It's Just A Little Shopping Trip...

"You'll never take me alive!" Gareth cried as he held on for dear life.

Tejina tried to pry Gareth's hands from the door frame, but he held it tightly. "What's the big deal? It's only - ugh - a - little - shopping trip - there!" She pulled the reluctant boy away from the door. "Come on! It'll be fun! Trust me," she said, smiling sweetly. Gareth sighed.

"Tashita, please? It can't be that bad," Kalil said.

Tashita shook her head. "No. It is. I hate shopping!" she insisted.

"Please?" he begged.

She sighed. She could never resist those brown eyes.... "Okay. But I know I won't have a good time. I'm only going because you want me to," she said.

Ippin, Kirana and Yoshiko were begging, pleading, bribing and threatening Riku, Kendren, and Peetie to go the mall with them. The poor boys never had a chance.

"But you have to come! Please? Fine, if you don't come I'll put N*aboo posters all over Priire's room and tell her you did it," Ippin threatened Riku.

"Aw man, but then I'll have to dodge blaster fire again," Riku sighed. Maybe shopping wasn't that bad...

"It might be fun," Peetie said doubtfully. He shrugged.

Kendren sighed. "Kirana, I know you're going to make me go, so I'm surrendering right now," Kendren said, holding his hands in the air as if she had a blaster. Kirana stared at him with a pleased smile on her face.

"Vegeta," Mara said, "You are going whether you want to or not." He knew it was better not to argue.

Soon the big crowd of senshi and their friends arrived at the mall. It was huge, one of the biggest on Coruscant, with lovely fountains and tons of stores. And very easy to get lost in.

"Come on, Yoshiko, this is embarrassing!" Peetie cried. He tried to hide, but people had already seen him and were snickering.

"Come on," Yoshiko said, holding out two pairs of underwear, "the pink or the blue?"

Peetie groaned. She was doing this on purpose, he knew she was.

"Okay, fine, I see this makes you uncomfortable," Yoshiko said very loudly. Peetie winced. "So let's go to the shoes!" Peetie sighed. What did I do to deserve this? he wondered.

Oola, Kirana, Ippin, Tejina, and Kairiku were trying on clothes at Galaxy Fashions as Fumetsu, Kendren, Riku, Gareth, Anakin and Priire waited in utter boredom.

"Hey, Priire, why aren't you trying on clothes with them?" Fumetsu wanted to know.

"What? At this pastel paradise? Yeah, right," she said. "I wanted to go to Blasters R Us. But do they listen? Nooo."

"I want to be anywhere but here," Gareth mumbled.

"Hey, do you guys like my outfit?" Oola asked, coming out of the dressing rooms. The long, black, sparkly dress looked wonderful on the Twi'lek girl.

"Oola, you look beautiful," Fumetsu said.

She squealed happily. "Too bad it costs a thousand credits," she said added, unhappily.

Fumetsu's eyes bulged. "Then why did you even try it on?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said, shrugging. Fumetsu sighed.

A half hour later...

"That's it. I can't take it anymore. Who wants to go to Blasters R Us?" Priire asked. Not surprisingly, everyone volunteered.

Mara, Vegeta, Yukiko, Ben, Shikuku, Arekaderu, Chouko and Kagerou were at the restaurant Planet Paradise. It served anything you asked for, and in record time.

"To protect the world from devastation," Arekaderu began to mumble.

Shikuku turned to stare at her Quatre-look-alike boyfriend. "WHAT did you just say?" she asked. He began reciting Team Rocket's entire speech. Shikuku looked somewhat horrified. "Okay - what was in his drink?" she demanded.

Vegeta was trying his hardest not to laugh. And not succeeding.

Soon Chouko began to giggle, followed by Ben, Yuki and Kagerou. Soon Mara and even Shikuku were laughing too.

"Please be quiet or you will not be permitted to stay," the ugly serving droid said. Chouko looked at it and burst out laughing. It was exactly - exactly like her old vacuum. It probably was.

"Somebody restrain her!" Ben cried.

Vegeta sighed. This was going to be a looong day...

"See, Tashita? This is fun!" Kalil exclaimed. They were at the arcade, and Tashita actually found it enjoyable.

"Wow! Look! I got a high score!" he cried, pointing to the machine.

