Last Summer with You
"Why has Stitch disappeared?"
"She was my world"
"…Yes, I was in love with her."
"…I was wrong."
"How can I protect my Ohana?"
"I'm numb now."
"I'll miss all of you."
"I'm Sorry"
Chapter 1
The sunrise broke over the mountains at 5:45 that morning, making its way into Kokaua Town who's residents were all still nestled in their beds sound asleep. Birds were busying themselves gathering food to feed their young while other animals went about scampering across the damp ground and absorbing the warmth of the sun's rays.
At the edge of town where a small green house with a tower built onto it sat and where a large red spacecraft was parked in the backyard, one human was already up and starting her day. This human, Lilo Pelekai, lived there with her sister Nani, two aliens Jumba Jookiba and Pleakley and her genetically enhanced mutant alien "dog," Stitch.
As the rest of her Ohana slept peacefully Lilo was in the small bathroom downstairs taking a shower and going over the day's agenda. This would be the last full day she would spend in Hawaii, and it was Stitch's turn to have her all to himself. The big question now was is he finally up? Stitch always was a heavy sleeper, and hard to wake up in the mornings. Lilo turned the water to her shower off and wrapped a towel around her body and hair, then opened the door a little to let some of the steam out. She then exited the room and stepped onto the elevator that would take her up to the dome bedroom that she shared with Stitch.
The hatch in the middle of the room opened as Lilo finished her ascent and stepped onto the cold metal floor, her bare feet making soft padding sounds. She made her way over to the closet to get dressed and looked to the other side of the room at her companion who still lay in his bed sleeping soundly with one leg hanging over the side of the bunk. She sighed with slight annoyance.
"Come on, Stitch. I told you that I wanted you up by the time I finished showering. You DO still want to spend the day together don't you?" She asked him.
Stitch just mumbled something incoherent and snorted in response. He was too cozy wrapped up in the cocoon of his and dreaming about chasing tasty food across the beach. Lilo shook her head as she stepped inside the closet.
"I'm going back downstairs to finish getting ready and when I come back I want you out of bed and ready to go, got it?" She announced after she finished dressing and started back down the elevator. Stitch lifted one corner of his blanket and watched her disappear down the hole before rolling over onto his side facing the wall.
In no time at all Lilo was done and heading back up to the dome hoping Stitch was up, but expecting him to still be in bed. It was no surprise to her to see him sound asleep. She sighed loudly before noticing that one of Stitch's legs was exposed to the open and a wide grin spread across her face. Still barefoot she crept across the room silently then leapt onto Stitch's bunk and grabbed his leg.
"Tickle attack!!" She yelled as she began tickling the bottom of Stitch's foot. Stitch was totally pinned down under her weight and the blanket so all he could do was jerk around and laugh helplessly.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! N-naga tickle Stitch!! Naga tickle Stitch!!" He cried out between laughter.
"Uh uh, I told you to be up by the time I finished showering and that if you weren't I'd do something. Now you have to pay for the consequences of your actions." She responded as she began tickling his sides.
"Now, are you gonna be a good little alien and get up or do I have to keep tickling you?" She asked.
"Stitch up! Stitch up! STITCH UP!!" He laughed as she ceased her attack and flopped down on the bed by his side. Stitch giggled a little more before turning to face her . Lilo sighed lovingly.
"I'm going to miss these times we have together. Things just wont be the same for me in California without my Uncle Jumba, Aunt Pleakley and especially my little blue alien buddy." She said.
"Stitch is going to miss Lilo too." Stitch said while looking into her soft brown eyes then down to her lips. She was wearing her favorite colored lipstick, a lighter brown color that he thought went really well with her eye color, and for some reason he felt an urge to lean in and kiss those lips. His thoughts were interrupter when Nani called up the elevator shaft.
"Lilo what are you doing to poor Stitch? You two woke me plus probably half of the neighborhood up with your yelling and laughing." She yelled up to them.
"And maybe the people on a few nearby moons too." They heard Pleakley add.
"Sorry!" Lilo called back down to them. "Man is Nani-saurus Rex cranky in the mornings. She and David must have gotten home again super late last night."
