The next day, the royal family made their way to Bespin to assist with the charity event. Since Boba used to live at the orphanage there, it seemed only fitting that his adoptive family volunteered to help out. Plus, the presence of royalty at the event would draw a lot of publicity. And a few Jedi were volunteering as well, namely those with adopted children, or preparing to adopt. Master Plo and Shaak Tii were two of them. They were going to bring an adopted child home very soon. They couldn't take all of the orphans home, but they could help the one they weren't adopting have a better chance at finding loving families. And since a few horses were coming along, it was sure to make the kids happy. Children loved ponies.

"What are we gonna be doing again?" Omega asked her grandfather.

"This is a charity event to feed people in need." Qui-Gon said. "You see, Omega… many people lost so much during the war, including their homes, their families. Even with the war over, getting things back to normal is easier said than done, no matter what planet you live on."

"We're lucky to have a roof over our heads, plenty to eat, and each other," said Padme. "But, not everyone is."

Omega thought about it and realized how lucky she really was, but she also felt bad because of how many stories she'd heard and people she'd seen in worse conditions than her. Too often to count, she'd walk out of a store or out of school and come across someone begging for credits and/or food in the streets, digging through garbage cans to find something to eat, and sleeping under bridges if they were lucky enough to find one. It broke Omega's heart knowing there were people out there struggling to survive in the city. Uncle Carmine, when he was little, struggled to survive when it was just him and his grandmother, but they were lucky enough to have a roof over their heads and nice warm beds to sleep in, but then he'd lived in abusive households that never fed him and forced him to work manual labor without pay.

Lots of food was set out, and everyone was waiting for it to be time for food. The royal family as well as their friends who came to help all put on aprons to help with serving food to everyone.

"Look alive, everyone." Carmine said. "The event's gonna start soon, and we all gotta do our part."

"Uncle Carmine?" Omega said. "Is Gina Dean-Lorraine nice?"

"Oh, she's sweet like candy. I wish you could've been there when we joined her family for dinner. I think you're all really going to like her."

"She made me a special cannoli the last time we saw her." Lamenta said.

"What was special about it?" Gabby asked.

"I think it had vanilla chips inside. And peanut butter bits too."

Gabby licked her mouth imagining such a treat.

And that was when a Mirilian woman with lovely green skin and brown hair tied in a low ponytail came up to a microphone as reporters were covering this story.

"Good afternoon everyone. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Gina Dean-Lorraine, famous chef and restaurant owner. It gives me great pleasure to be here to share great flavors with the less fortunate. Many of these people, they have had to spend God knows how long not knowing the good taste of real, quality food, all because of an unfair thing called poverty. But today, all of that changes. So, it gives me great pleasure to declare this charity lunch officially commenced!"

And so, the food was served. The grownups took care of moving the trays to where they needed to be, while the kids took the assembled plates and handed them to everyone. Except, when the lids were lifted off of the trays, the adults became a little concerned with what they saw. The food itself smelled delicious, tantalizing even. But what kind of food was being served, you may be wondering?

Among the food that was served was deep fried nuna legs, super large pizzas, cheese fries, cupcakes, bacon bantha burgers, donuts, and giant ice cream sundaes. And to drink, there were barrels filled with soda and a bunch of milkshakes with extra whipped cream and marshmallow fluff.

"Ooh! Lemon cupcakes!" Citrus exclaimed, devouring some for himself.

"Citrus!" Plo scolded, Force pulling Citrus out of the cakes. "We are to feed, not eat."

Citrus's ears drooped, and he had frosting all over his muzzle.

"Sorry."

"Wrecker, leave the pizza alone!" Hunter scolded as Wrecker was downing a slice of pizza that was literally bigger than his head.

"Aww, but it's so good."

"And so big," said Echo, surprised by the size of the slice.

"Technically, everything being served here is large." Tech said.

Tech was right. Everything, even the side dishes, was mega-sized! People had to use both arms just to carry their trays, which were also enormous. They had to be two times the size of the tables on the desks at school.

"Look at the size of these tater tots!" Gabby said, holding one tater tot.

That tater was even bigger than one of Qui-Gon's hands. Gabby needed to use both her hands to pick it up, and it felt really heavy too.

"Huh, usually you need two hands to hold a bunch of those, not just one." Boba said, picking up another burger that felt like it weighed twenty pounds. "And usually… ugh! I don't need to put my back into…. Serving sandwiches!"

"Uh, are we trying to feed these people or make them gain weight?" Ahsoka said, also feeling a bit concerned. "I'm getting a stomach ache just looking at all this stuff."

Even if the food wasn't so big, it was all junk food, which was fine on occasion, but there wasn't a single healthy food in sight. No fruit, no vegetables, no salads, not even fresh water to drink. Just sugary beverages.

Carmine and Caroline in particular noticed this seemed a little strange. The last time they'd eaten at one of Gina Dean-Lorraine's restaurants, they noticed on the menus that many of her dishes were made with lots of healthy ingredients, and they tasted delicious.

