Disclaimer: I do not own "Lilo & Stitch" or any of the characters therein. Except for Leera, Le'Kruune, and Mackayl, but you already know that. ^_~

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE:
BREAK FROM REALITY

"And once when Wendy was eight he put on my best dress and wore it to school for a day. Only he 'forgot' to tell me it was school picture day."

Vay was entertaining Lilo and Leera with another embarrassing story about her son, who was currently having his wrist wounds redressed by his fiancée. Leera giggled as she wrapped his wrist in a strip of fabric torn from the quilt Lilo had brought with her from Le'Kruune's suite.

"Well, imagine my surprise when he came home that day with two dozen lovely photos of himself!"

"Do you still have any of those photos?" Leera asked. "Because I'd love to see that!"

"I'm surprised Mom hasn't already shown it to you," Pleakley mumbled, "'cuz she sure as heck didn't waste the opportunity to show you all those OTHER photos!"

"Are you kidding?!" said Vay. "I'll GIVE you one! I'll also give you his sixth grade picture! That one's a scream compared to the other one!"

"Great," Pleakley mumbled, then paled as Vay drew a wallet out of nowhere and opened it up, revealing several incriminating photos of himself at varying ages, from birth to the previous year. Leera finished up with his bandages and took the wallet from Vay, laughing heartily as she held it up for Lilo to see, too. Lilo joined in the laughter while Pleakley blushed furiously, pretending to inspect his new dressings.

"You're such a card, Wendy!" Leera nudged him playfully. "But I hope you're not planning to dress like this for our wedding! One bridal gown is enough, don't you think?"

Pleakley grunted in reply, but did not look up from his wrists.

"If you want to dress up, then that's fine. I just don't want you looking prettier than me! Okay?"

This time he did look up. "Prettier than you? I don't think that's even remotely possible! There isn't a woman alive as beautiful as you," he told her, making her blush. "Uhh, or man, for that matter," he added, then glanced at his mother. "Except for you, Momma."

Lilo cleared her throat loudly. Pleakley rolled his eye and added further, "and you, too, Lilo."

She grinned in acknowledgement, then cleared her throat again. Pleakley looked at her.

"What?"

"You forgot Nani!"

"Alright. And Nani, too."

"And Scrump! Don't forget Scrump!" Lilo added, suddenly remembering her doll.

"I thought Scrump was a boy!"

This time Lilo blushed. "She used to be, until she had to have an operation. She used to have three legs, just like you, but Nani said the third leg had to go because it looked like something she didn't want to talk about."

"Oh." Pleakley blushed a little himself.

"I don't know why Nani got so upset about it. She even sent me to my room and wouldn't let me out until I fixed it. When I first made Scrump, she was supposed to be a he, and he was supposed to have a tail, but I wasn't good at sewing and it came out all crooked and funny-looking in the end. So then I decided he was going to have three legs and be some kinda mutant swamp monster who was laughed at by all the other swamp monsters because he wasn't as ugly and slimy as they were. I showed it to David, and he liked it, but Nani got all red in the face and told me it wasn't appropriate."

"Hmm. Well, I guess I can't blame her," said Pleakley. "As I understand, there's not a single creature native to Earth that's a tripod."

"Yeah, unless you count something with four legs that lost one. What's wrong with having a third leg, anyway?" Lilo asked, looking at each alien in turn. The three Plorginarians glanced at each other and shrugged, though Pleakley was still blushing a little.

"Nothing at all," Vay answered her, smiling. "I think your sister was just worried about you playing with a boy, even if it was just a doll. Boys can be real brats, you know. Wendy was an exception, though. He was always so timid, and the boys in our neighborhood were rather obnoxious. I usually didn't let him play with them. The girls were just as bad. Always picking on him. Especially Leera." She smiled fondly at the younger woman.

"But you have three legs, too, and you're not boys! Are you?" Lilo asked, sounding slightly suspicious. "'Cuz if you are, you're a lot better at disguising yourselves than Pleakley is. You've got boobs and everything! Pleakley tried that once. He used one of Nani's bras and put two oranges in it. When Nani found out, she got mad and told him to go buy his own bra, but he's too embarrassed to go into the women's underwear section at the store."

Vay and Leera looked over at Pleakley, who blushed once again and shrugged. "Heh, just trying to fit in!"

"But you're not boys, I can tell," Lilo continued. "You're not wimpy and whiny like Pleakley."

Here Pleakley looked offended. "Hey, who're you calling wimpy?"

"You, silly!" Leera giggled, throwing her arms around him and then locking him in a full nelson.

"Yeah!" Lilo shouted, pouncing on his legs and pinning them down, so that he was now completely immobile.

"See? Wimpy-wimpy-wimpy!" she taunted him.

"Augh! Moooooommm, make 'em stop! They're killing me!"

"Yep! And whiny, too!" said Leera, holding him tight.

"Told ya!" Lilo grinned wickedly.

"Alright, you two. Play nice." Vay finally stepped in. "And save some Wendy for me!" She proceeded to tickle him, making him scream for mercy.

For a while, the four prisoners were happy. They joked and played with each other, and for a time they were able to forget about their situation. They forgot about the impenetrable walls of their cell, and the vicious, hostile creatures lurking outside. For just a few hours, they were home. And they could have stayed that way a while longer if one of the Kaizaxx guards hadn't opened their cell door at that moment and come charging in with his plasma cannon raised. Only then did the laughter and the warm feeling of contentment vanish, as dread, pain, and anger took their place.

