE FLOOR, *NOW*.” Trembling, the squirrel stumbled on the stage, took the microphone, and stuttered,

“Um, males and females, c-clear the dance floor, um, please. I know this isn't d-dance night-but we're under--um-extraordinary circumstances here--” A trifle confusedly, and reluctantly, the patrons in the area just in front of the stage left their tables while the club assistants came to remove the tables and chairs. Dale then turned to the emcee once again and asked,

“WHERE DO YOU KEEP THE MUSIC.” The emcee, completely scared out of his wits, pointed a trembling index digit toward the far wall in front of the stage. Dale saw a discman hooked up to a console, which was hooked up to the sound system. A CD rack was to its left.

“THANKS.” Dale then turned back to Foxglove, and locked sinister eyes with her as the floor was cleared. They both stood motionless, almost daring each other to blink-

“HA! You blinked!” cried Foxglove, laughing a trifle. Dale, unfazed, waited until the last guinea pig removed the last table, leaving the multicoloured tile floor clean and open. Then, he took Foxglove by her wing again, led her to the centre of the floor, and looked at her in the eye. All other eyes and ears were locked on them as he said,

“YOU WANT RANDOM? I'LL *GIVE* YOU *RANDOM*.”

:she *loved* shivering now:

He left Foxglove on the centre, and ran to the CD rack. He opened it, closed his eyes, and swept his right paw along the discs back and forth a few times, before grabbing one.

A *randomly* selected CD.

Still with his eyes closed, he took the disc out and lifted it over his head with both paws. Opening his eyes now, he padded over to the discman. Since he had both paws full, he leaned over and searched for the “open” button. Finding it, he stepped on it. Since he was still leaning over, however, as the top popped open, it hit him on the nose, though not with enough force to break it again. The audience laughed for a bit as Dale staggered around again, ears and tail down, unable to rub his nose, with the CD he was holding over his head. Then, he shook his head, raised his ears and tail, and looked back at the discman.

He closed his eyes.

He put the disc in.

He closed the top again.

He opened his eyes again.

He pressed POWER.

He turned and faced the batmaid again, rubbing his itchy nose.

“::Luceeeeeeeeeelle::” he whispered sinisterly, ears pointed at her.

She *loved* shivering under his sinister gaze and sinister voice.

And then, Dale padded back a bit, and pressed another button on the discman with his right foot-paw, while *still* looking toward his loved one.

He pressed RANDOM PLAY.

Foxglove could hear the disc whirr as a track was *randomly* chosen:

And the song began:

A guitar and drums played the opening sequence, in a beat that resonated throughout the entire club:

A POUNDING beat:

A BEAT that was then accentuated with a TRUMPET:

AND A PULSING BASS:

A *DISCO* BEAT:

And as soon as Dale heard it, he began to move accordingly, whichever and every way, pulling moves randomly from the darkest recesses in his memory, with his tail wagging at the disco beat. He first began by shifting his hips side to side while pointing up and down with his right arm over and over, still keeping his gaze on Foxglove. He made a shift as the trumpet introduced the lyrics:

“*We were born to be::_alive_!

We were born to be::_alive_!*” He spun in place a few times-

“*Born::!!*” He suddenly stopped, still looking at her.

“*Born to be alive!*” And then he began doing the *twist*, but still at the rhythm of the song. A baritone voice rang out,

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” Someone backstage decided to add to the atmosphere, so as the song continued, a mirror ball began spinning from the ceiling.

“*Yes, we were born::born::born::*” Foxglove just stood there, ears straight and tail wagging, stunned at the way he sounded when he moved.

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” The audience was now clapping at the beat of the snare drum. Dale continued twisting his way around Foxglove as the guitar prepared the way for the first verse, again introduced by a trumpet,

“*Time was on my side when I was running down the street, it was no bind, bind, bind!*” Dale suddenly shifted again, this time by staying in place and just moving his hips and foot paws, a *cumbia*.

“*A suitcase and an old guitar; it's all I need to occupy a _mind_ _like_ _mine_!*” Foxglove was speechless. The chorus began again,

“*Yes, we were born-!*” And then, he suddenly began to *breakdance*.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born-!*” He got down on the floor on all fours, kicked around a little, and then spun on his back.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born to be alive!*” He shifted a bit and then began spinning on his head, and then stopped.

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” Foxglove never knew Dale's body could *bend* that way-

“*Yes, we were born::*” He then suddenly straightened up and started waving all his limbs around, smiling, with his tongue lolling out. He was doing the *salsa* again!

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*” Only this time, there was no ruby, or cat, or human, or Detective, to interrupt him.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*” This was *his* night now.

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” Foxglove smiled. Now this was *certainly* the chipmunk she fell in love with! There was another brief instrumental, and Dale continued with the salsa.

“*People ask me why I never find a place to stop and settle down, down, down!*” But as soon as the verse began, he began moving side to side, and moving his hips and arms in waves-

“*I never wanted all those things people need to justify their life, life, life!*” *Hawaiian* disco? This was certainly new. Once more, Foxglove was transfixed at the way Dale's hips sounded as they moved.

“*Yes, we were born-!*” He was now running around Foxglove while moving in circles, waving his arms all over the place.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born-!*” Foxglove blinked, trying to identify this dance. She was certainly confused, but happy nonetheless. He would *always* surprise her, and always in a *good* way.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born to be alive!*” *Blimey! I hope it doesn't rain in 'ere with that ??_Indian rain dance_ 'e's doin'!!* thought Monterey.

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” And then he stopped in front of her again.

“*Yes, we were born::*” Dale suddenly squatted, crossed his arms, and began kicking in a very Russian way. Dale threw his arms up and chattered,

“HEY!”, right at the beat, and continued kicking.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*”

“HEY!”, yelled the audience as well.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*”

“HEY!!”

“*BORN TO BE ALIV-*” Dale would have continued kicking, but suddenly, the bridge entered:

“*It's good to BE alive-!*” Dale did not miss a beat. He stood straight, took a step back, and then he kicked as high as he could at the beat of each line.

“*To BE alive-!*” Step back, kick.

“*To BE alive-!*”As he came down on this line, he suddenly did a split-

“*It's good to BE alive-!*” -threw his arms up-

“*To BE alive-!*”-whirled his right leg around-

“*To BE alive-!*”-did a back summersault and jumped back on his foot-paws.

“*Its good to BE ALIVE!!*” He spun three times and stopped right in front of Foxglove's face, whipping his arms down, “presenting” himself to her. And boy, she had never seen nor heard a presentation such as this one! The song went into another instrumental, during which Dale ran to one corner of the floor, ran a few steps, and then did a few cartwheels, pawsprings, and summersaults before ending on the opposite corner, landing squarely on his foot-paws just in time for the first verse to repeat,

“*Time was on my side when I was running down the street, it was no bind, bind, bind!*” This time, he put his left paw on his abdomen while pointing up and waving his right index digit while moving by shifting his heels and toes while keeping his foot-paws together: a “slow” *swing*.

“*A suitcase and an old guitar; it's all I need to occupy a _mind_ _like_ _mine_!*” And none of the other Rangers knew that Dale had it in him.

“*Yes, we were born-!*” He then raised his paws to his head and started doing a type of tap dance around Foxglove: *flamenco*

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born-!*” She kind of missed the way his hips were moving just now, but then again, she *did* ask for *random*.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born to be alive!*” Then again, she *did* love the way his foot-paws sounded when they bounced off the now flashing multicoloured tiles. And-she could *hear* it above the music-

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” As Dale tapped, he noticed something was missing, and it wasn't a black Spanish hat.

“*Yes, we were born::*” So, he jumped on the tap dancing floor (a full-sized snare drum), which was adjacent to the main dance floor, beside and almost behind the stage, and began to *tap dance*, jazz style, but still keeping the disco beat.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*” Foxglove swirled and echosounded at him tap and swing his arms to and fro. And to think, all of this was *hers* now, now and forever:

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*” *Dale, I didn't know you could tap-dance!* thought Chip.

“*BORN TO BE ALIV-*” Dale was ready for the shift now:

“*Yes, we were born-!*” He suddenly placed his arms flat against his sides and did an *Irish* tap dance.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born-!*” He was tapping away that was so in tune and in sync with the disco beat that if Michael Flatley had seen him, he would have turned green with envy.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born to be alive!*” And as he tapped, he continued looking into Foxglove's eyes, almost daring her to place yet another condition.

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” The tamias jumped off the snare drum back to the dance floor, still facing the pipistrell.

“*Yes, we were born::*” Very quickly, he moved his paws to his hips, then in front of him, then he turned them over, then crossed his arms, then he moved his hips back and forth-

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*” He moved his paws to his shoulders, then in front of him, then he turned them over, then placed them back on his hips, then he moved his hips back and forth-

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*” The *macarena*?

“*BORN TO BE ALIV-*” And Foxglove wanted those hips for herself RIGHT N-

“*Yes, we were born-!*” Dale then moved right next to her again, placed his paws behind him, and began stomping around her: *Danzón*.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born-!*” Foxglove echosounded at him for a moment. He shifted his head a bit:

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*” *Come on!!*

“*Born to be alive!*” A trifle reluctantly, Foxglove copied Dale's position and also began stomping around him. She wondered if she would be able to keep up with him.

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” *Now you've got it!!* Okay, so far so g-

“*Yes, we were born::*” Suddenly Dale grabbed her right wing with his left paw, placed his right paw on her left hip, touched her left cheek with his right cheek, and did the *tango*.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*” She was startled, naturally, but it didn't take her long to adjust to his movements, and she flowed back and forth with him.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*” She shivered as his fur bristled with hers, practically generating sparks from the static electricity and their growing passion.

“*Born::*” They suddenly stopped and looked/echosounded at each other as a hard guitar chord rang out-

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” The song went into yet *another* instrumental, so Dale and Foxglove decided to continue with the tango. Watching from the sidelines, along with everyone else, Chip couldn't help but feel envious of the moves Dale was making, with all the pain he had on his-

Huh?

He noticed that he was tapping his *right* foot-paw to the beat of the song, pain free.

He stomped.

Nothing.

The pain was *gone*.

And:it had *been* gone, he realised, before he wrestled with Dale:

He suddenly noticed someone was holding his left paw-

And the arm that was connected to the paw that was holding his was *also* moving to the beat.

He looked into Gadget's eyes.

He smiled.

He chattered above the music,

“Miss Hackwrench, may I have this dance?!” There were very few times in Gadget's life where she did things at the spur of the moment, without any previous logical planning, *randomly*.

Having assessed the medical situation of her formerly injured arm, she decided that this would be one of them.

She smiled as well.

“Sure!!!” And they both padded out to the dance floor.

“*Born!*” And they, too, began dancing tango to the disco beat, tails moving in unison, ears straight, completely pain free, without a care in the world, and simply enjoying each other's company.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly, dee-dee-dee diddly-*”

“*Born to be alive!*” Both continued smiling. They felt as if they were in the clouds as they moved along side each other.

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” But then, Chip and Gadget had to stop. Dale and Foxglove had shifted again!

“*Yes, we were _born_::*” They were moving quickly to the beat, and yet gracefully, extending fully from each other, still paw in wing, and then coming back together.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*” Chip and Gadget quickly moved to the side again, and continued watching them. Oh well, this was Dale and Foxy's night anyways.

“*Born::*” The first time a *waltz* had been danced to a disco beat.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*” The hard guitar chord rang out again. Dale was suddenly beside Foxglove. He looked at her in the eye sinisterly again, and lip-synched,

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” If she shivered like that one more time, she was going to lose control of herself. She wondered if there were any justice-of-the-peace's anywhere in the audience and a private room somewhere in this club. But then, she quickly calmed down as the guitar did another instrumental and Dale continued leading her in this randomly chosen waltz. No one had ever seen a dance like this before; completely created at random, and yet smoothly executed. The trumpet introduced the verse again,

“*Born!*” The waltz then flowed into a downright *ballet*, with Dale spinning Foxglove around while standing on the front of his toes.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*” And the audience laughed.

“*Born!*” Dale then grabbed her hips and lifted her, spinning on his toes to the beat of the music, almost showing her off as if she were a trophy.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*” He put her down-

“*Born to be alive!*” Foxglove suddenly took the lead and lifted *him* by his hips and showed *him* off to everyone, echosounding at him from head to toes:

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” He was *her* trophy as well.

“*Yes, we were born::*” Yet another radical shift. Dale grabbed her wings again and danced a mix of swing and danzón: *Mambo*.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*” Foxglove was completely in the clouds again. She was dancing the night away with her male, and *no one* would try to stop her.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*” And who ever did, they would regret it for the rest of him/her/its life.

“*BORN TO BE ALIV-*” This night was *their* night, now and forever.

“*Yes, we were born-!*” Dale then hooked his right arm with her right wing, and skipped around her in circles, this time, in a *country/square dance* style.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born-!*” He unhooked and did the same with the left arm/wing.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born to be alive!*” Bow to the left, bow to the right.

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” Fists in hips, pad to the right, pad to the left.

“*Yes, we were born::*” For no reason at all, Dale started hitting her shoulder with *his* shoulder, not too hard, though. He was *slam dancing*, moderately, of course.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*” More than slamming, they were *bouncing* into each other

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*” And from their smiles, straight ears, and blurry tails, everyone knew they were enjoying it. Another hard guitar chord rang out, but this time Foxglove was ready. She suddenly grabbed Dale's shoulders, brought his face to her face, and said, with the exact same baritone voice of the performer:

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” Now it was Dale's turn to shiver. He *knew* Foxglove had not lip-synched that last line. As another instrumental played and those two continued slam dancing, another tamias and pipistrell were watching/echosounding from the sidelines. They were both happy for them, and yet, sad.

“Isn't it nice that they got back together?!” chattered Clarice.

“Yeah!” screeched Otis back, with a definite sigh. “Some couples have ALL the luck!!” Clarice then looked at him coyly and asked,

“Interesting point, sugar! And are *you* feeling lucky right now?!” Otis suddenly echosounded at her. He thought he had saved her life simply because it was something he *had* to do, but now he wasn't sure.

“I don't know, why do you ask?!”

“I was wondering if you're doing anything tonight, tall, dark, and mysterious?!” Otis blushed.

“Well, I *was* going to eat more insects, but I suppose I can change plans!! Would you care to dance?!”

“I thought you'd never ask!!!!” Otis and Clarice then entered the dance floor, but before they realised that all their pain was gone as well, they had to quickly step out again, because the *other* chipmunk and bat were practically using up the whole floor. The chorus began again,

“*Born!*” Dale then put his arm around her shoulder, gave a half-kick, and then a full kick. In no time, Foxglove was also doing the *Can-can*.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly, dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born to be alive!*” First to one side of the floor, and then to the other side.

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” Kick, kick, kick, kick! This was FUN!!

“*Yes, we were _born_::*” Foxglove was stunned yet again when Dale grabbed her wings and started spinning her all over the place: *Swing*.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*” He grabbed her hips and threw her up in the air. She did a graceful spin, with her wings over her head, and came down on Dale's waiting paws.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*” Dale had made her *fly*-

“*Born::*” Dale spun her again, but as the guitar gave that hard chord again, he wound her back up again, making her wrap her wings around herself and then wrapping *his* arm around her, basically pinning her wings down. She was slightly frightened being in this position, and even more so when her face stopped right next to Dale's-

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” Dale didn't lip-synch this time, either. Foxglove couldn't move, but before she could give him a kiss that would make both of them lose control, Dale “unwound” her again, as a final instrumental played. They stood in front of each other and crazily waved their arms and wings. Dale then grabbed her wing again, spun her around himself, and then he made her do a little hop, which enabled him to swing her on his left side, and then on his right side-

Oh no, the tunnel, the tunnel, he was going to do the TUNNEL!! Keep your mouth shut, keep your mouth SHUT, focus on the music, the music, the MUSIC--!!!!

Not that she could have heard anything besides the music, because as Dale spread his legs and swung her between them, his arms and her wings pretty much covered everything.

“*Born!*” Dale switched back to disco again, only this time he had a partner.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly, dee-dee-dee diddly-!*” Once again, he began pointing up and down and moving his hips.

“*Born to be alive!*” Foxglove basically mirrored all his movements, and now it was *his* turn to be transfixed by her hips.

“*BORN TO BE ALIVE.*” And those hips would be *his* now, forever and ever.

“*Yes, we were _born_::*” They both spun in place.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*” And they took hold of each other one more time and spun together.

“*Dee-dee-dee diddly-!*”

“*Born::*” The music faded out, and the emcee decided to press POWER on the CD again. Dale and Foxglove slowed down and finally stopped, with him holding her as she bent back, with her wings spread above her. The audience ROARED, and this time, both of them were caught up in it, rising, rising, rising to the clouds, with each other, forever and ever. After a while, they straightened out, and embraced. Both were panting, and they were totally spent, but in each other's arms/wings.

