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

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT:
REUNITED AND RECONCILED

It came as quite a surprise to see the Kaizaxx officer bearing the human child in his arms as he stepped into the cell with the remaining prisoners. Three large eyes stared wide in disbelief as Wendy, Leera and Vay looked down at Lilo, still asleep inside the ornate quilt. Mackayl laid her down on the one empty bunk (the one formerly occupied by the grand councilwoman) and proceeded to explain the situation. The three Plorginarians listened intently, the varying degrees of shock on their faces increasing as Mackayl revealed the grand councilwoman's, and his own, assassination plans for Le'Kruune. When he had finished, the three looked back and forth at each other, though Wendy and Leera made as little eye-contact as possible. Mackayl sensed the hostility between them, but did not inquire about it. Instead, he asked them a different question.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

There was a short silence before Vay answered. "Well, I want to believe you, but…"

"That's okay," the man said dismissively. "I understand. I don't blame you. I won't even try to convince you. I don't have time to do that, anyway. I promised her highness I would come back and help her as soon as I could, and I've already been delayed long enough by Doctor Kierglaash. He tried to take the human away from me. Claimed she was a biohazard or something. I told him I had strict orders from the top, but that didn't help much."

As soon as he was gone, Wendy sat down on the bunk next to Lilo and unwrapped the quilt in order to get a good look at her. She was pale. He felt her forehead. Feverish, but not too bad. Poor kid. Why did I ever let you talk me into this? If only we had stayed at the house. I've put you in the gravest danger, and now you're sick. I'm so sorry, Lilo. Nearby, Leera fidgeted, watching him as he examined the little girl.

"How is she?" she asked timidly.

"I don't know," Wendy replied flatly, not taking his eye off the child.

"Do you think that man was telling the truth? About wanting to help us?"

"How the hell should I know?!" he said irritably, making her cringe. "I don't have all the answers, okay? I don't have any answers right now! And even if I did, what makes you think I would share them with you?!!"

"Alright, Wendy, that's enough!!!" Vay shouted in his face. "I'm getting sick and tired of your attitude towards Leera. Whatever your problem is, you need to stop taking it out on her! And don't try to tell me she IS the problem, because I know you don't really feel that way about her! You love her, and you know it! Remember how much you cried when you thought she was dead?! I do. You were a wreck. I couldn't get you out of bed for a whole month - that's how upset you were! I know you're still hurting, but that's no reason to make Leera suffer, too! You two love each other, and you've been given a second chance that very few people ever get in their whole lives. Don't be stupid, Wendy. Don't waste that chance."

"But I -"

"But nothing!" Vay shouted. "I don't want to hear any excuses! Now shut up and kiss her before I smack some sense upside your head!"

Stunned and silent, her son stared back at her. For a long moment, he was lost. Strong emotions of every sort bombarded him, fighting for control of his heart, until one rose up triumphantly over all: love. She was right. Of course she was. He still loved her with all his heart, and somewhere deep down, he had known it all along. Slowly, as though he was breaking out of a trance, he turned and looked at Leera. She looked back, her eye shining. Wendy stood up and walked toward her with his arms outstretched. She met him halfway, and the two fell sobbing into a strong embrace.

"Oh, Leera…" Wendy rocked her in his arms and buried his face in her hair. God, how could I have been so stupid?! He pulled back a little to look her in the eye. There was so much he felt like saying just then, but where to start? He opened his mouth to speak, but the words were lost on their way to his tongues as his lips found hers and they kissed, deeply and passionately.

"P-Pleakley?"
Startled, Wendy broke the kiss and turned to look at Lilo, who was awake now and struggling to sit up.

"Lilo!" he shouted happily, rushing to hug her. "You're okay!"
"Not if I have to go to school tomorrow," she replied groggily, hugging him back. He chuckled and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"Eeewww, gross!" Lilo groaned, trying weakly to push him away. "You just kissed your girlfriend and now you're kissing me? Are you on a kissing spree or something? "

Wendy blushed and let go of her. He glanced over at Leera, then back at Lilo. "Who, her? She's not my girlfriend." He gave Leera a shifty look out of the corner of his eye and she glared back at him in disbelief. He smiled. "She's my financier."

