Promise

By: Kenjaje

Chapter 3: Chroney

"Stitch? Stitch. Wake up sleepy." Stitch opened his eyes and grunted as he felt a hand massaging his back. His arms tingled from sleeping on top of them, and his head fur was ruffled from tossing and turning. "Your not a morning person are you?" He heard a voice giggle.

"Lilo?" He asked. Through blurry vision he saw the face of his seven-year-old friend, dressed in a green moo-moo with white leaves. He pushed himself up off of his stomach, and an ounce of excitement hit him. "Lilo!" He cried with joy, but soon his beam faded as his vision cleared and he now saw past the illusion. The older Lilo stared back at him smiling.

"What?" She said at his bipolar gesture. "Your not happy to see me?"

"Oh, naga." Stitch said, hiding his saddened frown. "Stitch just..." He trailed.

"Just what?" She asked, helping him up.

"Stitch saw little Lilo, that's all." He said lowly. Lilo licked her finger and fixed up his hair a bit.

"I'm sorry." She said sympathetically, "You really miss the me you know, don't you?" She asked kindly.

"Eh, daruba."

"I don't know how I can help." She said undoing his collar, "I don't remember the first thing about you. I'm sorry for going ballistic last night, I panicked at the moment, I mean you gave me quite an eerie feeling, landing in my backyard and claiming you're an alien that knew me."

"It's ok, Stitch forgive." He replied, smiling again as he stepped to the left and sat.

"Nani and David left for work a while ago, David doesn't remember you either it seems." She paused, looking at Stitch. He appeared to be half thinking, half listening to her, so she continued. "You're pretty much free to roam around, I'm not going to stop you or anything." She got up off of her knees and headed toward the back door. "If you need me, I'll be inside." She began to open the door but then stopped and looked back at Stitch. "Are you hungry? What do you eat?"

"Naga nota...eggs?" He asked.

"I...guess I could make some scrambled eggs..." She said to herself, walking inside, her voice stopping as the door slammed. Stitch sat for a second and looked around. Everything was exactly like it was ten years ago, not much had changed, except the tower was fixed. He remembered how Gantu had broken it while taking back experiment 120, Jumba must have gotten around to fixing it, he assumed.

Stitch made no haste; he took his time in looking around. He wanted to see Jumba, but he also wanted to search outside for some reason. Whether it was the urge to explore and see what things were like ten years later, or just to comfort his anxiety over being a remnant in the future, he strode around the house to look at the scenery. He rounded the house; nothing seemed to be different except for a few things here and there. The house was painted with more of a blue, rather then a pink cotton candy color.

He stepped inside the front door, to the smell and sound of eggs squirming in a pot. Lilo gave no acknowledgement that she had heard him come in, Stitch assumed she knew he was inside, and began his search of the inside. The bookcase was still near the door like it's always been. Last night he had noticed that there were two new chairs by the couch, and now he was able to see that they were a reddish color. The small seat by the window had been changed to match the couch color, and now was stacked with magazines and other miscellaneous items.

Stitch slowly walked toward the stairs and paused at their base to look into the kitchen at Lilo. She was busily cooking for both of them, and barely glanced at Stitch at all. He smiled, just in case if she was looking at him, and proceeded up the steps, heading into the hallway.

The light was turned off, and the door to Lilo's room was open, letting loose a shaft of sunlight in the shadowed walkway. Stitch made his way for Lilo's room, and peered inside. The bed had been turned so its headrest was now against the wall with the window. Her room was mostly redecorated; pictures of Elvis Preasly covered most of the walls, near her bed were some other pictures of Lilo and her family, none had Jumba, Pleakley, him, or any other experiments in them. A small toy chest was wedged in between the dresser and the window seat, and a pile of books, albums, and the familiar turntable rested in a heap on the floor at the foot of the bed.

Stitch remained at the door, he dared not venture into Lilo's room without her permission. She seemed not to care, but still he didn't want to intrude. He shut the door, which darkened the hallway, and proceeded on, down to Jumba's room. After stepping up the small run of stairs, he stood before the door; for once he didn't hear the noises of some project Jumba was working on ringing behind it. Slowly raising his hand, he knocked on the door solidly five times, and did not receive an answer. Again he knocked, but silence still hid behind the door. Not bothering to knock again, he grasped the doorknob and turned it, letting the door creek open on its own.

