Protection

C/By Kenjaje

Chapter 4: Odd Encounter

"Well," Stitch spoke initiatively "it looks like we're stuck for a while, so..." He paused, thinking of what words to use to put into his idea. "We're going to have to be each other."

"Gaba ju chuga?"

"I mean, you have to be me, and I have to be you. If we don't, then things will probably get really complicated...we have to try and make the best of it until we can get back to normal...if-"

"Naga. Will." Lilo interrupted, cutting off Stitch's correction.

"Right," he agreed, "we will get back to normal." Lilo smiled.

"Stitch agrees with Lilo, live as each other...but how? Miga confused." She shrugged, looking at the he that she should be.

"It's simple." Stitch explained. "All we have to do is act like each other. You know; say what each other says, do what each other does...walk in each other's shoes." He raised his arms to help explain.

"Oh...now understand." Lilo said, thumping her head. Stitch let his arms down and sighed with relief, he was running out of ways to explain it. "Ok...uh...what does Stitch do?"

"Well," Stitch began to pace around Lilo, scrutinizing her, "you slump your shoulders like I do...and your movements are similar..." Lilo bent down and walked on hands and knees to put the brush back on the table. "But you're going to have to not walk on all four's." Immediately Lilo stood on two feet, and took the remaining steps to the table. "Now what about me?"

"What about Stitch?" She asked mockingly, smiling.

"Let's focus, ok?"

"Oketaka." Lilo sighed as she walked to Stitch. "Let Stitch see..." She spoke with a tone of examination. "Bark." She commanded softly.

"What?"

"Stitch acts like dog, now Lilo have to act like dog too." She explained.

"Oh, now I see." Stitch bent down on all fours and gave out a meek little yip. "This is harder then it seems..." He thought as he tried to bark again, only sounding a bit more realistic compared to the last attempt. Lilo bent down, and put a finger on Stitch's throat.

"Here. Bark from here." She advised. Stitch tried his best to make the barking emanate from that point, and it sounded a lot more realistic. "Good," Lilo chimed, folding her arms, "but needs improvement." Stitch raised an eyebrow as he looked up sideways at her. "Try growling."

"Grr..." He growled, though much like the barking, it wasn't very realistic.

"Naga, naga," Lilo put a hand over Stitch's mouth to stop him, "caba miga." She said, as she demonstrated. Stitch watched as Lilo leveled some saliva in her throat and growled most convincingly. "Wow." Stitch thought. "If I had fangs I could pass as a werewolf and sneak into their society." Lilo stopped and swallowed. "Ju-cta." She said, motioning her hands.

"Ok," Stitch imitated the performance; gathered a puddle of saliva around his tongue and forced it halfway down his throat. With a few attempts, he was able to get a nice, clean, realistic growl. Lilo nodded with approval. "Cool! I can't see why you don't like being a dog so much..."

"It...degrading...sometimes..." Lilo let out a fake sniff of sadness. Both of them laughed for a moment, and continued to teach each other how to act the other person. Though it seemed, fun, there was still the nagging feeling about what Jumba said: "Could be permanent." Lilo shook her head to get the thought off her mind.

"Man," Stitch said, walking over to the clock, "why couldn't this have happened sometime like last night? It's only 11:30...we got to spend the whole day like this." Lilo slumped her shoulders. "Maybe even longer then that."

"Stitch and Lilo help Jumba." Lilo spoke, suggesting an idea to keep them occupied.

"We could. I don't see why not...let's go see." Stitch agrred as Lilo led the way into the elevator and pressed the button. Quietly it hummed down with the sound of rushing air outside. It stopped at the bottom, and the two turned around to walk out the other side. "Oh...wait..." Stitch said suddenly.

"Gaba?" Lilo asked, looking at her friend with urgency.

"I want to drink some coffee..." Stitch trailed curiously. Lilo smacked a hand to her face and shrugged her shoulders.

"Oketaka..." She said ominously, almost warning Stitch it was a bad idea. She chased after him as he scampered down the stairs, and almost fell down a third of the flight. In seconds they had reached the coffee machine, full of the morning batch. Nani hadn't woken up yet. "Thank goodness is Saturday." Stitch thought. Deftly he poured a cup into a mug and sat still for a few seconds.

"Here goes nothing..." And with that downed the coffee in a single gulp, nearly chocking on the steaming, soupy liquid as it scorched her throat slightly. "Ow!" He yipped, panting and fanning at his mouth.

"Should have added milk." Lilo chimed in.

"You should've told me-"A gurgle was felt in Stitch's stomach. He looked down with curiosity and surprise at the odd feeling. It was like the coffee was boiling inside of him. Soon, he felt a wave of energy rush through his veins, and he opened eyes wide. "Whoa!" He suddenly had an uncontrollable and hyperactive desire to let loose and go crazy. Even though it was Lilo in his body, it was just like the real thing; Stitch gave out a crazy laugh and raised his arms as if he had all the power in the world, and then proceeded to burst past Lilo and out into the backyard.