Lilo looked puzzled. "Don't you mean 'fiancée?'"

"Oh, heavens no!" Wendy chuckled, waving a dismissive hand. "She's no better with money than I am!"

He held a hand out and beckoned Leera to come over. When she stood by his side, he put an arm around her and beamed. "Leera, this is Lilo. Lilo, Leera."

They shook hands. "How do you do?" said Leera, smiling warmly at the little girl. "It's so nice to meet you! Wendy's told me a lot about you."

"Nice to meet you, too!" answered Lilo. "Pleakley's never mentioned you, so I can't tell you I've heard a lot about you!"

Leera shot him a sideways glance and he shrugged.

"So are you two gonna get married?" Lilo asked. At this, Wendy smiled proudly again.

"You better believe it!" he exclaimed.

For a moment Lilo appeared happy for him, then suddenly she seemed sad. "Does that mean you're gonna leave Earth and go back to Iheardja?"

"It's 'Iyerba,' and - well, we haven't really discussed it yet." He looked at Leera, who looked down at the floor. She closed her eye for a moment, thinking, then looked back at Wendy.

"You know, it's been so long since I last lived on Iyerba, and with my ongoing crusade against Le'Kruune, I haven't been able to stay in one place for more than a Nimh-moon.** I haven't felt this much at home since the last time we were together, and if I can feel at home with you aboard a Kaizaxx ship, then I know that wherever we decide to live will be home to me."

At this, Wendy smiled, then pulled her close and kissed her. They heard Lilo's quiet groan of disgust and giggled. He turned and looked down at her.

"Kiddo, you couldn't get rid of us if you tried!"

"Well, if you two are gonna be all kissy-kissy-lovie-dovie like that, then maybe you should just move back to Iyourbutt!"

Wendy gaped at her and she giggled. "Well, we'll TRY to be discreet about it!" he told her, blushing and grinning.

Lilo looked over at the other side of the room where Vay was sitting quietly on her bunk. "Hey!" she said loudly. "Don't I know you?"

Vay smiled in acknowledgement and walked over to her.

"You're Pleakley's mother," Lilo stated. "I remember you now. You came to Earth last year to help him move in and rebuild our house!"

"That's right!" Vay replied, smiling more warmly at the little girl. "I helped design your bedroom and install the elevator, remember?"

"Yeah, and you also made great sandwiches! They were really good, especially your peanut-butter-fried-egg-chocolate-tomato-marshmallow-mayonnaise-and-bologna sandwiches! Those were my favorite!"

Vay laughed delightedly. "Well, I'm glad to hear someone likes them! I mean, besides us Pleakleys. Our family is rather notorious for its weird tastes!"
"I kinda figured," said Lilo. "Especially after that time I caught Pleakley wearing my sister's bikini and rubbing barbeque sauce on his antenna!"

Wendy blushed bright red and Lilo giggled.

"Hardy-har-har," he said sarcastically. "At least it kept the mosquitoes away!"

"That still doesn't explain why you were wearing Nani's bikini!"

"I already explained! I told her I needed try it on before I went shopping for my own biki - I mean, swimsuit. You know they don't let you try 'em on in the stores!"

"You should've seen him!" Lilo giggled again, turning back to Vay. "I got a picture of it at home. I've got a lot of great pictures, especially with Pleakley and his Earth woman disguises! You wanna see 'em sometime?"
"I'd love to!" Vay said, also giggling. "Wendy always did love to play dress-up, especially with my clothes!" She looked over at her son, dressed in a violent orange muumuu with purple flowers all over it, and the black wig still in place ("It's cold in here, and the wig just happens to keep my antenna warm! Jeez, can't a guy keep warm AND look stylish at the same time?!!")

"Okay, laugh-at-Wendy's-expense time is over!" Wendy said, sounding a little cross. "Let's talk about something else now, shall we?"

* * * *

** A Nimh-moon is the complete cycle of Iyerba's smallest moon, Nimh, equivalent to two and a half Earth months.