The windows were shaded, and padded with dust, which also floated around the room, and softened the sunlight that managed to peek through the cracks of the blinds. Stitch's eyes adjusted to the dim light, and now he was able to see that this room had been unoccupied for a very long time. It was bare, the beds had no sheets, the desk was flat, and nothing was hidden in the drawers except dust. Stitch saw no reason to stay in the gagging room any longer; he quietly took his leave and shut the door, stepping out into the clean-aired hallway.

"Stitch, food's ready." Lilo hollered to him. Bolting down the hallway and reaching the stairs, he found Lilo still standing next to the railing. "C'mon down, before it gets cold." Stitch floated down the stairs and arrived at the table just as Lilo had placed a fork for him to use. Taking her seat, she swiftly wielded her fork and stabbed at her fluffy eggs.

Contrary to Lilo, Stitch sat in his chair and grasped a handful of egg with his claws and stuffed it in his mouth. Lilo looked at him slightly awed at his way of eating. He caught himself after seeing her expression, and meekly took the fork with his hand. Staring at it for a second, and then staring at how Lilo held her fork, he took a moment to coordinate the proper way of holding it, and mimicked the way Lilo ate.

"Lilo..." Stitch began after a moment of silence. "Where is Jumba?"

"Jumba? You mean Jookiba?"

"Eh. Jumba Jookiba, where is Jumba?" Lilo's quiet expression seemed to drop even further as she stabbed at her eggs again.

"Grandpa Jookiba...died...a long time ago." Stitch's ears twitched.

"How?" He asked. His hope now dimmed, he had hoped to find Jumba, whom would most likely know where the time machine was.

"Well, you see, grandpa Jookiba was a scientist, and a long time ago he was working on a project. But, before it was perfected the project sparked, and caused a fire in his room while he was asleep..." Stitch's ears drooped. "What do you need Jumba for?"She suddenly asked, noticing the fact that Stitch knew about Jumba. She had lost some of the memories she had with Jumba, and wondered if Stitch might be able to help her remember him better.

"Jumba made time machine." He replied quietly, his chin now laid on the table and his hands over his ears, to express his disdain toward the situation.

"What?"

"Jumba made time machine, so Stitch can go back home, back in time."

"Back in time?"

"Eh. Long story."

"Can you tell me? I have no idea what you're talking about." Stitch put down his hands and pushed himself back in his chair, thinking about how to explain to Lilo what was happening.

"Ten years ago, Stitch and Lilo were on mission." He began, "Stitch was sent into space on shuttle, and landed five years ago on unknown planet. Since then, Stitch used ship outside in meadow and come back to earth. Now, Stitch must find time machine Jumba made to go back and try to fix time stream."

"Fix the time stream?"

"Eh. Time stream was broken for some reason, Stitch has to go back and fix." Lilo nodded in partial understanding.

"I see." She said. "Stitch...can you tell me what it was like, ten years ago? Like, what did we do? Were we good friends?" She asked curiously.

"Stitch and Lilo best friends, Stitch live with Lilo, capturing Jumba's experiments mostly." He described her, with a storytelling tone.

"Capturing...experiments?"

"Eh. Experiments like miga." He pointed to himself.

"You mean Jumba made 'experiments'?"

"Miga number 626, other experiments were loose like Stitch."

"I know you're not lying, but I still can't remember or make sense of anything." Stitch looked in some disappointment, but was glad to be able to talk deeply with someone since he'd arrived here. It was only one day, and already Lilo was starting to sound like normal.

"Stitch cannot remember some things as well..." He began, "But remembers most things before Stitch went into space."

"What happened? Do you know?"

"All Stitch knows, is being in fight with another experiment that came from the future. Naga garu naga riamba sate." He said, shrugging his shoulders. His pendant jingled, catching Lilo's eye.

"You have a pendant," she stared at it gleefully "and it looks like mine." She pointed to hers. Stitch now saw her pendant against the red dress she wore, it was almost camouflaged against it. Without thinking, Stitch had a flash of an image through his mind; it was of him handing Lilo a red pendant, smiling, and of them talking about something.

"Stitch remembers giving Lilo pendant. Lilo gave Stitch pendant too." He said, pointing to his.

"Wait a minute, you gave me this pendant?" She asked, her voice in a farfetched tone.

"Eh. A little while before Stitch left." He said. The conversation paused. He picked up his fork and began eating his lukewarm eggs again. Lilo began to talk more, staring off into space as she spoke.

"Grandpa Jookiba told me in a story that a friend gave me this pendant a long time ago. If what you're saying is true he must have been talking about you. He was very mysterious sometimes. Come to think of it, it was about two years after your probable leave that he was caught in the fire." Stitch gulped down his last bit of egg. He enjoyed talking with Lilo, the small spark of hope was now bright inside of him, and they had finally reached a common ground. Now he wouldn't be completely lost in confusion.

