Disclaimer: I do not own "Lilo & Stitch" or any of the characters therein.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE:
DEAD TO ME
"What do you mean, they're gone?!!" shouted Nani, looking hysterical. "How - how could Pleakley have gotten past us without our knowing?"
But Cobra was too busy to reply. He was already giving orders for his men to search the woods for the alien and little girl. Nani followed him closely as he paced about, informing a CIA agent who was in the town of the situation on his cell phone.
"How could they have gotten out? Where do they think they're going to go? What are we going to do?!!" Nani demanded, mostly of herself, though hoping that Cobra would for once volunteer a helpful answer… ANYTHING… as long as it wasn't classified. Meanwhile, Jumba sat silently on the couch, watching the two humans with a strangely distant look on his face which neither of them seemed to notice. Nani continued her ranting while Cobra described the situation over the phone.
"…that Lilo would even THINK about doing something so stupid…"
"…has a little girl with him, too. Black hair, brown eyes, seven years old. About three foot two. Last seen wearing a…"
"…should have named her Lolo! I swear, if she doesn't come back alive, I'm gonna KILL her!!!"
"…will be in disguise. Yes, he's wearing that black wig of his… Mm-hm… and that God-awful muumuu…"
Just then, Jumba decided to speak up.
"Eh, you know there IS somethingk ve could be doingk that vould be highly effective and yet vould not involve gettingk up off our patookis."
Nani stopped in mid-pace and Cobra covered the phone with one hand and looked at him expectantly.
"And that is…?"
On the couch, Jumba shifted uncomfortably and scratched the back of his head.
"Vell, I vas thinking ve could maybe make contact vith Galactic Alliance now. Grand councilvoman owes me favor for top secret something-or-other, vhich I shouldn't mention because she vill undoubtedly put plasma cannon to my head and say 'hast la vista,' like dramatic homage to Terminator man."
Cobra appeared to be considering this suggestion. After a moment, however, he took off his Ray-Bans and told the four-eyed alien sitting in front of him that to take such an action was still highly risky, and that they were supposed to wait for the Alliance to make first contact. In the meantime, Stitch had gone out into the woods ahead of the CIA in an effort to track down the missing pieces of his ohana. When he came back in minutes later, followed breathlessly by two of Cobra's colleagues, he announced in a clumsy Turian sprinkled with English that the scent-trail he had been following had ended abruptly about a quarter to a half mile down the mountain, in a small clearing. It was quickly deduced that the two missing persons, Lilo and Pleakley, had been abducted by the Kaizaxx. Jumba, startled though not really surprised by this news, suggested again that they call the Galactic Alliance, as they no longer had to worry about having their calls intercepted and traced back to Earth. Without further hesitation, the call was made, but when Cobra requested to speak with the grand councilwoman, he was met with a solemn reply.
* * * *
When two guards came down to D9 to feed gruel to the prisoners, Pleakley seized upon the opportunity to inquire about Lilo. They could offer very little information, aside from the fact that the human child was indeed ill, and that Le'Kruune had sent a physician down to examine her before going down to see her for himself. In his deteriorated mental state, it seemed that the Kaizaxx dictator had suddenly taken a strange interest in the little Earth girl. Fearing what that 'interest' might entail, Pleakley had demanded to see Lilo and Le'Kruune immediately, under the justification of being the only person aboard the ship who knew Lilo and could take care of her. Though it was claimed that Le'Kruune was currently indisposed, the guards had consented to relay Pleakley's message to him as soon as possible. When the guards had gone, Pleakley sat despairingly on his mother's bunk, his face in his hands as he tried to maintain his composure. Seeing that her son was so visibly worried about the human, Vay laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, sweetie. I don't think he's going to hurt her."
"But how do you know?" he demanded, looking up at her sharply. "You saw what he did to those two officers earlier! And you know what a monster he is. Now that he's losing his marbles, who knows what he's capable of!"
"He's always been capable of a lot of things, but that doesn't mean he's going to do anything rash," Leera reminded him. "We're talking about an exotic alien species here. That little human could be worth quite a bit, and you know Le'Kruune won't let any harm come to it as long as he deems it valuable to him."
Pleakley turned to look at her. "You may be right, but as long as he doesn't find out that there are over six billion more humans where she came from, then Lilo ought to be very valuable indeed."
"He shouldn't find out. Nobody knows as much about Earth as you, Wendy."
Pleakley blushed slightly as Leera's eye widened in shock.
"Did you say six billion?!!"
From her silent and shadowed corner of the room, the grand councilwoman stirred.
"I daresay Horsthar will not mistreat Lilo," she said quietly, and everyone turned to look at her.
There was a heavy look in her fathomless dark eyes as she leaned forward into the dim light of the nocturnal shift.
"For as long as I've known him, he has never intentionally harmed a child. Underneath that ruthless exterior, he has a certain soft spot for children. I won't say I know where it comes from, but I do know that it is there."
"Yeah, well, no doubt he's sired plenty of illegitimate offspring in his lifetime," Leera replied bitterly. "However, I seriously doubt he's the type of father who shares any relationship with his kids other than DNA."
For the briefest of seconds, ZaiLeia appeared to be offended by this statement, though she did not argue with the younger woman. The conversation quickly steered back to Lilo, and Pleakley was once again near to panicking.
"What're we going to do?!!" he demanded shrilly. "God, if anything happens to Lilo, I'll never forgive myself, and neither will Nani."
"Who's Nani?" Leera asked.
"She's Lilo's big sister. She's been taking care of her ever since their parents passed away. I moved in with them a year and a half ago. They're very nice, although Nani can be a little overbearing at times. 'Course, I don't blame her. She has to put up with that mad scientist Jumba Jookiba and his six-hundred-odd experiments. Not to mention an obnoxiously adorable little sister. But that's ohana for you."
