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

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
SHAME AND CHAMPAGNE

Later on in the evening, Le'Kruune sent two of his officers down to escort us to his private quarters. There were two armed guards standing right outside his door, and when we were granted clearance, we went in alone. The officers who had escorted us remained at the threshold, peering into their commander's suite with a mixture of curiosity and fear before the door came down and cut off their view. The room was large and extravagant; fine silken tapestries hung from the walls, and the paneling looked to be solid gold. In one corner, to the right of the door, there appeared to be a mini-bar. There were two cushiony armchairs and one long sofa in the center of the room, and on the far wall were over a dozen screens, all of them black. Next to these screens there was a door, smaller than the previous one, and apparently the only other one in the room. I guessed that it led to Le'Kruune's sleeping quarters.

Le'Kruune was waiting for us, sitting regally in the armchair facing the door, although I did not notice him at first. I had been so stunned by the elegance of that monster's private suite, which glared in contrast to the rest of the ship.

"Come! Sit down!" he said jovially. Mother and I hesitated. He gestured to the sofa, which sat at a right angle to his armchair. "Please, make yourself at home." Mother stepped forward, rather boldly, I thought, and sat down on the sofa. I followed, sitting on her right side, between her and Le'Kruune, who clicked a button on a small remote, causing a 'table' to rise up out of the floor in front of us.

"Care for a little refreshment?" he asked cordially, getting up and heading over to the mini-bar. "Only the best for my guests. And from my own private stock, no less. Very expensive… well-aged… intoxicating… exotic bouquet… goodness, am I talking about the champagne or the lovely Vay?" He chuckled, giving my mother a wink as he uncorked a dark green bottle and proceeded to pour is bubbling pink contents into three tall wineglasses. I growled, fighting to control the urge to jump across the room, seize the champagne bottle, and bring it down over his thorny head. Mother must have heard me, because she placed her hand on mine and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"You'll have to forgive the mess," he said, carrying the drinks back to the table on a tray and setting them down. "It's not often I get the chance to entertain these days." I snorted out loud, looking around me once again at the picture-perfect room. Mother elbowed me in the side. Le'Kruune picked up a glass and handed it to her. To my surprise, she accepted it, then elbowed me again when he offered one to me. Taking the third glass, Le'Kruune held it up in front of him, ready to make a toast.

"To memories," he said loudly, "and to the people who make them worth remembering." He gave Mother a furtive look. "Cheers."

We raised our glasses, too, but did not clink them. Le'Kruune downed his drink in under ten seconds, yet he did it with an astounding amount of etiquette and grace. Mother took two quick sips, but the look on her face said she didn't particularly care for its dryness. I took one sip, and agreed. I decided I wasn't even going to pretend to be polite and drink it… I'd already suffered enough as it is. Instead, I just held onto the stem of the glass tightly, until my knuckles turned white, my thoughts returning now and then to what I would rather do with it. I sat mutely by my mother's side for several minutes while she conversed with Le'Kruune. He did most of the talking, all empty subjects like current events, meteorology, and politics. The usual icebreakers. Mother only responded when asked a direct question; I knew she wanted as little to do with the man as possible, and I didn't blame her.

"Say what you will, but you know the Federation has several major loopholes in its intergalactic defense policy!" I heard Le'Kruune saying. "I should know. I made a few of them myself! Of course, I hadn't intended to put them to good use like I'm doing now."

"Yeah, right," I mumbled, swirling my drink. "I bet you've been planning everything since the day they promoted you to the council! A fine piece of leadership, plotting to deteriorate the very government that granted your people immunity when you should have been ripped limb from limb like so many of your own victims!"

Mother gasped. "Wendy!"

"Well, it's true! I know a few things about his race, and one of them is, most are supportive of the Kaizaxx, if not in it for themselves, and they managed to avoid persecution for the formation of a militia by labeling it as a religious movement!"

"Political reform movement, to be exact," Le'Kruune corrected me. He gave me a pleasant smile that did not reach his eyes, and I realized he was only keeping his temper because of Mother. Apparently he didn't want to upset her anymore than she had already been. Suddenly I felt a lot braver.

"Go on, Pleakley," he nodded. "Tell me what you really think. I would appreciate some constructive criticism right now. All I get from my petty officers is a load of trog dung coated with overenthusiastic approval. Bunch of spineless yes-men if you ask me."

"Do you REALLY wanna know what I think?" I demanded, glaring at him threateningly. He simply smiled and awaited my opinion. I opened my mouth to utter something quite unfavorable when Mother interrupted me.

"Politics are too controversial," she said loudly, giving me a warning glance. "We could be up all night arguing about the ambiguous details of some provision in Article number who-gives-a-damn. It's not important. What IS important, though, are the issues at hand, such as, what the hell we're all doing here."

Le'Kruune smiled smugly at this. "You're quite right," he agreed. "Let's not bother ourselves getting bogged down in politics. I would gladly prefer to discuss the issues at hand and, as you so delicately put it, what the hell we're all doing here."

He stood up and started pacing. "Hmmm… what ARE we doing here?" he asked himself, casting occasional sideways glances in our direction. "Not much at the moment, it seems… we're moving our lips, but we're not really saying anything…nothing but meaningless banter…" he paused in front of the couch and looked down at us. No, he was looking at Mother.