They were exhausted and had their ears down, of course, but being in each other's arms/wings, tails in a blur, and feeling each other's hearts flutter in unison, and breathing deeply and taking in each other's scents, a wonderful sense of relief came over them, a relief from all the pain and tension that they had gone through the past few months.

Relief.

They just felt such calm, comforting, soothing, wonderful *relief*:

Both were *truly* born, *re-born*, TO BE *ALIVE*, with each other, forever and ever.

They looked/echosounded at each other's eyes again.

*And suddenly, a love will arrive

That will not leave, never.

I will be happy with him.

And I will be lost in his gaze.

And I will not be

_Desesperada_.*

Well, that song *had* been right, after all.

But someone else had just died, however:

The *Desesperada*.

As well as Hastahah.

But that was a good thing, and so Foxglove smiled at her mate.

The Rangers then approached them a moment before the rest of the audience did, and were able to surround them just before anyone else did, but they *still* continued clapping and cheering. Foxglove gave Dale a light kiss, and he decided to rub noses with her. She returned the nuzzling, and after a while, they looked/echosounded at each other. It was a very odd look they both had, for it appeared to be a look of exhaustion, a look of passion, a look of relief, a look of LIFE, a look of a new birth, a look of resurrection, a look of *wanting*, a look of love, of *true* love, a look of-

“ACHOOOO-!!!”

“-CHOOOO!!!!”

Never mind.

But both were quick enough to turn to their right so as not to sneeze in each other's faces. And, of course, the audience laughed, and so did they. After the roaring continued for some five minutes, Dale decided to try again. Breathing a trifle easier now, he got down on one knee. The audience began to quiet down as he repeated,

“Foxglove, do you think ma-”

The verspetilionid suddenly grabbed the sciurid by his shirt, pulled him up again, and gave him the happiest look she had ever made, with tears flowing again. She then embraced him as tightly as she could, and replied in his ear, in a voice that was almost a whisper, and yet the ultimate shout of triumph from her spirit, her mind, and her body,

“*Yes. Now and forever. Forever and ever. Hold me tight forever. Thank you, Dale, for giving me forever. I'll never let you down, my Husband, my Love, my Cute Stuff, my Darling, my Handsome One, my Great Sounding One, my Luna Moth, my Romeo, my Random One, my Clown, my Goof-Up, my Klutz, my Segoleh, my Comedian.*”

Their ears were still down, but both tails were a blur again, even though one was attached to a membrane.

He had held her tight.

And now they would be holding on _forever_.

And practically everyone in the audience was crying as well-

*GROWWWWLLLLLLL*

Suddenly both looked/echosounded at each other's teary eyes with a very strange and surprised look. Then, they looked/echosounded down at their abdomens for a moment, looked/echosounded back at each other's eyes, and laughed again. They turned to the emcee and asked at the same time,

“What's for dinner?” And they and the audience laughed, cried, and cheered again, for a long time that night:

TRIAKONTES - A MERRY HEART DOETH GOOD:

An elder chipmunk looked out his office window for a moment, ears up and tail still, gathering his thoughts, assembling them, trying to put them in a logical and rational order. It wasn't exactly easy for him in this particular moment, not after all he had just diagnosed. He then turned from the window and padded over to a mini-tape recorder, his medical log, opened the deck, inserted a new tape, closed the deck, pressed RECORD, and looked back out the window.

“Medical log: one nine nine eight zero seven three zero point one five four five. I am finding extreme difficulty trying to record these events in a clinically ordered way. Perhaps it's because what happened to these patients is beyond the scope of current medical science--and language.

“The events involve six patients: Chip Maplewood, male chipmunk; Dale Oakmont, male chipmunk; Gadget Hackwrench, female mouse; Jack Colby, male mouse; Zipper Lightringer, male fly; and Foxglove, female bat.

“These first five are regular patients of mine, the 'Rescue Rangers', a detective and crime fighting organisation, with Foxglove having joined last year. Their work many times involves them having to travel overseas, and in those times they come for vaccines and checkups, before and after their journeys. Their mileage and destinations have brought them in contact with plenty of exotic pathogens, but our preventive measures have protected them from a great deal of diseases.

“Or so I thought. Three months ago, they came in for an unscheduled check-up, and their tests revealed a mild case of arthritis. Additional tests, however, showed that Dale was experiencing gradual physical deterioration, a classic case of an animal *willing* himself to die. I prescribed immediate psychiatric therapy for him, which he took, apparently. Later tests showed inconclusive results, except of an increase in arthritic symptoms. When they came in last week, however-” Doctor Qandlier stopped as he remembered watching the Rescue Rangers practically “dance” into his office.

“In this profession, when one sees recovery, one sees it coming gradually, as when a disease gradually sets in. The moment I saw my patients again-” The chipmunk turned to his office door. This was certainly difficult to explain. “Something--had happened to them--something radical. From a simple glance, one could see no traces of arthritis, and--there was--a--I don't know how else to put this: a 'radiance' in their faces, like when someone wins the lottery. In their previous visit, I was aware that they had symptoms of clinical depression, especially Dale, but now--their faces *shone*-especially Dale's, and that of his fiancée, Foxglove. They came in for the exact same tests, and--” The tamias sat down at his desk, picking up the Rangers' medical folders, looking at them in confusion, and laying his ears back. “And all the results turned out negative. Not a gradual decrease in symptoms, but a total *absence* of symptoms, almost as if the initial tests had been wrong, or as if these were a completely different set of patients who came in. I ordered the tests to be taken again, and I still got the same results. I had never seen such a radical remission of arthritis, and what was even more odd, Dale's deterioration had not only stopped, but it had actually--*reversed*. He seemed-*younger*, so full of energy and life, and not only him, but the rest of them, too. Even Jack appeared to be ten years younger, and a bit thinner, and with clear arteries, *and* with a low cholesterol count, too, despite all the cheese he eats:” The rodent then took Dale's file, and opened it.

“And to make matters more confusing, two weeks ago they were admitted to the ER of Staten Island Veterinary Hospital, after a run-in with an owl. The hospital's records showed that Dale had three cracked ribs and upper maxillary, Foxglove had a second-degree separation of the right shoulder, and the others had multiple injuries as well. When they came in for their check-up, I was expecting them to *still* have their casts and braces--” He took the hospital's record and read it again, for the NTH time. He had seen too many of them to identify a fake one a mile away, but if this was fake, why would the Rangers want to fake it?

“And they *didn't*. The x-rays showed that Dale's fractures had knitted *fully*, something which takes at *least* three to four weeks, and it took *two weeks* for him, or *one night*, as he claims.” Dale's x-rays were already filed away, but he glanced toward the cabinet in awe anyways. “Either two x-rays of two different chipmunks have been mixed up--no. I saw the hospital's x-rays, and they confirmed the original diagnosis. I just talked on the phone with the doctor who was on call that night, and she verified what all the hospital's records had shown. She herself took the x-rays and set the casts and braces. She supervised the Rangers' treatment. She is on her way here with the original plates and records to---*try* to figure out what happened. Maybe she'll have better luck than me.

“And there were witnesses of the Rangers' injuries. The Rangers themselves have a high degree of credibility, so if we add clinical records *and* eyewitnesses and we put them against what I am holding in front of me--

“Also defying my clinical explanation is that these tests show that their defence systems have--strengthened, somehow. The only way I know that this can happen is when one receives a booster shot of a specific vaccine, but these tests show--not only an *increase* in antibody count---of *all* their antibodies--but the antibodies themselves appear to have been---*enhanced*. That is the only word that I can use. The only way this could have happened is if someone had given them a booster shot of *all* their antibody stock, separately, but that still doesn't explain the *enhancement* of their antibodies. Medically speaking, that is an excellent thing, because they won't have to worry about disease for a long time now, either local or exotic, and I even doubt they'll develop a cold.” The sciurid then closed Dale's file, but continued to look at it, ears and tail still down, trying to find an explanation, one that would satisfy his medical reasoning and logic.

“None of the drugs I prescribed could have done what I saw. No combination can do so, no *known* drug, but they told me that they never came in contact with any strange substances lately. Even the psychiatric therapy I prescribed can only do so much. Foxglove *did* say that they also took some 'musical' therapy, and while I know that the right music can relax the body and mind and relieve stress, that *still* doesn't explain the knitting or antibody enhancement. Dale then asked me if I believed the adage of 'laughter is the best medicine'. I told him that laughter had been shown to release endorphins, but those make the body 'feel' better and help its metabolism, they don't fight disease itself, restore chemical imbalance, create osteoclasts, move a joint back together, or heal the body in general, much less *rejuvenate* it. Dale said that they had taken-that they had been *subjected* to laughter therapy, hence, their radical recoveries, but there is no medical connection between endorphins and enhanced antibodies--” Doctor Qandlier rubbed his snout for a moment, still looking at Dale's file. It was time to bring a conclusion, as illogical as it may sound, and yet, the only one that could explain it all.

“So with all that I saw, it is impossible for me to take credit for this--this--there is no other word for it: this *miracle*. While I know that there are many things that medical science has yet to discover, and that there are many ways in which the body works and heals itself that we have yet to find, I cannot, by any stretch of the imagination or radical medical theory, say that these recoveries are a result of medical science. All I have left to say is that The Only One Who can take credit for this-miracle-is The One Upstairs.” The chipmunk continued to stare at Dale's file. It almost seemed as if the file was *laughing* at him, *mocking* him, *daring* him to provide a logical explanation. He decided to admit defeat. There was no other way.

“But something else that intrigues me is the Rangers' new energy. Dale and Foxglove were obviously very happy now that they are going to be married, and Chip and Gadget--well, looking at them holding paws reminds me of the days when I first met the young chipmunkmaid who later became my wife, and more. They have more energy than what I recall having as a teenager. But I suppose that is all part of this miracle. And while I feel frustrated that I cannot explain it, this couldn't have happened to a more deserving group of animals. I am more than happy for them.

“I'll close now, as Doctor Jay will be arriving now. And as soon as we arrive at *some* explanation, I'll go home and prepare for a wedding. This may have been a bad day for science, but a wonderful day for the Rescue Rangers.” Doctor Qandlier stood and pressed STOP. He then took all the records and filed them away. As he waited for Doctor Jay, he looked out the window again. Up in the sky, way in the distance, he saw a balloon holding a bleach bottle that was flapping mechanical wings. Beside it, he could just barely see a chiropterid easily keeping pace with it.

His ears perked up.

His tail twitched a trifle.

Ah, to be young again.

This had *certainly* been a nice day:

TRIAKONTESHEIS - HAPPY ARE THE PEACEMAKERS:

Two small aircraft and eleven bats landed in a park in Staten Island in the early evening, while a small vehicle rolled to a stop next to them. The Rescue Rangers, Otis, Feyyanna, Richard and Rosie, Dusk and Dawn, Curtis and Grace, Janice, Marcus, Clarice, Cheddarhead and Camembert, Chap and Nikoma, Pierre and Dalee, and even Chip's Uncle Phinehas padded/parted from the Ranger Plane, the Ranger Wing, and the Ranger Skate, and padded/flew toward a particular spot. None of them were tense or afraid, but all of them were sad, as their ears and tails showed, even if later today there would be a much happier event. Dale and Foxglove led the rest to a spot on the cement path, near the edge where it gave way to the natural earth. As they approached it, Foxglove took tight hold of Dale's right paw. In the spot itself there was nothing in particular. All markings, if any, had been washed away by the rain or swept away by the park keepers. And of course, the body had been buried in an unmarked grave long ago.

Shivers rippled through the spines of the ones who had been here that horrible night:

Dale then smelled something. He looked over to a nearby bush, and saw something under it.

“Excuse me a moment,” he told his fiancée. He released Foxglove, and padded toward the bush. Reaching down, he picked up a brown owl feather. Practically undetectable by bats, but even with all the rain and heat, Dale was able to smell it.

He looked up, not at the blue-red sky, but to a particular spot in the sky, right above the spot on the cement.

He shivered again.

Padding back toward the rest, he placed the feather on the spot where Strigidæ died.

The bat couples embraced each other, as did the engaged couple. Phinehas padded up,

“We're here to mourn the passing of living creature, one that while evil, was a living creature anyways. While her crimes were of untold horror, and left many childless and parentless, and caused untold pain to those present, she met an end which in no way resembled justice, even poetic justice. And just as no creature deserved to die the way she killed, no creature deserves to die the way *she* was killed. If she deserved capital punishment, she was denied of the chance to challenge it and defend herself accordingly. May she rest in peace.” Phinehas then looked at the bat couples, who padded up and said,

“Leticia,” said Janice.

“Irene,” said Marcus.

“Dawn,” said Dusk.

“Aurora,” said Rosie.

“Alicia,” said Grace.

“None of them, we hope,” added Janice, “hate you, Strigidæ. We don't hate you anymore, either. What you did was terrible, but-you were a predator, and you were acting on instinct. True, evil twisted your instincts. You took the wrong path. But we don't hate you. We're not angry with you. We just feel sorry for you and are sad that your life had to end this way. As Foxglove came to us and gave us peace, we now put *you* to rest, we put you behind us, and we give *you* peace. Good-bye, Strigidæ.” The bats padded back. The elder chipmunk then looked at Dale, who then padded up and stuttered,

“Um-Miss Strigidæ, as Miss Janice said-neither me nor Foxglove hate you or are mad with you now, either. We're--not sure why we did what we did--it was kinda done in the spur of the moment--and-and we *were* defendin' ourselves--we just wanted to survive--but-but--we just hope you forgive us for hatin' you and--killin' you. We ourselves were dead at the time, so--we just ask for forgiveness, as we now forgive *you*. We don't approve of what you did; we just forgive you. Good-bye, Miss Strigidæ.” Dale then padded off the cement again, picked up a pebble, and placed it on top of the feather. The rest of the chiropterids, rodents, and dipterid did the same, and a few moments later there was a small pile of pebbles on top of the feather. It was a humble yet grim monument to all the sadness and horror that this whole park had seen. But now, all of that was over. There was irreparable loss, yes, but all those affected had now come to terms with it and had moved on. Still, there was one more thing left to do.

The mammals and insect then padded back to the vehicles, and they all then flew/drove a short distance from that spot, to the place where a particular vine with purple flowers was growing. The animals padded/flew toward it, and one more time, Phinehas spoke,

“We're now gathered here to say our final farewells to Leticia, Irene, Dawn, Aurora, Alicia, Tyndal, Anna, and Foxglove's parents. It was in this place where they perished so cruelly by a deranged predator. Leticia, Irene, Dawn, Aurora, and Alicia were beautiful batlings, only beginning to live. Tyndal was a father with a brave and noble heart, and did not hesitate to sacrifice his own life to save that of his wife, even though his daughter perished with him. Anna was also a brave bat lady, who did all she could to protect her husband and daughter, but she, too, perished with her daughter. But Foxglove's parents were *truly* one of a kind, for they *both* gave their lives to save their daughter, who is with us today. None deserved this tragic end, so may they rest in peace.” The elder backed down, and it was the bats' turn to speak again. Janice began,

“Tyndal, Leticia, I really miss you two. For a long time I hoped that you, Leti, would still be alive--but I've moved on now. I really *do* wish you could have stayed with me; you would have been great friends with Foxglove and the Rangers. Tyndal, honey, I'll never forget the day we met, nor anything about you. Thanks for saving my life. You were the best husband ever, and I'll miss everything about you. Tyndal, Leticia, good-bye.”

“Anna, Irene, I miss you, too,” said Marcus. “I really don't have much to say except:rest well. You two deserve to rest, after all you did for me. I hope you don't mind me moving on. Anna, Irene, good-bye.” Dawn padded up,

“Dawny, Daddy and I miss you a bunch. We've met plenty of bats who would have been great friends--we just wish you could have met them. They're amazing animals, and::and they gave us peace, by telling us the truth about you. Dawny, we kept up hopes right up to the end:so:we need to move on. Good-bye, Dawn.”

“Bye, Dawn,” added Dusk. “We hope the place where you are now is filled with happiness.” The couple padded back, and the next one moved up.

“Aury, we hope you don't mind, but we kinda took another daughter for our own,” explained Richard. “Nothing legal, it's just kind of a mutual agreement. You would have been great sisters with Foxglove, and the brother and sister *she* took in. We hope you're not angry with her for giving us peace. Your mother and I have always thought of you, but:we, too, must move on. Aurora, good-bye.”

“So long, Aury, we'll always miss you,” said Rosie. Curtis then padded up and added,

“Alicia, you were a beautiful gift which was snatched away from us. We always wanted you back, but when Foxglove told us the truth, well, we had no choice but to move on. I only ask that you be happy for her. She is a Peacemaker; she gave us peace after twenty years. She will be happy now with her husband and with the Rescue Rangers. We hope you're happy wherever you may be. Good-bye, dear Alicia.”

