Lilo and Stitch had spent some time in the mall, trying to figure out exactly what Lilo should wear to the dance. She was never really one for shopping. She preferred her plain clothes and her colourful muumuus. Where other girls cared about fashion and looks, Lilo cared about what was inside. The only time she ever really dressed up was for her appearances before the Grand Council and when she and Stitch had their dinner just a few days earlier. This time was different, it was special. She wanted to look her absolute best for Stitch on their night, and Stitch wanted the same for Lilo.

Lilo found a fancy dress store that she normally wouldn't step into. However, after looking at a few of their dresses, she started finding a few that she really liked, putting them over her arm as she found them. Thankfully the store wasn't as crowded as the rest of the mall was.

"You feel better in here?"

"Ih. Takka."

"It's no problem, there are some dresses here I like. I'm sure we can find something."

"Nagga worry too much. Youga always beautiful."

"Awe, Stitch." She leaned down and gave him a kiss on his head, quickly checking that no one was looking first. "You're so sweet."

Stitch's eyes kept darting back and forth. He wanted to be shopping with Lilo, but with so many people around, it was hard for him to stop from grabbing her and running. Every person became a danger, and therefore he became a danger. To help him cope, Lilo chose this store so they would have more privacy. It was just a bonus that there were actually dresses she liked.

"Hmm." Lilo pondered as she sifted through the racks of dresses. "I really liked that one you had made for me, but it's still dirty from the beach, and I want something special for our first romantic dance as a couple."

"Weega could always make one again." Stitch was helping pick out the best he could, but truthfully, he had no idea what he was doing. His cousins did most of the work on her dress before.

"No! Your cousins worked so hard on that other one, I can't ask them to make another." She kept sifting through rack after rack, until she found a few more that caught her eyes. "Here we go!"

Stitch looked over to Lilo as she grabbed a bunch of different dresses and ran to the changing room. He quickly ran after her to see what she had chosen.

"You wait out here Stitch. I'll show you each one, and we can pick together."

"Oketaka." Stitch waited patiently, he sat on a bench against the wall and began kicking his legs back and forth, looking around at the store. It had a very touristy look to it, with the walls adorned with a lot of Hawaiian imagery, but the clothes they had were some of the best on the island. That also meant they were some of the most expensive.

Stitch's attention was caught by the pitter patter of claws on tile, similar to his own. He hoped down and crouched on all fours to look beneath the sea of clothing before him. For a second he thought he saw a small white Shih Tzu dog in the mall. Before he could go investigate he heard Lilo's voice come from the changing room.

"Alright, Stitch. You ready?"

"Ih!" Stitch said eagerly, as he jumped up to see what Lilo was wearing.

She stepped out, wearing a pastel purple dress that went down to her ankles. It was strapless and had a flower pattern along the right side of it in white. Stitch was blown away, he had said earlier that Lilo was always beautiful and he meant it. When Lilo dressed to impress though, she really pulled out all the stops. Lilo looked at herself in the mirror on the wall, a little disappointed.

"It looks great…"

"Ih! Youga butifa."

"I'm not sure it's the right one though."

"Nagga?"

"No. Let's try something else."

Lilo tried on dress after dress. Each one left Stitch speechless. Or, to be more precise, Lilo left him speechless. She couldn't help but giggle at the smile on Stitch's face every time she stepped out with something new on. I think he's enjoying this way too much. Lilo continued going through the piles of clothing she grabbed. Hoping something in there would be perfect for her night with Stitch. Pushing aside another purple dress she stopped. Underneath was the second most beautiful dress she had ever seen. Nothing would top the one Stitch had made for her, but this was really close. This is it. Nothing could top this in a million, no, a bazillion years.

"I found it Stitch!"

"Ohhhhh. Oketaka." Stitch was getting excited, to him, Lilo could have picked any one of the dresses she already tried on and she would be the most eye catching girl at the dance. So, if Lilo was saying this was it, it had to be the dress to end all dresses.

