The Tejina Chronicles: Final Days
By: Kioko the pirate
Chapter 1: Hope and Sorrow
It was a beautiful day on the tropical island of Kauai with only a few clouds floating lazily through the sky. Peering down from the heavens one would see a lush green landscape, with towering, jagged mountains, crystal clear streams, serene waterfalls, gaping canyons, and seemingly endless meadows. Its beauty was second only to the Garden of Eden itself. But for the past two years this majestic island, along with all the other Hawaiian Islands, had played host to a galactic battle between genetic mutations with awesome powers. Their battles left hideous scars on both the islands and the people who found them selves involved with these mutations.
The young Hawaiian girl named Lilo and her experiment partner Stitch, were no exceptions. In their battles they had seen friends hurt, lives upturned, and some even lost. All for the sake of a battle that seemed all too meaningless. However, the signs that the battle was drawing to a close were all around them. Fights with other experiments were becoming less frequent while their intensity increased. Only the strong remained and there were fewer of them everyday. Each battle brought them closer to the end, closer to the end of all the pointless fighting. This, however, only brought them more pain.
Lilo and Stitch were now standing on the edge of a high cliff that at the beginning of their fight had been a barren field. Stone spikes, shattered rock, and boulders of epic size were strewn about the ground around them. These things were the result of their battle with a purple, four-legged, flat-tailed experiment named Richter. Each of them had stern looks on their faces as they stared across to the other side of the canyon, which was another product of Richter's spells, and watched as the experiment's purple book burned away. Without a single word the two of them turned and began to walk away as Richter and his partner said their final good-byes. They had won yet another fight without so much as a scratch and while most partners would be celebrating Lilo and Stitch maintained their stern expressions. For them, it was nothing to celebrate.
'It's almost over,' thought Lilo as her and Stitch started the long trip back home, 'this damned tournament is almost over. Soon I'll be able walk around this island without the fear of being attacked. I won't have the constant fear that this book will be burned.'
Lilo tightened her grip on the blue spell book and glanced down at Stitch; his ears were draped over his shoulders and a sad look sat in his eyes. He knew just as she did that their time together was drawing to a close. But what made it so much more painful was the fact that they had no idea just how much longer they had. There was no countdown clock; there was no checklist for beaten experiments, there was nothing at all. It was no secret that if they had the choice to they would much rather just lock the book away someplace and spend the rest of their days together. But something kept driving them to fight.
'It's been like this ever since we returned from the "World one",' Lilo continued to think as her and Stitch entered the thick forest, ' experiments keep throwing themselves at us and we keep knocking them down. All because we've done almost nothing but train day in and day out, hell it seems the only time I'm not training is when I'm at school. Even then I'm constantly thinking about the next battle. It's become so systematic it isn't even funny, and yet I wish it would last forever. At least then Stitch wouldn't have to leave.'
Several hours passed with neither Lilo nor Stitch speaking a word. Both of them were far too lost in their thoughts to strike up a conversation. It was a strangely awkward silence that was only broken once they finally reached Kokaua town. It was then that the silence was replaced by the sound of passing cars, laughing tourists, and even music from local musicians playing on the street. It was the middle of summer and prime tourist season so the whole town was in a constant, cheery mood. But that cheer did nothing to brighten the faces of Lilo and Stitch, if anything it added to their sorrow. It only took them a few minutes to reach the center of town where they came upon an oddly quiet Kiki's coffee shop.
As they passed by a friendly voice called out to them. They both stopped and looked toward the shop to see Victoria running out to them, her waitress apron flapping in front of her.
"Hey, Lilo, Stitch!" the red head beamed as she came to a stop in front of them.
"Oh, hey, Victoria." said Lilo in a rather dull tone.
"You guys coming back from a battle?" asked Victoria as she spied the blue book in Lilo's hands.
"Yeah." replied Lilo.
"Another easy win by the looks of it. I mean there isn't a mark on either of you," Victoria just shook her head in disbelief, "you two never cease to amaze me."
"Thanks." said Lilo as she finally cracked a smile.
"You two want to sit down for awhile," offered Victoria as she motioned toward a table, "I obviously don't have anything to do right now. I could get you a donut or something? Or maybe some coconut cake?" said Victoria as she gave a sly smile to Stitch, who just looked away.
"Sure, why not." said Lilo after a moment.
But as she turned to walk to the table she felt a tug on her pants leg. She looked down to find Stitch holding her pants leg and yet still looking away. "I… don't sense any other experiments near by so… do you mind if I just head home?"
Lilo looked at her partner curiously for a moment before finally nodding. "Yeah, go ahead. I'll see you at home a little later."
"Ok." Stitch said quietly before continuing down the street with his head hung low.
"What's wrong with him?" asked Victoria curiously as her and Lilo sat down at a nearby table.
"The same thing that's wrong with me," sighed Lilo as she placed the book on the table and rested her chin on her hand, "he knows he'll be going home soon."