“Mommy and Daddy will never forget you,” concluded Grace. “So long, my baby.” The last couple padded back from the vine. Now, it was Foxglove's turn again. With Dale holding her wing, they padded up to the foxglove, and she said once again,

“Mom? Dad? It's me again. We talked a while back, but a lot has happened to me, and I need to talk to you again.

“I hope you forgive me for letting others share this place, but they, too, lost their family like I did.

“Anyways, I told you all about Dale, the most handsome male on this planet.” Dale smiled and blushed again, “I told you of how he loved me so much he let me go because he didn't want to see me get hurt-but a lot happened since that night. It-it took-an encounter with the owl who killed you-and almost killed *us*-to make us realise that we were wrong about many things. I did what I could-with the help of plenty of friends-to get him back-and he took me back.” The batmaid smiled. “He's my fiancée again! We'll be getting married later today, and I wanted to let you know that. I-really wish you could have met him. You would have loved having him in the family.” She echosounded at her mate. “He's a wonderful male, strong, brave, funny, and random. I love him more than I thought possible, and even though he's a chipmunk, I know you would have approved of this. You should have seen him at this night-club:” Her voice faded as she remembered that wonderful night when he took her back. “Um, he also fights crime, and I do too. We're all part of the Rescue Rangers now, one big happy family. Not only are Otis and Feyyanna my new brother and sister, but I also see Chip, Gadget, Monty, and Zipper as brothers and sisters, even though they aren't bats. I wish I could give them all a huge hug at the same time and tell them how much I love them, how my life is now complete--even though you're not in it anymore. I *really* wish you could have been here to hear it all and take part in this-but I, too, must move on. I'll always miss you. Mom, Dad, good-bye.” Dale then stammered,

“Um, Mister and Missus-um-Bat-you have a wonderful daughter here. I also wish I could have met you so I could congratulate you on a job well done, even if you only did a little bit. You did do just enough to set her on the right way, and she was able to straighten herself out when things went wrong. I-I love her with all my heart, and I know she loves me too, after all she's been through and all she's done to get my attention. You should have seen what she did in order to win me back! And--I'm sorry for dumpin' her before, but you can rest assured that I'll never leave her again, ever. Hey, I also wish you could have met *my* parents!! You would have had a blast with them! I-um-also hope you don't mind me givin' her *my* last name because we just don't know yours. But-I guess this is how things will be, bummer, isn't it? Um-Mom, Dad, we're goin' to get married now-so all I have left to say is-good-bye, and thanks.” Once more, the animals gathered another pile of pebbles under the vine. With that job done, Dale then proceeded to take a strand from the vine, cut it, and craftily make a small wreath. He then turned to his mate, and placed it on her head.

Foxglove smiled again.

“A perfect fit, Cute Stuff!” she giggled happily, twitching her tail a trifle, and perking up her ears, as he did so too. And she continued being happy, despite the funeral service. She continued being happy even when Dale removed the wreath, to be later placed on again at the ceremony. She continued being happy as they all turned and padded/flew back to the vehicles, and left this park and all its sad and dark memories.

She continued being happy because she was a Peacemaker; she had given peace to those who needed it; she had brought herself and the others to *make* peace with their past, and now she, and all the rest, were happy, and she herself would be more than happy because this was going to be the happiest night of her life.

And Dale was happy.

As his parents.

And Clarice.

And Otis and Feyyanna.

And all the other bats and parents.

And the Rescue Rangers.

Despite *any* circumstance, even when sadness and grief came in, the Peacemakers would always be happy:

TRIAKONTESDUO - DEATH OF A CURSE

A crowd had gathered, a *huge* crowd, much bigger than the one which assembled several months ago. They weren't assembled near the pond, however, they were now below the Rangers' tree. And it seemed that this time the crowd included every single animal whom the Rescue Rangers had helped, practically every representative of the small mammal press, and every animal which had been at The Nutshell that amazing night. Even the amateur comedians who had performed the other night were present, as well as plenty from the professional comedic circuit. Dr. Qandlier was there with his wife, as well as Dr. Johanna, and Dr. Jay, an elderly cardinal lady. Also present were many members from the RAS, *and* the UN, including a certain elderly mouse couple: the male from the United States, and the female from Hungary:

Midge had returned as well, with Chirp Sing beside her, and this time Sparky and Buzz were there, too. Canina LeFur was there, at Clarice's insistence. Naturally, Tammy, Bink, Mrs. Hazelnut, and Gadget's long time car racing friend, Melody, had showed up, and there was no way Clarice was going to miss out on this, either. Many of Chip and Dale's relatives and old friends from upstate were there, too. Even Tom, the mechanical cat, and Butch the bulldog, were there, as was Quennie and her entire hive. Besides wanting to take part in Dale and Foxglove's happiness, they were also part of Security, though it was doubtful that any of the Rangers' enemies would try to interrupt things once again. Chip and Gadget had insisted on having a private ceremony, but Dale and Foxglove insisted on letting the whole world know about this. Dale even insisted that Gadget announce it to the press *one week before*. She was shocked, naturally, but then she realised that it was their way of telling her that the previous mishap was not her fault at all. And if it *had* been-

They had *forgiven* her.

Gadget had *also* been freed from her past, for she, too, had now made peace with it. Though she would always miss her father, she, too, had moved on, and that was *quite* obvious from the way she was looking at Chip now:

And, she thought, as long as everyone else had decided to pull out all the stops, she decided to find her old friend, Harpo Mouseo, rent a tuxedo for him, and bring him to the ceremony as well.

The crowd was split by the wide aisle, at the front of which was a temporary stage, which appeared to have some bulky material on it, but it was covered by brown cloth and ornamental flowers. At the other end was Dale, the Rescue Rangers, Chirp Sing, Pierre, the bridesmaids, and Tom and Butch. The males, except for Tom and Butch, were in black tuxedoes and the females in light blue dresses, including Gadget.

“Ready?” asked Chip. Dale sighed resolutely, eyed the stage, stood up straight, straightened his ears, twitched his tail, and said,

“Let's go.” The crowd hushed as first Tom and Butch padded forward, followed by the groom, who was escorted by the best man, Chip, and Monterey Jack, Zipper, Chirp Sing, and Pierre. The crowd did not close up behind them, because the bride and her maids had something special planned. The males then arrived at the stage, and Chip, Monterey, Chirp Sing, and Pierre raised the new willow leaf canopy, and Dale padded under it. Zipper simply perched himself on Monterey's shoulder.

Wings flapped again.

All present looked up.

Flying in from the setting sun, a flock of female bats arrived at the park, flying in a perfect arrowhead formation, and leading them was a certain batmaid, whose head was covered with a new translucent veil crowned with a digitalis wreath. It was the second time this bat navigated more with sight than with sound, as the veil caused “static” in her sonar. Each bat, except for the leader, was carrying in her foot-paws bouquets of different flowers. The flock circled above the crowd seven times, and swooped down to land beside the bridesmaids, and each picked up the bouquets in her wings just before touching down. Foxglove, however, continued her forward sweep until she reached the stage, and circled Dale and the booth once before turning again and flying back to her maids. Once she had landed there, Otis padded up to her and extended his left wing to her. Smiling, she gently took it. Both turned toward the stage, and padded toward Foxglove's ultimate destiny. Behind them was Gadget, carrying magnolias; Tammy, carrying tulips (and of course, never taking her eyes off Chip); Mrs. Hazelnut, carrying roses; Melody, carrying forget-me-nots; Feyyanna, carrying daisies; Janice, carrying dandelions; Dawn, carrying orchids; Rosie, carrying violets; Grace, carrying buttercups; Clarice, carrying meadowsweet, Dalee, carrying bluebells, and Nikoma, carrying lilies. This time the crowd closed up behind them as they approached the stage. Then, the procession stopped when they reached it. Phinehas, holding a microphone, padded up next to Dale and asked,

“Who gives away this bride?” Straightening up, her brother replied,

“I give her away!” With that, he released his sister, and she padded up to the stage, while he padded aside, allowing the bridesmaids to place the flowers at the foot of the stage. Foxglove circled Dale again, never taking her eyes or ears off him, and then she stood beside him. Dale, ever so carefully, lifted her veil, eliciting gasps of admiration from the audience. Phinehas began,

“Friends, we are gathered here to unite this couple in holy matrimony: Dale Segoleh Oakmont, and Foxglove of New York. If there is anyone here who has substantial reason why these two should not be married, let them speak now, or forever hold their peace.” It was odd, because at that moment the entire blood supply of the crowd *froze* when they saw/heard the look that Dale, Foxglove, the Rescue Rangers, the bridesmaids, and Tom and Butch gave to them as they turned to face them. Not to mention all ears were laid back and all tails were lowered as well.

A *very* frightening silence came over the entire crowd for a few moments.

“Okay, then, let's move on,” said Phinehas, with a shrug, snapping the audience back to the here and now, causing a wave of ears to rise again. Chip then took the *new* wedding contract from his pocket and gave it to Dale, who then gave it to Phinehas. Adjusting his glasses, Phinehas unrolled the parchment and read out loud,

“Covenant of Matrimony, between Dale Segoleh Oakmont, and Foxglove of New York. I, Dale Segoleh Oakmont, do henceforth take Foxglove for my wife, and I will love her with all of my heart, soul, and body, and I will protect her and provide a home and identity for her, I will be a husband to her, I will be there whenever she needs me:” As Phinehas read the elaborate document, Dale and Foxglove lost themselves in each other's eyes/ears. They had redrawn the contract, and turned it into something better: a *covenant*, and they both knew perfectly well what it included. It just needed to be made public. “:I, Foxglove of New York, do henceforth take Dale for my husband, and I will love him with all my heart, soul, and body, and I will be a wife to him, and I will comfort him and support him, and I will be his helpmeet, honouring, obeying, and respecting him, being there whenever he needs me, in all circumstances, from now until death do us part:” It was going to be wonderful, just wonderful. Several extremely long minutes later, Phinehas finished reading the contract, rolled it up again, and gave it to Foxglove. Then, he asked,

“The rings, please,” said Phinehas. From out of the crowd, Bink came up, carrying a small cushion in front of her. She bounced up to Chip, who took out one ring, and then she went to Gadget, who took the other ring., and then bounced back to her seat. Bink's joviality caused a few chuckles from those present, but she didn't mind. Chip then gave his ring to Dale, and Gadget gave her ring to Foxglove.

For some reason, Monterey's heart skipped a beat, a tear formed in his eye, and yet his face shone like never before.

Mission accomplished.

However, the ring that Dale held had been resized to serve a different purpose. Since Foxglove had no “ring digits” as Dale did, they had originally planned on putting her ring on a string so it would hang from her neck. Now, however, Dale took Foxglove's left wing, extended it carefully, took hold of her thumbclaw, and placed the tiny ring on it, while saying,

“With this ring, I thee wed.” Slyly, he quickly bent down and gave her thumbclaw a quick kiss, his ears back and his tail in a blur. Foxglove nearly lost control over herself again, but she calmed down when she heard the crowd snickering.

*Just a _little_ longer!!!* She then took the ring from Gadget, and nimbly placed it on Dale's left middle digit.

“With this ring-” And for no reason at all, Foxglove fainted and fell flat on the stage. Of course, Dale gasped and his ears and tail fell limp, as did the audience, but just as he turned to Chip for help, he noticed that he fell also, along with Monterey, Zipper, Otis, and Pierre, dropping the booth as well, and it now lay on the stage with them. Then Gadget, Tammy, and some of the bridesmaids fainted one by one as well. Horrified, he turned to Phinehas, but he, too, tipped over and fell unconscious. Whirling toward the audience, he saw Otis, all the bats, and Chip's parents drop to the ground as well. And then-

A tell-tale giggle from Foxglove caused him to freeze.

Bink fell over, but not before giggling as well.

Clarice smiled, raised a paw to her head, and gracefully fell down, followed by Canina. Tom and Butch did as well, and pretty soon the rest of the audience got in on the joke as well. Dale just stood there, arms crossed and tapping his foot-paw, stiff ears and tail again, with a mock-angry expression on his face.

“This is *really* funny, guys!!” Moments later, the entire audience was on the floor, giving a few bouts of laughter. Dale then looked at his wife, who was lying gracefully on the stage, and he whispered, “Oh, I'm goin' to get you ***goooooood***::” With that, he swayed a bit, rolled up his eyeballs, and toppled right over her. She squealed, but an instant before Dale collapsed on her, he extended his arms and stopped himself by placing his forepaws on both sides of her head.

“-I THEE WED!!!!!” she screeched, causing him to laugh hysterically. He then rolled over, lying next to her, with his eyes crossed and his tongue lolling out. With the joke over, all those on the floor picked themselves up and patted down their ruffled fur and clothing. Having settled down, Foxglove kissed Dale's thumb once more, nearly causing *him* to lose control of his tail and emotions, as well as his hormones. He shivered for a moment, and upon seeing that, Phinehas adjusted his tuxedo and said,

“Uh oh, I'd better hurry up and make this legal,” and of course the audience chuckled again. “Now then:” Phinehas cleared his throat, and began reciting the Beireishit Bara' (the first chapter of the book of Genesis). At the end of the First Day, he said, “*Vayehi 'ereb, vayehi voqer yom echad*” (And the evening and the morning were on day one), and the crowd repeated,

“*Vayehi 'ereb, vayehi voqer yom echad!*” And he said it once more,

“*Vayehi 'ereb, vayehi voqer yom echad.*” He went on to the second day, and they repeated the last line again, except that they ended with *yom sheny*, day two. This went on, with *yom shaloshy*, third day, and *yom arba'yi*, fourth day. Day Five, however, was recited by Foxglove, with everyone repeating the last line, *yom chameshy*. Day Six was recited by Dale, *yom shishy*. The entire crowd then recited Day Seven, the *Vayekhullu* (Thus were finished:), and now Phinehas repeated it after them-

*:and behold, it was _very_ good:*

And it was over.

Dale and Foxglove were now officially married!

“You may now kiss the bride.”

Both looked/echosounded at each other, incredulous of what they had just done.

Foxglove finally had a last name!

Dale, the eternal Klutz, Clown and Comedian, now had a mate for life!”

“Um, you may now kiss the bride.”

But what was more, the Oakmont curse had finally been broken.

And Pierre and Dalee padded over to each other, embraced tightly, and began to weep for joy.

The curse was DEAD, at long last.

“Dale? You can kiss her now.” The audience began laughing again.

For a moment they just stood there, looking/echosounding at each other's eyes, wondering if what had just happened was for real, or if it was a figment of someone's imagination.

“Hey, are you listening to me? Kiss her!!!” The laughter increased.

Hormones skyrocketed on both of them to such levels that both were actually frozen in place.

“WILLYOUSMACKHERALREADYORDOWEHAVETOGLUEYOURLIPSTOGETHERSOWECANGETONWITHIT?????!!!!” chattered the elder, eliciting guffaws from those present, finally snapping the couple out of their shock. With their eyes full of love, *true* love, passion, tenderness, relief, joy, peace, and an incredible yearning, they embraced, and kissed like never before, both tails in a blur, and ears laid back. The crowd erupted in a thunderous bout of applause and cheering, and began throwing rice, nuts, candy, cashews, acorns, walnuts, corn, and even wheat, at the couple but they were so caught up in their kiss that they never noticed. In fact, after a while, all of the traditional food was spent and they were *still* kissing and causing quite a strong breeze with their tails. Phinehas raised an eyebrow, and then he looked at Monterey, who then turned and looked at Chip, who smiled and shrugged and then turned to Pierre, who simply smiled and shook his head.

“I taught him everythin' he knows,” he chuckled, as did his wife. After some time, the couple showed no signs of coming up for air, so the canopy holders decided to drop the curtain and give the couple a moment of privacy. Some annoying minutes later the couple *still* had not broken. So, one of the comedians in the audience, Mortimer, got up and threw a stick of a particular type of red-wrapped bubble gum, and began singing a particular song. The rest of the comedians present laughed when they heard the song, and they, too, joined in, and soon the rest of the audience was also laughing again *and* singing the eternal jingle:

“*:so kiss a little longer,

Stay close a little longer,

Longer with Big Red!

The Big Red freshness lasts right through.

And your fresh breath goes on and on,

While you chew!

So say good-bye a little longer!

And smile a little longer.

With the great long lasting freshness

Of Big Red!!*”

Finally, the couple emerged from beneath the canopy, gasping and chuckling at the improvised commercial.

“::Luceeeeeeeeeelle::!!!” they both gasped.

