Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Author's Note: This is from The Twelve Days of Christmas. This is the first in a series of one-shots for Christmas. You don't have to read them all to understand it. But each is based off of a verse in the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, so the first will have A Partridge in a Pear Tree in the story somewhere and so forth for the rest. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and a Happy New Year.

On the Tenth Day of Christmas

Z looked at Syd again, "Thank you again for watching the kids."

Syd smiled, "It's no problem, you still have to get your shopping done."

"Sky's Mom feels horrible that she couldn't do it…if she wasn't but since her flight was delayed…"

"Z, it's absolutely no problem. Bridge and I don't mind and besides that the kids will have so much fun."

"Okay, so we'll be back later?"

"Yes. Now, go. Wes is already with Tiana. And I'm sure Ken is hanging out with Jess. And you know that Sarah, Brian and Claire are probably watching something…or figuring out something to do. So it's fine."

"Alright, I got it. We'll leave."

"Good. Go have fun."

"With the crazy shoppers? Thanks." Z turned and headed back to the car where Sky was waiting. She got in, "Let's go."

"Okay."

Sky started driving towards the mall. Z and Sky had done a little bit of shopping for Christmas but with work and such they hadn't had too much time. Now Christmas was next week and the countdown was on fast. It was not either of their ideas to come to the mall so close to Christmas to do shopping but they really didn't have a choice at the moment.

Getting to the mall was ridiculous and Z knew that it was only a precursor for what they were going to find in the mall. She looked over at her husband; she only hoped he would be able to handle today. "Are you sure you'll be fine?"

They had just pulled into the parking lot at the mall, "Z don't worry. It'll be fine." He began moving around. As he was heading up one of the aisles that was a one way a car began moving down the wrong way. Sky stopped the car in the middle of the aisle and sat there. The person in the car started glaring at him; the only problem was they weren't expecting a glare back from the person on this side. And Sky had him beat without a problem.

It was only a few minutes before the car backed up and got out of the aisle and continued onward. Sky continued moving through until they found a parking spot. It didn't say too much of how the mall was going to be when it was a ten minute walk from their spot to one of the doors.

They entered in and walked down the long hallway until it opened up into the big area. As soon as they were past a crowd of people just standing there, they saw Ten Lords a Leaping. They were moving with great agility and speed as they performed for the crowd. People kept clapping and cheering at different moves they were making. Z had to admit it, they were quite impressive.

She and Sky moved their way through to the other side of the performing area. One a sign it had Performing Now: Ten Lords a Leaping. The next performance was listed as Nine Ladies Dancing.

Z raised an eyebrow and nudged Sky. He turned and read the sign and then turned back to Z. She smirked, "What's next? The rest of the song?"

He smiled and nodded toward the direction of the toy store. They both knew that this was not going to be a happy place to visit. If any place in any store at Christmas time got crazy it was definitely a toy store.

They were making their way down the hall when someone stepped in front of Z, "You're skin is quite beautiful but I do think that there is something you could use that will enhance your beauty even more."

"Oh really?"

"It's brought from the far reaches of the galaxy. A planet no one dares venture to for fear of the life forms on the planet."

"And what planet is that?"

"It's Minotoba. I'm sure you've not heard of that. But there is sand there on the planet that vitalizes oneself. It brings an essence to them that would have been forgotten with time."

"Minotoba?" Z had heard of it and had visited it. It was not a dangerous planet at all. It was still very new though and only SPD and a few other agencies had really been there. Obviously they could not have gotten the sand from there or perhaps he had gotten someone to bring some. But the point was that there is no way that what he was selling could be plausible at all. The creatures of that place were all peaceful.

"Yes. Minotoba. I know it does not sound like anything, but if the beasts heard you denial you would be torn to shreds. I have seen it."

Z knew it then, he was just making it up. She smiled at him, "Look I know that you seem quite sure of yourself but I have been to Minotoba and its peaceful if anything. So thank you."

The man was left speechless so Z found this her opportunity to slip away. She wondered where Sky was but only for a minute; he was standing by a wall just a bit down from where the man had tried to sell her the sand or whatever it was.

"Great job on how you handled it."

She shrugged, "It's not like I was going to arrest him because he made up the story of where his product came from. Besides it might not have been him who made it up."

He smiled, "I didn't say you handled the situation poorly."

She looked up at him, "But you would have handled it differently."

"Maybe a bit."

"Come on, we still have to get to the toy store and I think it's at the end of this way."

"I think you're right."

Together they began making their way through everyone again. The toy store was actually two floors in this mall. It was quite huge and so generally this was where most of the parents came to get their Christmas toys for their kids.

