CHAPTER TWO: SHOPPING

"So," said Aquira. "We were thinking of hiding your gundams in Bass Lake."

"Where's that?" asked Quatre.

"Quatre, remember that lake we saw, coming over here?" asked Duo.

"Oh ya, that one," he said. Hikaru shook her head, and Leilani and Aquira smiled.

"I think that would work," said Heero. "But no one can see us."

"That's a bit of a problem," Aquira said. "See, if they stay here, someone will see them, and if you take them to Bass Lake now, someone will see them. So, you see, either way someone will see the gundams, but if you take them to the lake, we won't get arrested. Your choice."

"Wait!" Hikaru said.

"What?" Leilani and Aquira said at the same time.

"Won't we get a few stares if they go around dressed like that?"

"Oh ya that would be a problem," said Aquira. Suddenly, she heard the back sliding door open. "Oh, crap, it's my mom!" she said. "Get back here!" She shoved the gundam boys behind a bunch of junk in the carport. "And be quiet!"

"Oh, they're here," said Aquira and Ani's mom.

"Ya," answered Aquira.

"Hi Jani!" Hikaru said.

"Hi," said Leilani.

"Hey, girls." She turned to Aquira. "I totally forgot I have a doctor's appointment, then I'm probably going to go shopping. I'll be back in time to bring you to Youth Group, though okay?"

"Okay, mom!" Aquira said, smiling. Her mom drove off in the clean car.

"All right," Aquira said. "You can come out now."

"I just thought of something," said Leilani. "After we drop the gundams off, how are we going to get back here?"

Hikaru, Aquira, and Ani's faces drooped.

"Do you have a computer?" asked Heero.

Aquira brightened. "Yes, we do! Come on, I'll show ya."

She and Ani led them all into the nearly empty house, besides all the boxes and furniture.

"Told you we were moving," she said. "But luckily, I convinced mom to keep the computer up until the very last minute." She pushed the circular power button on the 2000 PC. "It's not got much on it. I have to us Paint to edit pictures and stuff but…" Her face went white as she noticed the home-made background on the screen.

"You like anime, huh?" commented Duo.

The four girls stared at him and Quatre, then at the pictures on the screen.

They don't recognize themselves, thought Aquira.

"Uh… ya. We all do," she replied.

Heero started typing away and after a minute they all went into the living room to wait. The remaining four boys sat on the couch while the girls sat on various boxes.

"Do you have anything to drink?" asked Duo, setting his feet on the bare coffee table and folding his hands behind his head.

"Oh, ya," Azimo said, getting up and walking into the kitchen. She opened the fridge. "Let's see…"

Duo reached in and grabbed one of her mom's wine coolers.

"Oh!" she said, scowling at the under-aged teen. "Okay, let's just hope she doesn't notice it's gone. Anyone else want something?" She glanced through the opening above the counter and saw Hikaru holding back a laugh and Leilani rolling her eyes.

"No," everyone shouted in different tones.

"No thank you," said Quatre.

Aquira smiled, pouring some cran-grape juice for herself.

"All right," said Heero, coming into the room. "Duo, you and Aquira will get the car and meet us up at The Pines Market where there's an ATM. We'll program Deathsythe to follow Wing. You three can ride in Quatre's storage compartment."

"Why can't I get the car with Duo?" asked Hikaru.

"Because Aquira knows how to get there in a car. I think we can find it from the lake."

Hikaru frowned.

"What about me?" said Ani. "I want to stay with my sissy!" She pounced on Aquira with a death grip round her waist.

Aquira groaned. "I guess so," she said in a monotone voice.

Ani let go and shouted, "Yay!"

"No!" shouted Duo.

Ani suddenly formed enormous puppy dog eyes. "You don't like me, Duo?" she pouted.

"No, not really," he replied truthfully.

The puppy dog suddenly turned to a demon. She kicked him, hard, on his knee.

"Ow!" screamed Duo, hopping around and holding his knee.

"I told you she was a violent child!" Aquira said, pulling Ani away from the teen. Quatre shot a worried look at Aquira. "Ani, I think maybe you should go with Quatre."