“Uh, sorry about that, folks,” gasped Dale, blushing along with Foxglove, both trying to bring rational thought back on line, their ears up, and their tails to a standstill. “Hey, if you're not married, find yourself someone. You're missin' out on **plenty**:” He said that last word with his trademark sinisterness, causing his wife to shiver again, and she playfully shoved him. “Hey, just 'wait a little longer'!” he whispered, chuckling. “I'm not goin' anywhere!” Phinehas then padded up to him and gave him the microphone. Dale spoke,

“Okay, can everyone hear me now? Good. Well, Chip, Monty, Zipper, Dad, Chirp, Phinehas, thanks for all your help, you can sit down now.” The escorts thusly placed the canopy away and padded off. Foxglove raised an eyebrow,

“Honey, what's going on?” Dale smiled,

“Somethin' special. You can go ahead and sit too, Foxy. It's a surprise.” With murmurs from the audience, all the participants left the stage and stood at the front of the crowd. Dale spoke again, “Okay, everyone try to sit wherever you can.” And they did. “This is somethin' special I wanted to do for Foxy. You see folks, those of you who were in The Nutshell the night we got back together know that Foxy sang two songs to me that really got to me. So, Foxy, as we prepared the weddin', I talked to Clarice a bit-secretly-and she kinda helped me whip somethin' up for you.” Foxglove's heart jumped, as did her tail and ears, and she kept on smiling at him. “Clarice, guys, you can come up now.” In the audience, a certain chipmunkmaid smiled, stood, and padded onto the stage, followed by her band, and Chip. The band, however, only included the shrew, the rat, and the canaries. “She helped me choose this song for you, and when I heard it, I *knew* that it said everythin' I felt about you. I practised this a lot, so I hope this comes out right.” The band then removed the flowers and the brown cloth and uncovered their instruments. Chip took his place on one keyboard, beside the female shrew. “And I hope this makes up for the *other* song I sang a while back. Foxy, this is from the bottom of my heart:” The audience hushed as the performers powered up their tools, and the song began.

Chip began a simple keyboard instrumental, assisted by the shrew lady. It was a slow romantic song, and after a few bars, Dale lowered his ears and tail, and began,

“*It must have been cold there in my shadow,

To never have sunlight on your face.*” Foxglove sat back, stunned, ears and tail down. She *had* been under his shadow for a long time, and she *had* passed very dark days, even for a nocturnal mammal.

“*You were content to let me shine-that's your way-*” Yes, she was *so* unselfish, and willing to let him make whatever decision he felt necessary, even if it was unbearably painful.

“*You always walked a step behind:*” Always, always in the dark, secretly echosounding at him, and at one point even *left* behind, but no more. She would now be *beside* him, forever.

“*So I was the one with all the glory,*” Even with the Comedian dead, all the other Dales shone, albeit without her.

“*While you were the one with all the strength.*” And she never received any glory, but had to draw strength from who-knows-where to get through every night without him.

“*A beautiful face without a name-for so long-*” But no more. She would be an OAKMONT forever:

“*A beautiful smile to hide the pain!*” Well, she never smiled during the pain, but even before he first proposed, the smile covered the pain of wanting and waiting. The performers backed him as he entered the chorus,

“*Ah----*”

“*Did you ever know that you're my hero?*” *What??? _ME_, a hero???* she thought, very incredulously.

“*And ev'rythin' I would like to be?*” She was stunned again. She always thought *HE* was *HER* hero!! *She* had always looked up to *him*!!

“*I can fly higher than an eagle,*” Now he could, with her help. She had been part of his resurrection, and now they *both* would fly:

“*'Cause you are The Wind Beneath My Wings.*” This was something totally new to Foxglove. All this time she considered him *her* support, The Wind Beneath *Her* Wings, and now, he threw that right back at her. She never had a good self-image, especially in their dark days, but now, she could hardly believe it. Here was Dale, saying that he thought of *her* as highly as she thought of *him*, when she always considered herself to be nothing more than cod liver oil, and now she had gone from fish guts to a powerful force of nature, capable of lifting her beloved to unreachable heights:

All this time, Dale placed his microphone on a stand, padded back, and took a rodent-sized electric bass. The next verse began, accentuated by him and the rat lady on drums,

“*It might have appeared to go unnoticed,*” Invisible, inaudible, even in ultrasound:

“*But I've got it all here in my heart.*” All that she was, all that she did, all that was part of *him* now:

“*I want you to know I know the truth-of course I know it-*” And he had always known it:

“*I would be _nothin'_ without youuu---!*” Not only incomplete, but practically non-existent, DEAD, without her, as it had been proven earlier. Foxglove felt lighter than ever before with all that Dale was telling her. Her love for him kept increasing to levels she never thought possible. This ceremony needed to end NOW-

“*Ah----*”

“*Did you ever know that you're my heeeero?*” *Foxy, without you, I would be dead. You will always be a hero, for me, and everyone.*

“*You're ev'rythin' _I_ wish _I_ could be!!!*” *I-I am?* *You're stronger than you think, Foxy. You kept goin' when I would have quit. Oh, man, I LOVE YOU!!!!*

“*I can fly higher than an eagle,*” *Or an owl. Or anythin' that comes against us, be it a predator, a criminal, or a curse. And why?*

“*'Cause you are The Wind Beneath My Wings.*” *You've made me fly, Foxy. No one could do that but you.*

“*Ah----*” Dale lovingly insisted,

“*Did I ever _tell_ you you're _my_ hero??!!*” *I wish I had told _you_ that earlier, my Hero,* she thought.

“*You're ev'rythin', ev'rythin'-!!!-I wish I could be!!*” *Oh, Dale----__DALE__----*

“*Oooh, and I-!!--I can fly higher than an eagle!!*” *Dale--I--I never knew--never---*

“*'Cause you are The Wiiiiiiind Beneath My Wings.*” Foxglove had no more words. No one had ever spoken, much less sang, so highly of her before. She even felt so undeserving of him now, so humbled, yet so exalted:

“*Oh, Wind Beneath My Wings,*” he called to her, and commanded,

“*Flyyy-flyyyyyy---fly away!!!*” Fly, with him, forever and ever.

“*You let me fly so high.*” To unknown places, scary, exciting, but an adventure anyways. The adventure of a lifetime together:

“*Oh, flyyy-flyyyyyy---!!!*” She felt as if she was flying, so light-headed, soaring through space beside him, with a love that transcended all known boundaries:

“*So high against the sky! So high I almost touch the sky-*” The drums and bass hushed, and the song quieted. *But I'll never reach it as high as you have, Foxy. And all I can say now is:*

He held the microphone, and said, teary eyed,

“*Thank you, thank you, thank God for you,

The Wind Beneath My Wings.*”

The song ended.

“Thank you, my Wife,” he added.

The audience roared.

Foxglove suddenly flew to the stage and grabbed her husband, sobbing,

“No, Dale, no!! Thank *you*!!! Thank **YOU**!! Thank God for ****YOU****!!!!!!! Dale, *YOU'RE* The Wind Beneath My Wings!!! Oh, Dale, thank you!! Thank----you---” The tamias nearly toppled over from the force with which the pipistrell pounced on him, but he held her tightly as she sobbed, and he sobbed as well, only without any pain this time. Their ears were low and their tails were a blur again. Of course, at the sight of this, practically everyone in the audience shed tears as well.

This was *true* joy.

Dale wanted to say something to his wife to calm her down, but no words would coalesce in his brain. Maybe none were needed at this point. All he could do was hold her and let her feel his love for her as they shared heartbeats and tail swishing together again.

After a while, they calmed down a little, and Foxglove echosounded up at him now, ears straight. She sniffed a bit, smiled, and asked,

“Um, Cute Stuff, could *you* kinda sit down now, too?” He looked at her for a moment, and then asked,

“Why?”

“[sniff]-Well, um, I-kinda talked to Clarice too. I didn't know you were going to sing to me, so I asked her to help me find a song for *you*, too-” The couple then turned and looked at the chipmunkmaid, who then wiped a tear and smiled,

“Hey, I wasn't about to spill the beans for either of you! Besides, we all like nice surprises, don't we?” Everyone laughed as Dale looked back at his wife. He smiled, and whispered,

“Okay. This had better be good!” With that, he put the microphone on the stand and padded off the stage.

And now Foxglove had the full right to echosound-

“SHHHHHHH!!!!!” hissed Rosie, and then she mock-scolded in ultrasound, with her tail down and ears laid back, “You don't have to do that in PUBLIC!!!!”

“Oh, like that's ever stopped *you*,” quipped her husband. She playfully shoved him and gave him a sinister smile. Dale looked at them mouthing each other, but he was unable to hear what they were saying. Foxglove blushed a trifle, and then said to her confused mate,

“Uh, never mind, Honey, I'll explain later.” As she spoke, Clarice gave a signal, and the rest of the band came up the stage now, but for some reason, *she* padded down, and Gadget padded up. Dale's ears perked up and his tail quivered. “But like I said, I also spoke with Clarice, and she helped me with this song which says everything *I* feel about you. It probably won't be as good as the one *you* sang, *but*, if you thought *my* other two songs were great, well,” then she imitated Feyyanna, “yew ain't herd nuthin' yeyet!” All chuckled at this little Texan reference, but then hushed as Foxglove's song began.

Now, Chip and the shrew lady played a sound on the keyboard that sounded a bit like a flute. Again, it was slow, but very romantic. Foxglove turned her back to Dale, looked up to infinity, and began,

“*Every night in my dreams,

I see you, I _feel_ you.*” Whoa, boy:

“*That is how I know you:go on.*” Well, they had already talked about their dreams. But those wouldn't be necessary now.

“*Far across the distance,

And spaces between us,

You have come to show you:go on.*” From beyond their broken hearts, and even from beyond death's door. And *both* of them would go on. Foxglove chorused,

“*Near, far, wherever you are,*” She turned a trifle, and was now looking at her love from the corner of her left eye.

“*I believe that-the heart does:go oooon.*” The heart, the soul, the spirit always goes on, even when the body dies. But these two bodies would go on for a long time now:

“*Once more, you opened the door.*” The door to his heart, which he had shut so painfully so long ago.

“*And you're here in my heart and,*” She held her wing to her heart.

“*My heart will go on and on.*” She, too had shut the door at first, but now that they both had entered, the door would close again. No one else would enter, not friends, not family. Only Dale and Foxglove. She continued, again with the drums and bass accentuating,

“*Love can touch us one time,*” Albeit, with *pain*. She turned a bit more, giving Dale a view of her profile.

“*And last for a lifetime.

And never let go till:we're gone.*” But they both knew that that point would be long in coming, and now they would both go together in their journey toward Beyond. Here, Gadget padded behind her and backed her up,

“*Love was when I loved you,*” And as was expected, Gadget was glancing at Chip, smiling. Chip felt he would burst into flames from the way she was staring at him. His ears lowered, and his tail moved out of control.

“*One true time-I hooold to-*” Chip looked down at Clarice, who just looked at Gadget, and gave her an approving wink. Foxglove continued by herself,

“*In my life we'll always:go on.*” *And we'll go on _together_, my love.* Foxglove turned a bit more.

“*Near, far, wherever you are,*” Here, across the state, across the ocean, above the stars:

“*I believe that-the heart does:go oooon.*” *Foxy, I believe too-*” The rest discreetly repeated,

“*The heart does go on-*” And Foxglove continued,

“*Once more, you opened the door.*” *For you, Foxy, only for you.*

“*And you're-*” Gadget backed her up again, smiling at *her* love,

“*Here in my heart, and-*” Chip blushed.

“*My heart will go on and oooon::::hmmmmmmm::*” Foxglove now faced Dale fully. If before her soul had cried out in agony, now it would cry out in triumph. She let the instrumental play, then she took a deep breath, balled up her wings again, and cried once more,

“*Youuuuuuu're heeeeeeere!!! There's _noooothing_ I fear!!!*” Nothing. Not any enemy, or even death now.

“*And I knooow-*” Gadget came in once again,

“*-Know that my heart will:*”

“*Go ooooon.*” *Dale, thank you for going with me forever.* She and Gadget took a deep breath and called out again,

“*Weeee'll stay!!!!!*” *_We_ can now stay together, Chip, now that you gave us a chance-* Foxglove cried,

“*Foreeeever this way!!!*” *Together, forever, always:*

“*You are safe-*” Gadget brought one paw to her chest and looked tenderly at her tamias,

“*-Safe in my heart and-*” And hushed, as Foxglove took it home,

“*My heart will go on and oooooon::*” *It will never fail you again, my love, not even when we die.* She then gave a very long and tender conclusion,

“*Ooooooo----oooooooooooo--------*” The audience roared once again. Dale jumped up, embraced her, and planted a very tender kiss on her lips, causing ears to lay back and tails to blur again. Yes, this new life would go on because he let her come in.

Gadget, meanwhile, left her microphone and padded to the keyboard, where she placed a light kiss on Chip's ear. Chip, of course, nearly melted.

“Thanks,” she whispered above the roar. And all Chip could do was blush, lower his ears, and swish his tail like never before. Yes, it would *barely* be the start, but it would be a *start*, nonetheless.

Meanwhile, the applause continued as Dale and Foxglove separated. Dale looked at the audience for a moment, raised his ears, and then he spread his paws out toward her, cueing the audience to applaud her now. They did, with a renewed intensity. Dale then spread his paws out to the performers, and the audience cheered them now. He then spread his paws to Clarice, and she, too, was credited. Dale hesitated for a moment, and then he suddenly gestured to himself. The audience laughed, of course, but still gave him his credit. Dale hesitated again, gave an insane smile, and gestured at the bass. The audience, now fully aware of the joke, cheered the loudest at this point:

And the celebration continued through the night. The couple decided to hold off their consummation for a little longer and hold the reception right there and then. And it would be the most unforgettable reception in history. The parents, who had travelled back to New York for the wedding, and everyone else who had not been at The Nutshell the night Dale and Foxglove were reconciled, were treated to an encore presentation of the “Born To Be Alive” dance number which Dale had pulled out right from the top of his head. Of course, the couple refused to rehearse the moves, as it had been randomly choreographed once, and so it was again. And this time, they even added a *conga line*. Of course, Pierre and Dalee had no idea that their son could contort his body in so many ways:

And Pierre actually felt a little jealous, but he was happy nonetheless.

Later, the couple cut the wedding cake, which was as tall as they were. After the knife was put away, Dale held Foxglove's wing. They wagged their tails, looked/echosounded at each other sinisterly one more time, turned to the cake, lowered their ears, opened their jaws REALLY wide (fully exhibiting Dale's incisors and Foxglove's fangs), and took two mercilessly HUGE bites from the cake.

Straightening up, they looked at each other.

Once more, the audience laughed.

As did the couple, obviously laughing at each other's icing-decorated faces, but Foxglove was laughing the hardest because Dale had his cheek pouches so full of cake and icing that it looked as if he was going to explode, added to the fact that he decided to cross his eyes at this point.

Toad face?

They spit a few bits of icing at each other in a sudden burst of laughter, but neither of them minded that. Of course, they cleaned up, eating as much of the cake that was on themselves as they could. And as what was left of the cake was cut and passed around, along with the rest of the food, the couple and the other Rangers went to make the rounds of greeting their guests, who gave them their gifts and their congratulations, with straight ears and swishing tails all around..

First and foremost, Dale and Foxglove went to greet their closest friends and teammates.

“Interestin' joke you pulled, Chip. I must say, you got me *really* good.” said Dale.

“Well, you're not the only funny one around here, Dale.”

“Of course not. Foxy's funny, Gadget's funny, Monty's funny, and Zipper's funny.” Dale looked mischievously at his best friend for a moment, who then gave him yet another bonk. But of course, he didn't mind. He hugged his “brother” and then turned to the others,

“Gadget, Monty, Zipper, thanks for everythin'. You're wonderful friends.”

“And *family*, as far as I'm concerned,” added Foxglove. “You all have done so much for us-for *me*-after all that I did before-well, thanks guys. And thanks, Gadget, for my new short wave radio!”

“Aw, it was nothing, Foxy. I had always regretted that I had never been able to make it digital and that kinda kept nagging me in the back of my head and so I decided to give it a try anyways but then you left so I was kinda left with no reason to try it but I still wanted to even though I couldn't bring myself to do it but the ideas kept running in my head so by the time you came back I knew *exactly* what to do and here it is!” Foxglove looked one more time at the now slightly larger radio, with its new LCD screen and digital controls, smiled, and hugged her “sister”. Dale continued,

“And Gadget, it's great that you and Chip finally got together. You both are in for a real treat!” Gadget lowered her ears and tail and blushed,

“Thanks, Dale. But we would have never got together if it wasn't for you, not that we wanted you and Foxy to break up in the first place in order for us to come together, because if that's the case then we *didn't* get together because of that and it was also because Chip didn't want to even after all we discussed and after he told me of all that I did to you without even knowing it and it was so unselfish of him not to want me to go through any of the pain you two went through even though I wouldn't mind risking the pain since I love him so much and now I know that I *truly* love him but again it wasn't because you two broke up in the first place because if *that* was to happen in order for us to come together then we would have gladly sacrificed-” Chip silenced her with a soft kiss on her lips,

“We get the point, Gadget,” he explained, lowering his ears, blurring his tail, and making her blush even more.

