Lullaby

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

Chapter 7: Confessions

(2 weeks prior to Lullaby's events)

"Agata!" Stitch cried, as he, Richter, Slushy, and Lilo, chased Gantu and 625 through the woods for experiment: 127. They were, however, not trying to find Gantu and 625, but rather to get to his ship before he was able to take off.

As Gantu and his comrade entered they're flying base, Gantu quickly put 127 into a holding pod, and proceeded toward the keypad, frustratingly pounding the keys to initiate take-off. 625 was hurriedly checking to see if anything of his value wasn't bolted to the floor of the ship's hull.

Stitch's team was already at the ship by the time Gantu had processed the command to lift it off the ground, quickly Stitch pounded the ship's shell and broke the weak spot-slightly reinforced he noticed-and they made their way through the ducts.

They wasted no time in finding Gantu in the control room, however Gantu was ready for them, he expected them. Blasting all of them in one shot, not even Stitch could react fast enough. As the ship took off he separated them, selectively, into different holding cells.

Stitch woke, to find himself in a cell not far from Lilo, in a different room. He could not see Richter or Slushy in any other cell. He looked around for a way to escape, but these seemed a bit thicker then the one's up front in the ship.

"Ah finally awake I see, cuz." Said 625 as he entered the room, he then bowed like a gentlemen as Angel strode in-so aristocratically-and quietly left Angel, shutting the door and locking it on his way out.

Angel smiled at Stitch, trying her best to put on the show she was commanded to. An evil smile, a smile that meant nothing but intentions of torture for Lilo and he. Still smiling, she walked to the button and allowed Lilo's cell to rise, because of the noise, Lilo woke and was happy to see a familiar face.

"Angel!" Lilo cried happily, to see a rescuer at a time like this. Deftly, Angel took her hand and slapped Lilo hard across the face. "Ow…what did you do that for?" Lilo said, in a complaining way. Angel did not speak her mind, she merely hit Lilo, very hard, in the stomach.

Stitch started crying to Angel, demanding to know why she was beating Lilo, but Angel said nothing. She merely proceeded hitting Lilo. She hit Lilo in the stomach, and made her double over, and lose her breath.

She did not stop attacking Lilo there, however, again she hit Stitch's friend, on the back, on the calves, the feet, neck, arms, head, everywhere. Stitch was devastated, awestruck, as to how fast and silent this beating was. He could here Lilo's screams, soft and low because she couldn't breathe as deeply.

Angel stopped her beating, looked at Stitch and smiled. Stitch saw a small tear run down Angel's cheek, as she whispered something to Lilo, and quickly left the room in a sprint. Stitch was furious, in his feral rage he broke the glass of the cell with his fist, and ran toward Lilo.

Picking her up, he darted out the door, and was in another room of cells, this time containing Richter and Slushy. Swiftly he broke their glass cells-still in rage-and urged them in a way that said 'shut up and follow me, or I don't care about you'.

They were able to leave the ship before it took off, the walk of Stitch carrying Lilo was long and unwanted. Halfway through, Stitch felt guilty; he had just seen his lover beat the life of his best friend-or second lover he did not know-and yet he still loved her. For the next two weeks, Lilo stayed in bed recovering from her wounds, Stitch tried to forget about what happened, and not remind her either…

Stitch woke, and looked at the clock, 4:18 a.m. Wind soothingly howled against the night air, and brushed lightly by the window; now repaired. He lay on his back, and recalled the conversation between Lilo and Nani, just a few hours before.

"Oh, Lilo, why didn't you tell me when you started feeling sick? We could've helped stop the fever."

"I'm sorry Nani, but, I didn't want to make you any more mad at me after Stitch broke the window, I knew you would probably just say I was lying and blow me off anyway…"

"Lilo, baby, that's not true. Honey, you need to tell people these kinds of things, otherwise you could cause more pain for yourself and everyone else."

"Ok…goodnight Nani."

"Goodnight Lilo, Stitch already went to sleep so be quiet."

He heard the conversation; he couldn't sleep until Lilo entered the room. He had to see that she was ok, one last time, before he could live with himself in slumber. Though there was more, this is what caught his attention. "Stitch need to talk to Lilo, about Angel…" The thoughts biting his mind overwhelmed him, and he had to tell someone he knew; the only one that he wanted to tell was Lilo. She was, after all, whom he feared would leave him alone and in solitude, if he didn't tell her why he hadn't talked to her very much.

Taking a deep breath, he rolled off of his mattress, and stood up to look at the bed. He gathered the courage to wake her up and talk to her, but found that Lilo's head was absent on the pillow, the lump under the sheets was now flat, and her soft breath couldn't be heard. The thought of her running away crossed his mind, he instantly disregarded it though. "Lilo never left."

He put his hands down on his soft mattress, clenching them together, not in anger or frustration, but thinking of where Lilo could be. His stomach felt slightly lighter while he thought, maybe out of excitement or anticipation.

Sleep dominated him as he thought, and caused him to close his eyes seductively. In drowse, he walked up to Lilo's bed, and fell upon it's pillow-still warm. He knew it meant she hadn't been gone long, perhaps just to the restroom, or maybe downstairs; he would wait for her, until she returned.

He was unable to fall asleep; half of his mind was spent keeping him awake while lying relaxed on Lilo's bed, waiting for her to return to the room. Minute upon minute passed by, until about 27 after, Stitch began to worry. He laid in quietness, listening to nothing but the darkness. That is, until the darkness was broken, by a small sigh. He searched the room to see if Lilo had opened the door without his hearing, or if she had seen him on the bed and was now sighing of sarcasm. She was not there.

