If I never met you

Chapter 2

Anniversary

The sun had already risen above the little Hawaiian paradise. The birds were flying across the high, blue morning sky, singing gorgeously, and the giant leaves of the palm trees swung lazily as the sea breeze collided against them. The waves crashed against the white sand of the seashores, and the sea was a deep light blue color. The colorful orchids opened to the morning sun as they let go of their soft scent. Everything was perfect that morning…

Lilo opened her eyes when she felt the sun beams caressing her tan face. She turned on her back to avoid the sun beams and covered her head with the blanket to bring some darkness to her eyes and fall asleep again. This wasn't a good day for her, even though the weather seemed to be perfect and everything outside was beautiful.

"Lilo, it's time to get up!"

Then nothing…

"Lilo! Get up NOW!"

Lilo moaned slightly and then covered her head with her pillow. Then a steady whirr was heard from downstairs. As the lift reached the dome, Lilo hid even more under her covers. 'I should have locked the lift' she thought bitterly.

A hand took apart the warm blanket from her body:

"Lilo, you know you can't stay asleep the whole day. It's not good for you, and besides it's a beautiful day outside! The weather is perfect for a Saturday morning: you could swim, run, surf… whatever you want to do!"

"What I want to do is to sleep right now. Get outta my room, Nani. I wanna sleep." Lilo mumbled groggily and then turned her back to her sister.

"Lilo, baby, please go downstairs to eat something. I don't want you to starve like that…"

"Get outta my room, Nani-saurus Rex. I 'm not hungry. I'll have breakfast when I feel like having it, not when my big-hangman-sister orders me to. Besides you're not Mom to tell me what I have to do…"

A pillow went flying against Nani, hitting her square on her face. This time she couldn't stand anymore:

"OKAY, THAT'S ALL! YOU'RE GOING DOWNSTAIRS NOW!"

"Ouch, that hurts!"

"Well, you should have thought that before tossing that pillow at me and saying all what you said!"

Pillows went flying across the room, as well as other yells and screams. Nani pulled Lilo by her wrist, trying to take her down, but Lilo wasn't that weak as when she was little. Now she was a strong girl, and she could easily defend herself from her sister, so the fight went steady: sometimes Nani was about to take her downstairs and sometimes Lilo was about to escape from Nani's hands. Finally, Nani gave up:

"Fine! You can spend the whole day here if you want to! I won't beg you to behave correctly as a little kid, just like mom used to do! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?"

Nani didn't even wait for an answer. She got into the lift and went downstairs, frustration and anger marked on her face. Lilo dropped herself on the floor and sat there. She hid her face between her hands, feeling frustrated as well as her sister. She didn't mean to do it, but she couldn't help to behave just like a jerk even to her sister when days like this were bothering her…

'Nani was just trying to lighten this day for me… she knows how hard is for me and all what I did to 'thank' her was kicking her out just like trash… I'm not the only one who's been in a bad mood today. I'm sure she misses them just as much as I do, but at least she knows how to handle with it… unlike me.'

Nani sat down on the chair tiredly and rested her cheeks on her hands. Since Lilo had turned fourteen, she had always behaved on a hard way when this day arrived: she didn't want to get up and she went downstairs to take breakfast until one o' clock, and then always went back to her room to disappear until evening, if not until next day. Why had she turned so hard? Why didn't she just take it 'easy' as when she was little?

"Well, both ways were bad. When she was a kid, she used to sleep the whole day and didn't talk to anyone until next day… now I don't know if this is worse. I wish I knew as good as mom…"

"Was Bigger Girl having yelling contest against Little Girl?"

Nani whirled her head. Jumba was standing in the entrance of the kitchen, rubbing away the sleep from his eyes.

"Yes, again… I don't know what to do with her." she mumbled more to herself.

"What was all that noise some minutes ago? I'd bet it woke up the whole island, if not some near moons too!" Pleakley yawned as he entered the room. Then he took a cereal box and dropped some in three plates to prepare their breakfast.

"It was Lilo… she's been a bit too rebellious these last days, and today isn't the exception. I bet she's gonna disappear the whole day in her room again."

"Ah, talking about disappearances, Jumba has not seen 626 around here either."

"Oh, please Jumba! Don't tell me that you forgot that he's been with that sweet girlfriend of his! It's their anniversary, remember?"