“'Ey, pally, watch yourself,” huffed Monterey. “I promised 'er father I would look after 'er and-”

“We know, Monty, we know,” said Foxglove. “And you will always be on Chip's case to make sure he behaves himself. Monty, you're so caring and strong. You--you've kept faith long after everyone else gave it up. We can't thank you enough for it.”

“And thanks to you and Zipper for fishin' out our wedding rings! Monty, I don't know whether to hug you for the gift or sock you a big one for spyin' on me like that.” Monterey just smiled and gave both of them a smotheringly big hug.

“'Ey, you an' Zip ain't the only ones who learned stealth, right, Zip?”

“You think no one noticed you leaving in the middle of the night with all that stuff, Dale? And we could have stopped you from lighting that fire, but we knew you were doing what you thought was for the best for all of us. Still, you two got a better canopy, contract, and veil, didn't you?!” Dale coughed a bit as Monterey released him. When he got his breath back, he smiled immensely at his friends.

“We got better *everythin'* now-[COUGH!!] Thanks guys, thank you all.” The couple hugged them all and moved on to the next of kin:

“Son, we're so proud of you,” sniffed Pierre, ears up and his tail in a blur. In fact, *all* tamii ears were up and all their tails were in a blur as well. “I just wish your grandfather could be here to see this curse finally broken.” Dale sniffed as well,

“Me too, dad.” Dalee ran up and hugged her son as tightly as she could.

“Oh, Dale, that was so wonderful!! I know that now you'll be a wonderful husband!!”

“No doubt he will,” said Foxglove, very tenderly.

“Dale, that was *awesome*!” exclaimed Chap, hugging them both.

“And so romantic, too!” added Nikoma, also adding to the embracing list. The new couple was about to answer-

“And it was about time, too!” added another middle-aged chipmunk lady, with a reddish-maroon nose, padding up to them. She was followed by a male chipmunk who had a black nose, and two chipmunk cubs, with black noses as well. Once again, their ears and tails expressed their happiness. Dale looked at them, and smiled,

“Chattie, James, it's so nice to see you again!” The couples hugged, and Foxglove asked,

“Let's see, Chattie, you're Dalee's cousin?”

“Yes. And this is my husband James, and my two cubs, Dale's 'nephews', Zip and Zap.”

“Hi, Dale, thanks for inviting us,” said James.

“Hi Uncle Dale!!!! Hi Auntie Foxglove!!!” piped the cubs, as they ran to hug the new couple. The bat lady stood back at that statement. She was already an *aunt* now!!

“Zowie!! You two are sure gettin' big now!!” True. The cubs were at least five millimetres taller than the last time Chip or Dale saw them. Chattie said,

“They sure are. They're quite a pawful! I just hope whatever cubs you have are just a bit more calm than these two!”

“And that you don't fall asleep again when you have to baby sit them,” added James, chuckling a trifle.

“You what?” asked Foxglove.

“You're never goin' to stop rubbin' that in, are you?” asked Dale lowering his ears and tail. “Well, let me tell you that I'm new and improved! I can baby sit any cub now! Hey, I baby sat a GORILLA once!” Zip and Zap ooh'ed at this.

“And he did, too,” said Chip. Chattie concluded,

“Well, in that case, Foxglove, let me tell you that you've got yourself one *heck* of a husband now. We wish for you two to be happy always.”

“Thanks,” they replied.

“Baby sat a *gorilla*? I have to see that to believe it!” called out an elderly voice. Ears perked up again. They all turned and Nikoma said,

“Chippy! I thought I smelled you here!”

“Cousin Chet!” exclaimed Chip. “You made it, and the cubs, too!”

“Cousin?” asked Foxglove. Except for his face, Chet was completely grey, as was the elder female, and both had glasses on black noses. Chippy's trademark beret was gone, but her furpin was not. Dale explained to Foxglove,

“Well, he's actually Nikoma's uncle, so we both used to call him 'uncle', but we decided to do him a favour and call him 'cousin' so he wouldn't feel so old.”

“Hey!” he protested, lowering his ears and tail for a moment.

“And those-” referring to two tan-furred cubs who padded up now, the male with near-spiked headfur, and the female with black headfur and a pink bow on her head, “-are Sam and Sue. They're his nephews, but he adopted them since their parents were killed. They call us 'cousins' as well. And the handsome young mouse here-” A tan-furred young mouse, wearing rather large and thick glasses, just slightly older than the cubs, padded up, blushing a trifle and with shy ears and tail. “-is Elwood. Chet adopted him as well. Granny Chippy is actually my mom's aunt, but me and Chip took her in as a joint-grandmother.” Foxglove smirked at him a trifle and asked,

“Why can't you have a normal family tree like everyone else?” causing everyone to laugh momentarily. “Not that I mind,” she quickly added, “after all, I'm part of it now!” After Chippy hugged the new couple, Chet did the same,

“Dale, Foxglove, congratulations!!”

“Hey, we did our best,” he replied. “And I see you're doin' a good job with those three!”

“A good job?” asked Chippy, also lowering her ears and tail for a moment. “Young 'munk, Chet would have gone crazy if I hadn't come and helped him out now and then!”

“Hey!” Chippy continued,

“And with all those new computer things Elwood's coming up with, it's a miracle we can keep up! Now, what's all this about you baby sitting a gorilla?”

“OOH! Tell us!! Tell us!!” exclaimed the four cubs now, ears up and with their tails in an even faster blur. Elwood, however, stood by a bit, smiling, ears up. His facial expression communicated that he *did* believe Dale. Dale just looked at the cubs and replied,

“Okay, but since it's a long story, I'll have to tell it to you some other time. Can you promise me you will come and visit us later so I can tell it to you, AND tell you many other stories?”

“YES!!!!” they all chattered. Foxglove smiled once again, and asked the cubs,

“So, are you two learning computers?”

“Yeah!” replied Sue. “I even beat Sam in 3-D pinball last night!!” Ears were lowered and tails stiffened.

“Did not!”

“Did too!!”

“Did-!!” The young mouse padded up and covered both of their mouths.

“She did, but only by 50 points. These two are picking up everything I know! Cousin Dale, Cousin Foxglove, congratulations, and thanks once again for the rescue.”

“Thank *you* for letting us rescue you,” said Gadget. The rodents then proceeded to hug the new family member.

They then came to Phinehas again, who hugged the new couple. His ears were up and his tail quivered, but just a trifle slower than the younger ones.

“Thanks, Phinehas, for everythin', and for not losing hope, either,” said Dale.

“Well, young 'munk, I just knew that things weren't over just yet. And now I know that they won't be for a long time to come. Foxy, welcome to the world of rodents.” The bat lady giggled a bit and replied,

“Thanks, Phinehas, and thanks so much for the ceremony. If you ever need anything, you know where we are.” The elder rodent smiled.

“Well, when one gets to be my age, he doesn't need much, save for some good food, a soft bed, and young ones to hear tales of old. Can you help with any of that?” Both lowered their ears and tails and blushed, and Dale replied,

“We can help you with the first two, but for the last one, well, we'll all have to be patient, right dear?” Foxglove cuddled him as she thought of the future.

“It will be wonderful, Cute Stuff, it will be just wonderful.”

Now it was the turn of Foxglove's adopted family, who also had their ears up and tails twitching. Richard and Rosie wrapped their wings around her and Dale.

“Congratulations, Daughter, you were stunning!” Richard said. Foxglove nearly wept,

“Thanks, Mom and Dad!” Rosie added,

“And thanks for taking us in. Aurora was the only family we had, but now, we have cousins and uncles and nieces and nephews!”

“Me too!” sniffed Foxglove. Rosie continued,

“Aurora would have just loved you. But even with all that happened, we know that she would not have minded this, not at all. Foxy, we've never felt happier. Foxy, Dale, welcome to the colony, and to the world of chiropterids!” They hugged again, and now Feyyanna came up to hug her sister.

“Yew medd meye a biyit jellus thur, Sesstur.”

“Jealous? Why?” Feyyanna lowered her ears and tail and sighed,

“Weyell, yew hayav thu luvv uff yer laff. Yew knew whayat yew wunttidd, and yew snicht iyit!” Foxglove echosounded at her kindly and replied, also with low ears and tail,

“I know your time will come too, Sis. Someone will snatch you up like I first did with Dale. He will look into your eyes, echosound at you all over, and you will echosound at him back, and you will never want to hear another sound other than his profile. It will happen, it really will.” Feyyanna wiped a tear.

“O gosh, Sess, thayanks!!!!” And they embraced tightly again. “And yew tew, Brudder!!” She hugged Dale now, who then replied,

“Thank *you*, Feyyanna, for taking care of her. Thank you, Sister.” Ears and tails were raised again. Foxglove then came to Otis, and he told her,

“You'll always be my sister.” She just kept radiating joy,

“And you my brother. But don't lose hope, Otis. Like Feyyanna, I feel that one day soon you will meet someone who'll let you fall in love with her.” Otis turned to Clarice, who was standing next to him.

“Um, I think I already have,” and he blushed a trifle, as did Clarice, lowering their ears and tails once more. Dale stood back a trifle, looking at them suspiciously.

“What?? *You* two-?” Clarice replied,

“Well, I figured: if *you two* could do it, why can't we?”

“Well, that's interesting,” said Foxglove. “I take it you won't be returning to Las Vegas soon?” The chipmunkmaid looked at the young bat beside her, smiled, and replied,

“Hmmmm, no. I seem to be having good luck here in The Big Apple, with all those nightclubs calling me up, not to mention all the:great audiences I seem to be having lately.” She looked lovingly at the male bat beside her. She then leaned over and kissed him lightly, with very happy ears and tail.

“Viva Las Vegas-I MEAN-!!-and since we both, well, *work* at night, I think we'll be able to manage this,” he stumbled, smiling at her, also moving his tail, and wrapping his right wing around the chipmunkmaid. She suddenly turned to him, stiffened her ears and tail, and chattered angrily,

“Whatdoyoumean'think'Ithoughtyousaidwehaditmadewithbothofusbeingnocturnalwhat'sthedealhereareyouhavingdoubtsallofthesuddenwhyisitthateverytimeItrunaroundIgetuglysurprisesfromyouandwipethatsmileoffyourfaceI'mbeingtotallyserioushereandifyoudon'ttakethatsmileoffyourfaceI'mgoingtosmackitoff-!!!”

“CAN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!” Otis was rescued from this chattering by none other than Canina LeFur. Clarice jumped at her bark and immediately hushed. “I had a feeling you were going to rough someone up tonight, like you always did in Vegas!”

“Awlwayess?” asked Feyyanna. The dog lady replied,

“It's a long story. Otis honey, keep your guard up with her. And never, *ever*, get on her nerves!!”

“Oh, why did I have to invite *you* to this wedding?” chattered Clarice, looking up at her.

“Because we're great friends who go back from your break in Atlantic City and you know that the Rescue Rangers helped me out *twice* and even saved my life, right, Montecarlos?” Monterey grumbled again. “And we've both helped out each other with our agents and we've seen each other's performances and we love each other like good sisters and so you know that you wouldn't want me to miss this for the world and-”

“ALL RIGHT!! YOU WIN!!!”

“You're friends with Canina?” asked Foxglove.

“Yup. She was the one who inspired me to work in show biz in the first place!! I've really, *really* admired her for years and years and years and-”

“Aw, thanks,” said Canina, blushing a trifle, and with her ears and tail behaving accordingly.

“-years and years and years and-”

“Thank you, Clarice, it's okay.”

“-years and years and years and-”

“We get the point.”

“-years and years and years and mmmmmmmmmmmfffffffffff!!!!!!!!!” Canina laid down and shoved her tail in Clarice's mouth as she turned and told the couple,

“Well, Dale, I'm really happy for you and Foxglove. My best wishes for both of you, and if you ever need money, just ask.”

“Thanks, Canina,” they both said. Meanwhile, Clarice had finally removed the tail from her mouth, and when she did, Dale asked her, chuckling,

“So, Clarice, I take it that you will be all right now?” After spitting out some dog hairs, she regained her composure, raised her ears and tail again, and replied,

“Ptooey-Ahem! Yes. After we're finished here, Otis here is going to give me a night on the town, right, Honey?”

“Yup. You're going to hear-er, see this city like you've never heard-er, seen it before, from a *bat's* point of hearing-er, view.” Foxglove snickered and said,

“Well, Clarice, it looks like you found yourself someone great after all!”

“That goes double for you, Foxy. Congratulations.” Both bats and chipmunks hugged each other-

“And Foxy, try to get him to visit his parents more often, will ya?” asked Dalee.

“Hey, don't forget, you're *my* parents too now!” she replied.

“And what are we? Gnat wings?” asked Richard, jokingly. Foxglove echosounded at the two elderly couples, and all the elder bats she met in Boston, and all the elder chipmunks. Just last year, she was a rootless orphan. Now, she had a husband, one “big sister” (Gadget), one “little sister” (Feyyanna), two “big brothers” (Chip and Otis), one “little brother” (Zipper), five “uncles” (Monterey, Marcus, Dusk, Curtis, and James), four “aunts” (Janice, Dawn, Grace, and Chattie), by default, one “grandfather” (Cheddarhead); two “grandmothers” (Camembert and Chippy); one “nephew” (Zip); one “niece” (Zap), three “cousins” (Sam, Sue, and Elwood); *two* “mothers” (Rosie and Dalee), and *two* “fathers” (Richard and Pierre)!! And all the love that was emanating from her new family, as well as herself, made her feel like squealing for joy, almost. She padded to her bat parents, and said,

“Dad, Mom, it's all right. You can come visit anytime you want, and we'll do what we can to visit you.” Then, she turned to her chipmunk parents and added, “Mom, Dad, I know Dale's been a naughty boy for not even trying to go and visit you.” She then tweaked Dale's ear a bit, causing him to wince and giggle simultaneously, but his tail in a blur again. “Shame on you!” she chided, but with her sinister tone once again. “I'll carry him all the way to your tree if I need to, but we know I won't have to take such desperate measures, will I, Cute Stuff?” Her husband smiled sheepishly again and replied,

“I hope not. But you *know* how gruelling our schedule is, Foxy. And don't worry, Mom, I'll try to visit at least once a month. *And* I'll drag Chip along as well, right, Chip? When was the last time YOU went back upstate?” Ears and tail were lowered.

“Hey, we were talking about *you*, not *me*.”

“Go ahead and drag him along,” said Chap. “You have our permission to drag this workaholic back to his roots whenever you feel necessary.”

“DAD!!!!!!!!” Foxglove laughed and then gave each member of her new family a big hug:

“Congratulations, you two,” said Tammy, hugging them, her ears straight and her tail twitching all over.

“Thanks, Tammy. And thanks for all you've done for us as well,” replied Dale.

“And for all you've done for *her*,” added Mrs. Hazelnut, also with a jerky tail. “Thanks for letting all of us be a part of this.”

“Hey, can you throw your wreath, or bouquet, or whatever you're going to throw, in my direction?” asked the hormonal teenager.

“Oo, *Tammy's in love, Tammy's in love,*” sang Bink.

“And so's Chip. *And* Gadget,” added Dale, a trifle seriously. “Tammy, you *do* know that.” To which she crossed her arms, lowered her ears, raised her tail above her head, and replied defiantly,

“Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?” Dale and Foxglove didn't know if she meant to say this with double meaning, but they blushed anyway, with their corresponding ear/tail action.

“Tammy's in love, Tammy's in love-”

“Well, *I* am and *you're* not!” she interrupted. Bink was unfazed. She turned to Dale and asked with nervous ears and tail,

“Mister Dale can I marry you when I grow up?” The tamias looked at his wife, then back at the young sciurus, and replied,

“Why would you want to do that, Bink?” Her ears perked up,

“Because you sing nice and you dance nice and you are very funny Mister Dale and you can teach me how to dance and sing and be all funny!” All present chuckled a bit. Dale picked her up and replied,

“Well, I don't know if Foxy will let me.” Bink then gave Foxglove the ultimate puppy-face, lowered her ears, held her tail still, and begged,

“Oh PLEEZE PLEEEZE PLEEEZE PLEEEZE PLEEZE-” Foxglove put a wingtip on her lips, smiled, and replied,

“Well, I don't know if you need to marry Dale for that, Bink. You're already very funny!”

“And if you come visit us, I can teach you how to dance and sing *now*! You don't have to wait to grow up to learn!”

“Oh THANK YOU Mister Dale!!!!!” Bink then gave Dale a BIG hug and exclaimed, ears up and tail in a frenzy again, “Mommy, Tammy! Mister Dale's going to teach me how to sing and dance and be more funny!!” She was practically bouncing on Dale, so he put her down as she continued bouncing in front of her mother and sister. Meanwhile, Foxglove looked tenderly at her husband,

“You're going to be a wonderful father, Dale.” The chipmunk smiled a trifle nervously, lowered his ears and tail, and replied,

“I-I sure hope so. It's goin' to be *very* tough for me-I just-hope I do it rig-” Foxglove suddenly hugged him and whispered,

“You will, Cute Stuff. You will.”