"No!" shouted the child. "I still want to ride with you!"

"Okay, whatever."

* * *

Aquira and Ani rode to the only used car lot, in town, in Deathsythe's storage compartment. Now I know why they're riding in Sandrock. It's probably a lot cleaner than this, thought Aquira. Indeed, it was very cluttered, mostly with guns, and it was very difficult for them to get comfortable. They got a large van and started off down the windy mountain highway.

Aquira started the ride staring out the front window, as she always did in cars. Soon, her hand flew to the handle on the door.

"Geez, can you drive a little slower?" she asked politely.

"I know how to drive," replied the know-it-all pilot.

"But these roads are really…" She couldn't remember the word, so she moved her hand in a snaking motion. "… curvy. They're quite dangerous, even in the summer, so –" She clapped her hand on top of the other, clutching the handle with all her might as they went around a sharp turn. "Be careful, for crying out loud!" she shouted.

"Hey, you don't have to yell at me, girl. It's not like I'm gonna crash or anythin'."

"Hey, I have a name, you know. It's Aquira, remember. I would greatly appreciate it if you – AAAA!" They whipped around another curve and the top half of her, the bottom half being seatbelted, fell into the space between the chairs. "Oh! Turn right over there!"

Duo didn't slow down and nearly lifted half the van off the ground to make the turn.

"You imbecile! If I could drive, I'd –"

Duo laughed. "You can't drive? How old are you, anyway? Thirteen?"

Aquira glared at the boy.

"As a matter of fact, I'm only a year and a half younger than you. Do the math."

"You're fifteen and you can't drive? Why?"

"I – I don't like the tone in your voice, and why do you want to know, anyway? What do you care?"

"Sheez, fine!" Duo held one of his hands up to her.

"Keep both hands on the wheel, idiot!"

The tires screeched as the van swerved out of the way of an oncoming sports car. Aquira heard her sister giggle in the back seat.

"You, shut up!" she snapped.

Ani stuck her tongue out at her.

"Be careful coming down this hill." Duo rolled his eyes. "I mean it! Someone drove right into the market one day because their brakes went out." Aquira felt herself being pulled forward as the boy slammed on the brakes.

"Does it look like they're out?" he smirked.

"Don't do that! What if someone was behind us? We could have been in a wreck!" All she received was a silly grin. She sighed. "You can park right there."

* * *

"Hey, Aunt May. Is Tan-La working?" Aquira asked her aunt.

"No, he's not today. Why?"

"Well, we were wondering if he wanted to come…" She couldn't say shopping. How would that sound? "… to a movie with us. We're going to see Terminator 3."

"Well, why don't you four go ask if he wants to go?"

"Okay. Thanks May."

The four girls headed into the house and immediately the sound of drums filled their ears.

"Tan!" Aquira shouted, banging on the door.

The music stopped. "What!" came a monotone shout from behind the door.

"Can we come in?"

"Who is 'we'?"

"Aquira, Ani, Hikaru, and Leilani. I'm opening the door, so I hope you're sensibly dressed." As she started to turn the knob, a weight was suddenly pressed against the other side.

"Wait, let me get some clothes on!"

Aquira closed her eyes and shook her head. "I don't even want to imagine," she said.

After a lot of clamoring and crashing, the door opened on a tall boy only about a month and a half younger than Aquira. He had bright red hair, fully gelled, and blue eyes shining above a prominent nose.

"What?" he asked, quite annoyed by the interruption of his music.

Aquira put on her most charming smile. "Tan, I know that when you graduated eighth grade you were pronounced best dressed, so I was wondering if you could do us a favor."

Leilani and Hikaru looked at the spotless baggy jeans and loose T-shirt the boy was wearing and nodded in approval.

"What kind of favor, and what would I get out of it?"

"Well, we have these… friends. They're from… India, and they need some real clothes. The thing is, we, as girls, don't have the slightest idea of what to get them. So we were wondering if you could help us out." Tan-La stared blankly at Aquira. She sighed. "We can pay you."