Z really regretted not being able to go Christmas shopping before when she saw the store front of the toy store. It was ridiculous, there were people everywhere. Sighing she looked at Sky who nodded at her. Together they both walked into the madness.

Once inside the store Z almost wanted to turn around and head out. There were adults everyone grabbing toys, yelling into phones. One parent had a child in the cart who was crying. The parent wasn't even paying attention to them until they turned back to the cart to put in another gift. They pulled the kid out and started rubbing their back. Then the Mother took a long pretzel out of her bag and gave it to the kid sticking him back in the cart and turning down the next aisle.

"This is a mad house." Sky said under his breath to Z, "I suppose we deserve it for waiting so long."

'True, but we're efficient. Grab a cart, we got work to do."

Sky got a cart and brought it back and together they headed down the first aisle. There were mostly baby toys here, toys that they didn't need any for their family since their youngest, Claire was eight.

"Don't forget Sky we're also going to grab some toys to donate to Jack and Ally's Christmas donations."

"Right. So, let's get this." He picked up a baby doll and put it in the cart. They moved to the next section which had lots of different sets. There were space sets, where they had astronauts and different 'planets' to visit. The planets were actually just different backgrounds that revolved.

Another set was under the sea. There were whales and dolphins and plenty of fish, and of course sharks. A ranch set next to it with about ten horses and cowboys. There were bulls in there as well.

Then Z came to a farm set, it was huge. There was a barn and included in it were so many animals, horses, chickens, pigs, cows and many others. In addition they had different little dolls that you could use with it. There were about eight different farmers and then in the little picture it showed Eight Maids a Milking. She shook her head; whoever got that should definitely want to be a farmer.

Sky and she passed all those sets because they were just so big. However at the very end of the aisle they did find a small barn set. All it had was the barn, a couple of cows, a few chickens and some pigs. Along with it came the farmer and his wife. Sky and Z grabbed this one as well.

The next section was the dress up section. They knew that here was going to be where they found Claire's gifts. She already adored dressing up and she had even put on makeup that she had found. They found a little pink dress and these little shoes that matched. They were also able to find a little kid makeup kit.

They continued moving throughout the store until they ended up on the second floor. Up there they had computer games and such. Both Sky and Z began looking at the different games for Ken.

"I found something." Sky said.

"What is it?"

He held out a computer programming disk. Though Ken was ten he would probably enjoy that. "It's something Ken has been working on.

"You're right, he'll really enjoy that. This is what I found him." Z held out a game that had Seven Swans a Swimming on there.

"What is it?"

"It's a math game. It gives the questions in rhyme or something like that. It's supposed to be very hard, however I think Ken will enjoy it."

"You're right."

They put them both in the cart.

"Now for Wes and Sarah, they're both eleven; do you think there's something in here for them?"

Sky thought about it for a few minutes before he shrugged his shoulders, "I suppose we can look."

As they continued through the store they grabbed a few more things for Claire and Ken. Z had gotten Wes and Sarah a few things when she and Syd had gone shopping a couple of weeks ago, she and Sky had just wanted another couple of presents to give them.

When they turned into the next section they stopped the cart. Spread across the floor was Six Geese a Laying. A little kid was pulling the stuffed animals off of the shelves and into the aisle. He threw down a lion next.

"Andy! Where are you?"

Z looked at the little boy who looked up and then back at the floor where he had been making a mess. A minute later a man in about his late thirties sprinted down the aisle, "There you are! I told you not to take off on me."

"I was having fun. You were just taking to that lady."

"I'm done talking to her now. Let's go."

Just as they were about to leave the aisle Sky called out, "Hey! He needs to clean this up."

The boy's father turned and looked at Sky, "My son and I are leaving."

"Your son made this mess on purpose and he will clean it up."

"What are you going to do about it?"

Sky clenched his jaw and Z placed her hand on his back so that the man wouldn't see it. Then under her breathe she whispered, "Don't."

They stand off lasted for another couple of minutes and broke only when a Mom and her three kids came into the aisle and the kids ran to play with the stuffed animals. The other man broke away and grabbed his kid's hand taking off.

"That was just rude."

She shrugged, "I know, but let's not worry about it alright? We still have a few other places to go to in the mall and we have to check out of here."

"You're right."

They made their way to the checkout line which was absolutely ridiculous. There were at least eight people ahead of them all who had carts full of toys. Sky and Z did have toys in theirs and there were a few but the cart wasn't heaping with toys.