A sympathetic look appeared on Victoria's face as she watched her friend stare off into the distance. "Do you know how many more experiments are left?" Lilo just shook her head slowly. "I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, but you knew this day would come. You knew this tournament of theirs would only last so long."
"I know," moaned Lilo as she closed her eyes, "I just wish it would last longer. I'm not ready for him to leave yet."
"Well try looking on the bright side. If things keep going the way they have been you're going to make Stitch the champion like that!" said Victoria as she snapped her fingers to make the point. "You should feel good about that." added Victoria.
"If he does win I will feel good about it. I'm proud of how far he's come since I first became his partner. And that pride will only grow if he wins but… I can't help but wonder: What will I do once he's gone? You know?" Lilo said as she looked back at her friend.
Victoria gave a slow nod as she looked off to the side. "I thought that same thing when I lost Snooty. I couldn't imagine going on with my dull, ordinary life without him. I thought for sure I'd die from boredom and from missing him too much. But you know what I realized?"
"Huh?"
"I realized that the world did not end when I lost him. Snooty never liked the fact that he was disturbing my life anyway. He didn't like that fact that because of him I was putting myself in harms way over and over again. So I decided that since he was gone, I'd show him that he never had anything to worry about. I would go on living my normal life as happily as I could. That's why I got this job working here."
"What exactly are you saying?" asked Lilo with one raised eyebrow.
"I'm saying that even though you'll miss him when he's gone you should try your hardest to keep on living happily. I'm sure he doesn't like dragging you into battle neither. So show him that your time with him has only made you a stronger woman."
"I guess that makes sense."
"Yeah," smiled Victoria, "besides you never know what fate may bring. You could end up seeing him again one day. And if that were to happen you wouldn't want him to find you a miserable wreck would you?"
"No I wouldn't." Lilo sighed as she looked off into the distance.
"So try and keep an upbeat mind, ok? And remember, I'm always here for you if you ever need to talk." said Victoria as she placed her hands on Lilo's.
Lilo just looked at her friend and smiled. "Thank you, Victoria. That means a lot to me. "
"It's no problem," she said with a big grin, "Now how about some of those doughnuts?"
"Bring'em on!" cheered Lilo.
At that moment Stitch was slowly crawling through the doggy door and into the living room. If there was anyone that could have used one of Victoria's pep talks it was him. With his head hung low and his ears flapping at his sides it appeared that someone had taken all the good things in his life and crushed them underfoot. No one could have guessed by looking at him that he had just won yet another flawless victory against a powerful opponent.
Without a sound Stitch walked over, hopped up on the couch, and fell face first into the thick cushions. He remained completely motionless save for the rise of his body as he gave a deep, heavy sigh. Though it was a beautiful day out the sky might as well have been full of black clouds as far as Stitch was concerned. He had never felt so hopeless before in his life. He wanted so much to stay on the island with Lilo, but he couldn't think of anyway to make that happen. He had to finish this tournament, he had no other choice; even if he hid his book away somewhere experiments would still come.
Stitch clenched his teeth and slammed his fist over and over again into the pillow that lay in front of him. "I hate this, I hate this so much," groaned Stitch as he rubbed his face deeper into the cushion, "I don't want to go back to the lab."
Suddenly, a sound from the kitchen caught Stitch's attention. He rolled over to see Nani in the kitchen slipping on her shoes and grabbing her keys from the counter and throwing her purse over her shoulder. As she left the kitchen, heading for the front door, she noticed Stitch and stopped where she was.
"Oh, Stitch, your back. When did you and Lilo get home?" the older girl asked curiously.
"Actually, Lilo's still down in town with Victoria."
"Oh really," said Nani with a surprised tone, "why didn't you stay down there with her? I don't think you two have been apart since you met."
Stitch gave another sigh and rested his cheek down on the cushion. "I just wanted to come home."
"Uh oh, what's wrong?" asked Nani as she set her keys and purse on the floor and walked over to Stitch, "Come on, spill it."
Stitch curled up into a ball as Nani sat down next to him and placed her hand on his side. Stitch didn't speak, but as Nani began to gently scratch his side he relaxed and let out another sigh.
"It's almost over, that's what is bothering me," he said with a heavy sadness, "I never would have imagined that I would feel like this."
"What do you mean?"
"When I first got here I could do nothing but wait anxiously for the end of this tournament. I was excited by the idea of me being the last experiment standing; I could hardly wait to find a partner and start fighting. But never did I think that I would find a partner that I care so much about. And now that glorious victory that I was so excited about seems as appealing as Jumba's cooking. Which is not good by any stretch of the imagination."
"I see," said Nani with an understanding tone, "to be honest I'm not surprised at all. You and Lilo have definitely grown close these past two years. Heck, she's grown more attached to you than anyone else."
Stitch groaned and curled up again. The thought of Lilo growing more attached to him than anyone else was like a needle in his brain. "That's what makes this all the more terrible," he said as he held his head, "I don't want to break her heart by leaving."
