I don't know why I wrote this. It's terrible. Awful. But do read if you need a good cry. I suppose. Just kind of short and awful. Kind of an alternate ending to the Leroy and Stitch movie. Super depressing one at that. Character death. Ye be warned.
Something was wrong. At first, the impromptu Aloha Oe seemed to be working. One of the attacking Leroys had short circuited and shut down. The other Leroys had appeared to follow suit, collapsing onto the ground where they stood. But it was wrong. Hamsterviel was laughing.
Stitch stopped singing, a horrible sinking feeling settling in the pit of his gut, causing the words to die on his lips. He abandoned the stage, moving to the first Leroy that had collapsed. It was definitely out of commission, so why was Hamsterviel in such high spirits?
"Stupid experiment 626!" He crooned. "You thought you pulled a sneaky-thing, didn't you? Ha! Did you think that I, Doctor Jacq Von Hamsterviel, would not notice Jumba's oh-so-clever failsafe?" Stitch snarled, bearing his twin sets of claws.
"Ikata queesta!" he shouted defiantly. He was met by a raucous round of laughter from the Leroy clones, who had failed to keep up the act of playing dead.
"You fool!" Hamsterviel chortled, sweeping his cape dramatically. "I have oh-so-ingeniously removed the failsafe from my Leroy clones." He flashed a smirk as Stitch tensed. Most of his cousins were already at their limits. Only the first Leroy was actually shut down. That must have been the original Leroy. "And now, you can have your reward for your sneakiness. I will remove the biggest of the big thorns in my side!" Hamsterviel pressed a button, and a second gun unfolded from the front of the Big Red Battleship and began to charge. Stitch anticipated the coming shot, and braced himself before hearing a familiar scream. He noticed, much too late, the Leroy clone holding Lilo captive in its claws before itself, directly in the line of fire.
Stitch moved faster than he had ever moved before as a concentrated beam of energy arced out of the gun toward her. The Leroy clone was batted out of the way as Stitch wrapped himself around as much of Lilo's body as he could to protect her from the blast. Her scream was cut off as they were swallowed by light and heat.
It took Stitch some moments to recover from the impact, finding himself sprawled on to of Lilo, who seemed to be just barely conscious. His heart sank suddenly, as he dully noticed a strange wetness spreading across his fur. Dread raisng bile in his throat, Stitch dared to pull himself away to see her body, and choked. Her right side was missing. A perfectly circular wound bled into the ground, as if part of her had simply ceased to exist. His heart hammering, he nudged her face gently with his paw.
"Lilo…?" He nudged again, more desperately. Her eyes cracked open.
"Stitch…" Her voice was weak and harsh, and she gurgled slightly. Her hand slid slowly to his chest to ruffle the fur there. "I'm sorry, Stitch." He grasped her hand, clinging to her, and she smiled weakly.
"Lilo, please," he begged. "Don't leave Stitch." She squeezed his hand a little.
"You're my ohana, Stitch," she whispered. "…And I'll always love you." Lilo's eyes drifted closed, and the weak grip of her hand went limp. Everything on the battlefield was silent. Even Hamsterviel himself seemed to be surprised by the turn of events. He stammered once, but was quick to capitalize on the moment.
"See, you goody-do-gooder," came his boast. "Are you ready to surrender to me, experiment 626? I might spare the lives of the rest of your pitiful ohana."
Stitch didn't move. He didn't even blink. Just kneeled, grasping Lilo's body. His drooping ears were ringing. He barely heard as one of the Leroy clones approached. He stood slowly, gently placing Lilo's body on the ground, smoothing her hair behind her ear. Less than a second later, there was a sickening crunch and an arcing spray of blood once again stained his fur as it sprayed wildly from the chest of the clone he had just punched through. The Leroy reeled back, shock just barely registering in its eyes, before it fell down, dead. Stitch tilted his head to the heavens and howled his grief to the stars, then turned his gaze on Hamsterviel.
Perhaps sensing himself in mortal danger, Hamsterviel stammered out a command for the Leroys to protect him, and they formed a wall between Stitch and himself. Stitch launched himself forward, and the continuous spray of fur and blood ended only when Stitch wrapped one hand around Hamsterviel's neck. The rodent's begging fell on deaf ears as Stitch plunged his claws into his head and tore.
Now drenched in blood, Stitch dropped the corpse and wavered. He moved back to Lilo's body and whimpered once, collapsing to his knees and rubbing his head against her form.
Jumba and Pleakly could only watch as the little blue monster broke down and sobbed.
It had been three months since Lilo's death. Her small, modest headstone stood like a beacon under the treehouse she and Stitch had once enjoyed. Stitch sat in front of it, staring forlornly at the inscription he had carved out with his own claws, just as he had been doing every day since she had been buried.
Quietly, Nani slipped into the grass beside him, holding out a plate of food. There were dark bags under her eyes, and they were puffy and swollen. She had been crying not long ago. A twitch of his ears was all the acknowledgement Stitch gave to her presence.
"Stitch…" Nani began. "I know losing Lilo hurts. But you know that Lilo would have never wanted to see you like this. Please come back with me." Stitch trembled a bit beside her, lip quivering.
"Stitch lost… without Lilo." His voice was weak and hoarse, as though he hadn't used it in a long time. His cheeks were a bit sunken, and his blue fur sagged slightly around him like a shirt that was a few sizes too large. He shook his head slowly. "Lilo is where Stitch belongs. Stitch stay… with Lilo."
A silence settled between the two. Nani stood, leaving the plate of food.
"Eat it if you get hungry, okay?" Stitch nodded very slightly in response, and Nani headed back inside.
Jumba came shortly after sunset, sitting beside him heavily. The two sat for a long while, until Jumba finally broke the quiet.
"Little girl was Jumba's ohana, too." His voice was tired, as if his years had suddenly caught up with him all at once. "Jumba may be evil genius scientist, but even Jumba cannot bring little girl back. You know this." Stitch looked up at him, his gaze sullen.
"Stitch knows." He turned back to the gravestone, reached out and gently laying his paw against the surface. Memories of Lilo's tiny hand reaching for his own across a plane of glass swam inside his head, her tearful gaze as she told him he was going to be okay fresh in his mind. His shoulders sagged a bit at the memory that was so bittersweet. "Thank you… for making Stitch." Stitch moved to rub his face against the grave, and the evil scientist could see how worn and gaunt he had become clearly for the first time. It looked like he hadn't eaten for weeks. Jumba reached forward, rubbing the little monster's head with an affection and tenderness that even he did not expect.
"Jumba, too, is glad that 626 was failure." Stitch's eyes fluttered closed as his breathing became a bit weaker. "Jumba could not have asked for better ohana than you." Stitch smiled a little, curling up against the headstone.
"Stitch… will be with Lilo… soon." A heavy sigh escaped Stitch's lips, carrying with it the last of his life, and for the second time, Jumba lifted and cradled his lifeless body and cried, knowing that this time, there would be no miracle.