"Phew! It sure has been hot the last few days!" Obi-Wan said as the dolls returned to the house from the sweltering heat. They had ventured outdoors to enjoy the sunny day, but didn't last long outside due to the temperature. Padme had been attempting to sunbathe, but her plastic ended up getting soft. Ani and Obi-Wan had been playing catch until Obi-Wan noticed that Anakin's hand looked like it was starting to melt. Qui-Gon had been exploring Mark's mother's garden, and when he started getting hot he simply threw off his tunic so his plastic nips were out… Eventually, Obi-Wan convinced him that they should go back inside before all four of them were just puddles of melted plastic. Now, they were gathered around the thermostat vent on the floor where cold air blew.

"It's so nice to be back in the air conditioning. I'm not used to this Midwestern weather yet." Padme said. "Maybe we should get a pool!"

"Yeah, we should! A pool would be the best!" Ani said. "Do you remember back in the toy store in the '90s, all the pools Barbie had?"

"Ah yes, I remember it like it was yesterday. Barbie had so many pools to choose from," Qui-Gon said. "I would look out the clear plastic window in my box just to catch a glimpse of all the luxurious pools and playsets Barbie had. There was the Crystal Clear Pool…"

"The Wet 'N Wild Pool," Obi-Wan added.

"How about the Spray and Play Pool?" Padme said.

"Yeah, but what about the Fountain Pool," Anakin said.

"The Fountain Pool!" Obi-Wan said. "I was sooooo jealous of Barbie for that one."

"I remember that one too! How I wished I could be a Barbie doll so I could swim in that fancy pool… It had a working fountain with color changing lights!" Padme reminisced. "I remember waving to the Barbies a few times, but they never paid much attention to me. They weren't all that fond of Star Wars toys…"

"Barbie had so many fancy pools. We never had a pool!" Qui-Gon said. "We didn't even have a dollhouse or extra outfits or a car! Just spaceships and droids. Barbie had EVERYTHING."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't mind having that Barbie Fountain Pool right about now," Obi-Wan said. "Or anytime, for that matter."

"Perhaps we'll get a chance to enjoy ourselves in the water yet," Qui-Gon said. "With all this hot weather we've been having, I wouldn't be surprised if we got some rain soon."

Anakin looked out the window. "But it's so sunny right now! Maybe it won't rain until tomorrow."

"Storms have a way of creeping up when they're not expected. I sense that by tonight, we'll get some rainfall."

Sure enough, that evening, the sky started to darken and big clouds covered the bright sun as it began to set. The dolls, who by this time had been inside for several hours, had occupied themselves with a game of Operation - only the dolls use their hands instead of tweezers to remove the invasive pieces. Obi-Wan was reaching for the Funny Bone when a sudden clap of thunder shook the house. He flinched, triggering the game's buzzer, and fell backwards with his hands clamped over his ears.

"My turn!" Anakin said. He hopped up onto the board.

"I guess you were right about the storm, Qui-Gon," Padme said. "It looks like this one is coming up fast."

The four of them looked outside, where the wind was starting to blow a little harder, rustling the trees and whistling outside the windows.

"Indeed," Qui-Gon said. "I expect the rain will begin to fall pretty soon."

They continued playing their game, and in just a few moments the sky was completely gray and the wind blew even more severely.

"Oh, boy! It looks like it's really gonna start raining now! Can we go outside and play in it, Qui-Gon? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeez?" Ani begged.

"Hmm, I don't know, Ani. Normally I would say yes, but I wouldn't want that wind to blow you away," Qui-Gon said. "I suppose it would be alright as long as you hold on to one of us."

They all got up from their game and jogged to the front door, hopping up onto each other's shoulders to reach the doorknob and open the door. When they made their way outside, Anakin held on tight to Obi-Wan's belt. Even though it was getting dark and the wind was blowing, it was still very hot. Soon, raindrops as big as their heads began to fall.

"Here we go! This will be great for Mark's mother's garden. The soil was getting pretty dry. The zucchini was beginning to suffer!" Qui-Gon said. He hopped into a flower pot to observe how the marigolds had held up through the heat wave.

"Let's go out onto the driveway, Obi-Wan! I wanna jump in the puddles!" Ani took Obi-Wan by the hand and dragged him away.

Padme decided to use this opportunity to get her hair wet and redo her hair. She undid her braid, untucked her comb from her belt, and combed through the tangles as the rain soaked through her hair.

Unexpectedly, an earsplitting noise rang out all around them. Startled by the sound, Ani immediately plugged his ears, letting go of Obi-Wan's belt. Obi-Wan grabbed him around the shoulders as a particularly strong gust of wind struck.

"What IS that?!" Anakin shouted.

"It's a storm siren!" Obi-Wan shouted back, even though they were standing right next to each other. The siren was blaring even louder. "I think we should go back inside before it's too late!"

"I think you're right, padawan!" Qui-Gon yelled. "I think this storm is going to get worse!" He hopped out of the marigold pot and made his way to the door.

Padme stopped messing with her hair and ran out to the driveway to help Obi-Wan and Anakin make their way back to the front porch. The rain was falling so hard and so quickly that with the wind blowing, it made it hard to see. Ani climbed onto Obi-Wan's back so he wouldn't slip on the wet ground. The three of them pushed through to reunite with Qui-Gon, who had thrown himself up onto the doorknob so he could quickly open the door.

As soon as the door was opened, they leaped back inside the house, their clothes dripping wet. They started wringing out their clothes on the doormat.

"Now I really wish we had some extra outfits like Barbie," Padme said, squeezing water out of her blue tunic.

"I suppose these damp clothes will just have to do until they dry out," Obi-Wan said. "Perhaps we should have thought this through a little better before venturing out into a rainstorm…"

A booming crash of thunder and bright snap of lightning that made the lights flicker cut the conversation short.

"Is Mark gonna be home soon?" Ani asked, worried.

"I'm sure he will be," Padme said. "He'll be alright, Ani. He just went out with his sister for a little while. He didn't go far."

Anakin frowned, until they heard the garage door open.

"That'll be him!" Qui-Gon said.

"Hey, fellas, where are ya?" They heard Mark's voice call from the doorway before he emerged from around the corner. "There you are, I got you all something!"

"We were worried about you out in the storm," Anakin said.

"Me? Oh, I was fine. Just gotta drive extra carefully. But it looks I should have been the one worried about all of you - you're all wet!"

"Oh, well-" Obi-Wan started.

"You don't need to explain yourselves, Obi-Wan. It's been awhile since it's rained, I can understand wanting to go out in it! But what I've brought home for you should help," he pulled some tiny packages out of the plastic bag in his hand. "Look at these! I got you some new outfits!"

"We were just talking about how we wished we had some new clothes!" Padme said, going up to get a look at Mark's findings.

"You wouldn't happen to have a pool in there too, would you?" Qui-Gon asked.

"I'm afraid not," Mark chuckled. He passed out the packages. "Now go change into those before my mom makes a fuss about all the little wet footprints on the floor!"