After a few painstaking moments of waiting, Stitch heard the door to the changing room creak open. Stitch's jaw dropped. Lilo stepped forward shyly, her early confidence was lost now that she knew this was the one she wanted. Please like it. Please. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see herself in the mirror, making her blush and try to hide her face. Why isn't he saying anything?

Stitch couldn't speak. It wasn't like the words were escaping him, he just had no words to say. Nothing he said could convey how Lilo looked to him. Her dark red dress captivated his attention fully. It had a single strap going over her left shoulder, with small frost white frills running along the edge. The top of the dress was form fitting and shined from slight reflective glitter. The bottom of the dress wasn't form fitting like the top, it fanned out whenever she moved, like every step she took was a dance made just for Stitch.

"Lilo…" He was still trying to find the words to tell her how beautiful she was.

"It doesn't look good, does it? I should try to find something else." She started to turn away when she felt a hand grab hers, holding her in place. She looked into Stitch's loving eyes, she could see a sparkle in them as only she was reflected on the cool dark surfaces.

"Meega luckiest guy in the world." He gave her a quick kiss, not caring if anyone saw them. It was Lilo's turn to be speechless. She was so happy that Stitch loved the dress too. She couldn't wait for the dance to come. She quickly ran back into the room to change as she felt her face grow more and more red. With Stitch being left alone, he looked back outside the store. He could no longer hear the pitter patter of claws. With a shrug, he waited patiently for his Lilo to return.

Leaving the rest of the dresses behind, Lilo and Stitch began weaving through the racks of clothes to go pay for the red dress.

"Nani said to only use this credit card in case of an emergency."

"Ih."

"I think this counts. I mean, Nani always wants me to go out and fit in right? I can't really go to the dance like the other girls without a dress."

"Ih. Isa oketaka."

"Right."

With the dress wrapped up and put in a bright blue bag, they left the store. They didn't really know what to do next, seeing as they had the rest of the day together. However, Stitch was starting to fidget with all the people around. Looking around the crowd, Lilo spotted a brown haired girl she recognized.

"Hey! There's Victoria. We should go say hello."

Running together, Lilo and Stitch made their way towards their friend. Lilo suddenly stopped running, leaving Stitch a few paces ahead of her. Confused, he looked between Victoria and Lilo, noticing that their brown haired friend wasn't alone. A tall spikey brown haired boy was talking to her. The couple sneaked closer to get a better look, hiding behind a plant they discovered that she was talking to Keoni. Victoria's face was a bright shade of pink.

"What are Keoni and Victoria doing together?" Lilo whispered.

"Nagga nota."

"It looks like he's leaving. Come on, Stitch."

Just as Keoni got out of ear shot, Lilo approached Victoria who was waving good-bye to the surfer boy.

"Hey, Victoria."

"O-oh! Hey, Lilo. You startled me." Victoria said trying to catch her breath from the surprise.

"Sorry about that. So," Lilo began in a sing song tone, "what were you and Keoni talking about?"

Victoria looked between the two of them before answering. "I guess you told me so I should tell you. He asked me to the dance on Saturday."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"So then when you said there was someone you had a crush on…"

"Yeah, it was Keoni."

The three sat down at a nearby table. Victoria could see Stitch was fidgeting quite a bit, but before she could ask what was going on, Lilo had her own question.

"So, why didn't you tell me before?"

"Well…" Victoria hesitated, not entirely sure how to put it. "You always had a crush on him, I thought that if I tried to ask him out, or said anything, it might upset you."

Lilo smiled at her friend, seeing a sad look come across her face. "My crush on Keoni ended a long time ago, and besides, I have Stitch now."

"I know. You're my best friend though, I didn't want anything to come between us."

"Nothing could ever stop us from being friends, Victoria."

Victoria's heavy spirits were lifted by Lilo. She had a crush on Keoni for a long time, it felt good to have her friend's blessing on the matter. "So, are you going to the dance?"