"Ih, cranky." Stitch added. He got up and sat on the side of his bunk while he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Lilo was near the foot of her bed gazing at her reflection in a full length mirror. As Stitch sat there he watched Lilo check herself over and marveled at the beautiful young woman she had become.
She was now 21 years old and very fit and attractive. Stitch wondered why more boys weren't fighting for her affections, but then again she did have sort of a shy side ever since he first met her. Her younger chubby body was now replaced with curves in all of the right places and toned arms and legs. Her black hair fell to about her shoulders and framed her face nicely. Stitch was snapped out of his thoughts when Nani called back up to them to see if they wanted breakfast.
"Race you downstairs." Lilo challenged as she stepped onto the platform. Stitch always loved a challenge. He leapt down between the hatches before they could close and flew down the side of the shaft. He made it downstairs and crawled up the wall to the ceiling just as Lilo arrived downstairs and continued to the kitchen where he stopped above the table and fell into his seat.
"Beat you!" He teased as Lilo took a seat next to him. Nani came to the table and put a plate in front of him, Lilo and Pleakley, who was reading the newspaper. Eggs, hash browns and sausages were there with fresh orange juice to drink. A fourth plate sat before an empty seat.
"Pleakley, could you go upstairs and tell Jumba that breakfast is ready? I don't want him coming down later and cleaning out the refrigerator when he finally decides to wake up." Nani asked the thin alien.
"Jumba wasn't in his bed last night, he was out in his spaceship working…AGAIN!" Pleakley sighed.
"What? That's, like the fifth time this week!" Nani cried. "What's he doing out there anyways? You should know, he tells you everything."
"Well not this time. He's never around for me to ask anymore and when he actually is around all he'll ever say is 'Is evil genius business, not walking noodle business.'" Pleakley answered.
"Well he'd better be around tonight or he'll REALLY be sorry." Nani growled as she began doing the dishes.
"Nani tickle Jumba?" Stitch asked but Nani ignored him.
"So what do you and Stitch have planned for today?" Nani asked.
"I have a few errands to run, but I thought we could do a little surfing and drive the countryside. We shouldn't be out too late, I don't think."
"Well don't come home too soon, this is your and Stitch's last day together and I want you two to cram in as much fun as you possibly can in one day." Nani said all too enthusiastically.
"Okay." Lilo said giving her sister a strange look. "We should get going anyways, come on Stitch!" Stitch finished drinking his orange juice then hopped to his feet and followed Lilo out the door.
"Bye." They called to their Ohana as they climbed down the steps to their home and up to Nani's buggy. Their surfboards were secured to the roof on a rack. Lilo got in the driver's seat with Stitch riding shotgun and they pulled out of the driveway and into town.
The first few hours with Lilo Stitch was bored out of his mind. The 'errands' Lilo had planned to do involved going to the DMV, talking to the bank about a loan and going to the market, and she made Stitch sit out in the car the whole time. She left the car's radio and the air conditioner on though. Fortunately Lilo soon came back to the car and placed three bags of groceries in the back seat. She then sat herself back down in the driver's seat and smiled at Stitch.
"At first I balked at the idea of having to pick up a few things at the store for Nani, but then she told me I could buy a few extra things for us today." She said happily.
Stitch turned around and looked at the grocery bags wondering what Lilo bought for them. She started the car up and left the store parking lot and drove in a direction now all too familiar to Stitch. He knew they were going to the beach and the real fun was about to start.
Soon Lilo pulled off to the side of the road and they took the bags of groceries, surfboards and a small barbeque with them to the other side where the beach entrance was. They picked out a spot on the beach and placed their supplies down carefully. Lilo opened the bags and revealed their contents to Stitch; charcoal, lighter fluid and matches for the barbeque, and fish steaks for lunch.
They decided to go surfing first to work up an appetite, and a few hours later they decided to head back to shore to start cooking their fish. At one point in their stay at the beach they bumped into Myrtle Edmonds and her trio of friends. In the past Myrtle and her friends couldn't stand Lilo because they thought she was weird, but after the whole 'Leroy' incident all that changed and they all became best of friends. Lilo asked them if they wanted to join them but they turned her down saying they needed to go somewhere important. Lilo thought it was a little bit weird, but shrugged it off and surfed with Stitch a while longer before they decided to leave.
