Promise

By: Kenjaje

Chapter 10: Angel's Request

Lilo did nothing as she saw Angel emerge from behind the edge of the spire. Lilo was utterly stunned at the irony of the moment, she suddenly felt as though everything was now blown out of her perspective; Chroney, a person she didn't even know, somehow knew her; 625, apparently coming from the future, randomly shows up and tries to kill Stitch and her. "And now Angel shows up?"

Angel slowly regained her energy after carrying Stitch up all the way from almost the bottom of the spire. She had climbed a fourth the way when suddenly Stitch fell in her direction; she caught him and had taken him up the rest of the way, which slowed her down greatly. She stood up as her breathing returned to normal and the sweat on her fur felt less humid, she walked over to Lilo, whom still remained frozen, and glanced around at her wounds. Lilo gaped slightly still in shock at seeing Angel, and said nor did anything to stop her from what she was doing.

"You're alright, Lilo." Angel spoke in her familiar tongue, which Lilo silently translated in her mind. Angel put hand on her shoulder as she said this, and then ran toward Stitch like a paramedic; slowly and with large strides, as if Stitch was about to die. Stitch's body was bleeding from the deep gashes and abrasions caused by 625, Angel tugged at her stomach and arms to pull off her fur, and pad it onto the openings to clot the blood like a gauze. It was makeshift, and not very effective, but it was better then letting the wounds bleed. Angel let out a deep sigh, as if some danger were finally over, and turned her dark magenta eyes toward Lilo.

"Where is 625?" She said angrily. Lilo knew the anger wasn't directed toward her.

"I don't know," she began, trying to explain what she saw, "Chroney started talking and then, a big tornado came and sucked him up." She told Angel, pantomiming the story in the air. Angel gave a look of understanding. A while passed while Angel monitored Stitch, Lilo stood away, hesitant on whether or not she should try to help. Angel might get mad at her if she gets in the way, or Angel might be mad at her for coming over there in the first place. Lilo's stomach growled with confusion. Another few minutes went by, Lilo remained silent, but now another thought was crossing her mind, and she wanted to ask Angel an important question, but didn't gather the courage. The sun shone brightly now, but was soon clouded by an opaque drizzling cloud, making the surroundings have a dark green tone. Lilo decided it was now or never, and gathered the courage to ask Angel what was on her mind. "...Angel?"

"Yes?" Angel replied, looking at Lilo. No negative emotions appeared to be expressed; Angel merely seemed to be very attentive to monitoring Stitch's health.

"You don't have to answer this if you don't want to...but..." Lilo said gathering the last bit of butterflies into one area to block them out. "What happened, during the explosion in the hangar?" Angel smiled for a second, then she frowned and glanced downward, closing her eyes, recalling what happened in her mind.

"It was a moment after the button was pressed, and the detonation countdown was started. I awoke to the warning and looked around, but my vision was blurry. When it was twenty seconds left, I could see clearly, and the first thing I saw were you and Stitch. I wanted to crawl over to him, but your expressions stopped me, I knew something had happened between you two, and I didn't want to interrupt it. Instead I tried to crawl outside, but it was already too late to make it outside of the hangar. Just when I thought I was done for, Slushy came behind me and carried me outside, and set me down. He told me to wait while he went inside to get you and Stitch, but I wasn't about to wait around..." Lilo saw that Angel was crying, as she finished her last statement. She opened her eyes and looked at Stitch, his bleeding had stopped thanks to her fur, which she slowly removed and took to the edge of the cliff, where she threw them over the side. Angel then walked back and sat closer to Lilo, waiting until Stitch would regain consciousness.

"Why didn't you stay behind?" Lilo asked, waiting for Angel to finish what she was doing.

"Because," Angel began, "I don't deserve-"Stitch grunted, interrupting Angel. She jumped immediately and walked over to Lilo, gripping her hands and looking her straight into the eyes. Lilo saw her face reflected off of their surface, as Angel spoke to her with a desperate tone of voice. "Please, don't tell Stitch I was here." Lilo was about to ask why, but Angel interrupted her. "Just don't, please." She requested. Lilo looked down, considering the request, and also what Angel was saying before.

"Ok, but tell me, what don't you deserve?" More tears began to form in Angel's eyes, she closed them to try and get rid of them as she walked toward the edge of the spire, where 625 would have ambushed Stitch. Lilo was about to stop her, when she finally spoke, her back facing toward Lilo.

"For toying with Stitch's feelings," She began, in a confessional tone, "for sending him into a trap, for not seeing my stupidity, and," She glanced back at Lilo quickly, tears streaming down her left eye. "for causing you pain as well..." Angel turned around, her back facing toward the ledge; she looked as though she was going to do something drastic. "It's your forgiveness I don't deserve."

