DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything from Tiny Toon Adventures, including characters, locations, references, or the Acme Warner Bros. logo. All rights go to Warner Bros. and Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment.

Edited by my friend, Redtop1995.

Chapter 25

Smells, Sounds, Tastes, and Feelings

~Saturday, Dec. 13th~

As they had expected, the Mall was packed when Hamton and Fifi walked into the Food Court atrium. With it being Saturday, the large shopping center was bound to be at its busiest; this, combined with it being the holidays, made the already spacious halls more cramped than usual.

The Mall's inner appearance had changed drastically from the last time Hamton and Fifi visited. Nearly every available wall space was covered with some form of holiday decor. Hundreds of colored lights were strung around columns and store entrances. Wreathes and ribbons were tied to posts, doors, and along the balconies between the Mall's two floors. Sparkling garland hung from the hallway stands and bell ringers were actively ringing with several tones, collecting for charity. Beautiful fake Christmas trees stood surrounding the Mall's central fountain, Hanukkah menorahs were shown behind window displays, and gingerbread houses stood at every other available space (some with pieces bitten out).

Hamton let out a low whistle, to which Fifi responded, "Oui. Ze Holidays have truly taken hold."

As intimidating as it was, Hamton and Fifi stepped forward and into the tumultuous sea of shoppers.

"Excuse me. Sorry. Pardon me - OW!" Hamton collided with a shopping bag full of fruitcake. He knew it was fruitcake because it smelled so deliciously of cinnamony dough — plus it was denser than a brick.

"Excusez-moi. Pardon. Can I just – Sacré bleu!" Fifi cried out, for her fluffy tail got snagged on a string of garland and was surprised by the sudden tug.

Just as it became suffocating, Hamton and Fifi emerged out of the cluster of legs, both breathing as though they had just finished running an obstacle course. Once they caught their breath, Hamton found, to his and Fifi's great relief, that they had arrived outside Dr. Olfactor's Aroma Factory.

"Shall we go in, Fifi?" Hamton asked with a smile.

"Oui," said Fifi, already pulling the door open. "Let us escape ze holiday horde."

The shop, quite thankfully, was nowhere near as crowded as most of the Mall's other stores. Only a handful of customers were browsing the shelves, their eyes closed, letting their noses lead them over the candles, air fresheners, burning incense, and fresh flowers. Hamton and Fifi took a slow inhale of the wonderful scents which filled the place as though the air were made from them. Sweet caramel, fruity berry, salty sea breeze, spicy cinnamon, coconut tree, and even crackling camp fire. There was even a live Christmas tree, and in place of ornaments, its branches held an array of pine tree air fresheners, giving a hint of holiday spirit.

"I can see why you like this place," said Hamton, grinning at the friendly sight.

"Oui," said Fifi with a heavenly sigh. "It is like an adventure each time you walk through ze doors. Always something new to smell."

For the next half hour, Hamton and Fifi had fun browsing the shelves with the other customers, testing out everything the store had to offer. It was impossible to take a step without breathing in something new.

In the candle section, Fifi took a whiff from a light brown candle in a glass jar.

"Hamton?" she called, jogging over to him down the row of candles, fat and thin, small and enormous, in several shapes and colors. "You must smell zis," she said eagerly, holding up the candle.

Hamton sniffed it.

"MMM!" he said with intense delight, his insides becoming very warm. "Smells like a Christmas feast."

"Oui, zat is what I thought too!" said Fifi. "And what do you have zhere?" she asked, spotting the large purple candle Hamton had in his hand.

"Give it a whiff," said Hamton. "I think you'll like this one."

Fifi leaned forward and inhaled.

"Ooh, la, la!" she exclaimed, as the sweet scent flowed through her like a wave. "Grape spice!" She took another inhale, and let out another, "Le sigh. . . . Hamton, how did you know I love zat aroma?"

"I know how much you love grape juice," said Hamton with a shrug, looking slightly bashful.

Both of them looked down at the candles in their hands.

"Would you like —" they both said at once.

Smirking at the coincidence, Fifi said, "You go first."

"Okay," said Hamton. "Would . . . you like me to buy this for you?"