"That's the highest score ever!" Tashita said, reading the scores. Just then, tons of tickets spewed out of the machine. Kalil took them and told Tashita not to look. He returned, a few minutes later, with a stuffed Ewok. He gave it to Tashita.

"Kalil! It's so adorable! Thanks!" she cried, hugging him.

"Yeah yeah, enough with the mushy stuff," said a customer waiting in line. They laughed.

"WOW! What a way hoth store!" Priire cried in excitement. That's right - Blasters R Us. "Look! They even have the new X2-7T! I thought you could only get these babies on the black market!" Priire was now squealing with joy.

"Whoa," Kendren said, a little scared. Fumetsu was backing away slowly.

Riku sighed. "Just don't get any ideas, okay, Priire?" he asked. Pleaded was more like it. Begged. Cowered at the feet of the Goddess Of Weapons.

Anakin, meanwhile, was sitting quietly in a chair next to a display of blaster bolts. Gareth was backing away from Priire slowly, as she now had an almost maniacal look on her face. He didn't watch where he was going and crashed into the blaster bolts.

"You crazy kids! Get outta my store!" yelled the owner.

"Gareth, why'd you have to do that? I was just about to buy three blasters and some grenades in case of emergencies," Priire said as they ran out of the store.

"I'm sorry," Gareth replied, dodging people, "you know how clumsy I am!" Just then, to prove that statement, he flew into an Ithorian. Fumetsu helped him up and they kept running.

"Um, guys? Where are our boyfriends? And Priire?" Kairiku asked when they emerged wearing new outfits.

Kirana frowned. "They were right here a minute ago..."

"They must have ditched us," Ippin said, turning as red as her shirt.

Tejina balled her hands into tight fists. "Argh! I'm going to hunt down that boy and take that stupid little braid as my trophy!!!"

"I'm going to put Fumetsu on a leash next time!" Oola screamed.

"Or we could just go look for them and take revenge in front of the entire mall," Kairiku suggested.

Ippin grinned wickedly, and the other girls nodded. They purchased the clothes and stalked out of the store...

"I'm tired of waiting," Mara said, checking her watch. Everyone had finished eating - everyone but Yuki and Ben, that is. They had moved to a special area of the restaurant called "Lover's Cove". And they probably weren't even eating.

"I want to go home," Vegeta whined. Mara glared at him.

"Hey, wait, isn't that Priire?" Chouko asked. Shikuku turned to look. There was a blond girl running and yelling, "Get outta my way!" Several boys trailed after her, and almost rabid-looking girls after them.

"Looks like they're having fun..." Kagerou remarked.

"Yuki, I wanted to give you this," Ben said, handing her a box. Even in the dim light, she could see that he was blushing.

"Oh, Ben," she gasped when she saw what was inside. It was a beautiful necklace, with light blue stones. "But - why are you giving this to me?"

"Just because I love you," he replied, the light reflecting off his purple hair. She smiled, and they shared a kiss in the candlelight. Then they heard applauding.

"Congratulations! You are 'couple of the month'!" said a man with an annoying voice. Yuki looked about ready to smack him. "You win a fabulous vacation on Endor! Now, pose for the camera!" he said.

Yuki and Ben stared with dull, angry expressions on their faces as confetti flew around. "Great," Ben whispered.

"Run! They're gaining on us!" Anakin cried in horror. He could almost feel Kairiku's breath on his neck.

"I'll... get... you," Ippin panted, her voice warped and evil. Riku yelped and tried to run faster.

"Kendren, come here," Kirana said. It was rather hard for her to run, considering her tons of bags. Kendren was about to run faster, but then he realized she wouldn't hurt him. And besides, he was always nice to Kirana.

"Um, yes, Kirana?" he asked.

"Could you hold this? I can't find my credit card," she said, holding out her purse.

"Wimp!" Priire cried over her shoulder. Kendren sighed.

"Um - guys - what the heck are you doing?" Tashita asked in amazement as her freinds flew by. Kaili shook his head. "I think waiting outside the mall would be a very good idea," she said.

Back at the Jedi Temple...

Everyone had miraculously made it out of the mall alive. Well, sure, Gareth had a scratch on his forehead, but that was expected of someone so clumsy. Everyone had forgiven everyone else, except for Yuki and Ben, who had sworn revenge on the restaurant owner. Especially when Annika had burst out with the newspaper - they had made the front page!

"I am never going to the mall again," Fumetsu said. Everyone agreed.