Sure, a lot of the people they were feeding at this charity were found to be underweight, but that didn't seem like a reason to feed them nothing but junk food. That wouldn't be good for their health. Some of them could've been diabetic, had high cholesterol, or some other health conditions that made some of the foods being served unsafe for them to eat.

After two hours, the helpers' concern only grew as people had gotten to four plates, and still didn't seem to be getting full. Even people who went days without food could only eat so much at one sitting.

Gina was overseeing everyone enjoying their food. All the orphans and homeless folks were devouring that food happily, cleaning their plates rather quickly, and going for seconds, and thirds.

"Excuse me, Gina?" Caroline said, approaching the celebrity chef. "I have some concerns about the food you're serving."

"Don't worry, there's plenty more if we run out here." Gina said.

"That's not what I'm worried about. Are you aware that everything being served is junk food?"

"You've heard the expression 'beggars can't be choosers,' right?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"And look around. Everyone here is enjoying themselves."

Caroline looked at the people, and they definitely were enjoying themselves… maybe a little too much.

"Um, shouldn't there be a limit at least on how many plates everyone gets?" Caroline said.

"Princess… you lead a life of luxury. You have gourmet cooks to prepare everything for you anytime you wish. These people can't even buy mints from vending machines, and you're complaining about them being fed?"

"No, I'm not complaining about them being fed. It's just that-"

"Then you have nothing to worry about. Now, why don't you go and join your family?"

Obi-Wan was really glad he brought his own water bottle, especially seeing that no water was provided at this event.

"I don't understand why such a big event would have no fresh water to drink." Obi-Wan sighed after drinking some water.

"Same here," said Citrus, licking his mouth. "I'm thirsty."

"There's plenty of soda to drink," said Wrecker.

"Yeah, but soda's not nearly as hydrating or healthy as water." Anakin said, also getting thirsty. Then he had an idea. "Hey, Boba. How are you with the drinkable water spell?"

"Got Garrett's stamp of approval." Boba said with a thumbs up.

So, Boba worked up a spell he'd mastered to make fresh drinking water appear in some cups for everyone who was thirsty. But for the horses, the Batch managed to find a cooler that was big enough to pass for a trough. All they had to do was dump the soda cans that were inside it.

The horses were so relieved to get a drink of water, but Pinto came in so quickly, he ended up knocking it over, and Gina screamed as she leaped away from the water that almost hit her.

"Would you watch where you're splashing that?!" Gina said angrily.

"Sorry, Ma'am." Pinto said.

Gina seemed to snort similar to how the horses did when they were annoyed. That, Carmine found a little odd. Lamenta, on the other hand, sensed something off. But, she couldn't put her finger on it. Lamenta was still practicing her Force abilities, so not every vision she had was clear in that regard. But she did catch a whiff of something in the air.

"Does anyone else smell sushi?" Lamenta thought out loud.

"Alright, everyone." Gina said, approaching the royals. "You're all dismissed for the day. Thank you for all your help at my event."

Many of the kids were relieved by this.

"Does this mean we can get frozen yogurt now?" Goldie said eagerly.

"Absolutely, Goldie." Anakin said. "Let's go before they run out of the good toppings."

But Lamenta approached Gina before it was time to go.

"Excuse me, Ms. Gina. Remember me?"

Gina looked at Lamenta and said, "Yes, Princess Lamenta. Of course I remember you. I'm sorry I don't have time to chat. I've got important work to do. Run along now."

Gina took off quickly, which had Lamenta getting suspicious.

"Lamenta, it's time to go, Sweetie." Caroline called.

"Coming, Mom."

The royal family and the Batch went to a new frozen yogurt shop called Fro-No You Didn't, where there were lots of great flavors to choose from. All the kids were excited to get frozen yogurt and cover it with toppings. Except, Qui-Gon had to hold Wrecker back to make sure he wouldn't suck the machines dry, especially after the incident at the ice cream shop where Wrecker guzzled down at least ten pounds of chocolate swirl from the soft serve machine.

"Let me go!" Wrecker grunted. "I want frozen yogurt too!"

"You'll get your turn, Wrecker." Anakin said, lifting Gabby up so she could reach the toppings she wanted. "The kids go first. And looks like someone's going nuts."

Anakin chuckled seeing Gabby sprinkling chopped almonds, roasted peanuts, and crushed hazelnuts on her vanilla swirl yogurt.

"I like nuts on my yogurt." Gabby said. "And they're a great source of protein."

"That's right, little one. You've been paying attention in health class, I see."

Gabby wasn't the only one to make her yogurt a surprisingly healthy dessert. Omega picked strawberry yogurt, which she covered with fresh strawberries, as well as blueberries and raspberries. Boba got a banana swirl yogurt and topped it with cherries and coconut shavings, and Goldie and Mona both got pineapple yogurt which they covered with tropical fruit slices. Although, Goldie added sprinkles to hers. The toppings couldn't all be healthy.

Even the Batch got to enjoying their own cups of yogurt. But Qui-Gon had to practically wrestle Wrecker just to make sure he didn't take all the chocolate covered pretzels before he got any.

