Peace

C/by: Kenjaje

Chapter 10: Angel's Decision

"Little girl, 624, be hurrying!" Jumba called from the ship as his referred entered the far end of the hanger. Lilo sprinted hazily ahead of Angel, lugging Stitch over her shoulder and meandering to and froe every few steps. They had done nothing but run for three minutes, and Lilo was beginning to grow weary. Her breathing grew rasp, as she tried to keep balanced.

"Lilo!" Angel yelled with concern, as the ground suddenly roared in a tremor, knocking her over. Lilo fell onto her stomach, but reflexively pushed herself up with her free hand, Stitch still tossed onto her back. Her arm quivered violently under the strain of his weight, as she struggled vainly to lift herself. Angel scurried over to help her up. "Do you want me to take Stitch?" She asked kindly, after seeing Lilo's tired, blank expression.

"Sure..." Lilo whispered, shifting the unconscious mass off of her shoulder. Angel took hold of him, and lifted Lilo to her feet with her other paw. Behind them, a fleet of sentinels had gathered, which had not been brought to their attention until one fired a shot at them.

"Run!" Angel yelled without looking back, pulling the dazed Lilo behind her.

"Being sorry, but having to launch off now, little girl and 624 must jump into airlock!" Jumba shouted over the roar of the accelerating engine. Angel crouched down, sprinting her legs as fast as she could go, while utilizing Stitch's weight by holding onto his hands over her shoulders. She leaned forward and leapt into the air as soon as she felt the gravity weaken, her stomach lurched with shift in weight. Slowly she drifted toward the ship, her heart rate settled as she felt the heat of danger ware thin, until she glanced back to see that Lilo hadn't jumped yet. Angel turned herself around, and cupped a hand to her mouth.

"Lilo, hurry!" Shel shouted. Lilo stood as though she was mesmerized, but snapped out of it after Angel had screamed at her to jump again. Weakly she bent down, and launched herself up into the air, trying to gain momentum by kicking her legs. Lilo felt suddenly disoriented, she couldn't control her speed or direction anymore, and started to waft slowly. Angel arrived at the airlock, and placed Stitch inside, she then glanced back at Lilo, who had just barely gotten off the ground. "She's not going to make it..." Angel thought.

A serious expression dawned her face. "Hold on, I'm coming." She told Lilo silently. Taking a deep breath, she gripped the sides of the airlock door and catapulted herself full speed out of the airlock, plummeting toward the ground like a skydiver. She met Lilo halfway, and caught her in midair, and continued to plummet toward the metal floor of the station. Sentinels began to fire at her, but their accuracy was too slow for the speed Angel was going. Upon impact to the ground, Angel braced herself, and slammed hard against the grate platform. Shifting Lilo to her feet, Angel flattened her cheek against the floor, and pushed off with forceful scream. The sentinels continued to fire, and one hit Angel's back. She turned while drifting and shifted Lilo onto her back like she had Stitch positioned before, and hissed at the sentinels, while dodging the rest of their fire, all while speeding toward the ship faster then she was falling before.

The airlock began to close as the ship left the atmosphere, Angel was fighting against time, and she wasn't too happy about it. She turned around again, moving Lilo below her and locking her arms and legs together, narrowing herself, darting toward the closing doors at an insane speed, brushing past them just before they closed on her tail. She slammed hard into the metal wall, but recovered quickly, and slowly sat down as the low gravity left them.

"Are you ok?" She asked to the slump Lilo in her arms. There wasn't a response. A small impulse of fear ran through Angel's mind, but it was proved wrong as she looked at Lilo's face.. "She's asleep..." Angel chuckled to herself. "I guess I shouldn't have caught you so suddenly."

"How are they being?" Jumba asked, as Angel came quietly to the front of the ship.

"Still sleeping like babies." She replied, looking back. Stitch was calmly breathing on one end of the passenger seats, while Lilo slept soundly with her arm dangling to the floor on the other.

"Sheesh, what happened to them? Anesthetic?"

"I guess this whole thing took more out of both of them then they thought." Angel shrugged. "But somehow...I know it had something to do with Stitch and Lilo's embrace..." She said to herself.

"We will be entering earth's atmosphere in about five minutes. Will be about night time, would you perhaps help me to take them to their room when we are arriving back?"

"I can." She responded, looking out the windshield at the rainbow around them and smiling. Jumba was mostly silent for the rest of the trip. He closed his eyes and pressed the autopilot button.. "I still don't know..." Angel thought, after a moment. "I haven't thought about it for days...but I still don't know if I can talk about it with Stitch...I want to tell him, but I just don't know if it'll come out right..." Angel kept her thoughts centered around this subject until Jumba interrupted her.

