A/N: As of today, 12-16-05, lyrics to Five For Fighting's "Superman" have been removed from this chapter due to some BS rule that song lyrics can no longer be used on FFN. I am only complying with this rule so that this story does not get trashed. IMO, FFN's ruling on this matter makes absolutely no sense. After all, what are we all doing here in the first place? Song lyrics are no different from all the other media we are "borrowing" from to write our fanfics. If anyone thinks they can clarify this for me, please feel free to do so, because I just don't get it. :p
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:
SUPERMAN
Gazing out the screened window, Pleakley watched the sunset change from gold to gray over the Pacific ocean, the seaside pines darkening into silhouettes, and the memories of better times passing before his eye. Far, far across that great expanse of water lay the tiny island of Kauai, and on it, his ohana. What are they doing right now? he wondered. Are they thinking about me? Do they even miss me?
Laying down on his bed, Pleakley stared morosely up at the ceiling, making pictures out of the many cracks in its plaster. All the criss-crossing lines reminded him of roads… maps… the entire ceiling was one giant map, punctuated by little specks and imperfections which his mind made into stars. It was now a map of his home galaxy, and in it he began to search for a more comforting image… his mother.
…All the wasted years… Le'Kruune had gotten away with nearly killing his mother, with degrading and abusing her, and all for the sake of him. And he had done nothing. He had made a promise, and had not even tried to see it through. Le'Kruune was still out there, probably doing to other women what he had done to Vay… and Leera…
He still remembered clearly the day she had confessed to him her dark past… a past that was not so very different from his own mother's, yet with far more serious implications. There had never been an agreement between Leera and Le'Kruune, only a horrifying crime of passion that should have scarred her for life, yet hadn't so much as dampened her spirit… on the outside. On the inside, however, she had to be suffering, for why else would she have chosen to take her own life?
Despite all this, there was still something, still someone, worth living for. Mother. And not just Mother. Jumba, Nani, Lilo and Stitch, his ohana, were all worth it in the end. And, last but not least… himself. Even if it meant living without a loved one. "We all must expect to lose someone along the way," his mom had told him after receiving news of Leera's death eight years earlier. "But we owe it to them to carry on in their place, and we owe it to those still living as well. Besides, we will all meet again at the end of our journey, and then nothing can ever separate us again. That much I am certain of."