After they checked out of the toy store they went across the hall and into the bookstore. It wasn't as crazy in there as it had been in the toy store. Sky and Z moved to the kid section. They grabbed a couple of books for the donation and then focused on their kids and what to get them. Since they were already in the kids section they were able to find some Princess and Fairy books for Claire. For Ken they grabbed him the next book in a series that he had been reading.

The next section they went to was the computer section. Z knew that though Ken still liked to do things kids us age liked to do, he also would be let down if he didn't have something for a computer. He was only ten but still his IQ was completely out there. Jack would joke about that Ken must be adopted because where else would his IQ come from?

"I found it."

Sky held out a book that Ken had been talking about nonstop. It made absolutely no sense to Z, but this was what Ken wanted.

They had still wanted to get Wes and Sarah a few books so they moved to the section for them. Sky was able to find this series that Sarah had started in the school library. There were already three books out and she had read the first one, but the library didn't have the second or third. It was about this young girl who had stowed away on a vessel only to be discovered after they were away from the planet. It was about her adventures and her finding something in the end. Sarah had told Z that the book had ended on a cliff hanger and she really wanted the next book. They grabbed all three books before moving onto Wes.

Wes had actually asked for an art book along with his favorite series new book. It had startled Sky, but Z wasn't really too surprised. After all he had gone out of his way to paint a picture of Tiana's favorite spot so that he could give it to her. Sure at first she had assumed it was because he had a crush on her, and it while it was true that he did, Z had realized that Wes actually did like to draw.

Sky picked up his series which was about an adventurer going from planet to planet saving mystical items. Z got him one of the art books.

Once they were done paying for the books they headed down the way. They passed by a jewelry store which had a few different pictures on it. One was a heart shaped pendant. Another was a Christmas tree pin made of emeralds and rubies with a canary diamond on top. While yet another picture was of Five Golden Rings.

Neither of them needed to go into the jewelry store so they were quickly by it. As they passed by a nature store Z had to pause.

"What is it?"

"Hold on, I think I saw something in there that Claire might like."

"Alright."

Z went into the store and started looking around. There were a lot of different things, like mugs or key chains. A lot of it was wood and there were pictures of animals everywhere. Z was able to quickly find the blankets.

She pulled out one that had a wolf on it. It was quite beautiful; the wolf was baying at the moon in a forest setting. Z held onto that while she picked up the next blanket, this one had a moose on it. Another blanket was of a waterfall. The colors on all of these blankets were so vivid and the images themselves could make one think that it was actually real.

There seemed to be animals of all sorts, rabbits, deer, foxes, owls. Amongst all settings, such as by a stream, or in the deep woods surrounded by the dark trees; some of the settings on the blankets were in the day with the light from the sun coming through the clouds while some animals basked in the light.

One blanket had Four Calling Birds on it. They were all near each other behind some bushes while in the background you could see a fox going in the different direction. Z almost wanted to get that one but she knew that Claire would love the wolf blanket. She would especially love the setting on the blanket.

As she set the other blankets down she thought about the moose one. Ally would love that one. She had told Z that her favorite animal was the moose. On that blanket the moose was in the middle of the woods with a stream nearby almost hidden. She didn't have to think long about it before she decided that it would be a good idea to get that for Ally.

She paid for the two blankets and then left the store. Sky was standing across the way reading a book from one of the standees. She made her way over to him, "Hey."

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"I found a wolf blanket for Claire and a moose blanket for Ally."

"Great. So where to next?"

"Let's go to the calendar standee, I wanted to get a calendar for each of the kids."

"Sounds good."

The two made their way through the crowds weaving in and out of families and couples. Finally they reached the calendars. There were a lot of them all. Sky leaned over to Z, "Do you know what exactly?"

"I'm thinking perhaps, maybe, some kind of princess or animal one for Claire."

"Alright, and Ken? Maybe something with trivia?"

"That's a good idea. And Wes and Sarah…" Z looked at the couple of different aisles, "Guess we'll see what's good."

They both went to one of the shelves and started looking. It wasn't long before they were able to pick out a calendar for Claire. There was a different princess on every month. In the background not only did it have her castle but it also had scenes from the movie. Wes' calendar was the next one they found. It was actually a calendar of his favorite movie that had come out earlier that year.

Moving around to the other side they found the nature calendars. The first ones they saw had wolves and horses on it.

"I don't know, should we get the wolves for her instead of the princesses?" Z asked Sky.

He looked between the two, "Honestly I think she'd be fine with either."

She sighed, "You're right. I think…I think we should stick with the Princess one, after all it has more than one favorite on there for her."