"But I was thinking that their anniversary would to be within two months!"

"Yeah, but I guess they like to celebrate it every month. Who knows when somebody is in love? That's just fascinating!"

"What fascinating?"

Stitch stepped in the kitchen, ready to look for something to eat. He saw the cereal box and the milk carton and didn't think it twice: he threw the milk carton into his mouth and flung some flakes of the cereal box inside as well.

"Oh great… that was the last of our milk. I gotta go get some more now." Nani said coldly as she stood up and then went outside. She didn't feel like staying home with that kind of atmosphere drifting in the house.

Everybody watched as she went out. Stitch noticed her cold tone and became slightly concerned.

"What wrong with Nani?"

Both Jumba and Pleakley shrugged:

"We don't know. Lilo isn't in a good mood either. It doesn't seem like she's coming down to have breakfast, anyway." Pleakley informed as he went to the sinker to wash some dishes.

"Eh, am going to work in some evil business. Jumba would not want to be around when human girls finally go kaput. Hah!" Jumba chuckled as he went upstairs to his room. The only sound that followed was the door shutting closed.

Stitch watched both of them as they went away to do their business. He knew he couldn't let Lilo alone. If she was behaving that way, something wasn't totally right with her.

He sighed and then walked to the lift. He pressed the button to go up, but he found that it was locked. He growled lightly and then went outside to enter the dome by the window.

Lilo was lying on her bed, listening to the King. She was still in her pajamas, but that didn't bother her. Anyway she wasn't planning to go outside today.

As she continued to listen to the record player and the King's voice, she heard a soft knock on the glass of the window and felt a cold breeze entering the room. She lifted her head from the pillow and saw the little blue furred alien entering the room. Just when she saw him she relaxed a bit and smiled lightly.

"Hey Stitch."

Stitch approached her bed and then climbed up as Lilo sat up on her bed. He approached the girl and then rested his head against his friend's lap. Lilo smiled more widely and then let her hands run through her friend's fur, enjoying the feeling of the fluffy coat that covered Stitch's body. Stitch smiled: he liked the way Lilo caressed him. It always made him feel relaxed, and he allowed his friend to play her fingers through his fur some minutes more. None said anything for a while until Stitch broke the silence.

"Lilo, what wrong? Why you sad?"

Even though he could feel Lilo becoming stiff, she didn't stop her hands from caressing his long ears. She seemed to muse about what she was going to say, and then she opened her mouth to start talking.

"It's everything. I've been getting some rotten luck lately, you know? Today I had a nightmare about the day they left us." She lowered her head sadly.

Stitch lifted his head when he didn't feel Lilo's hands caressing him anymore, and then he saw the dismal expression on Lilo's face. Then he remembered what day was today. Now everything became clear on his mind as to why she was acting this way.

"Today… anniversary parents died, ih?" He whispered cautiously as he took her hand and caressed it comfortingly.

Lilo looked down at her hand and saw Stitch's one rubbing hers. Some tears started to gather at the edge of her eyes… for some reason, his way of comforting reminded her of her mom.

"Yeah. Today was supposed to be their wedding anniversary too. We would've been festive, I guess…" she turned aside her head, like trying to keep back her tears, but no success: the little pearly drops were already running down her cheeks.

Stitch noticed the tears rolling down her cheeks and immediately sat up to hug her, trying to give some comfort. Lilo hugged him back, soaking his ocean blue fur with her tears, leaving some little moist spots on his shoulder, shaking as she cried softly. Stitch hugged her more tightly, shushing to her ears soothing words and caressing her back.

She was a teenager now, but he could almost imagine that she was turning again into a little girl in that very moment. She was again that little, defenseless girl he met first before she turned into a teenager. He missed the sensation of the little girl in his arms, because being little he could almost cradle her in his arms, but even so he felt good to comfort her at least a bit.

Finally, Lilo seemed to calm down, or at least she wasn't shaking anymore as she wept. All her feelings were encountering inside her at that moment: anger, sadness, hurt, comfort, hate, love… and over all the nostalgia of having her parents beside her. They had missed so many important events of her life… if they were alive, they could've met Stitch, Jumba, Pleakley, and all the experiments who were her friends now.

"Why, Stitch? Why did they have to leave that very night? Why didn't they stay home with us to celebrate their anniversary, and why did they have to die? They didn't deserve it! They should be alive right now, and they should have met you and all of the friends I made while I was a kid!"