They then came to a certain peach furred/black headfurred mousemaid.

“Melody, I'm glad you could make it this time,” said Dale.

“So am I,” she replied, ears and tail down. “I'm so sorry I missed your last invitation, but I was in Paris-”

“Don't apologise,” interrupted Foxglove. “It's not as if you actually *missed* us the first time.”

The mousemaid smiled, “Well, I'm still sorry for what happened to you. And thanks for letting me be part of all this. It really is wonderful to see you two get together this way.”

“Thanks, Melody.” The mousemaid then turned to-

“And thank *you*, Gadget, for doing the impossible to find me!!” Gadget lowered her ears and tail again and blushed,

“Well, thanks, but I *do* want to tell you how sorry I am for losing track of you-” Melody hugged her before she began another rant,

“Don't be, it's my fault, too. I'll send telegrams and carrier pigeons until we both can get some e-mail. Then we'll talk over and over and be great friends again, like the old days. And MAN do we have a lot to catch up on! I see you've finally found someone!” The Mechanic smiled, and her tail twitched,

“Yes. We're just starting, but I have the feeling it will be great and everything.” The Car-racer stood back a moment and exclaimed,

“Ho boy. I'm going to reschedule all my races until I get the entire gist! Um, can I stay here for the night?”

“You already asked us that, and yes you can,” replied Gadget. Melody made a confused take, smiled, raised her ears again, and just hugged the married couple and all her old friends:

“Hey, Dale, do you like your new rubber gloves?” asked Sparky, with expectant ears and tail. Dale fidgeted for a bit until he finally had the orange gloves on his paws. Once that was done, he looked at the mouse, and was finally able to shake paws with him without getting shocked.

“A perfect fit, Sparky!” he said. “Thanks!”

“And do you like your rubber wing covers, Foxglove?” asked Buzz, also with expectant features. Gadget was placing the orange devices on Foxglove's wings. While a bit tacky, they did come in handy when greeting these two. “I came up with the concept myself, I think.” The lab rat added,

“Yeah, and it's great to finally attend a wedding when we missed the last one-uh, Dale, who got married last time?” Dale looked at his wife for a moment, and smiled again.

“Sparky, Buzz, you can *honestly* forget about that weddin'. Just do us a favour and try not to forget *this* one, okay?”

“Well, to be honest with you, Dale, as easily as we forget things, you two gave a show we'll have a *very* hard time forgetting. And thanks for the ride, too.”

“They'd have forgotten where they were going if it wasn't for us!!” whispered Chip. Foxglove, of course, heard him, but she said nothing. With her new rubber wing covers, she hugged both lab rodents, and said,

“You're welcome. And thanks for all your help. Thanks for helping me give peace to my new friends.” The rat lowered his ears and tail, scratched his head, generating a few sparks, and asked,

“Uh, *we* did that?”

Queenie was just a trifle apprehensive in greeting a predator, even if that predator just happened to be the new wife of a good friend of hers. Still, she and her hive couldn't help but feel that way, after all, there *were* plenty of bats in the crowd. The chiropterids, naturally, had already known about this, and they, of course, had agreed to suppress their instincts for tonight. Also, Zipper's insistence (and the promise that he would wear a tux), helped convince the queen bee.

“Dale, Foxglove, I offer my sincerest congratulations in your marriage. May you always have the best nectar, may you never encounter wasps, and may you never go to Africa.” The couple wasn't too sure what this blessing exactly meant (and the Rangers were already in Africa once), but they smiled anyways.

“Um, thanks, Your Majesty,” replied Dale. “And thank you so much for comin'.”

“And for the security,” added his wife. “You and your hive gave us all of a BIG peace of mind. Your Majesty, thanks for putting aside old enmities and for being a part of this. You have a wonderful heart.”

“That she does,” buzzed Zipper, blushing slightly. The monarch turned to him and replied,

“And Zipper, thanks for giving me a personal invitation. I *really* enjoyed the ceremony. It sort of reminded me of my own responsibility to the hive, and-” The bombus hesitated for a moment, but quickly recovered and continued. “-and of some-personal situations I need to attend to. Being a queen is hard work, and it doesn't leave much time for your own needs. However, with all that I saw tonight, I can honestly say that you two have convinced me to do something about what is rightfully mine-or at least of what is my right to attempt to do.” The couple wasn't fully understanding what her formal speech was trying to convey, but from the way Zipper was blushing they kind of got the idea. “Also, my hive presents to you this litre of honey.” Several hundred bees buzzed in, carrying a plastic jar filled with the golden liquid. “Considering that sweet tooth you have, Dale, this should last you for the night.” The couple and the insects laughed at the unsuspected joke. “Hey, even royalty can be funny,” she stated, very dignified. “And also, we would like to present to you this:” More worker bees flew in, carrying something rather large which was covered with a blue cloth. The bees set the gift on the ground, and as they flew off, they removed the cloth. It was-

“ZOWIE!!!!!!!!”

Zowie indeed. It was a very large wax figure of the chipmunk and the bat lady, holding paws and wings, looking/echosounding toward the future. Below them was a smaller image of Mount Rushmore, but instead of the presidents' heads, it had all the Rangers, Chip, Gadget, Dale, Foxglove, Monterey, and Zipper.

Foxglove turned to Queenie, lowered her ears and tail, and exclaimed,

“Oh, Your Majesty, this is amazing!! No one had EVER done anything like this to us before, much less to ME!! THANK YOU!!” Forgetting protocol and instincts for a moment, the bat lady and the queen bee embraced.

And the queen bee wept:

As did Zipper:

But they were *good* tears:

“Wowie, you two as well?” asked Dale. The nightingale and the swallowmaid were standing *very* close together.

“And we have you two to thank for the inspiration,” said Midge.

“Hey, Chirp, when will you be heading back to the Emperor?” asked Foxglove. The nightingale looked at the swallowmaid for a moment, puffed his chest feathers out for a moment, and then replied,

“Um, I-a-don't know. I-kinda thought I would-a-stay heah foh-a few moah days. Theah ah-many-a-beauteefur theengs to see heah.” Midge giggled. Then, Chirp turned to the couple and said, “Friend Dayre, marryeeng a bat ees a-sign of-a-good fohtune ahead. Congraturations on-youah marriage. Friend Foxgrov, marryeeng a-cheepmunk ees-a-sign of-a-good and rong rife. Congraturations to-a-you, too.” Dale replied,

“Thanks, Chirp, and thanks for all your help here. We hope that you and Midge be happy as well.”

“We hope so, too,” replied Midge. With that, the avian couple hopped off, wing in wing. Foxglove commented,

“You know, Darling, this romance thing seems to be turning into an epidemic.” Looking at the birds, and then looking at how Zipper and Queenie were looking at each other, Dale asked,

“Is that good or bad?” Foxglove thought for a moment, heard Zipper give Queenie a soft kiss, and then replied, with low ears and tail,

“I hope it all turns out for good. Love is wonderful, but it must be handled with care. We set all of these others off on a long and difficult journey. I hope that they don't face even *half* of the pain *we* went through.” Dale also lowered his ears and tail and sighed as he saw Otis put his wing around Clarice,

“I would *hate* to be the cause of their pain, *again*, especially because they found inspiration in us. But, they all seem to know what they're doin', don't you think?” Foxglove heard Monterey speaking with Mrs. Hazelnut, and he was looking at her rather tender-like.

“Yes. They know perfectly well. And if they're happy for us, we should be happy for them as well.” Ears raised again and tails quivered. Dale put one arm around her.

“Well, Foxy, *I'm* certainly one happy chipmunk tonight.” With that, he gave his wife a soft kiss on the cheek.

This reception needed to end NOW:

The homeless mouse was barely recognisable. His ears were up, his headfur was neatly brushed back, his top hat had been replaced with a new one, and his rented tuxedo made him sparkle, almost.

“Whoa, Mouseo, you are *stunning*!” exclaimed Dale. The mouse pulled out his mini-horn and honked it, nodding his head. Foxglove winced for a moment at the sound, but kept smiling anyway. Mouseo noticed that, so he immediately put the horn away, lowered his ears and tail, and began speaking in sign language, slowly. Since this was a language Foxglove had yet to learn, Dale translated for her,

“'Sorry-Foxglove-I-keep-forgettin'-that-your-ears-are-very-sensitive-unlike-mine-and-I-keep-forgettin'-to use-sign language-and not-pantomime-congratulations-to you-both'.” The pipistrell stood in front of the mus and spoke as clearly as she could,

“Thanks, Mouseo, and it's okay. I know that we both live in two completely different worlds, but I also know that you're now learning new stuff. I know how difficult *that* can be at times. And I want you to know that I'll always consider you a friend and I'll help you in any way I can.” Mouseo raised his ears and tail and smiled.

“'Thanks-Foxy-the-others-have-already-helped-me-a lot-especially-Gadget-she's-really-grillin'-me-every-day-with-this'.”

“And the fact that you already read lips very well is an achievement by itself, so I know that you'll soon have this mastered,” added the mousemaid. “And thanks for coming, Mouseo.”

“'More-like-thanks-for-draggin'-me-here-but-now-I-know-that-I-wouldn't-have-missed-this-for-the-world-not-with-all-the-great-food'” All present laughed. “'And-thanks-for-helpin'-me-find-that-speech-therapy-centre-I-know-that-soon-I'll-be-able-to speak-though-I-won't-hear-myself-Dale-Chip-I-know-Foxy-and-Gadget-are-now-spoken-for-but----'” The mouse hesitated before continuing. Then, he lowered his ears and tail and gestured toward the females, asking for permission. The males looked at the females, and all said,

“Sure.” With that, Mouseo smothered Gadget and Foxglove with kisses, his trademark greeting for females:

“Well, Foxglove, this a great gain for you, but a big loss for the RAS. I'm going to miss you.”

“Well, maybe not *that* big, Kyle. It's not as if I'm leaving you guys forever. You know you can always come here in case you need anything.” The middle-aged brown-furred vole raised his ears and tail, smiled at the couple, and sighed,

“Foxglove, you're the best interpreter we've had in a long time. Not only that, but you've also been a great friend. Dale, congratulations. You *really* have it made with her now.”

“Thanks, Kyle. And thanks for givin' her a place to rest. You helped her when she needed it most.”

“Anything for a great employee. And I hope you like the gifts the RAS gave you.”

“Well, we haven't opened them yet, and this little lady is *kinda* in a hurry, but I'm sure we'll love them,” said Dale.

“You'd better, dahlink! Ve helped pick them out!” At the sound of the Hungarian accent, Foxglove turned and hugged the elderly mouse couple, the male with grey fur, and the female with white fur, again, all with happy ears and tails.

“Oh, thanks for coming, guys!” exclaimed the bat lady.

“Yeah!” added Dale. “And thanks for helping Phinehas with the ceremony, and for all the gifts. Bernard, Bianca, you're one of a kind.”

“Thanks, Dale,” replied Bernard. “The same goes for you. Though I don't know if I would have been able to handle what you went through to get her back.”

“You've forgotten Australia again, dahlink?”

“Oh, yeah, right.” Bianca continued,

“And I don't get it. Vat do you mean by *both* of us beink one of a kind? If there are *two* of us, vouldn't that make us *two* of a kind?” Foxglove giggled.

“Ambassadors,” quipped Kyle:

“Well, Dale, it was about time,” said the male chipmunk. He had brown fur and a black nose, and was rather tall and a trifle muscular. He *still* wore his trademark white suit and glasses. The female chipmunk was a trifle shorter, with brown and tan fur, blue eyes, and a maroon nose. Dale did the introductions again.

“Foxy, this is Chester, and his wife, Chi-Chi.” Foxglove greeted the chipmunk couple. “They're old friends, and he's a former rival as well.”

“Rival?” she asked, stiffening her tail and laying her ears back a trifle.

“Sure,” replied Chi-Chi. “Chip, Dale, Cyril, and Chester here had their eyes on me a while back. I tell you, it was a tough decision, but I know I made the right one by choosing Chester here, right honey?” The male perked his ears, blurred his tail and smiled at his mate.

“Well, I don't know,” replied Foxglove, echosounding at *her* mate. “I'm sure Chester here has many fine qualities, but you've *never* heard a sonar profile like Dale's. I won't say that you made the wrong choice, but-thanks for not choosing Dale.” Chester then spoke,

“Dale, I must say that I've been wrong about you all this time. From this, I can see that you've helped a lot of animals, and that a beautiful female has done the impossible to have you for a mate. I guess I'm lucky I married Chi-Chi before all of this, otherwise she would have snatched you up in an instant!”

“And I would have fought you for him,” added Foxglove, smiling, but seriously nonetheless, as her ears and tail displayed. Chi-Chi stood back, also with low ears and tail.

“Wow, really?”

“Hey, she's not jokin',” replied Dale. “You didn't see her at The Nutshell, did you? She did everythin' she could to win me over, and she won. And I could never be happier now. And I also hope that you two are happy as well.”

“We are, Dale, and thanks for remaining friends with us. Congratulations to you both.” Dale then proceeded to shake Chester's paw, but when he did, Chester's fur stood on end as a buzzer rang out. Chester suddenly snatched his sore paw away, tail and ears stiff, and Dale showed his wife the paw buzzer, his ears up and his tail in a blur.

“It's Elwood's gift. And I always wanted to do that.” Both couples laughed, and hugged correctly this time, without the buzzer:

Another
chipmunk couple padded to the newlyweds. This time, the male was *very* muscular, and the female had brown fur, brown eyes, and a black nose, and wearing a white bow on her head.

“Foxy, this is Cyril and Lucy, also friends from upstate, and also a former rival.” Foxglove echosounded suspiciously at her husband, with ears and tail emphasising her mood.

“You mean you chased *her* as well? Dale, have you been a naughty boy?” Lucy laughed, quivering her tail.

“No, Foxy, he, Cyril, and Chip always behaved themselves, even though they were a little frisky sometimes. And they, too, were tough choices. I almost chose Dale, too, but I never followed through. Still, I know you won't be disappointed with him.” Foxglove echosounded dreamily at her new husband, and replied,

“You bet I won't,” also with dreamy ears and tail. Cyril then told Dale,

“You have surprised me as well, Dale. I never thought you would ever find someone, and here you are, with the love of your life. Congratulations, you two. May you be happy as Lucy and me are.”

“Thanks, Cyril. Say, are you still afraid of bulls?” The other male smirked at him and lowered his ears.

“Very funny. I'll have you know that after that incident I decided to learn mechanics!”

“And he's got smarter, too!” added Lucy. “Not to mention a lot stronger!” She kneaded his right biceps, as Cyril sighed and lowered his tail now,

“And-and-I must say-that after that incident with the bull, I lost Chi-Chi, and I got lonely. All my money couldn't help me there. So after you and Chip left to form the Rangers, I decided to make a change too. I quit being a snob and tried to help others, like you are. And along the way, this little lady came along.” Cyril then hugged his wife, who cuddled him, causing both sets of ears and tails to show happiness again. “I now help fund the RAS, and I'll also have you know that you won't have to worry about this ceremony. I talked to Canina, Chester, and Clarice, and we are all picking up the tab for the whole thing. It-it's the least I can do to make amends with you.” The new couple dropped their jaws, ears, and tails when they heard this.

“W-w-w-ow, Cyril, I-I-I-erm-thanks,” stuttered Dale.

“Also, if the Rescue Rangers need additional funding, especially with Gadget's inventions, don't hesitate to call me. And congratulations.” Completely speechless, the couples hugged again:

“Wow, you're a mixed couple too?” asked Foxglove, with excited features.

“Yup,” replied Clarissa. “And like you, we don't care what the neighbours say or think, right honey?” The chipmunk lady hugged tightly her husband, a male *squirrel*. She *also* had brown and tan fur, a maroon nose, and blue eyes. And he had grey fur, brown eyes, and was a trifle thin. Their features also expressed happiness and contentment.

“Exactly. So don't let anyone get to you,” he replied.

“I suppose Gerry is also an old rival?” asked Foxglove, lowering her ears and tail again.

“Well, not totally. But like the others, he's a good friend now. It was just Chip and me who fought over Clarissa.” The bat lady then crossed her wings, laid her ears as far back as they could go, stiffened her tail, and tapped her foot-paw.

“Dale, before we continue, is there anyone else I should know about?” Dale frantically waved his paws and pleaded, with lowered ears and tail,

“No! No!! Clarissa was the last one!! I only fought Chip over them because I was lonely and jealous!! But you're the only one now!! The *real* only-” Satisfied with this, Foxglove silenced him with a deep kiss, causing yet another strong breeze with their tails, and eliciting raised eyebrows from the other couple.