With that, Angel stepped over the edge, falling feet first. Lilo's heart leapt with fear. "She's committing suicide!" Lilo thought. Although Angel did not, this is what Lilo perceived. Just a split second after Angel had taken her step off, Lilo cried out and ran toward the edge, trying to stop Angel from doing what she thought Angel was doing.

"Wait!" She cried, running toward the edge and looking over, seeing if possible there was a last chance to save Angel's life. But she didn't see Angel at all. Deep inside, Lilo felt that maybe suicide wasn't what Angel had planned, but still the thought lingered. "You're wrong..." Lilo said, a knot in her throat, and tears now streaming down her eyes. "Stitch and I...we forgave you a long time ago..." she spoke, thinking Angel didn't hear her. "You didn't have to leave us again, we were all deceived it's not just you!" she continued to speak, her tears draining out of her nose now. She stayed for a moment, regretting not seeing that Angel was planning on leaving sooner, and not stopping Angel from eluding them again, and then slowly, she picked herself up. Walking over to Stitch, still unconscious, she picked him up, even though her left arm and stomach hurt terribly, and hoisted him over her shoulder. She stepped out of the scene through the cave, silently crying and putting herself down.

"You don't understand Lilo..." Thought Angel, as she hung from the underside of the ledge, where 625 had hid to ambush Stitch before. "You may have forgiven me, but I haven't forgiven myself. I'll see Stitch again, some day, but not now; it's too soon. Besides, why would Stitch want me, when he's got a good friend like you?" Angel smiled with reassurance at this thought. "I'm glad you're his friend, at least you can be trusted and honest toward him, unlike me..." A shadow crossed her face, and she slowly climbed down the spire. "Please, don't tell him..."

Lilo walked limply carrying Stitch over her shoulder. Her tears now dried, and her mind now vented, she looked ahead without pessimism. She enjoyed the quit while she walked, the birds chirping, the frogs croaking, the ground and mud squishing under sandals as she walked over its dampened texture. It had been nearly fifteen minutes since she left the spire; Stitch had stirred a few times, but remained out cold. Now, however, he opened his eyes.

"Lilo?" He whispered, barely able to speak, the 'l's being the only things understandable from his coarse voice. Lilo stopped, turned her head toward Stitch's back, but heard nothing. Again she started, now waiting to see if she did hear Stitch. "Lilo..." he said again, looking to his right, and seeing her neck. She stopped completely and shifted her arm.

"Are you awake Stitch? Do want me to set you down?" She asked, lowly, trying to mask her depression. Stitch nodded, and she lowered herself to lay Stitch down in a sitting position. A while went by where she sat in silence, as he lay awake, and unable to move. Lilo knew he would speak if he needed something, so she sat beside him a foot or so away, going patiently at his pace of recovery. His eyes stared at Lilo for a long time as the rest of his body remained limp and motionless. The pendant on his neck shined, contrasting cheeriness to the dreariness of the moment. Stitch saw the glimmer of green, and looked down at it without moving his head. Slowly, he forced his hand to move toward the pendant, and take it into his claws, and manipulate it.

Lilo was looking down at this time, rethinking what had just occurred, trying to make sense of it all. Who Chroney was, why Stitch somehow knew 625 was already going to be there, why Stitch was so fixated on Angel's death being a reality, and lastly why Angel would feel like they hadn't forgiven her for what she had done. Stitch's voice interrupted her mind.

"Mahalo, Lilo." He spoke, his voice sounding more normal. Lilo looked up at him, his face turned in her direction, his hand fiddling with the pendant, and his head still limp on the ground.

"Thanks for what?" She asked.

"For stopping Stitch from getting angry." He told her, in a cheery, chuckling voice.

"I didn't stop you, don't you remember, I encouraged you to when you were fighting 625; I'm the one that caused you to get tricked and-"

"Stitch not talking about that." He said, interrupting her, and showing her his pendant. "Stitch talking about promise." Lilo looked at him, not knowing what he was talking about. He continued, seeing the expression on her face. "Lilo made Stitch promise, never to change again. Stitch had forgotten this promise once before, and was tricked by 625. In fact, was almost tricked again, but then Stitch remembered..."

"Once...before? You mean...this happened before?" She moved closer to Stitch.

"Eh," he said, sitting up, "Stitch...wanted to tell you this...is long story..." he spoke, looking away.

"It's ok, tell me now, I want to know." Stitch took a deep breath, and told Lilo about what had happened.

"Everything happen, almost exact, except, during fight with 625, Stitch get angry and change. 625 trick Stitch into transport ship, sending Stitch far off into space."

"You went into space?"

"Eh. Stitch travel at light speed, for five years. Stitch arrive on planet, and received message from Jumba that five years passed, and another five would pass while Stitch return to earth."

