Passion

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

Chapter 2: Sleepless Night

Thunder rumbled across the air more violently than ever. Lightning struck at the ground with a fierce bite, and rain now turned to small bits of hail that thudded and clunked against the windows and walls. An uneasy sleeper was stirred, but not by the noise coming from outside.

Stitch opened his eyes and found himself wide-awake, like someone had flipped a switch inside of him. However, two flashes of light passed before he could muster up the ability to register what he was seeing. The room was pitch black; so dark that he had to raise his hand to his eyes to make sure they were open. He scratched his head and noiselessly came to a sit, trying to look around in vain.

He wondered what had aroused him. At first he thought it was the storm; it was loud enough after all. Perhaps he was startled by an unearthly loud thunderclap. But as another flash of light came, something near Lilo's bed caught his attention.

Angel sat, hugging her knees; her eyes open but not seeing anything. She was tired; that much could be told by the split second Stitch saw her. She looked as though she was ready to fall over again, but something was keeping her up. Stitch quietly let himself down, the noise of the hail muffling his movements. He took his bed sheet with him as he made his way over to Angel. She let out a gasp and her fur stood on end as she suddenly felt something heavy cover her body.

"Shush." Stitch whispered, fitting the sheet around her shoulders. "Only miga." He said calmly. She let out the breath she'd taken in slowly, and relaxed, taking the sheet in her hands and hugging it close around her. Stitch took the spot next to her. "Couldn't sleep?" He whispered.

"N…naga." She replied, stuttering.

"Dreaming again?"

"I…well, yeah…but…"

"But…" He repeated. She looked ahead, at the window. Stitch noticed she was shivering a bit, but it wasn't that cold at all. "I, uh," she glanced back at him, he looked back, not sure of why she was so agitated, "I don't think you know this…but…you won't laugh will you?"

"Kajasha gaba?" He asked, lifting an eyebrow. "What's she so worried about?"

"I'm," she looked up at him sheepishly, "I'm afraid of thunderstorms…" She finished, whispering lower. Stitch twitched his ears, looking at her as she jumped and tightened the covers around her when a loud thunderclap that rung in his ears hit the house. She glanced up after it quieted, and saw Stitch's grin, trying to suppress a snicker. "You said you wouldn't laugh!" She hissed, embarrassed.

"S…s…soka." He finally managed to reply, having to abort the word into just a breath so that he didn't laugh. She still kept the hurt glare on him, and he put his ears down with guilt. "I really am." He said quietly, hugging her. Her eyes relaxed and she smiled as she released an arm to return the gesture. "Good thing cousins let Angel come here." He chuckled. Angel's smile faded a bit. "One thing Stitch not understand," he said, shifting off his legs, which were losing circulation, "why didn't Angel stay?"

"Gabitcha choosha?" She asked, taking the sheet in her hand and wrapping it around Stitch.

"Angel came here, but Angel smarter. You knew it was dangerous, why didn't you stay where you were already safe?" He finished in his native tongue. She looked back at him, with a blank stare, like she didn't have an answer. "Angel?" He asked rhetorically, as she blinked the water from her eyes.

"It's not their fault, they just didn't understand, and it was just better-"

"Not understand what?" Stitch interrupted. Angel paused while she sat up to face him. She started to speak, but hesitated. "Naga ishkatu…if you don't want to." He said sympathetically.

"No…I suppose you'd figure it out one way or another." She replied, putting a hand on his. "The real reason why I came here wasn't exactly because the other's suggested I should." She continued admittedly, "I wanted to stay and help, I really did, but they all believe…" She paused, as if afraid to say it.

"Believe what?"

"They all believe I'm still evil." She finally said, closing her eyes. She was afraid of his reaction. She heard a low growl in her ears. "Don't be mad." She pleaded, looking back at him.

"Not right." He retorted.

"Not all of them thought that way, Slushy tried to convince them but…they wouldn't listen." That made sense to Stitch. After all, Slushy was with them, when they went to rescue Jumba and Pleakley from Achie-baba Kino. And it was he who rescued Angel before the eruption. Stitch wondered if he should talk to him again, maybe the two of them together could convince the others. Stitch relaxed, the forgiving eyes of Angel coaxed him to drop his anger. "They just don't understand yet, so don't be angry at them, ok?"

"Oketaka." He finally replied after a pause. Angel smiled again, and put her arms around him.

"That's my boochie-boo." She said happily. He hugged her back, but at the wrong time; what felt like an earthquake shook the room after a deafening cackle of thunder. Angel would have screamed had Stitch not covered her mouth, and she would have probably jumped through the roof had he not held her so tightly. He could feel her heart racing with fear as she clung to him for a long moment, as the rumbling steadily ceased.

"Angel really afraid." He said, releasing his hand from her mouth, revealing teeth marks on his fingers from when she'd accidentally bitten him in surprise.