“Don't worry, hon,” said Clarissa. “It wasn't exactly a nice feeling. All their fights got *me* into huge messes! But I'm glad I found *you*.” She then turned to the couple, “Dale, Foxy, we also wish you the best.” Coming up for air, Foxglove replied,

“Thanks, Clarissa, we wish the same for you.” Gerry continued, this time with low ears and tail,

“And I'll say this again, don't let anyone put doubts into the decision you made. You may have more problems than we did, after all, we're both rodents, and-well-you're not. There will be those who'll picket outside your house and call you nasty names and pick on you in restaurants, but they're just a very loud minority. Perhaps not here, since you already won everyone over, but-maybe-in other places:” Gerry seemed a trifle sad and worried as he trailed off, as his ears and tail showed. Dale looked at him quite seriously, and began growling,

“'Names'?” he asked, with his facial fur darkening, and his ears and tail stiffening. “If anyone *DARES* calls Foxy a bad name, they'll have to face the wrath of-”

“RamDale?” asked Foxglove, worriedly, lowering her ears and tail and raising her wings, in an attempt to calm him down. She *really* wouldn't mind being called na-

“-SEGOLEH!!!” he roared, while grinning insanely again, eliciting laughter from the rest again, as well as perking up ears and tails again. “Gerry, when that happens, I'll counter hate with comedy, and *then* we'll see who has the last laugh, mwha ha ha ha ha!!!” He rubbed his paws again, ears up and tail wagging, while Foxglove shivered pleasantly at his sinister laugh. Clarissa chuckled,

“You do that, Dale. And we know you'll also protect your cubs from hatred, as we have. Ours, too, have had their share of incidents, but they're coming along great. Dale, thanks for all the good times upstate, and congratulations on your wedding. Foxglove, take care of him, he's a great friend. Congratulations.” Once more, hugs were exchanged:

The couple then went to greet Cheddarhead and Camembert. Both large mice lowered their tails, laid their ears back and gave them a joint group-bear hug.

“That was a mean dance you pulled off, mate!” exclaimed Cheddarhead.

“I'll say!” added Camembert. “Reminds me of the time I once tried to learn a 'ail dance back in Borneo!”

“And it seems our little Monty 'as finally got 'imself into two good paws as well!” Cheddarhead glanced at Monterey, who was *still* speaking with Mrs. Hazelnut.

“And we 'ave both of ye to thank for that! Dale, Foxy, we're so 'appy we could almost marry each other again-” Both mice then noticed that neither Dale nor Foxglove had made any comments about this.

“Pally?” asked Cheddarhead.

“Mmmmmmmmmmmmffffffffffffffffffff!!!!!!!!!!!!!” was their joint reply. Quickly, both mice released the couple, allowing them to breathe again. Their ears and tails almost stopped moving there. Both gasped their replies,

“Uh-[gasp]-thanks, Cheddarhead!!” wheezed Dale.

“And-[gasp]-you too, Katie!!” Both continued gasping for a little longer, and after they got their normal breathing patterns back, Cheddarhead asked them,

“Dale, Foxy, we would now like to do a little ceremony of our own, to show our 'appiness for ye.” Dale looked at them, ears down, a trifle worriedly,

“Uh, this wouldn't have anythin' to do with *huggin'*, would it?”

“Naw, ye won't have to do anythin' but relax and hold on to each other. We'll do all the work.” Dale and Foxglove looked/echosounded at each other, shrugged, held each other, and said,

“Well, okay. What is it?” Before either of them knew what was happening, the two mice picked up the couple, held them between them, and with a considerable effort (due to Dale's heavier muscles), threw both of them up in the air, catching them, of course, as they came down. Foxglove squealed, more out of surprise than out of fright, since Dale was holding her tightly and she couldn't instinctively spread her wings as she felt herself coming down. Dale, of course, just laughed at the whole thing, as did all the guests. Cheddarhead and Camembert did this several times, eliciting cheers and happy tails and ears from everyone each time Dale and Foxglove were thrown.

Everyone seemed happy, thanks to the Peacemakers, who had now brought peace to a broken couple:

And so, the reception continued. As the couple recovered from the rough housing and went on greeting the remainder of their guests, a certain ultrasound signal caused Foxglove to perk up her ears. She and Dale stopped for a moment, and then she turned and echosounded at the darkness beyond the reception area.

Just barely visible, but quite audible, two humans, a male and a female, were standing nearby. They had stood there throughout the ceremony, witnessing for the first time what no human had ever seen before. The male had what appeared to be a microphone, and he was pointing it at Foxglove. Both he and the female had headphones, and between the microphone and headphones was Gadget's Translator, which had been lent to them for tonight. No recording device was attached to it, however. And it would be discreetly placed back next to the tree once this whole thing was over.

This night was for *them* only, and not for anyone else, especially no government agency.

And the fun in keeping secrets, especially such a great one as this, was the simple fact that they both knew something that the rest of the world didn't, well, the human world, at least.

Both waved at the couple.

The couple waved back.

“Thank you, Fox and Dana,” said Foxglove, with happy ears and tail.

And FINALLY, it came time for the couple to leave on their well-earned honeymoon. Monterey and Zipper flew the re-built pre-luggage-loaded Ranger Wing from out of the hangar and had it hover above the crowd, who politely parted and allowed it to land. Monterey and Zipper jumped off, but didn't turn off the motors. Ears up and tails in a blur, Dale then picked up his wife, jumped onto the wing, and gently placed her on her seat. He then sat down, revved up the motors, and the aircraft slowly ascended. After it had reached a height of about two metres, it suddenly hovered. Foxglove stood, removed her veil and wreath/bouquet, closed her eyes, hushed her sonar, and threw the item away.

It moved erratically, at first, due to the turbulence caused by the propellers.

And it descended:

Slowly:

The crowd hushed and tensed, calculating the landing spot, moving in semi-synchrony with the wreath:

A sudden breeze suddenly gripped the wreath and brought it down right on:

Zipper!!!!!!

All laughed, and he naturally blushed at this, but even more so did Queenie:

The Ranger Wing then began to move, and the crowd shouted their farewells to the couple.

“Have fun, guys!!” chattered Chip. “And don't get into trouble!!” And yet, he, and all the Rangers as well, were crying, with sad ears and tails to match.

The Ranger Wing ascended, flew off into the night, and disappeared from sight and sound.

Chip sighed.

“You 'aven't lost 'im, mate,” said Monterey, patting Chip's shoulder. “'E'll always be yore friend.” Chip wiped a tear, and replied,

“I-I-know. It's just that he's already gone so far into what I've only *dreamed* about, and after the way I-we-treated him like a clown for so long, well-I'm happy for him, yes, and I know that nothing will ever be the same between us-it's just that-well-he-um-'grew up', I guess. Maybe that's why I'm burning, not for him, but for myself. All the stuff that he and Foxy went through, and now *I'm* facing it-well-” Chip controlled himself before he burst into tears. “We'd better clean this place up before the park attendants come-” Gadget suddenly hugged him and kissed his furry lips. Though his ears laid back and his tail quivered, as did hers, he was a trifle confused at this sudden gesture, so she explained,

“Thanks, Chip, for caring so much for him. Now, are we still on for that date Friday night?” Chip raised his ears and smiled,

“Only if we don't have any cases, which I'm sure you'll make sure of, then you bet, Gadget.” Chip then kissed his new love, and both looked up toward infinity, toward what seemed like an unreachable goal. But if Dale and Foxglove had made it, with wind and tide against them, then maybe, just maybe, they would be able to reach it too.

“Gadget, what about Zipper and Monty now?” he asked. The mousemaid turned and saw Zipper next to Queenie and Monterey next to Mrs. Hazelnut.

“They seem to be in good paws, don't you think?” Chip looked at his team-mates, sighed, smiled and looked into her eyes.

“I love you. And I can only hope to love you as much as Dale loves Foxglove. And-forgive me for rejecting you. I-”

“*I* love you,” she interrupted, touching his lips with her index digit, which still smelled a bit of machine oil, causing his tail to twitch faster. “I thought I would never love again, not after all that happened to me, and after all the wrong things I did to you and Dale, but you proved me wrong, Chip. I found true love in you. Don't be sorry for your rejection. I know you did it because you *truly* loved me. This will work out, Chip. For us, *and* for the others as well. Even though I can't calculate it or analyse it, I-I have the feeling that it will work out-I love you-”

And the new couple kissed again, forgetting for a moment the crowd, their friends, and their family, and the other couple that had gone off into the night:

EPILOGOS - A NEW BEGINNING

Dale's tail quivered as he gripped his hang glider tightly, ran a few quick steps, and jumped off the runway branch. It was a beautiful sunny day, not too windy, and perfect for hang gliding. He soared above the park, and then he was above the city. It seemed perfect to just glide in the wind, between the ground and the sky, with no worries, no flight plan, no actual destiny, just a time to relax and enjoy the view.

He was so relaxed that he seemed to hear music forming in his head.

He then moved off the city, and headed toward the sea. As he did, it seemed as if a man was singing.

“*Now I've::had the time of my life::no, I never felt like this before.*” He approached Liberty Island, and soon, he was above the Statue Of Liberty.

“*Yes, I swear::it's so true:and I owe it all to you.*” Suddenly something interrupted his relaxation. A shadow covered him. He lowered his ears, stiffened his tail, and looked up. A female sang now,

“*'Cause I've::had the time of my _life_:*” It was Foxglove! She was flying above him-

“*:And I owe it all to you--oo--*” And-oh, boy, she had that LOOK on her face, not to mention her ears were up and her tail was swishing:

The music sped up a bit. Dale accelerated, but Foxglove stayed right behind him. He didn't know why, but he actually felt scared. He knew what she wanted, but the way she was being so forward about it made him feel *very* uneasy. What's more, he swore he could almost feel her sonar all over his backside. He was then suddenly over Niagara Falls.

The Male: “*I've been waiting for so long, now I've finally found someone to stand by me.*” He looked back for a moment, and she was still following.

The Female: “*We saw the writing on the wall, as we felt this magical fantasy!*” What's more, she climbed a bit, and then dove right at him, pulling her wings in and spinning like a missile.

Both: “*Now with passion in our eyes, there's no way we could disguise it-*” She suddenly levelled off, and flew right beside him, GAZING into his eyes.

The Male: “*Secretly-*” *Oh, dear.*

Both: “*So we take each other's hand, 'cause we seem to understand-the urgencyyyy!*” *Definitely* scared, as his ears and tail showed, Dale zoomed off, heading for Chicago.

The Male: “*Just remember!!*” Once there, he looked back, and seemed to have lost her. So, he relaxed his ears and tail, and resumed his sightseeing. He spun up Sears Tower.

The Female: “*You're the one thing-*” And she was waiting for him at the top!

The Male: “*I can't get enough of!*” He zoomed off again, but he didn't seemed to be so scared of her now.

The Female: “*So I'll tell you something:*” She now flew under him, upside down, her sonar resonating wildly within his chest.

Both: “*This could be love!! Because-*” Dale zoomed off again, headed south. But he wasn't scared anymore. In fact, his tail was quivering, and his ears were straight.

“*I've-had:the time of my life!! No, I never felt this way before!*” He tried to lose her in a cloud, but clouds were no match for sonar.

“*Yes, I swear:it's so true! And I owe it all to youuuu-!!!*” They arrived at St. Louis, spun all around The Arch, and now zoomed westward.

As fast as he was flying (unknowing how his glider was generating its own thrust), he could just not fly any faster than her. In fact, she caught up with him again. She flew under him, upside down again, *really* close, and softly caressed his cheeks with her wingtips. Dale nearly swooned and his tail blurred while his ears fell back, but a bright sparkle jolted him conscious again. On Foxglove's left wing, in her thumb claw, she was wearing a gold ring. Suddenly glancing at his own left paw, he noticed *his* ring as well.

He forgot that they were both married!

SO WHY THE HECK WAS HE *FLEEING* FROM HER NOW??????!!!!!!

The Male: “*Hey, baby!*” It was all perfectly legal now! Foxglove seemed to sense his reckoning, from the way he began looking at *her*, ears up now, and wagging his tail.

The Female: “*With my body and soul I want you more than you'll ever know.*” And now, *he* was chasing *her*, headed for San Francisco.

The Male: “*So we'll-just let it go, don't be afraid-to loose _control_, no:*” They arrived, and flew under the Golden Gate bridge, accelerating even more as they moved over the Pacific Ocean.

The Female: “*Yes, I know what's on your mind when you say, 'Stay with me tonight'!!*” It almost seemed as if they had reached supersonic speeds as they headed for Hawaii.

The Male: “*Stay with me!*” And as he flew behind her, he finally realised why *she* liked to fly behind *him*.

The Male: “*And remember!!*” But they didn't stop at Hawaii.

“*You're the one thing-*” Flying faster than any bat or chipmunk had flown before, they moved on toward Japan.

The Female: “*I can't get enough of!*” She began teasing him, allowing him to just barely reach her, and then accelerating again. Finally, they arrived at Tokyo.

The Male: “*So I'll tell you something:*” There, they saw/heard Godzilla, who was, as usual, eating the city, AGAIN. They slowed down, flew in front of her, and waved.

Both: “*This could be love!!*” And she stopped eating a building for a moment, smiled, waved back, and resumed her rampage as those two flew off. Suddenly Godzilla did a double take at them, and blushed, for some reason:

“*Because-!!-I've-*” Suddenly Foxglove reached light-speed, and warped up into outer space.

The Female: “*-had the-*” Dale was unfazed. From out of nowhere, ion engines extended from the glider's wings, ignited, and he warped off after her.

Both: “*-had:the time of my life!! No, I never felt this way before-!*” He was soon right behind her, and they zoomed past Mars, dodging a thousand asteroids a moment later, like Han Solo did in the *Millennium Falcon*.

“*Yes, I swear-*” Only this time, being the pursuer, he didn't bump into anything.

The Male: “*Yes, I swear!*” They left the Asteroid Belt, and headed for Jupiter.

Both: “*It's so true! And I owe it all to you!*” The zoomed all around the Jovian moons, and even through the ring around the planet.

“*'Cause I've-had:the time of my life! And I've searched through every open door-*” And they almost bumped into the spacecraft *Galileo*. They stopped for a moment.

The Female: “*Every step _we take_!*” They looked/echosounded at each other for a moment, smiled:

Both: “*Till I've found:the truth!! And I owe it all to you!*” :moved in front of the probe's camera, and made the wildest faces at it, possibly giving an astronomer a heart attack back on Earth.

They left the spacecraft alone, and resumed their pursuit. And it seemed that someone was playing a saxophone at this point. Foxglove glanced back a moment, and gave him yet another sinister GAZE.

Ho boy.

They headed toward the volcanic moon, Io, and Dale was now right behind her. Suddenly Foxglove dipped, pulled her wings in, and dove straight into a volcano, splashing black sulphur all over the area. Dale, still unfazed, dove in right after her, causing a bigger splash.

From the outside, Io appeared to have just swallowed two mammals. But then, its volcanic activity began increasing. All its volcanoes began shooting more and more black sulphur, and then even more and more sulphur, and then the sulphur began erupting in black *heart shapes*, and then *red* heart shapes, which now shot off into space at great speed, and the eruptions increased even more, and that sight would confound astronomers for *centuries*, and just when it seemed that Io was going to shatter-

Dale and Foxglove shot off from another volcano on the opposite side-

The music slowed down again, to a romantic pace.

The Male: “*Now, I've:*”

The Female: “*I've:*”

The Male: “*:had:the time of my life:*” They were now side by side, in the glider, Dale on the left, Foxglove on the right.

The Female: “*Ooo:*” They were holding each other with one wing/paw, and the other wing/paw was on the glider's control bar, and they were looking at each other with more tenderness than ever before.

The Male: “*:no, I never felt this way before-*” It was a glider built for *two*, all of the sudden:

The Female: “*Never felt this way!*” They were both sweating, and seemed to be *very* exhausted, for some reason, as their tails barely twitched, and their ears were laid back, but they still looked *very* happy.

The Male: “*Yes, I swear::it's so true::and I owe it all to you!!*” They now headed back.

The music sped up again.

Both: “*I've-*”

The Female: “*-IIIIIII'VE----!!!!!*”

Both: “*-had:the time of my life!! No, I never felt this way before-!*” They zigzagged through the asteroid belt a-la Han Solo, again, and they enjoyed that very much.

The Female: “*Never felt this way!*”

Both: “*Yes, I swear-it's so true!!*” They left the Asteroid Belt, and moved back to Mars again.

The Male: “*It's so true, YEAH!*” There, they stopped to admire the red planet, looked/echosounded at each other, and kissed deeply.

Both: “*And I owe it all to you!*” They now flew back to Earth. On the way, they saw Ditz's spaceship. So, they moved in front of it, and waved hi again.