"How much?"

"You are such a jerk," Hikaru said.

Tan started closing his door.

"Fifty bucks!" Aquira shouted.

He stopped. "Fifty bucks just to help some guys pick out clothes?"

"They need help… badly," replied Leilani.

Tan-La thought for a minute. "All right," he said. "But you don't have to pay me… that much anyway."

"Gracias, primito!" Aquira cheered. "We'll be waiting in the van. Our van, the purple one."

The girls went back out to the van. "Okay, guys, make room. My cousin's coming with us."

"Another person who knows exactly who I am?" Duo pouted.

"No, actually, he's never even heard of you."

"How would I have?"

Aquira turned to face her cousin. "Um… they're a band! Very famous where they come from. We've already had two people confront them."

"Oh," Tan said, peering in at the teenagers.

Aquira let out a nervous laugh. "You can sit here, next to Wufei. Come on, Ani." She turned to Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei in the back seat. "You guys are going to have to squish," she told them.

She sat in the very back with Hikaru, Leilani, and Ani. Tan sat next to Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre in the middle seat. Heero drove, with Duo in the front seat.

"So," said Tan, pathetically trying to start a conversation with Wufei. "You're from India?"

Big mistake, Aquira soon realized.

"India?" shouted Wufei. "I'm no cow-worshipper! How dare you impugn my honor with such a ridiculous speculation?"

"Okay, okay. But if you're not from India, where are you guys from – Aquira?"

"Um… outer space – or the future. We're not quite sure yet." Aquira winced in preparation for an expected scowl.

Instead, she received a laugh. "Right," Tan-La said. "No really, where are they from? Do you guys go to YHS?"

"If that'll keep you from asking questions, yes," replied Heero. "Where am I going, exactly, Aquira?"

"Oh, Gottschalks. Turn right at the stoplight and left at the next one."

"What do you mean 'from asking questions'? Are you guys escaped convicts or something?"

"Yes, Tan. That's it," said Hikaru. "They just escaped from Alcatraz yesterday."

"What? Alcatraz is closed. They don't use it as a prison anymore," said a very, very confused Tan-La.

"Listen, it's a long story," said Aquira. "We'll tell you in the store. Turn right, Heero."

* * *

When they came out of the only department store in town, each boy had 3 pairs of shorts, 4 pairs of pants, 7 T-shirts, and a jacket. They decided to go to Payless, the only shoe store, and get them some shoes, too. After they left, they decided to go back to Aquira's house. Tan called his mom, and she said it was okay.

"So you just hacked into some banks computer and go all that money?" Tan-La asked Heero.

"Yes."

"But isn't that a little illegal?"

Everyone looked at the boy.

"Duh," all the girls said in unison.

"Are you guys sure these pants don't make me look fat?"

Everyone looked at Duo. Aquira and Leilani glanced at Hikaru.

"Duo, are you sure you're not gay?" asked Aquira.

Duo's eyes got real wide. "Noooo – I mean YES! I'm sure I'm not gay!"

"You can't blame him," said Quatre. "These pants are at least two sizes too big for me."

"They're supposed to be," Tan replied dully. "And that's why you have a belt, so your pants won't fall down."

"Oh yes," Aquira said. "Tan's a wannabe gangster, more commonly known as a 'wangsta'."

Tan-La rolled his eyes. "You know, I still don't really believe you."

Aquira groaned. She knew where this was headed. "I don't think Heero'll let you see the gundams, Tan. Besides, they're nothing like cars so I don't think you'll be interested."

Tan looked at the guys, still not sure which one was which.

Heero glared at him. "Absolutely not," he said.

Aquira smiled gleefully, following the sneaky Duo into the kitchen. She leaned on the refrigerator as he opened it. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Duo didn't even glance at her as he gave up on the fridge and continued to the freezer. "Finding something to eat," he said, successfully retrieving a half-dozen popscicles.

"That's not enough for everyone," she said, confused.

"Oh, did someone else want one?"

Aquira lifted her face to the ceiling and picked the phone up off the receiver.