"Can Stitch search for time machine upstairs?" He asked, taking his plate and walking to the sink.

"Sure, if Jumba made the time machine chances are it's in his stuff. All of his tings were moved to the tower while we refurnished his room, and we haven't moved anything out of it since. I'll get you the elevator key." She said, standing up. Both of them headed toward the living room, Lilo leading, Stitch following, when the phone on the wall rang inside the kitchen.

"Argh, wait here ok?" Stitch nodded, and stepped in a bit to listen closer. Lilo picked up the phone and pushed the 'talk' button.

"Hello? Kioni, what's up?" Stitch's ears perked, though he didn't know Kioni all that well, Lilo always talked about her crush on him, Stitch was surprised that Kioni was still around. "Um...today? That may not be good timing...no, something came up." She said, looking at Stitch. "No, it's not an emergency, it's just that I'm occupied at the moment. Sure, I'll see about tomorrow. Ok, I love you," Stitch's eyes shot open.

"Lilo and Kioni..." He whispered to himself, his thoughts trailing. Lilo bid farewell on the phone and hanged it up on the wall, when she turned around Stitch's teeth were split in a wide grin.

"What?" She asked, not having a clue as to why he was so happy looking. Stitch began to chuckle, and ended up cracking up at what he had deduced.

"Kioni and Lilo are boochieboes!" He exclaimed, rolling onto his back and clasping his stomach with laughter.

"Boochie...hey that's not funny!" She screamed in false rage. Lilo ran past Stitch's laughing seizer into the living room toward the bookcase, where she reached inside on the shelf and grabbed a key that lay dormant on a hook. She walked back to Stitch and tossed the key to him. "Go upstairs and search for that time machine you weirdo." Stitch took the key and ceased his laughter slowly to a stop as Lilo left the kitchen.

"Miga soka." He said still chuckling. Gripping the key, he walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs, but stopped halfway. Something in his mind bothered him, and another flash of a memory went through his head. In his mind he saw himself standing in darkness with 625 far in front of him. "Because of you she's gone, it's all your fault that we can't see her anymore!" His voice rang through Stitch's head, causing his heart to pound. Normally just remembering this wouldn't bother him, but behind this memory was a feeling of deep hatred coming from 625; something more then just a memory had crossed his mind.

"Stitch...are you ok?" Lilo asked, noticing the change in Stitch's mood. Stitch seemed to snap out of a trance, and look over at her.

"Stitch is...fine." He said, smiling. Lilo shrugged her shoulders and went into the kitchen to wash the dishes. Stitch proceeded up the rest of the stairs, walking toward the middle of the hallway where the elevator door was. Using the key, he unlocked the chrome metal door, and stepped inside the dark shaft. He pressed the button on the side, but it didn't work. He pressed it a few more times, and finally getting fed up with it, he punched it, breaking it. Grunting to himself, he resorted to climbing the walls of the shaft up to the top of the tower.

Dear diary

I've spoken with Jumba, and he says that it's inevitable for this time strand to break off and simmer into darkness...I wonder what will happen during that time. I hope Stitch finds the time machine soon; I still can't get to sleep. I've tried for a few hours now, but knowing Stitch is sometime in the future ten years from now really bothers me...I keep wondering if he's safe or not, or even if he got Jumba's message. I hope he's ok.

I wonder if Stitch will recognize me in the future, I wonder what I'll look like. What if we don't live in Hawaii ten year's from now? Nani was thinking about moving away a long time ago, but she never got the money. Well, I know where I'm going to hide the time machine, Jumba says it will be small and round like an experiment pod, which is just the right size to hide. He told me to write it down, and tell no one about it; 625 is still on the loose and if he finds it we have no chance. I'm still trying to think about what we can do differently, and I've come up with a few ideas but they don't seem to really fit well. I'm going to try to get some sleep again.

Like the hallway, the upper floor of the tower was dark, except for the small amount of light that peeked through the dust on the windows. Stitch walked over to each window and opened them up, having to fumble over many boxes and other bulky objects. "If the time machine is anywhere, it will be here." Stitch thought to himself. His hands on his hips, he surveyed the room, lots of things to go through. However, Stitch wanted to search for Jumba's computer as well, that may lead to some answers on the whereabouts of the time machine. Stitch set to work plunging into some boxes; finding many inventions, blasters, ammunition, and other such weaponry. "How can Lilo not remember this stuff?" He asked himself in amazement.