At these words, a slight pang seemed to strike at Hamton's insides. He knew spending money was really the last thing he should be doing right now. But . . . it was just for this candle, he told himself, and it was only three dollars.

As for Fifi, she seemed a bit surprised by this offer. Her eyes lowered from Hamton to the candle she held.

She then asked, "Would you care if I buy zis one for you?"

As she expected, Hamton's smile dwindled a little. He was just as awkward about accepting a gift from someone simply out of generosity as she was.

"'How about zis, Hamton?" Fifi suggested. "'How about — if you want to, zat is — we both pay for each other's candle. Zat way we can call it a fair trade."

"Uh, okay," said Hamton, smiling. "If you want to."

"Oui," said Fifi gently. "I would very much like zat."

Hamton nodded. "All right then."

With that settled, they proceeded to the checkout at the store's center. They each handed over three dollars and switched each other's bags, Hamton's brown feast candle in his hand and Fifi's purple grape spice candle in hers.

"Thank you for the early gift," said Hamton, as he and Fifi headed for the exit.

"Merci, as well," Fifi replied kindly.

A plastic bag in hand, they both walked out, blushing ever so slightly.

Hamton and Fifi didn't buy anything else throughout the rest of their stay at the Mall. They spent their time browsing through the stores, barely staying longer than ten minutes and simply glancing around at the products offered. Occasionally, they would stop when they found something interesting and share comments on it. Though it was simple chatting, Hamton and Fifi found it relaxing as well as interesting to hear what the other had to say.

"My papa would simply adore zis store," said Fifi, as she and Hamton browsed a wall full of beautiful framed photographs and paintings. "He is quite fond of ze arts, especially photography."

"Really?" asked Hamton, interested. "My dad loves taking pictures, too. He's the one who always takes the snapshots on his and my mom's business trips. Makes for good memories and helps their jobs as brochure makers."

Fifi giggled. "Sounds fun. Have zey ever done a brochure for Paris?"

Hamton stopped to think. "Hmm . . . I don't think so. They never mentioned going to Paris."

Fifi smiled. "Well, if zey ever go, be sure to let me know. I can point out several scenic places that would look simply fantastic! I, for one, would love to show you if we ever get ze chance."

Hamton blushed. "Y-Yeah. That would be lovely."

Next, they stopped at CD's Records. Holiday music was playing through the speakers and the Christmas tree in the center, like the one back at the Aroma Factory, was decorated with store products: audiotape from tape cassettes were used as garland, colored lights reflected off blank CDs, miniature ornaments shaped like instruments hung from the branches, and where the star usually sat atop the tree was a golden bugle wrapped in red ribbon with bright green holy.

Once they had their fill of the dazzling music tree, Hamton and Fifi noticed, only then, that most of the people inside the store were gathered at a corner where the instruments were kept. Curious, they walked over to the crowd and no sooner had they reached the front, they heard a jazzy piano melody start to play. And the person playing was Mary Melody.

She was dressed in a Christmas sweater and was seated at the store's polished grand piano, located next to a wall full of guitars, keyboards, and shining brass instruments. Hamton thought he knew the song that was playing, and sure enough, he found he was correct as Mary began to sing "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." She was accompanied by Little Sneezer, the cute adorable mouse, who was playing the saxophone. Behind them, Gogo Dogo was playing the drums (with actual poultry drumsticks).

Mary sung magnificently. She swayed gently back and forth on the bench as though she were trying to dance in place to the jazzy song. Hamton was wide-eyed with amazement at how good Sneezer was on the saxophone. His jazz solo was so spirited, it could've passed for a professional's. Fifi had to hold her hand to her mouth to muffle her laughs as Gogo took quick bites from his drumsticks as he played.

When the song ended, Hamton, Fifi, and the crowd gave a very decent round of applause, an applause which ended when Little Sneezer let out one of his hurricane-forced sneezes, blasting nearly everyone backwards and some even right out the door. Amazingly, Hamton and Fifi had hardly moved, though Hamton did feel a little dizzy and Fifi's tail was a tad frizzier than before.

"Sorry," Sneezer apologized, rubbing his nose, "I'm 'lergic to public applauses."