Stitch was silent. He didn't know what to respond to those questions. How could he know why fate had been that way, and not as Lilo would have wanted it to be? Some things about life are a mystery, and that was one of those things for him. He had no idea about it, so he could do nothing but hug her tighter, taking care not to crush her ribcage or scratching her with his claws.

"Today I treated Nani just like trash… she tried to lighten my day, but me and my big mouth had to ruin everything. Now I'd bet she'll be frustrated the whole day, and that's my fault too. Why do I say the wrong things at the wrong time? I can't say what I'm feeling, because then I'll just blow up at anyone…"

Stitch looked up at her and then tilted his head aside, a bit in confusion. "You no blow up at Stitch. Stitch trying to help too, like Nani. Lilo didn't blow up at Stitch. Why?"

Lilo met Stitch's gaze with her own, a bit confused too. That was true: she had spilled all of those negative emotions on Nani, but she didn't with Stitch.

This wasn't the only time this happened. Several times, while they were still kids, he had been the only able to get close to her when no one else could, and so it was with him: she had been the only one who had been able to pierce through that hard armor of ice that once covered his heart and melted it down.

Once more, it was a question that none of them could respond, so she just shrugged.

"I don't know… maybe it's because we're the best friends in the whole galaxy since we're little. And besides, she took the whole load before you came. That shouldn't be fair." She smiled and then patted his head playfully.

Stitch grinned. It was good to see her smile with such serenity at least once in the whole day.

"Naga. Stitch special! Lilo loves him more than Nani. It completely fair!" He teased.

"Of course not! You were lucky to get me with my defenses low. I'd have kicked you out as well." Lilo retorted, a playful smirk forming on her face.

Stitch tackled her, just as when they were kids, making her fall on the soft mattress. She screamed in surprise and then started to laugh as he sat on top of her, running his hands swiftly through her sides as he tickled her. She tried to make a shield with her arms, but Stitch got out his extra-arms and then it was almost impossible for Lilo to cover her sides and belly against Stitch's paws.

"You surrender?" Stitch smirked as he held Lilo's hands against the mattress. The face of the poor girl was now a scarlet red because of all the laughs.

"Never!"

"Then Stitch tickles Lilo!"

"N-no, please! No more t-tickles!" She begged as she laughed more. "O-okay, okay, you got me! I s-surrender!"

"That no enough… say it." Stitch commanded as he stopped his extra-arms from tickling the girl, but kept holding her hands. As Lilo remained silent, he started to tickle her again. Finally, Lilo gave up.

"OKAY, O-OKAY! Y-you're the smartest, cutest and fluffiest evil experiment ever…" She whispered, almost inaudibly.

"Say it louder… and Stitch not evil." Stitch menaced as he lifted his paws to her sides.

"Y-YOU'RE THE SMARTEST, CUTEST AND FLUFFIEST EXPERIMENT EVER!" She said with tears of laughter on her eyes. It had been too many laughs!

"Oki-takka, that enough." Stitch said as he let her go, but when he got distracted, Lilo tackled him to the mattress and rested her weight on his body to prevent some attempt of escape. Stitch gasped as he saw the girl's hands going down to his feet and then he exploded in laughs.

"N-naga! No tickling Stitch! NO TICKLING STITCH!" he shouted as he felt the tickling sensation on his feet. He held his stomach in laughter, being totally at the mercy of the girl.

Even being the so-clever-and-so-strong Experiment 626, he could do nothing against his human friend and her tickle attack. He could not use his paws to defend himself because the laughter was too intense to resist.

"Okay, now you say it." Lilo grinned down at the twisting Experiment 626.

"NAGA!"

"Okay, you asked for it." she sentenced as she intensified the tickles on his feet. Now Stitch was the poor, merciless prisoner being tortured by his friend.

"OKAY! STITCH GIVES UP! LILO IS THE PRETTIEST, SMARTEST AND BIGGEST ELVIS FAN ON EARTH!" he roared out in laughs as big tears of laughter went out his eyes. Under his fur you could see his skin turning into a deep magenta because of all the laughter.

"Thank you, mister." Lilo chuckled and then let go of her friend. "That's enough for a day."

Then Lilo sighed and dropped on her bed, along with Stitch. They rested on the bed with their eyes closed, recovering of their little game.