The Female: “*Oo---!!*” Ditz and his companions, of course, waved back, but just as soon as the couple flew off, they did a double take at them, lost sight of where they were going, and smashed the ship into Deimos, one of Mars' moons. They weren't hurt, just very, *very*, ticked off at their own clumsiness. They just sat in the bridge, pseudopodia in their chins, fuming at themselves.

Both: “*'Cause I've-!*”

The Male: “*I'VE-!!*”

Both: “*-had-*” Now Dale and Foxglove were approaching the moon.

The Female: “*-HAD-!!*”

Both: “*The time of my life!*” The sight/sound of the moon was so romantic and breathtaking that they paused for another space kiss, their tails wagging again.

The Male: “*Had the time of my life!!*”

Both: “*And I've searched through every open door.*” They were *very* happy. Thusly, they flew back to Earth, and lost themselves in the great blue planet.

The Male: “*You do it to me, baby!*”

The Female: “*Oo-hoo---!!*”

“*¿SeÒor Okkmont?*”

The music faded out.

Both: “*Till I've found:*”

The Male: “*The truth!!*”

“*¿Señor Okkmont?*”

Both: “*The truth!!*”

The Male: “*Aahh---and I-!!*”

Both: “*And I owe it all to you:!*”

“*¿Señor Okkmont?*”

Both: “'Cause I've-!*”

“*¿Señor Okkmont?*”

Slowly, reality faded in. Dale and Foxglove, ears laid back, were *still* looking and echosounding at each other and wagging their tails the same way they were doing so in the glider, but he was carrying her in his arms now. They weren't in outer space, or in a hang glider, but indoors, in the hall of a small-mammal hotel, to be exact. They were standing right next to the entrance of their suite-

“*¿Señor Okkmont?*” Finally, they “awakened”, perking up their ears and quieting their tails. Beside them was a young male black-furred ring-tailed coatimundi, a bellhop, who was wondering if something was wrong. They suddenly glanced at him, with slight confusion. “*¿Se encuentra bien?*” Dale shook slightly for a moment, and then he looked at his wife. It also took Foxglove a minute to come back to Earth, and then she stuttered,

“Um, he wants to know if we-er-if you're all right.” Dale shook slightly again, and just nodded at the procyonid. Someone had the music on too loud just now. Satisfied, the bellhop gestured toward the suite, where he had placed their luggage a few moments ago.

“*Disfruten,*” he quipped, and he padded off. Dale looked at Foxglove again, who simply blushed,

“He-he said-'enjoy'-tee hee!!” Dale chuckled too, and finally, he carried his wife over the threshold, and shut the door. The “Do not disturb/No molestar/Ne pas deranger” sign swung slightly on the doorknob.

Inside, Dale put her down at last. Both of them could *not* believe how long they had held off, even with all the personal strength they had gained recently. The flight to Cancun seemed to take forever, and yet it seemed like a blur. Attaching the Ranger Wing upside-down to the 747 was a good idea, for it made Foxglove comfortable, and it gave him even *more* practice time, as well as some pre-nuptial rest, considering the *long* reception that they were in earlier. But all through the trip they just looked/echosounded at each other, unable to do anything else. Still, that did *not* explain what had happened to them just now. How on *earth* could they both have had what seemed to be a joint-hallucination? And what's more, how could the song say that they've just “*had* the time of their lives” if they had barely gone inside?

No matter. They had more important things to take care of at the moment, and unpacking was certainly *not* one of them. Dale removed his shirt, for he wouldn't be needing it for a while now. After all, even in the early evening, Mexican summers were extremely HOT:

Foxglove echosounded at every single square millimetre of his pumped up self, causing her tail to quiver. Nothing like *that* ever showed up in her dreams. This was *way* beyond what she had during her dark days. This was almost too good to be real-

Oh no.

Her ears stiffened.

Her tail froze.

Dale slowly padded to the bedroom, saying,

“It was very nice of Clarice and Canina to recommend this place, don't you think?” He was admiring the luxurious suite, but his train of thought was derailed as Foxglove suddenly grabbed him and whirled him to face her. He was about to think that she was getting impatient, with the way she was feeling his face with her wings, but his swoon and tail swishing and ear layback was interrupted when he saw the expression on her face.

Foxglove was in a near PANIC.

Standing back slightly, he looked at her very uneasy-like,

“W-what?” Foxglove continued to feel his face, almost as if she had lost something there, as if she was about to lose the most important treasure she had ever found-

“Who are you?” she demanded in a terrified whisper. Dale stood back firmly, quite confused, laying back his ears.

“Huh?”

“Wh-who-who-are-you?” she stuttered. Dale couldn't for the life imagine why she would ask him something like that.

“Um, Foxy, I'm Dale Segoleh Oakmont, your husband, see?” He waved his ringed digit for her to see and hear. Foxglove's expression did not change. “Foxy, what's wrong?” he asked, with near-panicky concern. Foxglove replied, on the brink of tears,

“Are-are you for *real*?” Dale just looked at her for a moment. He thought to himself, looked back at her again, and replied,

“Well, from the last time I checked, yes. But I'll check again.” He pinched his arm slightly, wincing. “Ouch. See, I'm real, I think. What, did you think I was a cartoon or somethin'? Foxy, what's wrong?” The bat lady now cried openly, drooping her ears and tail,

“Oh, please, *please* be real!!” Dale got even *more* confused. “Even if you're a cartoon, *please* be a *real* cartoon!” Dale came closer and held her wing.

“Darlin', you're scarin' me. What are you talkin' about?” Ashamed, Foxglove lowered her head, but Dale gently raised it back up and looked at her eyes. Suddenly, fright came on *his* face now. “Um-uh, d-don't tell me you're-uh-*s-scared*,” he shivered. The bat lady shook her head.

“N-no, it's not that, but I *am* scared that-that this will all just be a dream-” She sobbed, “Oh, Dale, it's just that-I've had so many dreams about you-about *us* being together like this-and-and I've *always* awakened right on the best part! Now that we're here, in the perfect place with the perfect mate-Dale, this feels like Heaven-and-and-it's just *too* good to be true! Dale-I'm-I'm afraid-that I'm going to wake up again-and-and-you'll disappear---[sob]--and-*none* of this will have been for real----!!!!!!” Foxglove threw her wings around him and sobbed into his chest. Dale *knew* that sooner or later they would have marital problems, but the marriage counsellor never mentioned *this*. So all he could do was hold her and try to comfort her as best as he could. And all he could come up with was,

“Um, Foxy, I don't know if this will make you feel better-but-I told you that I've had *my* share of dreams as well-and-I've *also* woken up on the best part.” He then pushed her back slightly, and looked into her eyes, swishing his tail a trifle, but still keeping his ears down. “Foxy, I don't want you to go through that again. If none of this is for real-then-then-you'd better wake up *now*, and not later on. You deserve better than this.” Foxglove just bit her lip slightly, hesitating. “Foxy, please, if it *is* a dream, you won't lose anythin' this time. Please, do it.” Reluctantly, Foxglove released him. She held her wings in front of her, and brought her right wing to her mouth. Since she couldn't pinch very well, she was going to bite herself. Trembling, she opened her mouth, placed her thumbclaw between her fangs, and bit down, gently at first.

Then, harder.

And harder.

And-

“OUCH!!!” She suddenly shut her eyes and hushed her sonar. She didn't want to face the frustration of reality and unfulfilment again.

“Who are you?”

Oh no.

“Who *are* you?” insisted the voice. But then, she recognised the voice. It was Dale's voice. But, were they *still* in the hotel? Or were they back in New York, with her sleeping next to a chipmunk who had never met her before?

Slowly, she opened her eyes, and quietly echosounded again.

She was still in the suite, with her husband in front of her.

Her ears straightened.

Her tail twitched.

She smiled.

“I-I am Foxglove Yegoleh of Oakmont, your wife,” she stated, proud of the names Dale had given her, especially the feminine counterpart of Dale's middle name. But she was still a trifle unsure of the reality of this. Dale padded up, ears up and tail in a blur, and felt her face a bit.

“Are you for real?” he asked tenderly. She almost swooned, but managed to reply,

“I-I think so.”

“Well, I certainly *hope* so.” He moved in closer and gave her a light but long kiss that seemed to go on forever. When they came up for air Êons later, he stated, “Well, you seem real enough to me! And-Foxy-if this is *still* a dream-then-I'll do everythin' possible to make sure you don't wake up.”

“Won't that be kinda difficult considering-”

“Yes, I know. But I'll *still* try.” The pipistrell smiled.

“Dale, do you think that *either* of us are dreaming this? That maybe we both are just figments of each other's imagination?” The tamias thought for a moment, and replied,

“Doubt it. But if we are, and if we *didn't* wake up just now, maybe we're inside someone else's dream.” The verspetilionid stood back,

“You mean we could simply be figments of *someone else's* imagination?” The sciurid frowned a bit,

“Possibly. And if we are, then I *hope* he or she is enjoyin' this!!”

“So, do you want to take that risk?” asked the chiropterid. The rodent thought again, and said,

“Yeah, why not? If it *is* a dream, then *at least* WE won't wake up soon. And if it *isn't*, well, then, that's good news for us, don't you think?” Foxglove smiled sinisterly again,

“I *love* the way you reason, Cute Stuff.” And she placed a light kiss on his red nose. And so, both went into the bedroom-

Both stopped, as did their tails, and their ears stiffened again.

The bed was covered with foxglove petals. That wasn't too bad in itself, but-

At the foot of the bed was a large BOX, slightly taller than they were.

It was purple gift-wrapped, and it had a purple bow on top of it.

Hanging from the bow was a large tag.

The tag had a message printed on it. It was written in gold Old English-style letters:

“Congratulations, Dale and Foxglove”.

“Uh, Foxy, did any of the guys know we were goin' to be *in THIS room*?” asked Dale, rather nervously, eyeing the box with extreme suspicion.

“I-I doubt it-but Canina and Clarice made the reservations-maybe *they* did.” Still quite suspicious, Foxglove echosounded at the box. There was no ticking coming from it, and no humming, either. So there was no mechanical or digital timer inside.

“A complementary gift from the hotel?” asked Dale, not wanting to bring their enemies in just yet.

“M-maybe,” she stuttered. “Dale, I *think* it's safe. I don't hear anything moving in it. Can you smell anything?” Dale padded closer to the box, and took some careful sniffs. He didn't smell anything explosive or flammable, and this box *couldn't* be airtight because it was made of thin cardboard and it was too small, relatively speaking. He did, however, smell something else, something that lingered about the box, something that appeared to trigger yet another suppressed instinct within him.

It was an instinct that had somehow remained neglected all this time. With them dealing with death and resurrections for so long, and killing many things and bringing back many things from beyond the grave, this particular instinct seemed to have been lost in the shuffle.

All this time, he *knew* they had been forgetting something, but it was so dim and hazy that he couldn't pinpoint it. Even now, the scent he was getting wasn't entirely clear. It was *certainly* pulling something from deep within him, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

So, he just padded up, and pulled on the bow.

The purple wrapping fell to the floor.

And Dale staggered back, ears laid down, his mouth wider than ever, his tail swishing like never before, and his eyes glazed like never before.

In front of him, inside a gold-coloured carton-framed box, with transparent sides, was-

THE BIGGEST-

THE MOST COLOSSAL-

THE RICHEST-

THE YUMMIEST-

*GIANT* *WHITE CHOCOLATE* HERSHEY'S KISS WITH *ALMONDS* THAT HE HAD EVER SEEN.

The music started up again.

“*When a man loves a woman!*” And once again, neither knew where it was coming from. Maybe someone had the radio too loud again.

“*Can't keep his mind on nothin' else.*” Foxglove echosounded at Dale, and smiled. She certainly *knew* about his chocolate reflex.

“*He'd trade the world-for the good thing he's found.*” Never again would Dale, or anyone, see her as the criminal she once was. She padded up to the box, and craftily opened it. All of its sides fell flat on the floor, leaving the Hershey's Kiss out in the open, finally.

“*If she is bad, he can't see it!! She can do no wrong.*” She was forever a good one now. Dale was now frozen in place just from what he was smelling.

“*Turn his back on his best friend-if he puts her down.*” Well, maybe not turn his back on Chip, but just place him aside, for now. Just then, Foxglove echosounded downward, to the bottom of the box.

“*When a man loves a woman!*” At the base of the Hershey's Kiss, there were none other than *chocolate covered LUNA MOTHS!!!!!!!*

“*Spends his very last dime-*” She, too, stood back for a moment, more than stunned, ears laid back, with her tail in a blur again. This was *certainly* not what she expected from a wedding present, either.

“*Trying to hold on-to what he needs.*” She gathered her thoughts again, straightened her ears, and padded up to the Kiss again.

“*He'd give up all his comforts-!!-sleep out in the rain-*” They remembered the rainy night she came back, and the night she left. Craftily, she placed her wings on the Kiss, and broke off the tip, causing Dale to perk up his ears. Then she reached down, and picked up one moth.

“*If she said that's the way-it ought to be.*” And then she practically floated up to Dale.

“*Heyyy, ah-*”

“Oooo-----*

“*When a man loves a woman-!-yeah.*” At this point, Dale was wondering if everything that was going through his mind was moral, or even *legal*.

“*I give you _everything_ I've got! Ho, oh-*” But then, he looked at Foxglove's ring.

“*Trying to hold on-to your _precious_ love.*” Then, he looked at *his* ring.

“*Baby! Baby, _please_ don't treat me bad!!*” This was perfectly moral.

This was perfectly legal.

All of their friends and relatives knew where they were and what they were doing-well, they had a general idea, at least.

And they all had sanctioned it and given them their blessing.

This was the perfect time.

This was the perfect place.

It was time for *MORE*:

“Oooo-----*”

“*When a man loves a woman!!*” Looking at her with glazed eyes, he saw her come up to him, and she placed the moth on his right paw.

“*Deep down in his soooul,*” Then she moved his right paw over her shoulder, and put her left wing, which had the Kiss piece, around his shoulder.

“*She can bring him-such misery.*” And what a horrible misery it was, but it was in the past now. Gently, she put the Kiss in his mouth.

“*If she is playing him for a fool-!-he's the last one to know.*” Not that she would ever play him like that, either. Following her lead, he placed the moth in her mouth.

“*Loving eyes-can never see.*” Both would only see/hear good in each other, now and forever. Both were suddenly overtaken by a rush brought about by the wonderful flavour of their favourite foods, causing them to become *very* light-headed and to nearly faint. And both were practically drowning in pheromones now.

“*Yes, when a man LOVES a woman!!!*” And then, they looked/echosounded at each other's eyes.

“*I know exactly how he feels.*” A slight pause, as in each other's eyes, they saw/heard each other.

“*'Cause baby!!*” They saw/heard their souls within each other.

“*Baaaaaaaaby--yyy----!!!*” They were now part of each other, body, mind, and spirit.

They saw/heard passion.

They saw/heard love.

They saw/heard peace.

They saw/heard joy.

They saw/heard kindness.

They saw/heard tenderness.

They saw/heard laughter.

They saw/heard humour.

They saw/heard strength.

They saw/heard expectancy.

And due to the circumstances, they saw/heard extreme eagerness as well.

“*When a man loves a woman!!!*” Having eaten their mouthfuls, she turned slightly, held his paw to her face, and kissed his thumb again. She then placed both wings around him, and he placed both arms around her. Tails blurred, and ears were laid back.

“*Wo-*” And they kissed.

“*When a man loves a woman!!!*” It was sweet.

“*Yea-yea!*” It was chocolaty.

“*When a man _loves_ a woman!!!*” It was only the beginning.

“*When a MAN!*” [Camera truck out of the suite through closed venetian blinds, truck higher and higher, first showing the small mammal hotel wing, then the human hotel itself.]

“*When-a-MAN!*” [Truck out still higher, now showing the hotel zone.]

“*When a man _loves_ a woman!!!*” [Truck out still higher, now showing the Cancun bay area.]

Fly, fly, fly, fly away, with the one you promised to love forever, fly to unreachable heights with him, the Wind Beneath Your Wings, to unknown places, to uncharted worlds, to have new, wonderful, exciting, and scary adventures with him, to go through danger together, to love him from now through eternity, to be a part of him, to have him be a part of you, to feel both the pleasure and pain of love, to go where no bat or chipmunk have ever gone before, to bring forth new life, to stand by each other, fly, fly, fly away, with him, forever and ever:

“*Hoooooooo------!!!*” [Truck out still higher, now showing the mainland, the bay area, Isla Mujeres, and the Caribbean Sea.]

Fly, fly, fly, fly away:

“*:oh, Dale:*”

It was *only* the beginning:

THE END / DAS ENDE / DIE EINDE / EL FIN / O FIN / LE FIN / IL FINE / SFIRSIT / KONIEC / KONEC / BEIGAS / LOPPU / TELOS / SOF / SLUT

CREDITS / EFTERTEXTER

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