His hands bent toward his head, as he lifted himself with a push-up, and looked at the wall to his right. He panned the bookshelves and the window-seat, along with the far doll collection and window itself. He did not see her.

Still on locked elbows, he listened sternly for the sound of Lilo. It wasn't long until he could hear her breathing, which came from outside. He stayed to hear her still for a few times longer, just to make sure he was accurately assuming where she was, and if it really was Lilo, before he went to the window and peered outside.

There was a small and faint flicker of orange light on the ground. He opened the window noiselessly, and tediously stuck his head and looked in the direction of the orange glare. There, was lit a torch, looming its flare over Lilo; illuminating her hair, while she sat on the hammock outside. She faced away from the window, her back to Stitch; she didn't see him come out of the window, nor did she hear him step up to the torch, and lean his back against it.

"What do I do?" Lilo asked toward the sky, Stitch jumped mutely. He eased, once he knew that she was not talking to him. She didn't know he was behind her. "Stitch is broken, he's hurt over what happened in the hangar. I don't want him to feel…how he's feeling, whatever he may be feeling right now. I want him to talk to me, I don't want him to be afraid to talk to me, I don't want to lose him because of something I might be doing."

"Lilo is not doing anything wrong." Stitch said aloud. Lilo gasped in surprise, she relaxed after a moment, but did not look behind her.

"Stitch?" She asked, to find out if he was still there.

"Eh." He said, in a 'caught' tone of voice. "Stitch heard…what Lilo said…Stitch sorry." Lilo mouthed the words 'it's ok' but did not speak them, Stitch sounded as though he had something on his mind. He said nothing, and she didn't look back. The crickets chirped in an omnipresent stereo around them.

"If I'm not doing anything wrong," Lilo started, breaking the silence, "why are you depressed, and avoiding me?" Stitch brought in a quavering sigh, trying to hide his nervousness; here is where he was at a loss of words, he hadn't though of what to say, how to tell Lilo about what was on his mind. Still, she was listening, and for him, it was now that he had to speak, regardless of how ready he was.

"Stitch is…scared…" He told her, hesitantly.

"About Angel?" Lilo asked. Stitch let out a tear.

"Naga, Stitch is scared Lilo hates Stitch." He paused again for words, and to let another tear roll down his fur, Lilo waited for him to continue. "Stitch love Angel, and Angel hurt Lilo. Stitch loves Angel, but is afraid Lilo hates Stitch for liking Angel, and doesn't want to be with Stitch anymore."

"Is that all?" She asked, openly.

"Stitch wants to be with Angel, and Lilo too, but doesn't want Lilo to hate Stitch."

"I don't hate you, Stitch." She told him, smiling. "Angel beat me to a pulp, yes, but she had said she was sorry before she did it."

"Lilo doesn't hate Angel?" He asked, surprised.

"No, at least…not anymore. I don't think Angel wanted to do that to me. I think she was forced to do that."

"Stitch still doesn't want Lilo to feel second though…Stitch love Angel but Stitch love Lilo too…just not as much…" Another tear trickled down, as he realized what a selfish thought that was. He had just told Lilo he didn't love her as much as Angel; that he had second handed her.

"Can I ask you something, Stitch?"

"Jaba?" He answered her.

"Do you think we can stop being friends…and more like a real family?" She asked, thinking this was an oddly placed question.

"Naga nota ju shiba rata." Stitch said, confused.

"I mean…can we start acting like a brother and sister, instead of a dog and owner, or friends? I know it sounds odd when I say it…but that's what I feel like you and I are; brother and sister."

"Does this mean…Lilo isn't mad at Stitch for loving Angel more?" Another tear had stroked his fur, no matter how hard he tried to hold them; one would creep out after every time he asked a question.

"I was never mad at you, Stitch, I was mad at Angel because she was giving you so much grief. I had no idea, that it was all inside you, though, and not her fault." She looked back, for the first time at Stitch, and saw him hunched over, his hands between his knees, and his head down, she saw a tear streak down his eye. "I'm not mad at her, not anymore." She told him.

Lilo shifted her weight in the hammock, so that she wasn't looking at Stitch's deep thinking. She blushed at what she had said, about them being 'brother and sister', but then again, she had said weirder things to him then that. She could always open up to him.

"Do you think…Angel is still…" Stitch pondered to Lilo aloud.

"I don't know." She told him. Stitch sighed in sadness. "But-"

"Dum spiro, spero." Stitch interrupted, looking up.

"What does that mean?" Lilo asked softly, putting out the torch that lit the area, causing the orange tint on the grass to become a darkened peace.

"It means, 'as long as I breathe, I have hope.'" He spoke softly, and reflectively. Lilo knew that 'hope' referred to Angel being alive. Slowly, she took herself off of the hammock, and landed with a small thud on the ground. A look of extreme empathy was engraved on her face; a scornful frown, and a friendly sparkle in her eyes. Stitch still remained with his back toward her, Lilo's empathy was already felt by him, he didn't have to see it.

"Then…" Lilo said, letting go from the hammock, and walking over to Stitch, "I'll keep breathing, right along with you." She put her arms around his neck, and held him in a tight hug. He quivered at the gesture, not expecting it, but did nothing to stop it. "I love you Stitch, and I'll do anything I can to make you happy." He gripped her arms, and closed his eyes, returning her hug without turning around.

Stitch love Lilo…also." He told her. "And this time…it's not a lie…"

Atichura

(The end)

To raVen; for twisting my arm.

"Promise The sequel to Lullaby" coming soon!!!