"Are we sure it was a good idea to let Wrecker get yogurt too?" Mona said. "After he ruined dessert for us last night?"

"I was wondering the same thing." Anakin said.
"We can't all be mad at him forever," said Padme. "But I agree with the kids for a different reason. I'm genuinely concerned about everyone's health."

It wasn't just today Padme was concerned about the family's health, or even just because of the fact that Caroline was pregnant. Recently, Myra shared a video she'd found with the twins that was made by a girl she went to school with about how she was being bullied by some other kids about her weight and it was all over the news that the very girl had collapsed in the middle of the street because she'd been starving herself because even when she tried eating healthier, her classmates still teased her.

The kids were pretty fit now, but Padme couldn't imagine if the same were to happen to them. Remember, people can be shamed for being thin too. That was why she took great care to make sure they always ate a healthy breakfast, had healthy lunches packed for school, ate all their vegetables at dinner, and ate treats only in moderation, as well as got plenty of exercise.

"Brain freeze!" Tech exclaimed, holding his head. "Make it stop!"

"Tech, calmarse." Mila said. "Just massage the sides of your head."

"See, children? Another reason to eat treat food slowly, especially if it happens to be frozen." Kara said.

Later, the Koon family was preparing for dinner, and all was going well. So far, none of the food went missing, which was especially good since Ahsoka and Sunheart went grocery shopping after the charity.

"What's for dinner tonight?" Fiesta asked.

"We're making vegetable soup tonight." Ahsoka answered, getting out the veggies. "So, Citrus… no eating everything tonight, okay? Citrus?"

No response from Citrus… because he wasn't even in the apartment.

"Girls, have any of you seen Citrus?" Plo Koon asked his wife and the others.

"I haven't seen him since the charity event." Shaak said.

"Great, we left him behind." Sunheart said sarcastically.

Citrus was downing a bunch of cupcakes back at the orphanage, as well as a bunch of candied orange and lemon slices, marmalade filled donuts, and cheese pizza.

Since Anakin's family was closer by, Ahsoka called and asked if he wouldn't mind watching Citrus for the day. So, Anakin sent Hunter and Wrecker to go get him.

But to both Batchers' great surprise, people were still eating a bunch of food. There seemed to be a lot of stuff left, and Citrus was joining everyone in finishing it.
"Citrus, there you are!" Hunter said, spotting Citrus with his muzzle stuck in a tub of ice cream.

Citrus was a mess! He had melted ice cream on his muzzle, pizza crust stuck in his tail, crumbs of cake and donut in his mane, and his hooves were sticky with syrup.

"Oh, hi, Hunter." Citrus said sheepishly.

"Look at you. You're a mess!" Hunter said.

"Yeah, I guess I did get kinda sticky and greasy."

"How much have you been eating?"

"About as much as a horse eats?"

But soon Wrecker was downing a bunch of food too.

"Wrecker!" Hunter scolded.

"What?" Wrecker said with his mouth full of pizza.

Citrus shivered as he was sprayed with a hose full of cold water.

"Next time, be more careful how you eat, Citrus." Mariposa said.

"I know. I'll use a napkin next time." Citrus said.

"I don't mean the mess. Although, you were a lot messier than Anakin."

"Hey!" Anakin said, offended. He picked up a towel and shielded himself with it as Citrus shook himself dry. "But she has a point, Citrus. By the look of you before, you had a junk food buffet."

"If you'd tasted that lady's cooking, you'd be downing it too."

"Maybe, but Citrus, you have been getting a little out of control lately. Wrecker's had the same problem too. Have you always downed snacks like this?"

"Well... no. But when you have a big family like mine, you gotta eat as much as you can, or you go to bed hungry."

Big family's in a horse's home were not like with biped homes. Though civilized Equinaro horses were, they like people could have wild days with their families. Citrus had four little brothers and a little sister, which meant a lot of mouths to feed. According to him, his parents had a system for feeding, but his siblings didn't always follow it so well.

"I think you've eaten enough today." Mariposa said, helping dry Citrus off. "For now, your rider said you can spend the night here, and you can go home tomorrow."

"And don't go sneaking into the kitchen." Anakin said.

Citrus rolled his eyes and followed the humans inside to find him a place to sleep.

That night, however, Citrus dug into his saddle bags, where he'd stashed more leftovers from the event. Anakin said not to raid the kitchen. He didn't say anything about his saddle bags.

And then, Citrus heard someone in the hall.

"Who's there?" Citrus peeked out and saw it was... "Wrecker? What are you doing up?"

"Uh... I was hungry, but King Qui-Gon has droids watching the fridge and cabinets until I stop snacking." Wrecker said.

Wrecker groaned and held his stomach.

"Well... you wanna share some of my snacks?" Citrus asked. "I've got some bear claws left."

"Gimme!"

Citrus opened his saddle bag, and sure enough Wrecker downed them.

"I'll go see if the droids will let me get some milk to wash them down." Citrus said leaving the room, while Wrecker helped himself to whatever he could find in the horse's bag.