Taking a half hour to search through a tenth of the boxes, he was able to find Jumba's computer, buried between two unfamiliar works. Luckily the battery was still usable, and he was able to turn the computer on with no problem at all. Taking only a second to warm up, the first thing that showed on the monitor was two large words in red pixels: Message Sent. Stitch clicked a button, and a new option appeared. 'Replay Message? Yes, No' Stitch recalled the message that it must've been talking about, when he was aboard the cryogenic shuttle five years ago on the wasteland gas giant. He had forgotten most of the message and decided to hear it again. Clicking yes, the screen turned into a video player, and played the same message that Stitch had heard five years prior:

"626...please listen 626, listen to me very carefully. The 625 from the future, has sent you in a journey through space. Though I can't tell you exactly what planet you are on right now, I do know its coordinates. Lilo came to me, asking me to find you, by the time I locked onto your signal, you were too far away to be retrieved, and there was nothing I could do, but let you and the ship go about your course.

You should be receiving this message shortly after your cryogenic state is thawed, if you don't receive it, I only hope that you can figure out what to do. Stitch...the computer shows that something has happened, and somehow in some way, the time flux continuum has been split in three directions.

We are being separated from the main stream entirely, but you are able to rejoin the mainstream, I don't know if this will make you panic-I hope it doesn't-but to be honest by the time you hear this message, five years will have gone by here on earth. There is nothing we can do about that, what is done now...is done."

Don't worry though, I have sent the intergalactic space cruiser-the red one-it has locked onto your transport ship's location and is heading to you as we speak, by my calculations it shouldn't be harmed by any showers or flares, at least I hope not anyway."

But, onto more important matters, I must prepare you 626, if you're going to go back to earth five more years will pass, and Lilo will be quite old. I am working on a time machine that will be able to send you back to this time, before the stream was frayed, so that you can hopefully fix it. However this time machine has one minor difference then the surfboard one; no one but you will have memories of what has happened here, after you go back, this whole trip will be in your mind only."

Lilo has agreed to write down the location of this time machine, so that in the future when you find her she will be able to give it to you. I don't want doctor Hamsterveil or anyone else to get they're hands on it, having a future version of 625 was great enough of a challenge for you to handle."

Find Lilo when you get back to earth, she will help you get the time machine, but this is the most crucial part of your mission; something has to be different. Sensors show that something happened in the battle that threw the time flux offset, something happened, or did not happen, and caused the splitting of the three times."

Stitch, Lilo wishes me to tell you that what is around your neck is similar to the actual key to the location of the time machine. Good luck my friend, and hurry, having three severed time streams will cause the continuum to collapse if they are left stranded for too long. As long as you're able to find the machine though, everything will be fine. Now go, the ship should have arrived, you know your objectives."

The message ended abruptly. The red words returned to ask if the message was to be replayed again, Stitch put the computer down. He went over the last part of the message in his mind. "Lilo has agreed to write down the location of this time machine...Lilo wishes me to tell you that what is around your neck is similar to the actual key to the location of the time machine."

The first part of the message meant that Lilo had written the location down somewhere, but Stitch couldn't think of where; the second part made no sense to him at all, but it still caught his attention. Stitch took the computer with him, and headed downstairs, through the hallway, and to the living room. Lilo was on the couch watching a program on the television.

"Does Lilo know where the time machine is?" He asked, catching her by surprise. She didn't notice him come downstairs, and she was startled by the sudden question.

"You mean the one Jumba made for you? No, sorry, I have no idea where it is. What brings that question up all of a sudden?" Stitch handed her the computer, his heart pumping with excitement. Lilo played the message and listened to it twice. "I'm supposed to have it written down somewhere?"

"Eh. Can Lilo remember?" He asked, trying not to raise his hopes in case they might fall.

"Not exactly, that must be in the gray area of my mind. Grandpa Jookiba never told me about this at all." Stitch's throat knotted with thought.

"Does Lilo have any idea where message might be?"

"I wouldn't know off of the top of my head," she said turning off the television, "but there are some things in the attic that I moved out of my room when I redecorated it." She told him. Stitch nodded his head, and took the computer with him up to the attic.

He sighed, again he had to venture in the dust filled crypt, but the attic wasn't as bad as the other rooms. Not many boxes were in storage, and it was easy to find the section that was Lilo's old things. He searched through a few boxes looking for any papers or documents. He was able to narrow it down to a small pile of papers and a few journals.