"Of course, why?"

"Well. Keoni mentioned that Snooty wouldn't be able to go. No pets allowed and all. Are you going to go without Stitch?"

Lilo grabbed Stitch's hand under the table, she could tell he was having a little more trouble with the crowd. Giving it a slight squeeze she answer her friend. "No, Stitch is going."

"How are you getting him in?"

"We're going to have Mopholomew change his appearance for the night. That way we can have a nice romantic evening just like everyone else."

"That'll be sweet." Mid conversation a small group of teenage boys made their way past the three's table. Without meaning to, Stitch grabbed Lilo's shoulder and pulled her close to him, eyeing down the boys as they walked past. No one around noticed the odd behavior, except for Victoria. "Is everything okay, Stitch? You seem…jumpy."

Lilo explained the whole issue with Stitch's programming, and how they have to wait a few more days until Jumba will have the machine ready for her. The whole time, Victoria became more and more worried, but not about Stitch.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Well, Jumba said it wouldn't kill me, that's what really matters."

"There won't be any side effects though?"

Lilo thought about it for a moment. She never considered just what might happen to her during or afterwards. She saw concern flash in Stitch's eyes and felt his hand tighten on her shoulder. Anything is worth it for Stitch.

"Whatever happens will happen. For Stitch, I am willing to try anything if it means he will be better." She tightened her own grip on his hand, calming him down a little.

"I thought you were going to say that." Victoria responded with a giggle. "If you two need anything, you can come find Snooty and me. We'll be happy to help."

"Takka." Stitch said while he continued his watch on the crowds. Nothing was going to stop him if someone tried to hurt Lilo. "Could weega go? Hard to keep control here."

"Sure, Stitch. We got what we came for anyway."

"Is it all right if I head out with you?" Victoria asked as she got up to grab her bag. "I need to get home soon."

"Sure."

The three collected their things and made their way out of the busy shopping center. Not expecting a visit from an unwelcomed guest as soon as they made it out of the building. Making little more than a few steps onto the side walk, a voice from behind caught their attention.

"Well if it isn't Weirdlo and Weirdtoria." The three turned around to see Myrtle, looking full of herself, walking Gigi with a hand full of shopping bags. "What are you doing here? This place is way too good for someone like you."

"I was doing some shopping for the dance next Saturday." Lilo replied in her normal cheery demeanor, holding up the blue bag to show it off. "I got a brand new dress, and it looks amazing."

"Please. Anything you would think is amazing is probably the ugliest thing ever."

Lilo was about to retort, anger forming on her face, but Victoria quickly chimed in before things got out of hand. "Come on guys. Can't we get along?"

Gigi looked between the two girls, concern on her face. She hated when they fought, but knew little could be done to change Myrtle's feelings towards Lilo. If need be, she would drag Myrtle away if things became too bad.

"Get along?" The orange haired girl spat with disgust. "Why should I when I am clearly so much better?"

"You're not better than me!" Lilo was starting to get angry. Stitch could feel it too. Normally he could let Lilo fight her own battles, but Myrtle's growing insults was starting to itch at his programming. He kept himself back, trying his best not to lash out. Victoria saw this, and put a hand on his shoulder while Lilo handled their "nemesis."

"Yes I am. I'm prettier, smarter, a way better dancer." The two were glaring, face to face, only inches away from each other.

"I am a way better dancer than you, and I will look far better than you ever could."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Then prove it! Saturday night. There's a vote for best couple, whichever one of us wins is truly the best."

"Sounds good to me." Lilo accepted the challenge without fear.

"Ha! It's gonna be hard for you to win. I've already got a date, but who would ever want to go to a dance with a weirdo like you?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, I have a date too!"

"Oh really? Who is it?" Myrtle put her hands on her hips, waiting for an answer.

"It's…" Lilo began. I can't say it's Stitch….

"I'm waiting."

"It's a surprise." Lilo stepped back a bit, losing her earlier confidence.