"I…I'm sorry. It's really silly." She said bashfully.

"Miga-to ishkaba" He replied, wringing his hand to stop the stinging. "For someone who has the nerve to jump into a ship in low gravity with two people clinging onto her and a horde of sentinels at her heels, being afraid of a little thunderstorm is kind of humorous…" He replied. (Which, in his tongue were about half as many words.) Angel leered at him, the hurt expression returned to her eyes.

"He's not getting out of that one with just an apology." She thought, as her shifted from offended to mischievous. He seemed to respond to the expression, as his changed from sarcastic to uneasy. Angel's teeth showed with a large, and evil looking smile, and her eyes squinted menacingly.

"Oh naga." Stitch said plainly, setting down his ears. He knew she wasn't going to hurt him, and even though her actions were playful, they were surprisingly aggressive. Half struggling, Stitch found himself pinned down by her. The sheet was thrown every which way as he tried to get out.

"I'm not letting you get away." She laughed. Stitch laughed as well, unable to get out of the simple hold she had on him. Her arms had his wrists, and though it was weak, she had his legs immobilized with hers. After struggling for a good while, Stitch quieted deliberately, keeping Angel distracted while he put an element of surprise into play.

Out from his sides came the two extra arms he usually kept hidden away. For a split second he thought of when Lilo was in his body, and how she said this action made her sick to her stomach (or technically, his stomach). He didn't feel any such nausea. In fact, he didn't see how the extra appendages could possibly feel strange, as they helped him in many ways when he needed them; in this case, escape.

Angel's eyes widened and the shimmer near the top quivered as she felt something tickle her sides. But that only made her more aggressive. She changed her weight, and gripped his wrists tighter, twisting her body and taking him with her motion. A rumble of thunder muffled the noise of Stitch colliding with the bedside table.

"Are you alright?" Angel asked, rubbing Stitch's head where the place of contact was. Stitch blinked the spots away from his eyes, and groaned as he propped himself against the table. Angel heard Lilo murmur, and suddenly remembered that the girl was sleeping. She peeked up onto the bed to see if Lilo had awakened, but saw her eyes closed. "We'd better cool it, I don't want to wake her up." Angel said, letting go of the bed and returning her attention to Stitch.

"Eh." He whispered, sitting up. "Ow." Came his voice again, along with another bonk as his head made contact with the lip of the table hanging over the side.

"Boochie-boo." Angel said sympathetically, rubbing his head again.

"I'm ok, I'm fluffy." He said, blinking away the stars again. Another rumble shook the house, and Angel let out a low, worried groan, but was distracted as she heard something metallic hit something soft. "Chiba." Came Stitch's voice, as she looked over at him.

"What was that?" She asked, looking at what he picked up off his stomach. He looked at the object, and then at Angel. "Can I see?" She asked.

"Suga." He replied, handing it to her. She took it with care, and examined it for a moment. A thick line of gold-painted metal surrounded a polished stone of what color Angel couldn't tell. She swept her fingers across the stone and felt the cold, smooth, surface, and a few scratches that were present.

"I've seen something like this before…a few days ago…"

"Pendant," Stitch said, "Stitch gave to Lilo."

"A pendant?" She repeated.

"Eh. At least, Lilo calls it that."

"Do you have one?" She asked, returning Lilo's to Stitch.

"Eh, Lilo gave Stitch one, iba…" He thought for a second, and then looked down, "Pendant lost, somewhere."

"That's sweet." Angel said, "What did you give them to each other for?"

"Lilo gave Stitch first. Pendant color describes personality. Stitch green, for promise and hope. Lilo red, for determination and ambition." He said, placing the red-stoned pendant back on the table. He had forgotten all about them, and silently wondered where his was.

"Wait a minute, yours was green?" She asked, rather quickly. Stitch nodded. "Then it was yours that I remember seeing." She said, excited that she finally put her finger on it."We found it when you had gone missing. In truth, that's how we found you, it had Gantu's name written on it."

"Maybe Lilo has it somewhere." Stitch wondered aloud. He smiled with hope.

"What color do you think I would be?" Angel asked, moving to sit beside him. He moved to give her room, and waited for her to get settled.

"Naga nota." He replied, as she looked at him. Her feet grabbed the sheet, and she lifted it to cover them. "Does Angel want one?" Stitch asked, as the sheet enveloped everything below his neck.

"I don't know. It sounds nice, but you don't have to. I'm so careless, I might end up losing it anyway." She giggled, resting her head on his shoulder. She smiled peacefully and closed her eyes, and didn't even stir when, quite possibly, the loudest thunderclap of the night sounded right overhead.

"Maybe…" Stitch thought. "White." He replied, answering her question. But she wasn't able to hear; she was asleep on his shoulder. Stitch smiled and covered her with the sheets, careful not to disturb her, and fell asleep a moment later for the rest of the night.