"You were on earth ten years in the future?" Lilo asked with excitement and curiosity.

"Eh. In message, Jumba told Stitch to find time machine from Lilo in the future. Lilo had hidden it somewhere, to keep away from others. When Stitch return though, Lilo forget all about Stitch, not remember anything." Lilo looked at him with sympathy.

"How could I? You're my...brother..." she said with a blush. "Were you sad?"

"Madi. But, although Lilo not completely remember Stitch, she still trusted and was saying Stitch was familiar. Lilo let Stitch search home to find time machine, Stitch try to ask Jumba but..." He looked down, Lilo's face frowned, she had enough of her friends looking down for a long time, and she knew he was going to say something sad to her. "Jumba die, long time from then." He looked back up at her, and continued his story. "But, Stitch find Lilo's diary, which told him location of time machine."

"Really? Where was it?" She inquired. Stitch smiled, and pointed to her. "Me?" she asked, surprised.

"Lilo's pendant hollow, Lilo put time machine inside pendant."

"That must have been one small machine."

"Naga, Lilo knows machine a little. Machine was Chroney." Lilo looked at him raising an eyebrow.

"You mean that voice that was talking to you in the sky was-"

"Chroney, and more then that, Chroney is cousin."

"You mean he's an experiment?" She practically yelled the question with enthusiasm, rather then asking it.

"Eh. Designed to take Stitch back into time, and then show Stitch what to change." Lilo again lifted her eyebrow.

"Change? Change what?"

"Stitch had to correct future, something needed to change, everyone figured change had to be made in battle."

"So...you went forward ten years into the future to find a time machine to come back ten years and a few days into the past to live out the last few days and then change something in the battle to altar the future that you saw ten years from now to something different?" She questioned, plotting out the whole story.

"Eh."

"That means everything that happened...you knew..." She looked ahead. "That's why you didn't want me to come; you knew 625, and not Angel, would be there."

"Eh. Soka, but Stitch didn't want to tell Lilo, in case that would altar future again." A moment of silence hit the two; Lilo stared into Stitch's eyes. "But, even though Stitch relive...Stitch really think Angel didn't make it..." He told Lilo, as he suppressed a tear.

"Stitch..." Lilo spoke up, but stopping herself. Stitch looked at her with a curious look, and she almost wouldn't have made her decision if he hadn't given her that look. It was too torturing, seeing Stitch pine over Angel, when she knew Angel was alive. "I'm sorry Angel, I have to tell him. Please forgive me." "Stitch, Angel is alive." His face opened, and his eyes grew wide. "You were knocked off of the cliff, while you were still angry, so you probably don't remember, but she caught you, and carried you up the side of the spire. I talked to her, and tried to stop her from leaving, but she was too fast. I'm sorry."

"Naga! Lilo naga noita eechibabe, Angel alive!" Stitch yelled with joy. He couldn't believe she was apologizing for not convincing Angel not to go. Stitch found regained strength and embraced Lilo happily for a long moment. As he receded his embrace, he spoke quietly. "Future must be back on track."

"But...you said yourself you got angry twice, isn't that what you had to change?"

"...Lilo right..." He thought. "Maybe..." He pondered harder, looking at Lilo. Suddenly an idea came to his mind. "Lilo...when Stitch went through first time, Stitch stayed away from Lilo when he thought he about Angel. Lilo never came to Stitch for some reason, but now Lilo did. Before, Stitch was completely convinced Angel was dead, but now, because of Lilo, Stitch had something to reassure Angel was alive. Stitch didn't change future, Lilo changed future! Lilo stop Stitch from letting go of Angel." As he said this, he wrapped his arms around her in another embrace.

"Do you really think so?" A smile crossed her face.

"Nothing else make sense." He said. Although Stitch wasn't exactly sure what was changed, since many things happened differently, but this is what Stitch wanted to believe; that Lilo changed the future. They dispersed, and sat for another moment while they both let their emotions run down a little. Lilo stood up, her spirits lifted.

"C'mon, let's go." She said, not waiting for Stitch and taking off at full speed toward the house, a few minutes down the trail. Stitch's eyes opened, not expecting Lilo's quick suggestion to start their way home again.

"Eh." He yelled to her, coming to his feet and taking off as well. They ran for some time, through the woods and on the trail, Stitch trying to catch up to Lilo. It wasn't until they reached the leafy meadow that Stitch caught up enough to jump and tackle Lilo playfully. Lilo resisted his struggle, and there they wrestled, in the leaf filled meadow; they're hearts lifted, they're spirits high, and the bright orange sun, setting in the distance. And even though Angel had evaded their hold once again, they both knew that she would show up one day to stay with them forever. But until that day, they would have to make do with what they had; each other.

Atichura

(The end)

The Chronicles of the Elusive Angel: Peace

Coming Soon...