A/N: This chapter contains some tender heart moments. By the way I keep calling Lilo and Nani's parents "Mr. and Mrs. Pelekai" because I'm not creative enough to give them first names, I don't even know what they could have been or would have been called, so they're just Mr. an Mrs. for now unless there are suggestions for names. According to Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, their mother often made up weird constellations like a fat lady with a chihuahua on her head lol :P Read & Review.
Lilo, Mertle, Yuki, Teresa, and Elena all became fast friends. When they weren't dancing together, they were often sharing some stories. The other girls had to admit that Lilo had bizarre story ideas, such as a teddy bear named Toaster, or a squid who didn't have any friends, not to mention zombies, mummies, and aliens. Mertle nearly forgot completely about her disappeared dad and her old friends in the city and maybe living in Hawaii wouldn't be so bad after all.
"See you guys tomorrow!" Lilo waved once the Pelekai family car horn honked.
"Bye, Lilo!" the girls called.
Lilo smiled and ran off to meet her family at home.
"That girl's kind of weird..." Mertle muttered.
"Yeah..." the other girls agreed.
"But I like her, she's nice." Teresa smiled.
"You don't think she's too weird, do you?" Elena asked, innocently. "I mean... She believes in 'outside' space and all that..."
"Now, girls, I want you all to be nice to Lilo, she's not weird she's... eccentric," the teacher told them with a smile on his face. "Like... Her mother..."
The girls looked at him, then watched Lilo leave with her parents.
"How was hula school, Lilo?" Mr. Pelekai asked as he took the wheel.
"It was great!" Lilo chirped. "Mertle has a... a broken family though."
"Mertle?" Mr. Pelekai asked.
"She's new in Hawaii," Lilo explained. "Her daddy left her...Dad, do you promise not to leave me, Mom, and Nani?"
Mr. Pelekai smiled back at her. "I would never."
"Why did Mertle's daddy leave then?"
The family man released a sharp sigh. "I don't know, honey, that's just how some families are... Some kids don't have a mommy or even both daddy at home at all..."
"No mommy and daddy? Who takes care of 'em, or tucks 'em in at night, or tell 'em stories?"
"Well, some families have other members to take care of them... Some kids are raised by their grandparents, some kids are raised by aunts and uncles..."
"But why, Dad?"
"That's just how it is, Lilo... Some mommies and daddies can't stay with their kids forever and they need someone else to take care of them."
"Oh, okay..."
The family car stopped and Mrs. Pelekai was washing some dishes. She heard the door open and heard some sandals click against the tiled kitchen floor. "Hi honey, how was school? Ooh!" Mrs. Pelekai's eyes widened as she felt a force against her legs and looked down to see her younger daughter hugging her legs. "Hello, dear."
"Mom, please don't leave me, Dad, and Nani..." Lilo moaned.
Mrs. Pelekai looked down at her, wondering where that came from. She looked at her husband as he walked in.
"She's talking about Mertle's father." Mr. Pelekai explained.
"Ohh... Honey," Mrs. Pelekai picked up Lilo in her arms. "Daddy and I would never leave you and Nani. I promise. We're going to be with you two forever and ever."
"But Mertle's daddy left her and her mom..." Lilo nearly cried now.
"She just has a broken family, honey, some families have them, but you have me, your father, and Nani with you. We'll never be broken apart, I promise."
"Really?"
"Cross my heart, dear," Mrs. Pelekai set her down back on the floor and ruffled up her hair. "How about a camp out tonight? There's no rain in the forecast for tonight and we can look at the constellations."
Lilo giggled. "Yay! I'm gonna practice some dances, okay? I don't want you and Dad to see them yet, it's a surprise."
"Okay, you go practice."
Lilo smiled and dashed off to her bedroom.
"She has your spirit," Mr. Pelekai told his wife.
"She really does," Mrs. Pelekai agreed with a smile. "I'm just glad she made friends... You know how shy she can be."
"That's probably why she takes pictures of tourists, she felt like they were her friends and she collected those pictures."
"Oh, dear, I think that was just a phase, she's probably over it now."
"You're probably right."
Lilo flashed her camera in her bedroom and took out some photos she took during lunch in school. "There we go!" she took out a picture of a tourist eating an ice cream cone and put it with her collection. She smiled and folded her arms. "Now I have a captive audience." she then went to put on one of her father's old records as it played Hound Dog and danced to it happily. "I can't wait to show Mertle and the girls this new dance for tomorrow."
"Lilo, phone for you!" Mr. Pelekai called.
Lilo sighed and stopped the record. She was just getting the jest of the dance too. She then left her room as the phone was held out for her. "Who is it?"
"It's your sister." her father told her.
Lilo gasped happily and took the phone. "Hello?"
"What's she saying?"
"Daddy! This is private!"
Mr. Pelekai laughed a little. "Okay, okay..." he then decided to give his daughter some privacy.
Lilo rolled her eyes at him, then kept the phone to her ear. "Aloha, Nani... I miss you..." she admitted, nearly sad.
"I miss you too, kiddo," Nani's voice on the other line said. "College is tough, let me tell you that. I heard you were joining hula school like me!"
"Uh-huh, I made lots of new friends!"
Lilo had completely forgotten about the sadness she faced about her fear of losing her family. The two sisters talked and talked, they never once fought. It was probably because Nani was so far away now and Lilo was still at home with their parents. Their parents just hoped by the time Nani would be able to visit that the two wouldn't be fighting all the time.
