Nani couldn't believe it had finally come to this. She had worked so hard to try and keep the plates of her life spinning, but she had looked away for a moment and they had all fallen down and shattered into hundreds of ceramic pieces.
Lilo was going to be taken away. Lilo was going to be taken away. The very worst thing she could possibly imagine happening, the one possibility that she tried so hard not to make a reality, had come to pass. She remembered Cobra Bubbles' face - he had looked genuinely sorry that he'd had to break this news to her, so Nani supposed she couldn't really blame him. She remembered standing there on the beach in her bikini, dripping seawater into the sand from her hair and fingertips, and feeling like something much less than a human being. Less than dirt. She was an idiot - a stupid, blundering teenager in way over her head, and she had nobody else to blame.
For a moment Stitch popped into her head - that stupid little blue hell-monster. If he hadn't dragged Lilo down, none of this would have happened. In fact, if Stitch hadn't almost bit that strange-looking woman's head off at the restaurant, she wouldn't have lost her job. Everything that had happened leading to this could be traced back to that...creature. Nani burned with rage - the tears that fell were pure anger. It was all that stupid creature's fault! She brought her fist down, slam, onto the table.
But then, just as quickly as that idea had dawned on her, another one replaced it. No, it was not Stitch's fault. Not really. After all, who was it who had brought him home in the first place? Nani. This particular screw-up was nobody else's but hers. She groaned aloud and sank her head down onto the table, crying and crying.
Suddenly, almost from nowhere, a memory resurfaced.
She was thirteen years old. It was early in the morning, and the sun was only just beginning to rise over the Hawaiian islands. Suddenly, Dad had burst into her bedroom and woken her up, babbling something like She's been born! She's been born, Nani! He chided her out of the room and bundled her into the car, beaming all over his face. Nani had drifted in and out of sleep throughout the short drive from their house to the local - tiny - hospital, and had to run to keep up with her dad as he made his way through the building to the maternity ward. Once there, he looked back at his daughter and smiled, indicating that she should follow him to the bed furthest in the corner of the room. There, she realised quickly, was her mother, looking utterly worn out but radiant. And cradled in her arms, bundled in blankets...
"That's your baby sister, Nani. Her name is Lilo." said her mother quietly. For a moment, all Nani could do was stare. The baby was asleep, and twitched in her dreams. What, Nani wondered, could a person who had only been alive for a few hours dream about? Tentatively, Nani touched the little hand, examining the tiny nails on each finger. Each one was utterly tiny, and perfectly formed. Nani was astonished. When her parents had told her that, after thirteen years of being an only child, she was to become a sister, she had been trepidatious - but now that she actually saw this little baby in the flesh, she was terrified. What on earth would it be like being a sister? Would she be expected to protect this tiny little person? She couldn't do that!
"You can hold her if you want to, Nani," said her father gently, "would you like to?" On the spur of the moment, she nodded. Gently, her mother passed Lilo into Nani's arms. "Be careful to support her head, darling," her mother said. Nani held the warm, blanketed bundle of baby in her arms as carefully as she possibly could. Then Lilo began to stir. Nani panicked a little bit, and nearly handed her sister back, but just before Lilo could start crying Nani simply said "Hello, Lilo." Lilo looked up at the teenager, her tiny eyes full of curiosity - and smiled. Nani thought her heart might literally burst with love. Lilo was the sweetest, most adorable little baby in the world. Nani offered her pinky finger; Lilo grasped it in her little hand. "You are going to be one awesome little sister," said Nani.
Nani came out of her reverie, and looked out towards the stairs. It had only been six years since that day. Six years was all the time she'd be able to be with Lilo. She could never have known that then, and now there was nothing else she could do.
It was hopeless.