After last chapter's Christmas episode, this chapter will cover something more plot-relevant. More specifically, the day of Earth's official induction into the United Galactic Federation.
Episode 7: First Contact:
New York City – United Nations Headquarters; November 2018:
"Hold still, Stitch," Lilo whispered as she adjusted her alien friend/pet's tie. "Quit squirming. You know today's a big day for all of us." And indeed it was, for today was the day of Earth's official induction into the United Galactic Federation. After Lilo graduated high school three years ago, the Grand Councilwoman contacted her with an offer to become a full-fledged member of the Federation council after eight years as Earth's unofficial ambassador. There were some job prerequisites that needed to be completed before that could happen, though. First came the intensive three year training program on Turo for representatives of new worlds. Once she'd finished that, the last six months had been spent in talks with the U.N. General Assembly to hammer out the finer details of Earth's membership in the Galactic Federation.
Public reaction to joining the Federation was mixed, but primarily positive. There were a lot of people who were understandably distrusting of aliens after the Chitauri invasion back in 2012, but for the most part, plenty of people (particularly sci-fi fans and the residents of Kauai who were used to living with Stitch's cousins) embraced the prospect of joining the intergalactic community. Since Earth was a less technologically developed world than most other Federation member planets, Federation merchants and the Galactic Armada would provide the resources to help Earth's technology progress enough to be on equal footing with the rest of the galaxy. \
And while the Galactic Armada was responsible for protecting all planets in Federation space, the fact that Earth already had organizations such as S.H.I.E.L.D., The Avengers, and The Defenders, a compromise was struck. The Galactic Armada would be responsible for protecting Earth from extra-terrestrial threats, while S.H.I.E.L.D. would handle supernatural threats down on the ground. The Armada would notify Earth of any alien criminals headed for Earth for S.H.I.E.L.D. and the other protectors of Earth to take care of, and they in turn would give the Armada a head's up when a bad guy from Earth took off into space. The details had already been worked out last month. Now today was the ceremony that made all of it official.
Since Lilo was Earth's first representative on the galactic council, her entire family was there. Jumba and Pleakley (who'd surprisingly ended up getting hitched when the Supreme Court declared same sex marriage legal), Stitch, Nani, and David were all there. The whole family was currently gathered in a small antechamber waiting for the ceremony to start. Unfortunately, it was going to be another hour before the ceremony finally started. The Grand Councilwoman herself was visiting to oversee the ceremony, along with a delegation of representatives from nearby federation planets in Earth's galactic neighborhood. The ceremony was going to be fairly straightforward. The UN Secretary General and the Grand Councilwoman would both make speeches, then Lilo would be introduced, she'd give a speech, and then she'd shake hands with the federation delegates, and after that, the ceremony would be over.
"Are you nervous?" Nani asked as she sat in a plush chair next to the refreshment table, cradling her one year old daughter, Lilo's niece, in her arms.
"Why would I be?" Lilo asked sarcastically, her anxiety over having to give a speech to the entire human race showing in her voice. "I mean, it's only a speech to all mankind. It's not like a life or death situation or anything that could cause an intergalactic incident if I screw up."
"Relax, little girl," Jumba reassured her as he put a comforting hand on his niece's shoulder while Stitch gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Is not end of world. Nobody expecting you to get everything perfect right away. You have practiced speech enough times that you know words by heart. Besides. Older Queen Kida pulled strings to get boyfriend Xiruk front row seats." Lilo blushed a shade of red the Riku Repilica would consider nearly identical to Lea's hair, and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. The rest of her family laughing along with Jumba's gentle teasing helped to avert the impeding freak out.
"Thanks Jumba," she replied. "I needed that." An hour later, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Rose Long came to let them know that the ceremony was starting. It was showtime.
The details of Lilo's training to become Earth's representative in the Galactic Federation were inspired by an ongoing Lilo & Stitch fanfiction called The Exodus, which had a similar plotline. I figured that similar story elements would be appropriate here in order to depict the process of Earth being welcomed into the intergalactic community. As for Jumba and Pleakley being a couple, with the way they interact with each other in Lilo & Stitch: The Series, it's hard not to picture them as ending up together at some point. Go rewatch the show and tell me that there's not even a little bit of dialogue that comes across as blatant Ho-Yay.
Nani and David having a kid is a reference to the Stitch anime, which, while I personally consider non-canon in my mind, had some interesting ideas. The English dub of the first season implied that Stitch was away from Lilo because she was ignoring him and spending all her time with some boyfriend, but the actuality of it, as revealed in the third season, which never aired in the U.S., was a lot more complicated and honestly, pretty sad. Basically, Stitch took a vacation to explore the galaxy while Lilo was in college, and they promised that on the day he got back, they'd meet up at the beach. But when Stitch got there, Lilo never showed, and after waiting for hours, he took off the tiki necklace she gave him in Leroy & Stitch and headed back into space. But the reason Lilo never showed up was because Nani had gone into labor, and by the time she left the hospital, Stitch was already gone.