Sky nodded. They turned around to the other side that had shelves as well. That was where they found a small calendar that you could set by your bed, it was a standee one. It had a page for every day of the year and on each day was a question or puzzle and you had to figure it out. It was said that it was for a high IQ, so that would be perfect for Ken.

Sarah was a bit harder to get one for. In truth she would like just a plain simple one, but that was because that was the kind that Sky had up at his desk. But Sarah did like other things and Z wanted to get her another calendar, if it looked like there was something that Sarah would actually like. Besides she figured that if Sarah didn't actually like it then they could very easily get her another one after Christmas.

Z was starting to give up when they turned the corner and found the specialty calendars. They were ones that had recipes or trivia. And one that was nestled in the back behind a bunch was a calendar labeled The Twelve Days of Christmas. She picked it up and on the cover under the title said "Find the different items." She looked at the picture which was a room that was filled with different items. As she scanned it she noticed an arrow pointing to the corner where Three French Hens sat. Turning it around she realized what it was. On the first month you had to find the first item in the song, for February you had to find the first two things. And so forth until you hit December where you had to find all twelve of them. Z decided that this was a calendar that Sarah would like.

She brought the four calendars up and paid for them. Sky looked at her, he was holding a bunch of bags and now so was she.

"Are we done do you think?"

Before Z could answer another louder voice came, "I saw it first! It's mine."

"I just really need it!"

Sky took a step forward and Z turned around. Two women were arguing over a calendar. A calendar. Of all the things to actually argue about. One of the security guards that had been patrolling the mall came up and spoke to them. It didn't take him long to calm them down. Z shook her head, "Let's go."

Sky and Z walked back to another entrance that was still somewhat close to where they parked, they didn't really want to come across those dancers again. They wanted to be out of there and heading back home. They needed a break from all the craziness.

They had almost gotten out of the mall when they heard a little child scream. Startled they both became instantly alert and turned around looking for the source of fear. Instead they found a Mother running after her child who was instantly headed to the pet store.

"There are Two Turtle Doves Mommy! Come and see!"

The little girl clapped her hands in delight as the worker brought the cage down to the level that the little girl was at. Her Mother quickly caught up to her, "Jane I told you not to run away from me."

"I just wanted to look at them. Aren't they adorable?"

The Mother shook her head, "You're not to run off, not even because you just wanted to look at something."

Realizing that everything was fine both Sky and Z relaxed and turned away from the scene.

"I really thought something had happened."

Sky looked over at Z, "So did I. I'm glad it wasn't anything though."

"Me too. Can you imagine all these bags to deal with?"

He smiled as he shook his head. It was amazing how years of knowing Sky and being in love with him and he with her had caused him to loosen up to the point that he laughed at more jokes then he had when they were first rangers. Although it wasn't like he laughed at everything, there was still plenty that he didn't find funny and to be honest she would feel weird if all of a sudden he did. It just wasn't Sky.

There were a few things especially some of her jokes that didn't always sound like jokes that he had started to more understand even before they were married.

He pointed to a door that led to the parking lot, "Now it's time to brave the people out there."

Right before they stepped outside they both heard a bird chirping. Looking off to the side the realized that the bird was in one of the trees that was kept on the inside of the mall. In fact now that Z really paid attention to it she realized that it was a Partridge in a Pear Tree. Smiling her and Sky stepped out into the sunlight.

After they got to the car and put all their bags in there they got in and began fighting traffic to leave the parking lot. It took longer than they had anticipated getting away from the mall. Though once they were more away from the mall the traffic seemed to move much faster, which was a good thing.

They got back to their house and brought everything inside. They put it into their closet knowing that they were going to be wrapping all of it up later that night after the kids were in bed.

Z sat down on the bed, "Well that was completely fun."

Sky sat next to her, "If you're crazy that is."

"I don't know how all those people can do it year after year. Let's be on top of things again. I didn't like not being able to have it all done by now. I know there are a few presents for Bridge, Syd and their family, and Jack, Ally and theirs. And of course Sam."

"Right. But that won't take long to do. Besides I figure gift cards are the best choice anyways."

Z resisted to urge to roll her eyes, he was always going on and on about them. And she did see the purpose in them, but she liked to get the actual present for them. However in this case, seeing as the alternative was going back out in that crazy rush, gift cards seemed like a dream come true.

"Well we'll worry about that tomorrow. There are still a few days left to be able to shop."

"I suppose we should go and get the kids." Sky said still not moving.

Z smiled at him, "We could…or we could take advantage of an empty house."

Sky looked at her and before anything else could be said they both kissed each other. Sure finding the gift could be fun, but in truth Z much preferred this present.