"What is ohana?" Leera asked, sitting down beside him. Pleakley looked up at her and replied, "It's an old Hawaiian word that has a lot of meaning behind it. Foremost, it means 'family.' It also means that nobody gets left behind, or forgotten. And it is the unconditional love that a family shares. That's what I found on Earth, and I wouldn't trade it for…" he locked eyes with his fiancee before catching a glimpse of his mother behind her, "…well, almost anything."
Leera smiled softly and glanced down at her hands. "Well, I'm glad you found them," she said, though Pleakley wasn't sure that she sounded sincere.
"All the long years we were separated, I had always hoped you would find true happiness somewhere, even though you said that… that…" she trailed off, her throat tightening as she feared to finish her sentence.
"Even though I said I could never be happy, not even in Heaven, if you weren't there by my side?" he finished for her in an odd tone that made her jerk her head up and look at him.
"Well, yes," she whispered, suddenly looking fearful. The look on his own face was unreadable.
"You have no idea how much it pained me to leave you, Wendy; to take that happiness away from you. I prayed and prayed that you would just be able to forget about me and go on with your life, as if I had never been, because you can never miss what you never had."
The look on Pleakley's face just then was that of clearly defined exasperation.
"Forget about you?!! How could I forget about you and go on with my life, when you were my life! And don't talk to me about pain. You obviously have no idea what it's like to wake up one morning to find the love of your life gone! And a suicide note!" The bitterness in his voice made Leera cringe.
"…Couldn't even tell me where you were going! As if I was in any kind of danger! All you had to do was tell me; tell me you were going to go on an undercover mission to kill Le'Kruune, and I would have followed you to my death just to keep my promise! What, did you not think I was being serious when I vowed to murder that bastard for what he did to you? Do you think I was just saying it for dramatic emphasis? Or didn't you think I could actually DO it?!!"
"I know you would have if -"
"And why didn't you try to contact me? And don't give me that line about not wanting to jeopardize my safety! It would have been worth the risk just to know that you were alive and well the whole time!"
"I couldn't contact you because I knew Le'Kruune would have intercepted my call and traced it to you! You know what he would have done to you if he had?!!"
"I know very well the methods of torture he likes to use! But, oohhh, what's a little physical pain compared to the torture of losing the woman I love?!!"
"But Wendy, I was afraid! I had no idea what he might do! I was afraid he would kill you! It was just too big a risk! I couldn't let it happen, not at any expense! I love you!"
The look Pleakley turned on her just then was one of fire and ice. "Do you?" he asked her quietly, and though his tone was soft, there was acid in his words. Leera did not answer. She couldn't. Any burning desire to yell out 'of course!' died instantly at the furious look on her lover's face.
"I think we differ a little in our definitions of love," he told her, quite simply. "See, I was under the impression that if you love someone, I mean really and truly LOVE them, then you would risk anything to be with them, and that their happiness is more important than your own."
"It is, Wendy! You're not being fair! You have no idea what I was going through at the time! Yes, I made some foolish mistakes, but I couldn't just drop everything and come running back to you. Not after what I'd already accomplished. Le'Kruune vowed to kill me, and everyone I cared about, if I didn't surrender to him. I wasn't about to surrender, and I wasn't about to lead him back to Iyerba, either. And I certainly wasn't about to lead him anywhere near you! Don't you see?!! I was only thinking about you!!!"
For a moment Pleakley appeared to be considering this. "Yes. I see now. I see you were thinking, but apparently you weren't thinking very clearly, and for some reason I have the feeling that you weren't thinking of ME so much as you were thinking of yourself! Because I can't for the life of me find even a speck of reasoning in your argument. If it had been me, I would have risked anything to be with you. Anything."
"Then you would have risked MY life as well as yours?" Leera demanded. "Is that really a risk worth taking to you? Funny, I always thought that was considered selfish, risking the life of another just to gratify yourself. If your own happiness is really so important, then you obviously have no love for anyone other than yourself! If I had chosen that route, I'd be just as much to blame for causing you pain as I am now. I can't win either way with you. I'm damned if I do, and damned if I don't. Not that it makes any difference now. I've been damned my whole life for one reason or another, but for the last eight years I've been battling that damnation just so I could be with you again! You, Wendy, and no one else. You're my only family, and I love you."
"Don't you DARE talk to me about family," Pleakley growled in a tone so threatening that Leera shuddered. "If you knew anything about family…" he began, his face darkening, "then you'd know that's something we can never be. Not after what you did to me. No. Family means nobody gets left behind, or forgotten, but you left me behind long ago."
"But Wendy, I -"
"No. Forget it. What's done is done. You left, and I adjusted to that fact. It took me years of excruciating pain, but I adjusted. All you're doing is opening old wounds. But you're still dead to me, and that's how you're going to stay."
And without another word, Pleakley crossed the room to his bunk and lay down on it, facing the wall.
* * * *
Oooohhhh, angsty, huh? I had to agree with those of you who expressed disbelief at how readily Pleakley had accepted Leera's return. I knew that such a conflict would be inevitable, but I had to wait until the honeymoon phase was over before the domestic turmoil could truly begin. Just like in real life. WOW!!! I just realized it's been exactly one month since my last update to this story! Shame on me! December is always a hectic month for me. That, and the fact that my computer was down for two weeks doesn't help any. And to those of you who are reading "Jumba's Story," I probably will not update it at all until after I have finished "Pleakley's Story," which ought to pick up speed now that I'm in writing gear again. The only problem with that is that I never know what I'm gonna write next. It could be another chapter of this story, or it could be poetry, short stories, or the novel I'm working on. Anywho, I promise I will not fall this far behind again, if I can help it. Please R&R. It makes me feel needed and loved! ^_^