"Isn't there anyway for you to stay here? Can't you just refuse to fight the last battle?" asked Nani.
"No, there's no avoiding it. Whoever my last opponent will be won't want to stay here. They'll want to fight and hopefully become champion. Even if that experiment wanted to stay here and we hid our books away Jumba would probably send one of his bodyguards down to retrieve us. And as strong as they are there would be no fighting them off." explained Stitch.
"Well that stinks."
"It doesn't matter anyway, even if I found a way to stay here… you wouldn't want me hanging around." said Stitch as he looked up at Nani from the corner of his eye.
"Oh now wait one minute! What makes you think that?" exclaimed Nani sounding offended.
"I know you don't like Lilo running around with me and putting herself in all kinds of dangerous situations. You'll probably be glad once I'm gone, that way you won't have to worry about her. But if I were to stay, who knows what kind of danger I would bring. That's what you're thinking." Stitch said as he put his face back down in the cushion.
"Now that's not fair, Stitch. I know me and you didn't get along in the beginning,"
"Didn't get along? You tossed me out the backdoor multiple times! You even threatened to neuter me with a pair of gardening shears that time your boss came over and I greeted him at the door wearing your bra."
Nani's eyebrow twitched as she glared down at the experiment. "Ok, so I thought you were an epic pain in the ass. Either way, I've grown to trust you more. I actually feel better about you and Lilo hanging around one another so much. As strong as you've become I know that if she were to get into any trouble you'd be able to bail her out." the older girl said, her tone steadily becoming softer.
Stitch rolled over and sat up a surprised look on his face. "Is that true?" asked the experiment as he cocked his head to the side.
Nani couldn't help but smile at his cuteness. "I wouldn't have said it if it weren't," for the first time in what seemed like forever a smile crossed Stitch's face, "Now I don't know how all this alien tournament stuff works, but if you manage to find a way to stay… just know that you have an ohana waiting here for you, ok?"
Stitch's smile was quivering and a second later he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Nani's waist. "Oh thank you so much, Nani," Stitch cried as he held the older girl tight, "you have no idea what that means to me! I promise, if I find a way to stay I won't cause any more trouble."
"I'll believe that when I see it," laughed Nani as she stroked Stitch's head, "And hey, if you need any help convincing Jumba to let you stay just have him give me a ring."
"Thank you so much." said Stitch with a small purr.
"Ok, we've already established that your grateful," said Nani as she pulled herself away from Stitch and got back on her feet, "Now I've got to get going, I won't be home till late so you and Lilo need to figure out what to do for dinner."
"Ok, Nani." said Stitch as he watched the girl walk to the front door and open it.
"You shouldn't worry Stitch, life has a way of working things out." Nani said with a small smile before turning and shutting the door behind her.
Stitch just continued to sit there with a smile on his face. The fear still lingered in him that he would never be able to return, but Nani's words gave him hope, even if it was only a little. The rest of the day went by uneventfully, it was a prime example of a lazy summer day. But finally the sun began to set and before long a blanket of stars covered the sky. Lilo however had not yet returned home, it was only after the sun had long since dipped below the horizon that she walked through the front door.
Victoria had been let off from her shift early and as a further measure to keep her friends spirits up she took Lilo all over town. The two girls had seen a movie, eaten at a new restaurant, and even strolled by the beach admiring the well-cut men who were exercising. They were teenage girls after all. Lilo walked in still giggling to herself over a joke Victoria had told her a little while before. As she closed the door behind her and tossed the spell book on top of a nearby bookcase she noticed Stitch lying stretched out and fast asleep on the couch. A plate filled with the remains of a fried chicken sat at his feet while his paw, which dangled over the edge of the couch, still clutched a chicken leg bone.
"Well looks like he had a good night." smiled Lilo as she looked between her snoring partner and the TV, which was stuck on the monster movie channel.
As quietly as possible Lilo walked over and knelt down next to Stitch. Though it was gross she couldn't help but find the little string of drool running from his mouth cute. Without a word she carefully pried the chicken bone from his paw, placed it on the plate and took the plate into the kitchen. When she came back in she walked over and scooped Stitch up in her arms like an infant and made her way toward the stairs. With careful steps she made her way up to her room where she placed Stitch down in his little box-bed. Lilo let out small laugh as stitch instantly grabbed a hold of his pillow and snuggled it.
"You're too cute sometimes, you know that?" said Lilo as she pulled the blanket up to his shoulders.
"I really hope our next opponent is a long way off," sighed Lilo as she ran her hand across Stitch's cheek, "I really don't want you to leave. But that doesn't mean I'll give up my promise. No matter how I may feel, I'll do everything in my power to make you champion. I'm not going to let you down, not after coming this far. I promise."
With a smile Lilo leaned over and gave Stitch a quick kiss on the forehead.
Well that's the end of the first chapter of the final story! The next chapter will be a bit delayed however. I have two term papers that take priority. Sorry. But I will try to update as soon as possible! So please review.