Chapter 9: Helping A Friend
Hey everyone I'm back with a new chapter. I hope you like what I have planned and Happy Hoidays. Please Review and Enjoy.
Just outside the cavern, Leo was sitting down with Aquata and Arista in the sand trying to figure out what was going on.
"So wait you girls aren't here because something is wrong down in Atlantica?" Leo asks.
"No, we wanted to come see you." Aquata said.
"Even though we have music we still our old friend." Arista said.
"Thanks girls. So, what's Ariel been up to?" Leo asks causing both girls to giggle.
"Let's just say you sparked her curiosity and we all know when Ariel gets curious things get interesting." Aquata said causing Leo to chuckle.
"So true." Leo said when Arista tries standing up but was still trying to get used to her legs. "Whoa I got ya." Leo said catching her before she fell. "You okay?"
Arista looks up at his smiling face and giggles nervously. "Uh yeah. Sorry. How do you move in these things?"
"Just practice." Leo said.
"Well we might need you to teach us otherwise we won't be leaving here anytime soon." Aquata said.
"Let's see what I can do." Leo said when a Hawaiian girl walked by.
"Hey Howlies, what's a matter first time walking?" She calls out.
"Howlies? What's that?" Arista said.
"It's what we call people who are not from here." Leo said.
"So it's like an insult?" Aquata asks.
"In a way." Leo said. "Come on let's get you two walking. How long can you stay?" Leo asks.
"Not too long." Arista said as her legs wobbled when she stood up again.
'As much as I'm happy to see them they could not have come at a worse time.' Leo cringed. 'I hope Ruby and Stitch are at least having fun.'
That night, David was performing his fire juggling at a luau while Ruby was sitting down at a table with Naia and Stitch waiting for Leo.
At first David was doing very well until he ended up burning the stage causing Stitch to laugh.
"Alright we seriously need to fix your attitude. You are way too mean to other people." Ruby said but Stitch didn't listen.
"Ruby, get your dog off the table. Leo's gonna be here any minute." Naia said.
Just outside, Leo had gotten Aquata and Arista to where they could keep their balance and walk.
"So you think your mom will be fine with us staying?" Aquata asks.
"Yeah we a few extra bedrooms. I'm sure she won't mind." Leo said walking in when David walked past him covered in smoke and ash.
"Hey Leo, how's it going brother?" David asks.
"David did you burn yourself again?" Leo asks.
"Nah just the stage." David said when he noticed Aquata and Arista. "Well Leo who are these two?"
"Oh uh Aquata, Arista this my friend David." Leo introduced.
"Pleasure to meet you. So Leo which one is this amazing girl you keep telling me about? Or is both of them?" David teases causing Leo to stutter.
"Uh uh I gotta go. Come on." Leo said.
"It was nice meeting you." Aquata said.
"Dang Leonard you became a player." David chuckles. "Wonder if he'll tell me how they met."
Walking to the table, Leo spotted his family.
"Hey Leo who are the howlies?" Ruby asks.
"Ruby be nice." Naia corrects.
"Hi I'm Aquata and this is my sister Arista. We're friends of Leo." Aquata said when she noticed Stitch. 'Wow surface creatures are very different from underwater ones.'
"Oh well sit down sit down." Naia said as the girls sat down next to them while Leo looked to Stitch who was in his seat.
"Hang on little guy." Leo said lifting him up so he could sit down.
Growling Stitch struggled at this until Leo sat him down on his lap confusing him.
"Would you rather I sat on your lap?" Leo raises an eyebrow.
Stitch growls before noticing what was basically an alien turkey leg on the ground. Climbing off Leo he crawled towards it before it was pulled into someone's bag.
Reaching in he was about to eat it when the holder of the bag was revealed to be Jumba was wearing a hat, sunglasses and a mustache.
"Aha! Gotcha! Get the cuffs!" Jumba yells grabbing Stitch.
Next to him Pleakly dressed as a woman and a man with a Hawaiian shirt, sandals and a strange watch.
"Hold still you little—" Before Pleakly could finish Stich bit down on his head making Pleakly scream in pain.
"What the?" Leo turns to see the mauling and jumps. "Whoa! Hey let go! You do not do that!" Leo yells running over and ripping Stitch off Pleakly. "I am so sorry mam are you okay?"
"Oh please, just go about your business." Pleakly said.
"Yikes your head looks swollen." Leo cringed.
"Actually she's just ugly." Jumba said.
"Excuse me!" Leo turns to see the manager of the Luau walking over. "Is this your dog?"
"Sorry sir." Leo cringed.
"I think it's best if you and your family leave." He said.
Sighing Leo nods. "Fine."
As Arista and Aquata walked with Leo and his family back to their house they saw the miserable look on his face.
"Hey are you alright?" Aquata asks.
"Huh? Yeah I'm fine. That place wasn't that good anyway." Leo said as they entered the house. "Well Stitch this your new home."
Stitch sniffs around before Ruby led him to her room.
"I'll get the guest rooms ready." Leo said walking away leaving Arista and Aquata with Naia.
"Um I know we just met but is something going on? When we met Leo he was much happier." Arista said.
"Then you two must be pretty amazing to get Leo to smile." Naia said pouring 3 glasses of water and handing two to them. "Lately whenever he's home, he just has a fake smile on his face to try and keep us strong."