"That and every last thing on earth," Mary grumbled drearily, her hand pressed to her face.

"Sorry, Mary," said Sneezer, his hands behind his back and glancing at the ground in regret.

At this, Mary stood up from the bench and knelt down beside the little gray mouse. "Ah, Sneezer," she said sweetly. "I'm not mad. I know you can't help your sneezing. Just try to remember your allergy medicine when we do it for the school party on Christmas Eve."

"Okay," he said, more happily. "I won't forget."

"I, for one, think we should let him sneeze," said Gogo, biting the last bit of meat off his drumstick.

Mary and Sneezer stared at him, curious.

"What?" said Gogo. "We blew away the crowd with our music. You heard them clapping. Just ask these two." He pointed one of his clean chicken bones at Hamton and Fifi.

"Oh, hey, guys!" said Mary brightly.

"Hi, Mary," said Hamton.

"Bonjour!" Fifi greeted. "Splendid performance."

"Thanks, Fifi," said Mary. "We're trying to get in some practice and perfecting our act for the oncoming party on the twenty-fourth. As luck would have it, CD's Records was also looking for a group to play a little holiday music for some cash, so it works out pretty well. Sneezer and Gogo are doing an awesome job. Really spirited. Anyway, are you and Hamton here with the rest of the gang?"

"Oh, no," Fifi answered. "It is just me and Hamton today."

"Oh?" said Mary, and Hamton could've sworn her tone held a note of interest at this fact. "You guys out Christmas shopping?"

"No," said Hamton, but then felt the plastic shopping bag in his hand. "Well, we both bought something from the Aroma Factory, but mostly we've just been going around, window shopping."

"You can't have!" said Gogo irritably. Everyone looked at him. "The Mall's banned window shopping since the first week of December. I should know because I was banned a whole week for doing it! I mean, really? Banned just for window shopping!"

"Gogo, we talked about this," said Mary, sounding annoyed. "Window shopping means looking around without buying anything. You don't actually pull the store windows out from the display frames and go pay for them. Hamton and Fifi were just spending time browsing the Mall, that's it."

Gogo frowned. "Then why don't they just say they're browsing around? Honestly, it's like people are trying to confuse!"

Mary let out a groan and slapped her hand to her face.

Sneezer chose that moment to speak. "Would you two like to sing a carol with us?" he asked to Hamton and Fifi, looking quite adorable.

They both spoke at the same time.

Excited, Fifi said, "Oui!"

Nervous, Hamton said, "No, thank you."

They both looked at each other.

"Ah, come on, Mister Hamton Sir," said Sneezer encouragingly. "She wants to sing," he nodded toward Fifi. "What's wrong? Don't you want to sing with Miss Fifi Ma'am? Huh? Huh? Don't you like her?"

Hamton's face went very hot. Frightened that Fifi might notice, he quickly said, "Uh, on second thought, sure! I guess one song will be fine!"

"Great!" said Mary, and she sat back down at her piano. "What song would you guys like to sing?"

Hamton said nothing. His heart was still beating rather fast, even more so that Fifi was standing right beside him, so he couldn't form an answer.

Fifi tried to think of a song but found her mind too busy ringing with what Sneezer had said. "Don't you want to sing with Miss Fifi Ma'am? Huh? Huh? Don't you like her?"

Hamton thought. Besides the holiday music coming from the store speakers, he could hear the sounds of footsteps and voices outside. Children were giggling, whining, and awing over the toys, decorations, and activity in the Mall. Not a second passed in which a person didn't walk by the door. Some, Hamton noticed, were standing still and looking in, as though they were expecting to hear singing.

And then Hamton's ears picked up something else. It was coming from outside the store, quite some ways away by the sound of it — a familiar ringing he had heard on the streets for several days now.

Bells. A Salvation Army volunteer was ringing their bells.

Children and people . . . holiday spirit . . . and the chime of bells. Out of thin air, a light bulb appeared over Hamton's head.

"How about 'Silver Bells'?" Hamton suggested.

"Ooo!" said Fifi eagerly. "I like zat one!"