They caught the sunset as they cruised through the countryside so Lilo could enjoy Kauai one last time and when it got dark they bought some fast food and headed home.
They were a bit surprised when they got home and noticed the lights were off. They knew Nani would be at work and Jumba was most likely still in his ship, so where could Pleakley have been off to all day? They figured it was a good excuse to have more alone time together and climbed the steps to their front door. Lilo placed her hand on the doorknob and opened the front door. She reached over and turned on the living room lights and was surprised by a balloon with 'GO TO THE BACKYARD' written on it. She turned to look at Stitch but he wasn't behind her, she was the only person in the house.
Curious, she did what the balloon told her to do and made her way through the house and to the door leading to the backyard. She started to feel a little bit scared when she saw that the door was already open, like she was in some teen slasher movie, and cautiously moved forward through the door and outside.
Once she felt the cool night air against her skin once more a chorus of voices suddenly shouted "Surprise!" and through the dim light she could see the silhouettes of Nani David and Splodyhead as they lit tiki torches in the background. When the lights from the lit tiki torches grew stronger Lilo looked around her and saw that the backyard was decorated in a party fashion and she was surrounded by friends, family and all 625 of Stitch's cousins. Red and purple streamers were carefully strung from all of the palm trees with small blue paper balls hanging every few feet in between. Near the house several tables were decorated with red tablecloths and trays of delicious looking food sat in them ready to be served to the guests. A make shift bar was set up near the tables with plastic red and blue cups sitting upside down on it and a variety of soft drinks were offered on tap, with a couple kegs of alcoholic beverages for the adults. The guest's tables were set up with white tablecloths and in the center of each table a bouquet of lovely spring flowers was neatly picked and put in crystal vases. Finally in the background a mixture of old Elvis Presley tunes as well as other classic artists' music was playing loudly with none other that Samples as the night's DJ.
Lilo was beside herself in surprise and joy as one by one her Ohana crowded around her to greet her. Lilo spotted her sister Nani and ran up to give her a giant hug.
"Nani, I can't believe you guys went through all of the trouble to throw me a going away party. How did you do it without me finding out about it?" Lilo asked in bewilderment.
"For one thing your little friend Stitch is very good at keeping a secret. He had all of this planned from the start and it was his job to keep you occupied today so we could do this for you. Nani answered. Stitch came out from behind Nani and grinned widely up at Lilo.
Lilo smiled and bent down to pat him on his head. "You are one sneaky little alien." She told him.
"Lilo surprised?" Stitch asked him.
"Very much." She responded.
"And the surprises don't stop there." Nani piped up. "I was supposed to wait until a little bit later, but, oh well… follow me."
Nani led Lilo around the side of the house with Stitch at her heels all of the way out to the driveway. Once both women were there Lilo noticed a large object sitting in the driveway with a red tarp spread out over it and a card reading 'To Lilo' taped to the side. Lilo gave Nani a questioning look and Nani rolled her eyes towards the object, encouraging her sister to uncover it.
Lilo took hold of one side of the tarp and firmly pulled it off, revealing Nani's old 1963 Volkswagen beetle, only now completely restored and given a fresh coat of blue paint.
Lilo's jaw hit the ground as she turned to her sister. "Nani?" Was all that she could get out. Her sister answered by reaching into her pocket and tossing her something small and shiny. Lilo reached out and caught the object, noticing it was a set of car keys. She was speechless.
"Nani, are you sure about this?" Lilo asked cautiously. "This was your favorite car to drive when we were younger. This was the car that Dad used to use to take us to school and the car that he taught you to drive in."
"It's also the car that I taught you to drive in. I figured that since this car has such a rich history with our family that it was about time for it to be passed down to you. Besides you'll need a car to drive when you get to California, and they aren't cheap, especially on your budget. That's why I took the liberty to take it into town and have it fixed up for you."
"Thanks, Nani." Lilo said happily as she drew her sister in for another huge hug. As Nani hugged her back she failed to notice a tear sliding down her cheek.
"You grew up too fast." Nani whispered.
As the hours grew later everyone at the party was having a great time. Lilo ate some of the food Nani had cooked, even though she was still full from the fish and fast food she ate earlier in the day. She was also drinking a little bit more than she should, and when Stitch asked her to dance she only took a couple of steps before running off to vomit in the bushes. A concerned Stitch went to look for her and finally found her sitting on a chair on the edge of the backyard, looking a little pale and fanning herself with one of her hands.