"624...are you being conscious? Are being home, back on earth, at little girl's house." Angel snapped out of her contemplation, immediately noticing the trees that came into view outside the windshield. "Be coming along, am needing help carrying one of these two." Angel hopped off the seat, and walked toward the pair, still sleeping as if nothing had happened. "Pick one, I will take the other." Angel nodded, and lifted Stitch by the arms, getting him over her shoulder. Jumba reached for Lilo, but Angel put Stitch into his hands.

"Here." She said, as he caught Stitch, trying not to drop him onto Lilo.

"You're taking little girl then?" He asked curiously.

"Eh." She replied.

"Ok..." Jumba shrugged, "Is, by me, being fine." Angel seized Lilo and jumped out of the ship, hitting the soft grass loudly. Jumba had already headed for the house.

"Thank you..." Angel whispered to the sleeping girl, opening the door to the house after Jumba. "I think I understand now..." After arriving into the room at the top of the tower, she put Lilo gently onto the bed, and lifted the covers over her. She passed by Stitch, on her way to the window, and stared at him for a moment, finding the slumbering smile on his face peaceful.

"You are...going away then?" Jumba said, surprising Angel. She noticed that Jumba had a small needle in his hand, but didn't point that out.

"Eh...miga naga karubala..." She replied, shaking her head.

"Are you sure?" He asked, walking over to Stitch, and sticking the needle into the small welt on his neck.

"Miga rasuba."

"You know they'll let you stay, 624." He said rhetorically. Angel nodded slightly. "But, it is not matters I am comfortable with dealing. To be honest, I was wondering when you were going to show up. I knew it would be now or later, you've been around our area lately; the scanner, it does not lie." Angel's eyes opened wide, the setting sun's light glimmered off of them as Jumba turned toward the elevator..

"He's known I've been around this whole time? Then...that means..."

"I was going to tell 626, but he and little girl seemed to be occupied with other things." Jumba paused, staring at the blood sample he had taken of Stitch, his back still turned to Angel. "But is no matter." He smiled. "Am wishing you for good luck, my friend." He waved, as he pressed the elevator button and went down. Angel took in a sigh, staring at the two sleeping once again, before opening the window, and proceeding to the leafy meadow.

"I'll be waiting here, boochie-boo, like I waited before all of this happened. Maybe now we'll get a chance to talk." She said, imagining Stitch would hear her, as she walked off slowly into the twilight.

Stitch opened his eyes, sitting up quickly with a tiny yell as he woke abruptly from the dream that had played in his mind. He relived the whole thing over again, and scared himself awake just when the command of Hamsterveil would have shocked him again. He panted, relieved to see that he was in his bed, but still a bit confused.

"How did I get here?" He thought. "Wait, where's-," He jerked his head to the right, and spotted Lilo sleeping quietly halfway under the covers. He saw the rip in her left sleeve, and looked down at his right claw where the fabric had been before. Softly he sighed, knowing he was unable to get to sleep again, and climbed down out of the bed.

"Stitch?" Lilo groaned, waking up as he hit the ground with a muffled thud. She panned the room, but couldn't see him camouflaged against the wall. "Stitch?" She called louder, looking around again, but still didn't see anything in the dark room. She felt a small tap on her shoulder. "Sti-"She began to yell in surprise.

"Iga!" Stitch whispered loudly, clamping his hands over Lilo's mouth to keep her quiet. He put a finger to his lips; Lilo nodded her head as she relaxed her shoulders. "Soka...miga esupa tocusa." He apologized, his voice purring slightly.

"It's ok." She replied lowly, sitting up. "How are you feeling?"

"Neck hurts..." he said, jumping up on the bed and rubbing the swelling.

"I'm sorry." She said sympathetically, giving him a hug. "Hey...where's Angel?"

"Angel?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah," Lilo said with concern about Angel's absence, looking around the room, "she was just here...she must have left again. I wish she would stay."

"Stitch supposed to meet Angel." He said, recalling a few days ago.

"When?" Lilo asked curiously.

"Before kidnapped." He replied. Lilo looked at the dark wall, thinking for a second. "Ju sagusta mochi-"

"Stitch...go. See if you can find her." Lilo interrupted, as if she didn't hear him speak.

"Gaba?"

"She can't be far, go find her, you were supposed to meet her anyway."

"...Does Lilo have something to say to Angel?" He asked, wondering what made her give such an odd command.

