Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo & Stitch or any of the characters therein.

CHAPTER SEVEN:
PLEAKLEY'S DIARY

It was nearly ten o' clock in the morning by the time Lilo and Jumba came downstairs for breakfast. Clutched tightly in Lilo's arms, along with Scrump, was the same small book she had been found sleeping with earlier. This went unnoticed by Nani as she sat down at the kitchen table to lukewarm bacon, oatmeal and orange juice.

"I'd almost forgotten how tough it is to scrub these pots and pans, what with Pleakley being our self-appointed dishwasher and all." Nani mumbled, a little too loudly, into the silence. In the short time since their friend's departure, things had changed drastically in their household. Most notable of these changes was the silence… not that Pleakley was ever as loud or overbearing as Jumba or Stitch. True, he had his moments… nearly every waking hour of every day… whether he was blaming Stitch for some sort of minor chaos, reprimanding Jumba over his recklessness, or simply being his own frantic self… he had definitely added that final touch that made their odd little ohana unique and complete.

"Where's Stitch?" Lilo asked, trying to conceal the book as she bent over her oatmeal. "He must've gone out back to hawk up the saucer he swallowed," Nani answered distractedly. At their puzzled silence, she explained.

"I accidentally made five breakfasts instead of four. I guess I forgot that Pleakley wasn't here. Anyway, Stitch took care of the problem by eating the extra meal. I think he got a little too excited and swallowed one of the plates. All I know is, one of them is missing, and Stitch wasn't looking too well when he went outside."

Jumba laughed loudly. "Six-two-six is like garbage disposal in sink. One little plate shouldn't have effect on him, even if he swallowed it whole. No, must have been your cooking." Nani glared at him sharply.

"Of course, I have no reservation against your cooking vhatsoever!" he added. "Ex-wife's cooking, now that's completely different story! Six-two-six vould have come in handy on meatloaf night. Even Pleakley's meatloaf vas better than hers!"

Lilo, having finished her breakfast, was just excusing herself from the table when the little black book she had been carrying slipped out of her arms and landed on the floor with a muffled THUMP. Nani and Jumba both looked over at her, then down at the book. Lilo snatched it up, hoping they hadn't seen it, but it was too late. Jumba leaned forward in his chair, staring raptly at the alien writing on the front cover. "Say, Lilo, vhere did you get that book?" Lilo backed away slightly, in the direction of the living room. "What book?" she asked slyly, hiding it behind her back with Scrump, then looking back over her shoulder toward the living room, as if pondering an escape.

"The one that you are hiding behind your back," Jumba said slowly as he stood up, towering over her. "The one vith the Turian symbols on it," he added, stepping closer, and causing Lilo to back into Nani, who had snuck up behind her to prevent her escape. "The same book I have seen in my room on countless occasions…" he bent over until he was face to face with her, "and it belongs to a certain little one-eyed one who is no longer vith us." At this, Lilo sighed, holding the book out in front of her for Jumba to see, but holding onto it tightly enough to let him know she wasn't about to part with it.

"I found it in his bed last night. Under the covers. He must have forgot it," she said sadly, opening it up and glancing at the alien letters scrawled on its pages. Jumba squinted his eyes at them. "Yes. I vould recognize that chaotic mess he calls handwriting anywhere!" "What does it say?" Lilo asked, turning the book over so that Jumba could read it. "Whatever it says, you probably shouldn't be reading it," Nani scolded. "I bet it's his diary, and people don't appreciate it when you read their most private thoughts!" she said that last part rather irritably, knowing how a certain little sister had enjoyed snooping through her own diary.

"Well then you shouldn't right down that you think David has a cute little -"

"One more word and you're sleeping with a brick pillowcase tonight!"

"But -"

"Alright, that's it, young lady!"

"I said 'but,' not 'butt!'"

"I don't care! You shouldn't go snooping around in other people's private lives! How would you like it if I read your diary?"

"Wouldn't bother me!" Lilo said happily. "I'm through with diaries anyway, since Stitch ate my last one. He's right, you know: Bleeeaahh!" she mimicked Stitch's remark, sticking her tongue out in disgust. "So if you really wanna read it, you're gonna hafta go ask Stitch where he -"

"AHA!" Jumba bellowed, scanning a page of the black book excitedly. "I think this book can tell us exactly vhat the Kaizaxx vant vith our little monocular friend. Vould you like me to read it to you?"

Lilo opened her mouth to reply but Nani beat her to it. "Absolutely not! That's Pleakley's private journal. We have no right to read it!" Jumba grinned wickedly.

"Not even vith a permission slip from Pleakley himself?"

Nani looked at him suspiciously. "What are you talking about?"

Jumba held up the book and pointed to the little pink post-it note stuck to the cover. In Pleakley's unmistakable attempt at English handwriting, it read: "This will explain everything."

"HEH-HEH! So, vhat do you say now, Nani?"

Lilo looked back and forth at the two of them, excited. "Well, what're we waiting for? We're finally gonna find out all this top-secret classified stuff!"

At the word 'classified,' a little alarm went off in Nani's head. "Oh, no. No. Lilo, remember what Mr. Bubbles said about this whole thing being classified?" at that moment, Stitch came in through the back door, the one that opened into the kitchen. The first thing he heard upon entering was Lilo shouting:

"But we're ohana! And that means nobody gets left behind or forgotten! And it also means that nothing can be classified when it comes to family! And Pleakley is family! No matter what! Right?"

The fierce determination in the little girl's eyes softened to a plea that would have made even the hard-boiled Jumba give in, had she been pleading with him. So of course Nani found herself agreeing with her sister: "Right. He is family. No matter what. Go ahead and read it."

"Yippyyyy!" Lilo cheered as she raced into the living room following Jumba, who sat down on the sofa with the diary in hand. Stitch rolled in after them.

"Jebuka chii'vi?" he demanded, sitting on the floor before his creator.

"Vhat, this?" Jumba asked, pointing at the book. "This is Pleakley's diary. Lilo found it in his bed. This vill explain everything about his connection vith the - HEY!" Jumba bellowed angrily as Stitch jumped up and grabbed the book out of his hand with his jaws, then proceeded to growl viciously and chew on it.

"NO!" Lilo bonked him on the nose with her pudgy fist, causing his jaws to spring open. The book fell out, riddled with teeth marks and saliva. "This isn't the bad kind of diary, Stitch," Lilo scolded him. "This one actually has important stuff in it. It shouldn't be boring at all!"

"Yes," said Jumba, picking it up and wiping the drool off on his pants, "it should be very interesting. And if I know anything about Pleakley's social life, or lack thereof, there should be absolutely no mentioning of who's got the cutest, uh, such-and-such." He gave a sidelong smile at Nani.

"What're we waiting for?" Lilo demanded, hopping up onto his lap. "Read it to me, Uncle Jumba!"