"Me too," agreed Mary. "'Silver Bells' it is. I don't think we'll need drums for this one, Gogo. You can take a break."

"Great," he said, and he hurled the bones from his drumsticks off to the side. There came a crash and a sheep bleated loudly. "Gives me time to enjoy some fish sticks!" He dropped onto his rear, reached around his green body and, from out of nowhere, pulled out two footlong, golden-battered fish sticks.

Mary rolled her eyes with a sigh. "All right, then. Sneezer, slowly and softly does it, okay?"

"Got it, Mary," said Sneezer with a thumps-up. He raised his saxophone to his lips.

"Okay, Hamton? Fifi? You two ready?"

"Oui! I am," said Fifi excitedly. A moment passed. "Hamton?"

Hamton didn't answer. A few customers were still looking their way, but shyness was only part of the reason for Hamton's hesitation. He had never sung a duet with Fifi. Whenever he did sing, it was always with his five friends as a group. Though some might not understand it or even laugh, the idea of singing with Fifi made Hamton feel something that mingled between nervousness and hopefulness. Fifi was, by far, a much better singer and he didn't want to embarrass her in case he messed up by singing the wrong octave or lyric.

Fifi seemed to notice this little struggle in Hamton's brain, so she did something that made his anxiety skyrocket.

She took his hand in hers.

"Hamton," she said softly, looking him in the eye. "Do not think about ze viewers. Just sing. Please . . . sing with me."

Hamton swallowed silently. "Okay," he said. He took a deep breath. Amazingly, he felt a little better, even more so given that Fifi was still holding his hand.

They both nodded to Mary.

"All right," said the young human. She straightened up on the bench and curved her fingers over the piano keys. "One . . . two . . . one, two, three, four."

They began with an even rhythm. Hamton was, again, amazed by Fifi's voice. Her French soprano mixed well with his American tenor, or at least Fifi thought so.

Mary played lightly, and Sneezer stepped in to provide the song's melody — a light jazzy tone.

Hamton sung his part, his mind full of the city and the frosted, festive air of December. Then Fifi took her turn, gazing lovingly towards the children and people who stopped to listen at the store's entrance.

Then, as the Salvation Army's bell continued to chime somewhere out of sight, Hamton's and Fifi's voices joined with Mary's piano and Sneezer's saxophone. They were all in sync, and Hamton felt more comfortable as he continued to hold Fifi's hand.

The rest of the song went without a hitch. Quite the contrary — at the end, Hamton and Fifi were surprised to hear an applause. The customers and people who had stopped by were clapping, and it was quite lively.

Hamton couldn't help but laugh. The song went way better than he imagined, and only when he turned around to Mary did he realize that Fifi had let go of his hand.

"Bravo, you guys!" said Mary happily. "Man, the two of you can bake AND sing? You guys make quite the pair!"

For whatever reason, the music coming from the store speakers slowed and trudged to halt.

Hamton blinked and his eyes expanded as large as saucers. Fifi's mouth fell slightly ajar and her cheeks went warm.

Mary, seeing their reactions, quickly added, "I mean, you both really work well together! That's what I meant," and she finished on an awkward laugh, a laugh which Hamton and Fifi joined in with a blush.

The Holiday music started up again.

"Uh, excusez-moi, everyone," Fifi stammered. "I need to use ze lady's room. Be right back, Hamton."

"O-okay," said Hamton, and he watched as Fifi quickly walked off.

"I'm so sorry, Hamton," said Mary apologetically. "I didn't mean —"

"I know, it's okay," said Hamton at once. "We're not . . . you know . . . so it's no big deal. . . ."

A moment passed, and then Mary said, quite sympathetically, "But . . . you'd like to be, wouldn't you?"

Hamton reared his head up so quickly, he heard his neck give a light crack. "What?"

"Oh, Hamton . . ." Mary was shaking her head sadly. "It's just something we girls notice."

"What's a thing that girls notice?" asked Gogo, finishing the last bite of his crunchy fish sticks.

"Nothing important, Gogo," Mary lied. Gogo shrugged and padded his lips with a napkin.

Mary leaned in close to Hamton. "Don't let Gogo know. He's got the biggest mouth."