"No...I just want you to meet her...that's all." She replied, putting a hand on his shoulder. Stitch sill gave a confused expression. "Just go...please?" Lilo asked, giving him a sad puppy act.

"Ok...ok..." Stitch replied submissively. He sniffed the air, and immediately caught Angel's scent, and looked back toward Lilo. She nodded him on, encouraging him to go. Hesitantly, he went toward the window, opened it, and leapt outside. The cool night air ruffled his fur, as he fluttered down from the tower, landing hard on the ground below. As soon as he caught his balance, he followed the freshest trail Angel had left.

He followed it into the woods, through the brush and around the trees; past the clearing where he had met her the first time, before Achie-baba Kino; past the lake that he remembered swimming in; past the very spot where he had been kidnapped by Gantu, just a few days ago; and finally he came upon the leafy meadow, where there was a lonely tree on a solitary hill. Angel's trail stopped, and he heard the rustling of the leaves down in the valley below.

"Angel?" He shouted, his voice echoing across the grassy hills, swaying in the light, night wind. "Angel?" He called again, knowing she was there. He walked along the meadow, through the thick layer of leaves. It suddenly caught his attention that there was a mass amount of leaves, for such a place that has not many trees. Stitch stopped, listening for something that sounded different from the wind rustling the soft green ground. Over to his left, and close behind him on the slope of a hill, he heard the thump of a footstep. "Angel?"

She blinked and flinched as Stitch turned around, almost as if she was about to run and hide. Her hands were together nervously, like a shy schoolgirl about to ask her boyfriend out on a date. Stitch stepped up onto the hill, noticing the tree behind Angel in his perspective. She sat down; the expression on her face saddened a little as her hands came to her knees. Stitch slowed his pace, and sat on the grass next to her, facing the leaves in the meadow, the moon behind them blocked by the hump of the hill. Stitch knew that Angel was troubled, and wanted to ask her what was on her mind, but he dared not speak. She knew he wouldn't talk, unless she spoke first, or asked him a question.

"I...used to hate her..." She said nervously, trying not to look at him directly in the eyes.. Stitch's expression didn't change; the slight smile on his face was telling her that he would let her go at her own pace; that he was listening to her undividedly. "I used to hate Lilo." She finally confessed, closing her eyes and looking away.

"Why?" Stitch asked, intimating for her to explain more, putting an arm around her shoulder.

"I used to think...that she was taking you away from me." She said, still looking down with her eyes closed shamfully. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For deceiving you...and luring you into a trap. I shouldn't have made you fight Achie-baba Kino."

"Stitch forgive; all in past." He told her, putting his paw on hers, and leaning toward her affectionately. She smiled with comfort, looking up at his gentle kindness..

"I know...but I still want to tell you..." Stitch nodded, as she looked at him, his smile still calm and friendly. "I was with her, when we tried to rescue you. She and I were on an alien planet alone for a short time." Stitch remained silent, and closed his eyes to imagine every word Angel was saying, as Angel took a moment to gather her thoughts. "Though there were times before...it was really then that I finally realized, she wasn't taking you away from me. I was just jealous, and blaming it on her, avoiding you." Angel laid down as well, taking in a sigh of satisfaction.

"What did Angel want to talk about, before Stitch was kidnapped?"

"That was what I was going to talk to you about...I wanted to get that off my shoulders...but I sort of did that on my own. However...there was one other thing..."

"Will Angel stay?" Stitch asked quickly, but meekly, sneaking in the question when Angel least expected it.

"That was the other thing...Stitch, I can't stay...I've only had a little while to think about it...but I've decided I can't."

"Can Angel at least say why this time?" He asked, the same way as before.

"I don't know if you would understand...I can't exactly describe it..."

"Try. Stitch wants to know." He pleaded. Angel sighed; this was the topic she didn't know how to discuss quite well. But Stitch didn't pressure her at all. He merely stared up at the stars, awaiting her response.

"When the hangar was about to explode, after Achie-baba Kino was defeated, I looked in and saw you two. You looked where I had been, and then immediately buffered Lilo from the explosion, after you saw I wasn't around. At first, I thought, 'what if I was there, would he have protected me instead?'" Stitch squinted harder into the darkness of the night sky, trying to see what Angel saw during the time of that incident.