"Fake smile? What do you mean?" Aquata asks as they sat down next to her.
"Leonard…he never puts his own happiness first. He's always thinking about others and because of that he's stressed, tired and he keeps pushing himself. I don't know what your story is with my son but please help him. I want him to be happy but because of these last few days I can't even get him to smile." Naia begs.
Aquata and Arista looked at each other before nodding. "Of course Mrs. Rivers."
"Thank you both." Naia smiles.
Stitch was sniffing around the house when he entered Leo's room. Looking around he noticed the music box Ariel gave him. "Ooh." Climbing up onto his bed, Stitch reached out and picked it up.
"Hey!" Stitch turns to see Leo grab the music box out of his paws. "Don't touch this. It's very important."
Stitch looks around his room and ran around it.
"Ruby I thought Stitch was gonna sleep in your room." Leo said as Ruby walked in wearing her pajamas.
"That was the plan but he kept running around wrecking up the place." Ruby said.
Leo looks to see Stitch about rip up a book.
"Whoa!" Leo said stopping him. "Little guy you gotta stop breaking everything."
"Why not try creating something instead?" Ruby suggests.
Stitch looks around curiously and used multiple items around Leo's room to build a scale model of San Francisco.
"Okay that's pretty cool." Leo said impressed.
"Whoa, San Francisco." Ruby said when Stitch started stomping through the fake city acting like the monster he saw in the movie destroying everything.
"Well this little guy clearly has too much energy." Leo said.
"Got it. Nothing with caffeine for him." Ruby nods.
Just on the hill overlooking their house, Jumba, Pleakly and Red made camp.
"Ha! This human duo is hilarious, trying to control 626's destructive behavior." Jumba mocks.
Clicking the watch Red turned into the man with the Hawaiian shirt. "Such a handy device."
Jumba looks over to see Pleakly was putting on his wig again. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing!" Pleakly said quickly taking it off.
"Let me try it on." Jumba said reaching for it.
"No! You're just jealous because I'm pretty!" Pleakly said as Jumba yanked the wig out of his hand and put it on and Pleakly gasps. "A Mosquito has chosen me as her perch." Suddenly a whole flock surrounded Pleakly but before he could realize what was about to happen they stung him.
In the guest room, Aquata and Arista were laying down on the bed.
"Wow these are way more comfortable than our beds back home." Aquata sighs.
"Guess being up here has some perks." Arista said when she noticed a picture on the night stand. "What's this?"
Reaching out she saw the picture was of Leo when he was just a little boy with his mom at the Marine Lab.
"Wow…Leo looks so happy in this." Arista said seeing the big smile on Leo's face.
"Wait, who's that man?" Aquata asks.
"I think he's Leo and Ruby's father." Arista said.
Back in Leo's room, Stitch was looking around to see that he had destroyed everything and had no idea what to do.
"Now this is interesting." Jumba said.
"What?" Red asks wrapping bandages around Pleakly.
"626 was designed to be a monster, but now there's nothing to destroy. I never gave him a greater purpose. What must it be like to have nothing? Not even memories to visit in the middle of the night." Jumba asks.
Looking at the pile of wrecked objects Stitch then turned to a bookshelf in Ruby's room and walked over to it.
As Leo was reading a book to himself he heard a knock at his door.
"Come in." Leo said as the it opened to reveal Aquata and Arista. "Hey, is everything alright? I know my house isn't an undersea palace but—"
"No, no it's great, we love it." Aquata said.
"We just wanted to ask you something. What's this?" Arista asks showing him the picture.
"That's…my mom and dad the day we first got the Marine Lab." Leo said sitting up and holding the picture. "I forgot I put this in the guest room."
"Whatever happened to your dad?" Aquata asks as they sat down next to him.
"It's kinda hard to say but the reason I was able to help you and your sisters with your mom is because I lost my dad in an accident too." Leo admits getting their attention. "You see my dad loved the sea. He would always tell me stories of the merfolk and all the amazing creatures in the water and then one day he was asked to be part of an expedition to discover new sea life. But when he left home…there was an accident and the sub sank to the bottom of the ocean and every last man on board, all of them, they all died." Leo said as tears ran down his eyes dropping onto the photo.
Aquata looks at Leo and slowly wraps her arms around him pulling him into a hug surprising him when Arista joins in.
"You helped us when we were in trouble so let us help you." Aquata said.
"Thanks girls, I needed that." Leo sighs when he noticed Stitch nudging a sleeping Ruby.
"Mmm go away." Ruby groans when Leo, Arista and Aquata walk over.
"Hey little guy what you got there?" Leo asks as Ruby wakes up to see Stitch hand Leo the book and opened it to reveal a duckling crying and saying I'm lost.
"Oh I remember that book." Ruby said.
"That's the Ugly Duckling. Leo said as they all sat around him. "You see, he's sad because he's all alone and nobody wants him." Leo turns to the next page. "But on this next page his family hears him crying and they find him and then the Ugly Duckling is happy because he knows where he belongs."
The two girls look to Leo with Ruby and Stitch so close to him and smile seeing that they might know a way to help Leo.
"Hey you want to see something really cool?" Ruby asks grabbing a record. "You look like an Elvis fan."