"Tell me, Vay, how have the years been treating you? I hear you're quite the success now, decorated Federal Agent, first class and everything!"

"Yes," she replied, with no emotion.

"Excellent!" said Le'Kruune, beaming at her. "Most excellent indeed. So good to see that you've risen up out of the ashes of misfortune and gone on to shine like a nova! I'm very happy for you, my dear."

"Thanks," Mother replied sarcastically.

"I'm also glad to see that the years have been kind to your physical person as well." He looked her up and down with a lusty eye that made me writhe in anger. I wanted to maul him, break him, at the very least spit in his face and curse him for what he had done, to myself and to Mother especially, but I had no idea how far I would be able to push him before he fought back, regardless of my mother's presence. I decided to just ride it out… find out how far HE would go first, before I went the distance and did something unspeakable.

"Why, if I'm not mistaken, I would say that you are even more beautiful than the last time I saw you, and I should know. I still have some of those old photos of you."

"What?! You said you only had the one!" I yelled before I could stop myself.

"I never said that," he replied calmly. "I only SHOWED you the one, because it was the only decent picture I had! If I had shown you the others you would have had a massive coronary and died right there."

"You showed him one of my pictures?" Mother exclaimed furiously.

"No worries, my dear. You were properly clothed in that one."

"Which one?" she demanded, her voice a blood-chilling growl.

"The one where you were wearing that cute little item I bought you. You know, the one with the lacy little -"

"Yes, yes, I know which one you're talking about. I just can't believe you showed it to my son!"

At this, Le'Kruune merely chuckled. "I merely used it to illustrate a point. You see, poor Pleakley here had trouble believing that you were anything less than a model mother. Once I showed it to him, he got wise to the truth and had to accept it for what it was. Life's full of hard lessons, Vay. You know this for a fact. I did you a favor by revealing your secrets to your son. You should actually be thanking me!"

Mother was livid. "You thurgabbah kurrish'ta!!!" she swore. I gasped. Even Le'Kruune was shocked. It was an insult at least three steps up from the one I had used earlier.

"You're so adorable when you're angry," he said, smiling fondly at her. "Just like that time you tried to assassinate me. That maniacal look on your face as you fired that plasma cannon at my chest…" he sighed dreamily, "at that moment, I swear I fell in love with you. Your passion to kill me could only heighten my desire for you, when most people would take that as a hint that their relationship is in jeopardy."

"There was never a relationship, Le'Kruune, not even a professional one!" Mother hissed.

"Please, there's no need to get upset. You're here to relax, so put your feet up and have a drink. You've hardly touched your champagne."

"I don't particularly care for champagne," Mother told him, setting her glass down on the table. "It's too dry."

"Of course," said Le'Kruune, "I should have realized… a sweet thing like you must only like sweet drinks. Unfortunately, I don't have anything of that particular persuasion in stock. I prefer hard liquor, myself."

"That's alright," Mother replied, crossing two legs and folding her hands in her lap. I was amazed at how professionally she was handling the situation… and there I was, ready to burst with each pass he made at her. I had finally set my drink down, too, even though I yearned to throw it in Le'Kruune's face. When he inquired about it, I told him the same thing, that it was too dry for my liking.

"Oh, well. More for me, I suppose." He picked up both glasses and gulped them down. A large amount dribbled down his chin and onto his shining black suit. He set the glasses back down and fished in his pocket for a handkerchief to mop it up.

"Dear me! What a mess I've made of myself! Why, you must think I'm a terrible slob!"

"Oh, no, not at all," my mother purred. "I think you're a trog-frigging, scum-sucking thurgabbah kurrish'ta! And that's just the polite word for what you are. But not a slob. No."

Le'Kruune laughed loudly. "You flatter me! You really are too much, Vay. Yes. You always know just what to say to get my engine revved up. Mm-hmmmm."

"Well, you can just turn your 'engine' off right now and forget it, 'cuz I'm not here to 'turn your crank' or 'stroke your plugs' or 'fire your pistons' or whatever the hell you call it now. I'm here for my son, and I'm not giving you a damn thing in return, except maybe a complete overhaul on your sorry ass! And not the good kind, either."

"Oooohhh, I LOVE it when you talk dirty like that!" Le'Kruune said excitedly. Mother rolled her eye and stood up. The top of her head came only as high as his belt, but she wasn't about to be intimidated by a little thing like height.

"I said you can forget it, Le'Kruune, and I mean it. I am NOT here to service you! You need to learn a thing or two about libido control," she told him, frowning up at him furiously. "And here's your first lesson!" In a blur of fists, she punched him in the groin. Le'Kruune roared in pain and fell to his knees. Shocked and terrified, I jumped up off the sofa and grabbed Mother by the arm.

"C'mon, Mom! Let's get out of here before he recovers!" I tried to pull her along with me, but she wouldn't budge. Not even an inch. She just stood there, firmly rooted to the spot as if she had been glued there, glaring down at Le'Kruune.

"Mom!" I yelled. "Come ON! What are you waiting for?!!" But it was too late. Le'Kruune had recovered, and was already climbing to his feet.