"A-HEM! I'll have you know," said Gogo, suddenly beside them, "that my mouth is not the biggest. That title belongs to the loose-lipped blue whales in the Yap-a-lation Mountains in Wacky Land."

Mary's eyebrows lowered in annoyance. "I just had to speak." She turned back to Hamton and said, "Anyway, Hamton. Change of subject: I saw your fliers on the boards at school and was wondering if you'd like a job."

"That depends," said Hamton, interested. "What would you like me to do?"

"Well, me, Sneezer, and Gogo need someone to critique our singing and playing, to help us get ready for the party on Christmas Eve. All we need you to do is tell us where we need to improve."

"I'm not really a music expert, Mary," said Hamton uncertainly. "And you don't have to pay me for that."

"Of course, I would," said Mary. "You'd be surprised how much better musicians perform when they practice for a few people beforehand, so you'd be doing us a huge favor. And Hamton? You may disagree with me, but you really do have a good singing voice. It's not that hard to judge a song, especially when they're sung all Holiday season."

"Plus," said Sneezer, "we'll have lots of Christmas cookies to share. You can help yourself to as many as you want."

The offer was starting to sound inviting. It wouldn't involve any strenuous labor on Hamton's part, just his ears and opinion. Plus, there would be cookies. . . .

"Okay, Mary," said Hamton, happily. "When would you like to do this?"

"We'll be practicing at my house this next Tuesday. Does that day work for you?"

"Sure."

"Great, then," said Mary. "We'll look forward to seeing you."

"And we'll make sure we have cookies," Sneezer added eagerly.

Hamton smirked. "Thanks, Sneezer. That means a lot."

At this moment, Fifi returned from the bathroom. She looked a lot calmer.

"My apologies, Hamton," she said. "I hope I was not gone long."

"Oh, that's okay. Want to head out and do something else now?"

"Oui," she nodded, then turned to Mary. "Merci for letting us sing. It really was generous."

"The honor was all mine, Fifi," said Mary with a bow of her head. "As I said, you and Hamton work well together. You two have a fun evening and see you both on Monday."

"Bye," said Little Sneezer, waving.

"Ciao!" said Gogo, now waving a pair of giant mozzarella sticks.

"Gogo!" Mary exclaimed with annoyance. "Where did you get those?"

By 5:30, Hamton and Fifi both felt hungry and made their way back to the Food Court, hugging the wall to avoid the congested Mall-goers. But when they arrived, they stopped with their mouths hanging slightly ajar. Every single table was full of people and some were even eating while standing up. The lines leading up the mini-restaurants were moving like a parade of broken legs, and from the looks of it, it would be over two hours before Hamton and Fifi reached the front of any of them.

"Whoa. . ." Hamton looked from person to person. "I didn't know the Mall could hold this many people."

"Positively cramped, non?" asked Fifi, eyeing the congested crowed. She was feeling quite hungry now and looked for any possible opening but couldn't find any.

Then an bright idea came to her. "Hamton? How about we leave and go somewhere else?"

"Uh . . . okay," said Hamton. "Where do you have in mind?"

Smiling, Fifi reached under her white scarf and pulled out a folded white piece of paper. She unfolded it and grinned. "Frosty's."

Hamton looked closer at the slip — it was the gift certificate Fifi had won from the Talent Show.

"Let us be frank, Hamton," said Fifi, turning back to look at the crowd. "By ze time zhese people clear out, we shall both be near starved. And I am not too fond of zis Mall food, anyhow. How about we both go somewhere quiet and use ze rest of my certificate?"

Hamton raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Ice cream for dinner? Really?"

Fifi beamed and shrugged. "Why not? Zhere is no rule zat says dessert cannot come first, at least not here in America."

Hamton could happily think of no argument to this. "Okay. If you don't mind using the rest of your certificate."

"Of course I do not," said Fifi. "It will be my treat. Well," she giggled, "our treat to share, to be more precise. So, shall we go?"

Hamton bowed. "Lead the way, mademoiselle."

And Fifi did, smiling at Hamton's flattering comment.

All comments welcome, positive and constructive.