He spent five minutes scanning through each one, and found nothing. Desperation took him, and he frantically searched the few crates that belonged to Lilo once more. He found a few more things he overlooked; a spiral and a diary. The spiral contained nothing but old drawings, a few that he recognized, but many that he didn't. Lastly, he moved on to the diary. He read a passage inside, and realized it was Lilo's. He read another passage, trying to find out if this was an old diary, or a new one.

After three passages, he read on, now he knew that this diary was being used exactly when he was hurled into space. Four more entrys later, he came upon one that he read halfway through, and did not finish. It talked about how she felt just after he had lost the fight on the spire, and it began to put a bad feeling in his mind. Reading only snippets of the next passages, he came across one that was shorter, and cut off at the end. The entry read:

Stitch,

Jumba has made the time machine, and I have hidden it. It is a small blue capsule, a bit different looking then from an experiment pod, but generally it's the same. I've hidden it in my pendant; I found out that it opens up in the back. I imagine yours does too, but that doesn't really matter right now. I don't care who I am, how I act, or even if I'm still around now, but find my pendant and get that capsule. It's dehydrated, so you have to add water to it. I'm still trying to figure out what to do differently during our encounter with 625, please try to figure that out soon. Jumba says that this time machine will take you back in a different way, you'll most likely end up some time after I was at the hospital. Don't do anything extremely different then what happened originally, otherwise that might throw the stream off once again. Just play it out like it happened, with the exception of the change. Good luck Stitch, please come home soon, I miss you.

I can't write very much now, the world around me is growing dim for some reason, I think I know what you have to change Stitch, remember the conversation we had at the hospital, in that conversation you...

The message ended, and Stitch was left in confusion. "What about the hospital?" He wondered, "What does she mean by the conversation?" He closed the journal, and sighed inward. He knew where the time machine was now. With a normal stride he climbed down from the attic, pushed up the door and walked downstairs to find Lilo still on the couch watching television.

"Lilo, Stitch found the time machine." He said to her. She turned off the television and quickly turned around to face him.

"Really?" She asked excitedly, "Where is it?"

"Can Stitch see Lilo's pendant?" Hesitantly, Lilo put her hand around her pendant, and lifted it off of her neck.

"What do you need it for?" She asked, watching Stitch examine it. He said nothing, but turned the pendant over and tapped on the back of it. Lilo could hear a soft thumping sound coming from inside the pendant that she'd never heard before. Stitch felt his nail across the back of the pendant and found a small notch. He lifted the notch, and inside was the small capsule. Lilo gazed in wonder at what Stitch held in his hand. "What is that?"

"Experiment pod..." Stitch mumbled to himself. The capsule was smaller then a normal sized experiment pod, small enough to fit in Stitch's palm with ease. "Stitch need water." He said running to the kitchen. Lilo followed quickly as Stitch pulled the faucet handle and pulled up the drain. Water filled the sink quickly, as Stitch dropped the capsule into the flooded sink. A bright light shined in Stitch's eyes, causing him to wince and step back. As his vision returned normal, he saw before him an experiment. Just under Stitch's own height, this experiment was white bodied, with a violet chest shade. Its fur was slick and short, and it's eyes looked omniscient.

"You are 626, also known as Stitch, am I correct?" The experiment said in proper English.

"Eh. Miga Stitch."

"Greetings Stitch, I am Chroney. My purpose is to transport you back in time, after that I will cease to exist." He said in a soft calming tone.

"This is an experiment by grandpa Jookiba?" Lilo asked.

"Eh. This is time machine." He told her.

"Lilo," Chroney spoke, "I thank you for keeping me safe all this time."

"You're...welcome?" She replied.

"626, are you ready to go back in time?"

"Eh." Stitch replied.

"Very well, come here," Stitch walked over to the experiment and stood beside him. "Lilo, because of you this future will change, and you will be able to remember 626, your efforts helped a great deal. 626," he turned to Stitch, "It will take me a while to find a safe point in time to drop you off before the stream was severed, you may actually see some events that have occurred prior to that point, so please do not be alarmed." Stitch nodded. Chroney motioned his hands and put them together in front of him like some kind of monk. A bright aura surrounded Stitch and Chroney, as they began to disappear and become opaque to the setting behind them.

"Good luck Stitch, tell myself I said hi." Lilo said, a tear falling down her check. She never liked saying goodbye to anyone, even a stranger that she barely knew. As the world vanished around Stitch, he was thrown into a tunnel; the walls of the tunnel were like water, showing him everything that happened during his ten years absence. Inside Stitch was relieved; he was going home once more. But now, a new task awaited him. Already a lot had happened to him, he felt worn out and tired, but he knew that this adventure was just beginning.