Author's Note: Please just suspend disbelief a bit with me. =]
"If only there was someone out there who loved you."
That's it, the final straw. Lilo pounces on Mertle, the other little girls screaming and running away from the scene as Kumu rushes forward to break up the fight. He plucks them apart effortlessly, and immediately Mertle wriggles free and follows her friends outside, leaving Lilo to face her punishment. Kumu Moses takes one look at the young girl's stricken and defeated face before shaking his head gently. He knows it's not her fault, but the parents will be there soon. Probably best to handle it himself. "Maybe you should go home, Lilo." She rushes off without another word.
"So how was school today?" Anna and Lilo sit at the usual table in the back of the luau. Anna's textbook pile teeters precariously in front of her, but she ignores it and pauses in her writing to take a sip of chocolate milk shake.
"Mmmmm," is all she gets in reply.
"That good, huh?" Another approach. "What about Stitch? Where is he?"
She gets a shrug.
"Yeah, you're right. He and Olaf are probably off chasing ducks or something." She giggles. "Once, I caught them following a whole family of them, and Stitch was flapping all four of his arms, snarling, while Olaf tried to… to…" No reaction. Okay… Anna clears her throat. "Weren't you telling me the other day about a new dance move you learned in hula?"
The little girl stiffens. Ah, there it is.
"You know, one of the perks of me watching you while our sisters work is that I can help you!" Anna beams brightly over her notebook and ruffles Lilo's hair playfully.
Lilo sighs dramatically and throws her spoon down. "Nobody can help me…" She slinks down her chair and lands under the table cloth, completely hidden.
Anna glances nervously over to where Nani is taking an order, grateful that she hasn't chosen that moment to glance over to find her sister missing from the table. She scans the restaurant for her own sister, who's busy balancing a few trays as she weaves in and out of the crowded patio. "You know, Lilo, I used to know someone who thought the same thing. That she had to bear all her burdens alone. But luckily for her, for all of us, she learned that it's only through loving and working with others that we can help ourselves." Anna leans over and pins the table cloth out of the way under a plate to reveal Lilo clutching her knees to her chest. "What happened?"
Lilo sucks in a deep breath. "Mertle said something again…"
"That girl!" Anna's face burns and she punches her fist into her hand. "I swear, someone needs to shove a handful of snow right in her…" Anna stops when she sees Lilo's raised eyebrow. "Ah, I mean, um… Continue?" Anna crosses her arms to keep from gesticulating more, and sits back, ready to listen.
"She said no one really loved me."
"Oh, Lilo…"
"I know! I know it's not true! Nani loves me, and Stitch, and Jumba and Pleakley… Sometimes I even catch Mr. Bubbles smiling. But…"
"But what?"
"It… just reminded me of when I thought it was true."
Anna's heart constricts. Lilo should be too young to understand the full gravity of what she's just said. And yet... she's not. Looking down at her, it's like looking in a mirror. There are still times, even now, that Elsa says something and, without meaning to, brings everything from Anna's childhood crashing back to her. Seeing how tiny Lilo is, Anna realizes just how small she had been when it seemed like her world was ending. Kids that age shouldn't have to deal with such heavy burdens. But then there was Elsa, and Nani, too, sacrificing everything for their younger siblings, dealing with their own demons, and a knowledge that only older sisters have to bear.
"Things get better..." Anna finally says.
"I know that."
"So, what changed for you?"
Lilo smiles her classic mischevious grin. "I bought Stitch! Duh." The little girl sticks out her tongue and crawls back up onto the chair. Anna sticks her own tongue out as Lilo picks up her spoon again and shovels a mouthful of ice cream into her face.
"So, if you know it's not true, why all the theatrics?"
"It's not theatrics. It's a way of life," Lilo deadpans.
Anna rolls her eyes, but smiles. "Okaaay, why all the 'mopey-Lilo' antics, then?"
"Cuz… I was annoyed? It hurts when Mertle says stuff like that, because… it's still hard for me not to think that too."
Anna doesn't know when she sought Elsa out in the crowd again, but her eyes roam until she finds the platinum braid. "Yeah. I know how that feels."
Lilo follows her line of sight and snorts. "No you don't. You and Elsa get along great! My sister keeps talking about you two like you're the best thing to happen since Elvis in Concert came out on DVD! Even David is getting annoyed!" Lilo waves her spoon wildly and ice cream flies through the air, landing in a patron's dinner plate.
Anna stifles a laugh by stuffing her face with another gulp of milk shake. "Well that's… kind of her? But that's all surface stuff. We love each other, so much, and we've spent a lot of the last year making up for lost time, but every family has their ups and downs."
"Oh. You mean," Lilo hides her mouth behind her hand and whispers, "the ice thing you told us about."
Anna nods. "But since then, too. Elsa… I think she wants me to transfer to a 'better' college."
Lilo's head snaps up. "But you can't! Who am I gonna laugh at for crashing into waves when you surf if you leave?"
Anna blushes. "I don't want to, and believe me, we're gonna keep talking it out, but… I think I see her point. She just wants what's best for me, and in her mind, that would be the best education."
"But then…" Lilo scoots closer in her chair. "Wouldn't you be apart from each other?"
"Yeah. We would." Lilo's face darkens. "But it wouldn't be the same as… before…" Anna splutters.
Lilo stands on her chair and pushes her face into Anna's, squinting her eyes up at her. She's not buying it. "Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten."
Anna sighs. She's heard this saying about a thousand times, but she's not about to deny the fact that it's true. "I'm not gonna leave Elsa behind."
"Good." And she plops down into her chair once more.
Anna takes her pen up again and tugs her history text closer. She smiles. "You know a lot about love for someone your age."
Lilo just shrugs. "I consider myself to be something of a love expert."
Anna drops her pen. "Have you been talking to the trolls?"
"What trolls?"
"Olaf then, it must have been Olaf…"
"What are you talking about? You're acting all weird…"
"It can't have been Kristoff, you almost never see each other!"
"Annaaaaaaaaa…"