"But then...another thought occurred to me. 'What if Lilo got hurt at the cost of Stitch protecting me?'" She said, terry-eyed. "And now, I ended up having to take your role and had to be with her. But...whenever she asked me what I would do when we finally got to you...the only thing that came on my mind was 'Don't let Stitch hurt Lilo.'" Angel looked away, trying to hide her tears from him. "And now...it's like I can't figure out what to do. I've been evil, boochie-boo. I sided with Hamserveil and almost got Lilo hurt...or worse. And even before, when I was protecting her against you, all I could think to do was hurt you until you were unconscious. No matter what I do, I always end up being evil."

"Naga evil, Angel good." He exclaimed, trying to cheer her up.

"No...you're good...I'm not. I want to be...but it's like there's something inside of me that's commanding me now. I don't know what it is...and I'm afraid it will make me do something worse then Achie-baba Kino. I don't want to hurt you or Lilo anymore, but it constantly is telling me to." Angel spoke, hiding her desperation for help, and confusion. A spark shined in Stitch's eyes, after he thought about what she described for a moment, and he smiled with understanding.

"Stitch understands." He stated. "Stitch felt like Angel does now, long before Angel was activated." He reached to dry Angel's tears. "Each one of us has program. Stitch's program was to destroy. Miga evil before, but, disobeyed program, and now, miga good. Angel starting to disobey program."

"Going... against my program?"

"Eh. Angel good...just doesn't see it. But Stitch see it, right now." He said kindly, putting a hand to her cheek, and stroking it gently. Another idea came to him, and he smiled with excitement. "Lilo help Stitch turn good, Lilo can help Angel shibisa! Ju sugashta, gubataga?"

"It's...simple..." Angel said, thinking about what Stitch explained. It made sense to her completely.

"Angel stay now?" Stitch asked again, a bit quieter, but more excited. Angel closed her eyes and looked down as she sat up.

"I want to...but I still can't." Stitch began to speak again, but Angel put a finger to his lips. "And my reason now, is this: you can't be around to protect Lilo and me if something like Achie-baba Kino happens again. And...I'd rather you only had one person to worry about, rather then two. I know how much you care for Lilo, you showed me that when she was returning you back to normal earlier today. You almost choked me, but you wouldn't lay a nail on her. You hold her higher in your heart then me, I think." Stitch looked at his feet with guilt, almost as if Angel was scolding him.

"Soka..."

"No...it's not a bad thing..." Angel quickly comforted him, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I'd rather it be her you care for then me. As long as there's a threat out there, I can't stay around and have you protect me, while Lilo is in danger too." Stitch gave a submissive sigh, and let Angel cuddle against his neck, as her way of trying to convince him to let her go.

"Miga lasopa." He told her slwoly.

"That's it? You're really going to let me go?"

"Eh. Angel's decision, and...Stitch agrees. As long as Angel comes by...every now and then?" Angel smiled, and nodded her head, small fog of subtle happiness forming over her eyes. The clouds in the sky lit up, as a ray of sunlight tipped up over the horizon.

"Stitch...you'd better go." Angel said, standing up quickly, and holding a paw out to him.

"Why so soon?" He asked, taking her hand.

"Lilo will be worried...if you don't come back before sunrise. Trust me...neither of us want to be worried about you missing again." Stitch smiled. Angel noticed the blush that was on his face in the light, and wondered how long it had been there. "Go." She commanded, kissing him on the cheek. He blinked a few times, surprised by the sudden affection, stared into Angel's eyes for a moment longer, and then quickly took off toward the house. "That was so simple..." Angel thought, as she saw her love disappear into the darkness with a confident and lighthearted stride. "All of the answers were right in front of me...I just didn't want to see them..."

Stitch climbed quietly through the window, shutting it lightly, half expecting Lilo to be awake when he arrived. However, as he glanced over, she was fast asleep. Swiftly he dropped down to the floor, and lightly pounced on the bed, not making a sound or motion. Meekly, he crawled on all fours to Lilo, and pushed up under her arm, situating it around his neck.

"Huh?" She asked, suddenly startled, but didn't say anything else. Stitch closed his eyes, and softly purred, as Lilo smiled and began to scratch his ears. The silence was calming. The two 'siblings' didn't speak at all, and merely enjoyed each other's company, as now things were back to normal. Inside, both of them felt relieved, and yet empty.

After what had happened the last month, they were glad things were quiet again. But at the same time, they wished that something else would happen. Because it seemed like every time they were put against an impossible trial to overcome. And even though they lost hope, it all turned out right in the end, and each time they were brought closer together.

"Stitch loves Lilo." He whispered softly, breaking the silence, but only once. Lilo smiled back.

"I love you too, Stitch."

Atichura

(The end)

(Protection: coming soon.)