"Lilo going to be okitaka?" Stitch asked her
"Yesh, I think I'll be alright Shtitch, as soon as the room stops spinning." Lilo managed to mumble. She suddenly started hiccupping then leaned over and vomited once more- in her own lap.
"Aw, man!" Lilo groaned as she took notice of what happened. Stitch couldn't help but smile a little and shake his head. She took some napkins and started to clean herself up while Stitch watched the other guests dance. The two sat there together in silence before a drunken Pleakley sauntered up to them wearing his typical Earth female costume and a lamp shade over his head.
"What'sh up, party people?" He slurred out as he lifted up the lamp shade. He noticed what Lilo did to herself and grimaced in disgust. "Ugh!"
Lilo finished cleaning herself up as best as she could before grinning up at Pleakley stupidly. He decided that he would have a seat on the other side of Stitch, just to avoid being downwind of the horrible odor emitting from Lilo's shirt.
"So, are you having fun?" Pleakley asked hoping to change the subject.
"You bet! I couldn't ask for a better Ohana." Lilo said cheerfully. "I've got all of my close friends and family around me, I've gotten a chance to talk to everyone and let them wish me well in my new life. And I'm having the most fun right now ever! Except…"
"What?" Stitch and Pleakley asked together and Lilo looked around at all of the party guests, noticing for the first time that night that someone was missing. And suddenly it hit her.
"Jumba! I haven't seen Jumba anywhere at the party tonight."
"Oh, damn him! Well, I guess we'd better go try to look for him before Nani discovers he's not here and tears him a new one." Pleakley suggested.
"Stitch knows where to find him. Follow me." Stitch cried as he got down on all fours and began sniffing the ground. Lilo and Pleakley got up from their seats and began to follow the blue alien. His nose lead them past the party and all of the guests and in the direction of the red spacecraft.
Stitch walked quickly up the path leading to the ship with Pleakley and Lilo close behind, and when the trio got there they stopped right outside the door. Everything looked normal, except for the large dent protruding from the door.
"Jumba? Are you in there?" Pleakley called as he began pounding on the door. He tried the ship's intercom from the outside but was only greeted with white noise. Lilo suddenly had a feeling that something was terribly wrong.
"We've got to find a way in." She cried as she opened up a secret compartment on the outside of the ship and released a handle that would allow her to open the ship's door manually. The door was only able to open up halfway because of the dent, but the three of them were able to squeeze through with no problems.
Inside the ship it was pitch dark, but with the occasional flicker of the lights they were able to get a good look and they gasped in horror. Jumba's lab was completely destroyed. There were chemicals and broken glass vials on the floor and all of the machinery was damaged beyond repair, sparking and smoking every once in a while. Jumba's lab table was over turned and in the corner more of his important equipment was destroyed. The whole lab looked as if some child had a wild tantrum and broke everything in sight. And the worse of it was the hole in the far side of the ship which looked to be at least ten feet tall in size. Lilo began to wonder what could possibly have put a hole that big there.
Stitch started forward, stepping over the broken equipment so he could go over and analyze the hole better. He got as far as the lab table before he noticed an arm laying behind it and walked in that direction.
"Jumba!!" Stitch cried when he found Jumba's unconscious body lying underneath the table. He pushed the table away and stared down sadly at his creator. Lilo and Pleakley joined him.
"He's hurt pretty bad, we shouldn't move him in case he's got a broken neck or something. Stitch, you go back to the party and tell Nani to call 911, Pleakley and I will stay here with Jumba and make sure he's ok." Lilo ordered.
"Okitaka!" Stitch said as he turned around and headed out of the ship and back towards the house. Pleakley turned around to look at the hole in the ship, his one eye huge with worry.
"Looks like the party's over." He told himself.
End of Chapter 1
A/N: Whew! I finally finished the first chapter! This was a long time coming and I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out! Stay tuned for chapter 2 coming as soon as I can write it. Disney owns Lilo and Stitch, not me, I only write fan fiction about the characters. Special thanks goes out too to Misgel for doing her part to help this story come together.