The four prisoners sat stone still, gazing up in fear at the guard. For a moment they had thought that it was Mackayl, the young Kaizaxx man who had claimed a secret allegiance to their cause. But one look at the scarred, hardened face of this man told them that it was not. The man stood equally still, glaring critically at each of them in turn before making the following statement:

"His highness, Horsthar Eveth Xeyjii Le'Kruune, requests the immediate presence of one Leera Analilia, in his private suite."

All eyes turned to Leera, who paled considerably at the announcement.

"Which one of you is Leera?" the guard demanded.

Before Leera could even open her mouth, Pleakley stepped forward.

"I am," he stated firmly. Still dressed in his orange and purple muumuu and black wig, he easily passed as female in the eyes of most of the Kaizaxx, who usually refrained from consorting with what they believed to be inferior beings, and thus knew very little of the Plorginarian race.

"No, I am!" said Vay, shooting him a warning look. Before he could argue with her, Leera herself stepped forward and asserted her identity.

"No!" Pleakley shouted. "I'M Leera! Take me now!"

"No, I'M Leera," Vay growled threateningly. "And I'M going!"

"NO!" the real Leera shouted. She turned to the guard. "Don't listen to them! They're just trying to protect me!"

"No, I'm not!" Pleakley argued. "Y-you're trying to protect me! I'M Leera, not you!"

"Don't listen to either of them," Vay interrupted. "It's me he wants, not those two. That one's not even a female!" she pointed at Pleakley.

"I am too!" he insisted.

"No, you're not!" Leera scolded. "You don't even have breasts!"

"Oh, sure, call attention to the fact that I'm not as voluptuously endowed as you are!"

The guard looked him over curiously. "She's right, you know. You're far too flat-chested to be female."

"Just rub it in, why don't you!" Pleakley retorted, sounding offended.

Leera rolled her eye and stepped forward again. "Just forget him. I'm the real Leera, and I'm ready to go now."

"NOOO!!!"

Pleakley grabbed her by the arm to stop her.

"Dammit, Wendy, let go!"

"No! You can't do this! I won't let you! I won't let Le'Kruune hurt you again! I'd rather die!"

"And I won't let either one of you get hurt," Vay said sternly. "I love you both, and you two have far more to live for than I do. That's why I'm going!"

"No, Mom! You can't!"

"Don't you tell ME what I can or can't do! I'm your mother!"

"But -"

"SILENCE!"

The guard's sudden outburst stilled the three prisoners immediately. Lilo, the fourth prisoner, had been silent the whole time, sitting on the bunk in the far corner, listening to the argument.

"Now, then, which one of you is the real Leera?"

"I AM!" three voices rang out in unison.

"Who didn't see that coming?" the guard murmured to himself. "Alright, fine. If this is how it's gonna be, I guess I'm going to have to take all three of you up to his highness's private suite. I'll let him decide which one of you he wants. Now get moving!" He waved his weapon threateningly, and they started out the door.

"Wait!" Lilo shouted, jumping out of her corner and rushing over to Pleakley. "Don't leave me here by myself! Please, take me with you!"

The look Pleakley gave her just then was the most pained look she had ever seen him give. "No, Lilo. You have to stay here. For your own safety. I've put you into too much danger already. I won't be surprised if Nani kicks me out of the house for this."

Fighting back tears, Lilo hugged him tightly around the middle. "Nani would never do that. You're ohana, and ohana means nobody gets left behind, or forgotten."

Pleakley was fighting back tears himself as he held her close. "I'm so sorry, Lilo. But this time, someone's going to have to get left behind."

To everyone's surprise (and even her own) Lilo leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Stunned, Pleakley turned away quickly and headed out the door, just as a large tear streamed down his face and splattered on the front of his muumuu. He didn't even look back. Vay put a hand on his shoulder as they marched down the corridor. On his other side, Leera did the same, but removed it quickly so as not to call attention to herself. Too late. Pleakley glanced over at her and his hearts sank into his stomach. He forgot all about Lilo just then. Terror seized him suddenly and he wondered what Le'Kruune wanted with Leera, beyond what he feared he wanted. After what she had done to him a few days earlier, was it even possible for him to want to…? Pleakley shuddered, unwilling to even think about what he was still capable of, with or without a certain piece of his anatomy intact.

Setting her eye on the hallway ahead, Leera resolved to be brave. Le'Kruune wanted to see her, and she wanted to see him. She had a bone to pick with him, and she looked forward to it. She wasn't finished with him yet. He had raped her and tortured her loved ones, and in return she had burned him, gouged his eye out and castrated him, but it wasn't enough to repay him for all he had done. It would never be enough.

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ALRIGHT!!! Two new chapters finally up and running! I cannot believe it has been so long since I last posted! And after I promised I wouldn't lag off like that again! SHAME ON ME!!! Okay, folks, I think I'm on a roll with this story again (at least I hope I am!), and I'm gonna get into the next chapter pretty quick here. PLEASE R&R!!! It really does help! Even flames will encourage me at this point! Of course, flames always encourage me because I love to piss off they who piss off me! Does that even make sense?! @_o Okay, don't make me beg for reviews!!!