"Oh naga." Lilo groaned. "Not Stitch's day." She rolled her eyes and without a moment's pause, chased after her caffeine-crazed body. Stitch ran free and violent through the backyard, an entire forest was his to corrupt. He stepped upon flowers and jumped in leaves, spat mucus on animals and scared anything that moved. Scared everything except Lilo, who was charging toward her.

"Catch me if you can!" Stitch challenged, leaping away and eluding a lunge-grab from Lilo by near seconds. Lilo rolled over, and stood to her feet, and immediately fell over from dizziness. As soon as the trees above her head merged into one, she knew it was safe for her to stand up again.

"At least she didn't have coconut cake..." Lilo thought. "There's nothing that can stop me after coconut cake..." Lilo ditched her sandels (Stitch was more adept with bare feet) and darted forward, intent on closing in the gap she had allowed Stitch to create.

He, on the other hand, was already heaving at a tree a far distance away. But, he was only stopping for a few seconds, he knew that his former self would catch up to him, after all, it was her body, and she always managed to catch up to Stitch. As soon as he could, he gunned it.

Passing everything in a blur; a smear of brown crossed his eyes as the trees blended into a single wall on either side of him. But that stopped abruptly as he smacked into one of those blurs which happened to be in his path. Groaning with pain and rubbing his cheek, he hazily walked onward, half paying attention to where he was going.

He came upon a large clearing, where the forest seemed to end. A few hills surrounded a small indention in the land that was enclosed by hill in the far side; a little meadow full of leaves, and no way for them to get out. A grassy hill surrounded each side, and on one hill in particular, was a tree that he recognized.

Slowly he staggered toward the tree, it seemed a longer walk than what he saw. He covered the distance in what seemed like three or four minutes before finally taking a rest at the tree.

"I'll let him catch up." He said aloud, closing his eyes. "This was fun..."

"Ikaba..." Lilo snorted as she sprinted her fastest through the forest. "How Lilo so fast...Stitch barely crawling." Of course, he was comparing her speed to his own. For some reason, he couldn't harness the power to run as fast as she could. Even though he was pushing her body to a sprint, it still seemed slow.

But it was much easier to weave in and out of the trees. In his own body he had to constantly be aware of his surroundings as he sped his way through cluttered paths, but as Lilo he could see every obstacle clear as day.

"So...slow..." Her voice groaned, mocking slow motion. Deciding to take his time, he paced Lilo's body to a walk and continued on after a short breather.

"Gatchooto...gatchooto boochie-boo."

"Huh?" Stitch opened his eyes, his vision blurry as his eyes started to slow down from their rapid movement. He felt dizzy, and his cheek hurt a little. The pink smear soon turned solid. "Wha-!"

"Gutcha, boochie-boo." Angel chimed, closing in for a kiss. Stitch slammed his back against the tree with surprise, shacking down a few leaves and sending a jolt of pain through his spine. "Gaba okuta?" Angel asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Oh...ah..." Stitch began to sweat nervously, glancing his black eyes around erratically. "Oh man...what do I do? This is not a good time for Stitch to see Angel..." Stitch gulped in heavily. In a panic Lilo said the first thing that came into her mind.

"Miga...rookoota agie-tichu..." Angel's eyes widened, a perplexed look crossed her face.

"Oh...I had no idea..." Angel spoke, a tone of worry in her voice. "What did I just say?" Stitch thought. "Do you need help or something? Because...I don't think I'm the right kind of person to come to when you have that sort of problem..."

"Oh...uh...naga..."

"You were just kidding...right?" Angel asked, a tone of seriousness in her voice.

"E-eh...?" Stitch gulped again, hoping he slid out of that one without making himself look like a fool. "Note to self: ask Stitch what I just said so that I won't say it again...I really need to learn how to speak his language should this random event ever occur again."

"Lilo!" Lilo hollered from a distance, Stitch looked over and sighed heavily with relief. "Oh look," He thought, "here comes Stitch. Nice timing!"

"Gutcha Lilo!" Angel hollered back to her referred. "boochie-boo, why did you come? I know it's not just because you wanted to tell me you were having problems with your-"

"Gutcha Angel." Angel turned toward Lilo with surprise, not expecting the earthling to reply in turin. Angel timidly waved hi back, and moved aside as Lilo seized hold of Stitch around the neck. "Naga coffee for Lilo." She scolded. Angel immediately knew something was up, and it was confusing her. Stitch began to struggle and writhe against Lilo's grip but it was to no avail. Their struggle soon turned to Angel's direction, and she had seconds to respond and step to the side as the two tumbled over each other at her.

"Jusa-kappa!" Angel yelled, her voice echoing across the hills. Immediately the two squabbling blurs stopped their feud and looked at her with undivided attention. She heaved in a sigh. "You two are acting funny...is this some sort of game or something? I mean...I'm not mad or anything I'm just confused is all..." Lilo looked down at Stitch, and Stitch back at her.

"Ju naga ishka?" Lilo asked.

"Well...not exactly...I mean, I didn't want to make you look bad..." He replied meekly.

"Tell me what?" Angel asked, her hands on her hips.

"Uh...well..." Stitch began, "that's kind of a long story...got a minute?" He said with a toothy smile.