"Wow, it had been so long since we last played tickle attacks." Lilo realized, her eyes being still closed.

"Ih… too long." Stitch replied as he turned his head to see at Lilo. At least for some minutes, he had managed to make her forget all her gloom and sadness.

"We hadn't played like this since I turned fifteen… about a year ago." Lilo remembered. 'You were too busy attending to Angel and going out on dates with her' she said to herself, but kept it in her head, not wanting Stitch to think she was jealous. After all, jealousy was only for little kids, not for a sixteen-year-old girl.

Besides, she was supposed to have gotten over her jealousy at Angel for taking Stitch away from her. She wasn't jealous… or at least that was what she thought.

"Because Stitch with Angel… ih?" Stitch asked softly.

Lilo turned her head to look at Stitch. She could have sworn that he just read her mind, but she shook the idea off her head. Stitch was very smart; he could pick up quickly on what was happening around him. He could realize that he had been for too long with Angel, practically leaving Lilo abandoned.

"Yeah, I guess… but that's not important at all, Stitch, never mind it. I'm okay with you and Angel being together. No need to worry about me." Lilo deflected her gaze from Stitch's. He couldn't say if she was jealous, but her voice had sounded with a stitch of hurt. He didn't like to feel he was hurting Lilo. Maybe he should compensate her somehow…

"Um, Lilo?"

"Yes?"

"Would you… like me to… go out with you…?" Stitch struggled to say it correctly. Lately, he had been trying to talk only in English because he wanted to learn how to speak well, but it was hard for him.

"You mean, like the old days?" Lilo asked surprised, though not disgusted by the idea. Actually, it was all the opposite of it. She couldn't hold herself at the simple thought of being with her best friend for a whole day again, like before.

He nodded. She simply smiled and nodded as well.

Then the doorbell rang downstairs. Both Stitch and Lilo ran to the window to see who was there. There was nobody now, probably Pleakley had opened the door and let the visitor in.

"Well, then let's go!" Lilo said, sounding much more excited than a few minutes ago.

"Ih!" Stitch agreed. They were about to get into the lift, but then Lilo noticed she was still in her pajamas.

"Um, Stitch? I guess I gotta change before going down… you can go downstairs to wait for me if you want; that way you let me change my clothes."

Stitch nodded and then got onto the platform of the lift to go downstairs. He was glad to see that Lilo was in a good temper now; it made him feel so much happier.

He got out the lift. Suddenly, a pair of pink furred arms wrapped his neck, hugging him tightly.

"Da boojibu!"

Stitch turned his head, receiving a kiss square on the lips. He was still shocked by the surprise, but when he realized that Angel was the one who had hugged him, he relaxed a bit and returned the kiss… at least until they caught a glimpse of a blinding flash.

"Hey, don't break the romantic atmosphere!" Pleakley complained as he held a digital camera in his skinny hands. "This is a perfect opportunity to gather some material for 'The most romantic couples' contest! And you two are the perfect target… this is fascinating! I'm gonna win the contest with these photos!"

Pleakley's joy didn't last for too long, though. Before he could blink, his camera laid shattered on the floor, and an angered Stitch pounced on the remains of it, trying to make sure it was broken.

"Grrrr, naga takabah…" Stitch growled angrily, but before he could continue unleashing his anger with Pleakley, he felt a hand stopping him from his shoulder.

"He's not worth it, Stitch." Angel said in Turian. "Leave him alone. He's got enough with his broken camera."

"But he makes me angry!" Stitch answered in Turian too. "And I've got to make sure he got his lesson clear…"

"I think he's got enough. Now let's go."

"Let's go? Where are we going?"

Angel glanced at Stitch with severity. "Don't tell me you forgot it."

"Forgot what?" Stitch looked at her innocently. Behind them, Pleakley was still crying over his deceased camera and babbling something about guarantees.

Angel crossed her arms. "You promised me that you would take me to the movies tonight!"

Stitch smacked his forehead. He had forgotten it completely. "But there's still a lot of hours left before the movie starts!"

"Yeah, but you promised that we would have some lunch too… remember?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Angel exclaimed as she grabbed Stitch by his hand and then practically dragged him to the door. Stitch didn't want to go, though. He wanted to make sure that Lilo was going to be okay, and besides he wanted to go out with her.