"I knew it. You don't have a date. I bet that's not even a dress in that bag." Myrtle snatched the blue bag out of Lilo's hand.

"Hey! Give me back my dress!" Lilo shouted, pouncing forward, doing her best the grab back the dress she picked out to wear for Stitch. Myrtle fought her off though, neither one noticing Stitch shaking in anger. Victoria tried to hold him back as the two girls before them fought, but was finding it harder and harder. Gigi wasn't paying attention to the blue experiment, her back was to him as she desperately tried to get her owners attention, to no avail.

The two continued their struggle over the bag, eventually though, Myrtle dropped it, pushing Lilo back. Unable to keep her balance, Lilo fell back on the hard side walk cement. With a moan of pain, she saw that her elbow had been scrapped, a small drop of blood starting to trail down her arm. Stitch saw the blood, and all control was lost. Tearing himself out of Victoria's grip he lunged at the girl who'd been a pain to them for years. Seeing the blue blur rush past her, Lilo felt her heart sink. Stitch?

With a scream of terror, Myrtle was hoisted into the air. "Let me go you stupid mutt!"

Gigi ran at stitch, barking as loud as she could. The sound pained Stitch greatly, but nothing in the world mattered at that moment. The only thing he could think about, was disposing of the one that had cause Lilo, not only years of torment, but current physical pain. He was ready to tear her limb from limb, when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. He didn't need to look to see that Lilo was holding onto him.

"Let her go, Stitch." Lilo pleaded. No matter how badly she was treated, she knew Stitch wouldn't be able to live with himself if he hurt anyone. "She's not worth it."

Stitch's breathing grew heavy, trying to get back control. Instead of tearing the mean girl apart, he threw her into a nearby fruit stand. Gigi ran after her, but nearly stopped at Stitch's comment.

"Nagga hurt meegas boojiboo again!" Stitch declared. Myrtle didn't know what "boojiboo" meant, but Gigi did.

Myrtle got herself out of the wrecked stand, brushing off dust and fruit juices from her clothes, but was unharmed otherwise. "You're gonna pay for this you disconfigured dog! C'mon, Gigi."

The two marched off, leaving the trio behind. Gigi looked back at Stitch as he regained himself. Boojiboo? That would mean they're together-together! Letting that thought run through her mind, she quickly caught up to her master, hoping she would also calm down soon.

"You okay now, Stitch?"

"Ih. Meega soka." He turned around and held Lilo as tightly as he could. Victoria rushed over, now that the fighting was over, and took a look at Lilo's arm.

"It should be okay. It's just a scratch."

"That's good." Lilo said with a sigh of relief.

Collecting themselves and their things, Lilo checked to make sure her dress was okay. Finding it was, they all made their way to the parked buggy. Lilo and Stitch gave Victoria a ride home before going back to their own blue house themselves. Deciding they had enough adventure for one day, the couple decided to stay at home for the rest of the day. Watching movies and trying not to annoy Nani too much with their usual antics. Night quickly fell on the island, and after cleaning up and getting ready for bed, the two laid in each other's arms. Thinking about everything that had happened that day. Between the incident at Angel's and at the mall, Stitch could tell it was getting harder and harder to control his urges. He clutched at Lilo's night gown again, gaining some comfort from the fabric.

"How about tomorrow we stay in?"

"Huh?"

"We've gone out a lot lately, and it'll be easier for you if we stay home."

"Youga oketaka with that?"

"Yeah. I just want you to be okay. As long as I'm with you, I'm okay with anything."

"Oketaka. Takka."

"No problem, boojiboo." Lilo gave Stitch a kiss on the nose, before cuddling deeply into his warm fur.

"Meega hope, Gigi nagga hear meega call youga boojiboo."

Lilo thought about it for a minute. "She probably did, but I doubt she will do anything about it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She's ohana. I'm sure she would understand the situation we're in right?."

"Youga right."

The two shared a deep good night kiss. Letting it last several minutes before exhaustion finally took them over.