Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo & Stitch or any of the characters therein.
CHAPTER EIGHT:
ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE
Hundreds of miles away, across an ocean, surrounded by security personnel and yet completely alone with himself, Pleakley sighed miserably under the weight of a heavy load on his heart. Why now did the Kaizaxx have to threaten the Federation with their ever-increasing power? Why now did they decide to come back for him? After all these years, why did they wait until now? Had it been the previous year, Pleakley might not have cared, because back then he had nothing. No friends, no family, no future. Nothing. They knew it… and he knew it. Could this just be a sick twist of fate bent on robbing him of all hope and happiness? With a life like his, one could only wonder what Divine Providence should have in store for its spineless little martyr.
Exhausted, yet too anxious to sleep, Pleakley yawned and rolled over on the small sofa, facing the screened window across the room. He got up, and went over to the rickety little desk to the right of the window and sat down. The room was a dull off-white, its walls bear save for cracks in the plaster and a few photographs Pleakley had taken with him, all pinned up over the desk. There were five pictures, all of his ohana. All were candid shots taken by either Lilo or Stitch, catching its subjects completely off-guard.
One featured Jumba dressed in a shabby white lab coat, sitting on a stool and hunched over some sort of science project. Whatever it was had just exploded in his face, covering him with a slimy green goo. He was turned toward the camera, a mighty fist raised threateningly in the air in front of him as his gaping mouth shouted incomprehensible alien curses at the photographer. Most likely it had been Stitch.
Another picture showed Pleakley and Lilo together. Both were wearing such ridiculous getups that one might suspect them of playing dress-up at the time, but that wasn't exactly the case. Both were actually trying to decide what to wear to a New Year's Eve party, and they just hadn't bothered to remove some items before trying others on. Pleakley was wearing his favorite black wig, along with a glittery tiara, and at least three layers of dresses, including a red sequined evening gown, an exotic zebra-striped dress, and green and violet Hawaiian flowered dress. Over all this he wore a black feathered boa, a pink silk scarf, an imitation pearl necklace, and a silver fox fur shoulder wrap. On each foot he had on a different-colored high-heel; one black, one red, and one purple. Lilo simply had on a very frilly pink and baby blue dress - something a flower girl might wear - along with a flower wreath on her head and matching lei around her neck. Both stood before a mirror admiring themselves and laughing at each other.
A third picture simply showed Stitch coming down from a coffee high - sleeping on his back on top of the TV, dripping tongue hanging limply out of a toothy mouth, one arm hanging over the side in front of the screen so that you couldn't make out what was on that day.
The fourth picture was of Nani, getting up an hour before dawn to arrive early on the first day of her new job - one that lasted only two weeks. She was holding a cup of coffee, looking bleary-eyed, her hair looking as though it had just been through a hurricane.
Last but not least, the fifth picture - Pleakley's favorite. This one showed the five of them: Jumba, Stitch, Lilo, Nani, and himself, all laughing gaily on the beach, just as the incoming tide soaked them all up to their knees. Even when they tried posing for a picture, something always went wrong. Well, not wrong, necessarily. At least they were all happy in this one, laughing at themselves and at each other as the small wave hit them.
Pleakley sighed again, even more miserable than before. It had only been three days since he had left Hawaii and gone with Cobra to an obscure little coastal town in central California. Only three days, but to him it had felt like three months. Why now did he have to leave his only ohana, now when he needed them the most? Though he knew their love was with him, he shuddered, fighting back the tears that had been flowing constantly for the past three days. He had never felt so alone in his life… so completely alone in the universe.
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Well, there you go! Hope y'all enjoyed it so far. Sorry it took me so freaking long to update. It's been a hectic couple of weeks, to say the least. However, I am confident that I can now give quicker updates to this story… but I ain't making any promises! Making a promise seems to jinx things for me.
Oh, yes, and Pleakley's now in California! Whaddaya think of that? As you can probably guess, I'm a California girl, all the way. As for Pleakley's exact whereabouts… I haven't decided yet, but I'm hoping to place him somewhere in my old home county on the coast: San Luis Obispo county. I doubt if there's anyone reading this who knows what I'm talking about, but my choices for exact town are: Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo, Cayucos, Cambria, or Harmony. If I don't get any suggestions in reviews, I'll pick someplace anyway. Peace out! ^_^