Brittany fanned herself with her trembling palms, trying to calm herself down. Alvin paced up and down the lounge floor, deep in thoughts - mostly pointless ones. Theodore was busying binge-eating pretty much everything in the fridge, trying not to panic. Eleanor lay motionless on the Treehouse sofa, staring worriedly into the ceiling.

And Simon... Simon was worried most of all. Beads of sweats trickled down his anxious face as he navigated through a sea of troubled thoughts.

"Okay, okay! Don't panic! Nobody panic!" Brittany exclaimed.

"Guys..." Eleanor began, "I'm pretty sure she just needed a little space from us, and all the conflict. That's all. She's probably outside somewhere -"

"Exactly! SOMEWHERE!" Simon cut off. "WHERE has she escaped to? She... she could be ANYWHERE!"

"YOU should know, Simon," Brittany said, "since YOU know her the best. THINK: where does she go when she feels stressed or worried?"

"To me! She comes to ME, Brittany. Whenever she's down, whenever she's upset, whenever she needs somebody to open up to, she comes to me. She confides in ME. But, where is she? I don't see her. She's not with me, is she? So -"

"Where else could she have gone, then?" asked Theodore.

"There must be somewhere else she goes to," Alvin reasoned. "Maybe... to the library... to take care of Miss Croner's cats... to -"

A sudden inch of realisation washed over Simon: "To stargaze! To see the stars!"

He checked his ocean-blue phone. "Yep, yep. Tonight's the meteor shower that she wouldn't stop talking about. Maybe she went out to check it out... for some peace?"

He then mumbled to himself: "I can't believe we can be SO stupid, that she needs a break from her OWN family. What GENIUSES we are."

"Well, then. What are we waiting for?" answered Alvin. "Let's go and get our sister back!"

- - - - -

Eleanor circled their Treehouse, desperately trying to find a purple-clad Chipmunk relaxing on the ground. She wasn't there...

Theodore - as USUAL - first checked the fridge of the Treehouse. Unsurprisingly, nowhere to seen...

Alvin surveyed the Chipmunks' garden lawn and swimming pool. Could she have been resting on a deckchair? Not today.

Brittany scanned Ms Croner's house from atop the Treehouse balcony. Nothing.

Simon paced around the Chipmunks' house in hope to find his beloved sister. He failed to do so.

The Chipmunks got together again in the centre of the Treehouse lawn.

"I couldn't find her!"

"This can't be happening."

"Where could she be?"

"I'm freaking out right now!"

"This isn't right."

They couldn't give up; they just couldn't. However, they were slowly starting to lose hope in the search...

ALVIN'S FLASHBACK:

"What? How?" asked the bewildered Alvin.

"I... uh... I dunno... Simon taught me a few tricks, but uh -"

"Jeanette beat me at a video game? No way!"

Simon winked at her.

SIMON'S FLASHBACK:

"So, the Video Game Studio called back to me, and they said that they liked my game!" said the pleased Simon. "I... just need a couple more people to try it out, and figured that... you know, you'd be interested?"

"I dunno, Simon..." she replied. "I'm... not really a video-game kinda person."

"That's exactly why I need you! They're looking to expand the market to people such as yourself... So, uh, on that note, would you be willing to reconsider?"

"If it helps you out, sure!" she said with a smile.

THEODORE'S FLASHBACK:

"Hey, Theodore!" Jeanette said as he passed by. "Wanna try my new batch of red velvet fudge cookies? I've been working on a new -"

"You had me at 'batch'!" exclaimed Theodore, beaming with delight.

He tasted one of the cookies, which instantly forced a smile upon his face. "Wow, sis, this is amazing! How did you make them?"

"Well... a magician never reveals her secret!" she giggled, giving her younger brother a hug.

BRITTANY'S FLASHBACK:

"You, uh, thought I couldn't... be fashionable?" Jeanette hesitatingly said.

"Ya?" Brittany answered, trying to show the least bit of interest, when really, she was captivated. "What's your point?"

"Do you... have something to say about, maybe, I don't know, your statement now?"

"Not really, no. I think ya look pretty normal to me."

"Never mind," she muttered softly.

ELEANOR'S FLASHBACK:

"That's it! So you just tackle -" and as Eleanor continued to give her directions, Jeanette bounced the basketball off her.

"Hey! Get back here!" Eleanor chased rapidly after her sister, only to see her shoot her very first basket.

That was the best feeling she had ever felt towards her sister.

"Wow, Jeanette. You... you've really improved as a basket baller!"

"Oh, uh... gee, thanks," she replied, rubbing the back of her head.

THE FLASHBACKS ALL END...

The Chipmunks' pondered upon all the memories they had with their now lost sister. They were all fun, memorable and uplifting... except from Brittany's. She had a flashback to her bad attitude with Jeanette.

"Wait!" he gasped the blue Chipmunk. "I think I may know where she might be -"

"Well, you better know," snapped Brittany, with a hint of sass in her voice. "I need ma sista, ya know?"

"Oh, really? NOW you need your sister? Because the last time you guys talked, you completely destroyed her self-confidence. It kinda seemed like you didn't want her around."

Brittany was hurt by his remark.

"So you're saying the whole fight we had - the one that upset Jeanette - was MY fault?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Besides, you admitted it already."

"Personally, I think it was YOUR fault."

"MINE? How was it MY fault?"

"If you didn't get involved, maybe the argument could have ended earlier."

"What a lame excuse."

"Don't. Try. Me."

"Or what? You're gonna go diva on me, like you always do?"

"Ugh!" she cried. "That's IT! You are officially... the worst person ever to have lived on this earth!"

"Really?" Alvin interfered. "THAT was the best you could do? I mean, c'mon, Britt. You had a chance to show him who's boss, and you completely ruined your moment. What a -"

"Could YOU have done any better, then?"

"I've done it in my SLEEP."

"Did not."

"Did to!"

"DID NOT."

"DID TO!"

"DID -"

Alvin couldn't finish his sentence. He was too confused by what he saw soon after...