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

CHAPTER TWELVE:
WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

Le'Kruune took the box from the guard and dismissed him, then turned to me with a twisted smile that showed many teeth. He walked slowly back toward the table, holding the box out in front of him as if it contained a priceless treasure. He set the box down on my left side, then placed his hands on the lid, but did not open it. He began to drum his claws on it.

"Three guesses as to what is in this box," he told me, grinning wickedly. "If you guess correctly, you win!"

"Win what?" I demanded, knowing that it couldn't possibly be a good thing.

"Why, whatever is in the box, of course."

I rolled my eye. "Whatever it is, I'm sure I won't want it," I told him.

"Possibly not," he agreed, "either way, it shall soon belong to you."

I groaned, mostly from the fresh wave of pain from my wounds, but also because I dreaded the contents of that damned box. "I bet it's some sort of sick trophy of yours… probably the heart of your most recent victim, ripped out with your own murderous claws!"

Le'Kruune laughed delightedly. "Close!" he said gleefully. "So close, and yet so far. You're right about one thing, though. It is something which I prize highly, but the internal organ of a victim, it is not. Guess again!"

I was in no mood to continue on with this pointless game. I knew I was going to find out what was in that box anyway. I was sure to guess wrong, and he was sure to open it, and show me the truth, and give it to me. I decided to humor him, and keep guessing, thinking that as long as I had him gloating over his box, he wouldn't feel the need to torture me physically for a while.

"Alright, then… is it another doomsday device?" I asked.

"Wrong again, my dear fellow. But don't give up! You still have one… more… guess," he hissed, making me shudder.

All of a sudden I didn't want to play anymore. I was terrified that whatever was in that box was going to spring out and wreak dire havoc on my defenseless person. So I waited, for a very long minute, before coming up with my final answer. I didn't want to take too long, though, in case Le'Kruune lost his patience with me. I opened my swollen eye and glared at him determinedly.

"Your final guess, Pleakley, if you please. You're wasting valuable torture time, you know. Not for yourself, necessarily. I do have other prisoners to… interrogate."

"NOTHING!" I shouted, causing him to jump back. "There's nothing in that box! I don't know where you're going with this, but I have a feeling there's nothing in there but air! It's always nothing… nothing important, anyway."

"Wrong again!" Le'Kruune sang out triumphantly. "There IS something in this box, and it is very important. Look…" he lifted the lid up and tilted the box a little for me to see inside. There WAS something in there, but I couldn't make out what it was. He set the box back down and removed the lid. Then he reached in and pulled out a small, square picture frame. It was about five or six inches all the way around, and made of richly carved pewter. He looked down at it fondly before turning it over for me to see. What I saw made my blood run cold. I couldn't believe my eye! It was… my mother!

About twenty years younger, though today she looks much the same as she did then… she was smiling coyly at the camera, her long brown hair partly pulled back, the rest of it falling gracefully about her slim shoulders…I had to admit, she was quite beautiful… but what in the name of all things sacred was she wearing?!!

"Surprising woman, your mother!" Le'Kruune chuckled, obviously delighted by my shock. "Yes, I bought that exotic number for her and gave her a little extra incentive to wear it. It didn't take very much to convince her to pose for the picture, either. After all, you were sick, and she was desperate."

Le'Kruune looked at the picture again. The look on his face while he ogled my mother made my stomach churn. I turned my head the other way and shut my eye tight, fighting back the tears. It was no use. They flowed freely, stinging the bruised and swollen area surrounding my eye.

"Why?" I sobbed.

Le'Kruune broke his gaze from the photo and looked down at me.

"Why what?" he demanded, sounding annoyed.

"Why did you show me that? What was the point of it? Why are you torturing me for something I don't have? And why did you degrade my mother like that? WHY?!!"

"Must you always have the answers to everything life throws your way?" he asked, giving me a feigned look of sympathy. "My reasons are my own. I do not owe them to you, or to anyone else you speak of. As for your mother… Vay allowed herself to be degraded. She may have been a bit reluctant at first, but she accepted my offer, and everything that came with it: lust, money, and a fond farewell to self-respect."

"No," I whispered, feeling dizzy again. "You're wrong about one thing, Le'Kruune. My mother did not lose her self-respect. Never, in my entire life, has she ever appeared less than certain of herself, and never has she consented to be treated like an inferior, not even before the United Galactic Federation, to which she has made great contributions."

"Bravo!" Le'Kruune exclaimed, applauding. "Well said! Well said! Vay would be in tears by now, if she were here. What a loving son you are, sticking up for your mummy's honor like that. Yes. Perhaps you are worth all those steamy nights of passion and prostitution after all. Only a truly loving mother like yours could sell herself like that to keep her sickly little baby alive, even though that sickly little baby has grown up now to become nothing more than a sickly little 4th class Agent."

A red haze of anger fogged my vision at his words, but I fought hard to bite my tongues to keep myself from making another costly mistake. Le'Kruune was humming to himself, and when I was finally able to see straight, I saw that he was still looking at the picture, this time with a more serious expression.

"It's been a long time, Vay," he mumbled, smiling fondly at my mother's picture as if it had been his own wife. "Too long," he concluded, then lowered the picture slowly back into the box before locking it up tight. He sighed sadly, looking down at the floor. After a moment of silence, he looked back at me, his face blank of expression.

"Your mother is a wonderful woman," he said firmly, as if I didn't already know this for a fact. "I regret that I ever called her such nasty words as 'bitch' and 'whore.' I admit she had her moments, but that smile! And those curves… well, of course I could forgive her for that messy attempt on my life." He chuckled, obviously reminiscing some 'magical night' when Mom had probably tried to stick a knife in his back. He picked up the box then, and turned toward the door.

"I wonder if I should call her up, just for old times' sake? I might even mention that her son is my guest of honor at the moment…and see if she's willing to make a little 'exchange' for his well-being. Yes. I think that would be perfect cause for a little 'family reunion.'" Ignoring my protests, Le'Kruune walked out the door and turned off the lights.

* * * *

Wow. Shame on me! And I bet you didn't know Pleakley's mom was such a hot item, eh? Neither did I, until I saw that one episode of Lilo and Stitch where the experiment named Spooky changed himself into Pleakley's worst fear: his mother. Personally, I hated that. They always make someone's mother out to be your stereotypical old granny type. My vision of Vay (my name choice for Pleakley's mother), even before that episode came out, was of a lovely, still-young-looking, courageous woman who is more the man of the family than Pleakley ever was, but still a sweet, loving mother who is not overbearing and not her son's worst fear. I like that image of her a lot better, and I hope you do, too, but I hope you don't hate her for what she did… she really had no other choice, and her son was sick… besides, what would YOU do in the name of love? ^-^