"But Angel…! Lilo…"

"You can apologize for not saying bye later! We've got to go now!" The door shut closed noisily as both Angel and Stitch went out. The door had been just closed when a whirr came from the lift.

"Stitch, I'm ready!" Lilo announced, but she got no response. Pleakley was now sweeping the remains of his dear digital camera:

"Stitch is gone! He left with Angel to go on a date… and that way's better for me! Look at what he's done to my poor digital camera! You can get one of these only in big inter-space ports! And it was new! And the guarantee doesn't cover 'destroyed by little angered monsters'!"

Lilo just heard the first sentence. All the other words that went out from Pleakley's mouth had no importance. He had left… again. She was alone once more because the charming, pink furred experiment had taken away her friend. And she had thought that finally they could spend at least one single day together!

"Uh, Pleakley, don't take this the wrong way, but I don't feel really feel like listening to you. I feel sick and tired all of sudden. I'm going to the dome."

Pleackley widened his eyes. "You're sick! Don't panic, don't panic, Lilo, don't panic… you're gonna be okay, we've just got to BRING YOU TO A HOSPITAL! AAAAAHHHHH! RESIST A BIT MORE, DON'T DIE YET!" Pleakley screamed as he grabbed Lilo by her wrist and tried to drag her outside to bring her to a hospital.

"Pleakley, I'm fine! I just have a simple headache." She withdrew her arm from Pleakley's skinny hand harshly, and then continued with a dejected tone. "It's not like my heart just broke down or something …" She then made her way to the dome, to spend the day there alone.

When she arrived to her dome, she dropped on the bed tiredly. She decided she would sleep the rest of the afternoon until she didn't feel like sleeping anymore, and then she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Lilo opened her eyes slowly. The room was being engulfed by the dark night now, the stars and the moon barely illuminating the dome. She turned her head to the clock and read the numbers 1:32 a.m. At first she got shocked because of the amount of hours she had been sleeping, but after thinking about it she didn't find it strange. After all, the nightmares she had been having these last days had caused her to have a poor rest.

When she whirled her head to the left, she noticed that Stitch was already sleeping on his cot. She couldn't hear him snoring yet, so he must have just arrived.

Then she noticed the blanket covering her. She didn't remember having put a blanket on before falling asleep. Again, maybe the answer to that question was the blue alien sleeping in front of her.

She brought her hand to the night table and grabbed some kind of T.V. control. She pressed a button and then the ceiling opened before her eyes, allowing her to see the white moon and the shining stars twinkling above. While she was looking at the dark velvet of the sky, she caught a glimpse of a falling star. She thought about it and then started to whisper:

"I don't think this works anymore, but it did once, so… I wish I weren't alone anymore. I don't know who you could bring over here this time. Maybe even my parents. You know… it'd be great if you could do that again for me…" some tears started to gather at the edge of her eyes and her voice sounded cracked. "I still miss them a lot and wish they hadn't gone away…"

Lilo wept silently, knowing that with a single loud noise Stitch could get awoken. She didn't want him to see her crying again. It was something shameful for her.

Stitch heard each one of the words Lilo had said. He heard her as she wept, but managed not to go out his bed to comfort her. He didn't know if she was mad at him for leaving her alone at home without saying even bye, but he didn't want to find out either in case she was.

'She misses her parents a lot… if only there was a way the falling star made her wish came true…' he thought at last before the darkness wrapped him.

Right after he finally fell asleep, Lilo muttered a last wish. "But, if you asked me, I actually just wish Stitch didn't ignore me so often to be with Angel. I don't want to be selfish; I want him to be happy, after all. It's just that I miss him a lot… and I guess that's it, really. I guess it's easier to bring back a living person than two dead ones."

Then, some minutes later, Lilo fell asleep again.

What do you think about it? I have to say that there will not happen anything about traveling in time for a long time. First I want to show some of Lilo and Stitch's life, and eventually I'll make Stitch to travel back to past, until chapter 6 or so, but I promess that you won't get bored, even though the most interesting part is far away yet. WWhat do you think about it? I have to say that there will not happen anything about traveling in time for a long time. First I want to show some of Lilo and Stitch's life, and eventually I'll make Stitch to travel back to past, until chapter 6 or so, but I promess that you won't get bored, even though the most interesting part is far away yet. Well, that's all what I guess I can say. Please, read AND review! ell, that's all what I guess I can say. Please, read AND review!