Passion

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

Chapter 7: Kiss

All this time she'd been masked by fog, by a cloud, or been a shadow against the sky; Stitch honestly wasn't expecting Zeus to be a girl. His mouth parted slightly from awe, but quickly he dropped his surprise. Angel was standing still, about a foot and a half away from Stitch, with Zeus in between them off to the side.

"Zeus," Stitch said calmly, raising a hairdryer, "naga agatooka, don't want to hurt." Zeus turned her face to look at Stitch, and smiled. Stitch flinched at the gesture, but pointed both dryers as he recovered. "Not joking. Don't make Stitch-" A crackle of lightning made Stitch jump slightly, and his hand flew back with recoil as the dryer it held exploded with a tiny pop.

"Stitch!" Angel yelled, hoping he wasn't hurt. She saw him step back to get his balance, and then leap forward to latch on to Zeus—his efforts were in vain. When in range, he clicked on the dryer; the hot air blew out immediately, but didn't seem to affect Zeus at all. As he neared her, Zeus gripped the barrel of the dryer, and her hand melted away rather quickly. An expression of surprise came over her eyes as she saw her hand disappearing. She sent a bolt of electricity through the device, which sent Stitch flying backward, landing hard on the ground.

Angel rushed over in the blink of an eye to pick him up, but by the time she got there he was already halfway to his feet on his own. Propping him over her shoulder she lifted him the rest of the way, and panned his body for any injuries.

"I'm okay." He said, noticing Angel's worriment. "I'm fluffy." Angel smiled. Even in a very serious moment like this he was still the same old Stitch. He looked back to where Zeus was; she was inspecting the smoking hairdryer—distracted. Stitch looked back at Angel and nodded his head toward Zeus, signifying he had a plan. He slid out of her arms and slithered toward the experiment, who didn't seem to notice him.

Angel stared as she tried to figure out what Stitch's plan was; he was going to surprise Zeus from behind that much she knew, but what was her part? She shifted the hairdryer that was hidden under her arm.

"Wait, that's it!" She realized.

"Angel, juegata!" She heard Stitch shout, as he came up from behind Zeus and ensnared the experiment. His upper arms went under her arms and looped around to the back of her neck, and one lower arm, holding his third hairdryer, went around her stomach, to keep her from struggling. Angel, now acting on impulse, leapt forward, and at point-blank range, turned on the dryer in her hands.

Stitch muffled something, and Angel lowered the appliance to hear what he was saying. Upon seeing Stitch, she realized that there was something missing—Zeus. Angel turned around just in time to see Zeus form from a puddle on the ground; rising up and striking the dryer in her hand, sending it to the ground in pieces. Angel quickly tried to duck away, but was too late, and in a flash she found herself enveloped in some sort of restraint that Zeus had fabricated from another puddle on the ground under Angel's feet. She was unable to move, and Zeus was now making her way toward Stitch.

"You want another one?" Nani asked, holding the pendant by the strap to examine it as it rotated.

"Yeah." Said Lilo.

"What did you do with the other one? Are you starting a new collection or something?"

"Uh…yeah, that's it. Actually, it's for Stitch, he likes them a lot, and I thought it might be time he started a hobby." Lilo was glad for the little excuse; the real reasons for the pendants were somewhat personal, and even though Nani would probably think it was a nice idea, she was still a bit shy about revealing their symbolism.

"Well, I think it's great the little monster has a hobby. By the way, you forgot to tell me your camera was full, so I took the liberty of developing the pictures for you." Nani said, as she handed Lilo the packet of photos.

"Thanks Nani." Lilo said happily, hugging her sister.

"You're welcome. I've still got a few more things to get, you want to come?"

"Sure." Lilo said, taking the pendant from Nani and following her sister down the isles. She opened the packet and looked through the pictures, all of which were of either tourists, or experiments.

Zeus walked slowly toward Stitch, who tried to stand as relaxed as possible in case she would try to attack him. She seemed aggressive, and remembering what occurred the night before, Stitch knew she was full of surprises. He stopped himself midway in taking a step back; he didn't want Zeus to be able to predict what he was going to do. Angel was captured, lying on the ground; something surrounded her body up to her shoulders, only allowing her neck to move. It was translucent and blue. Stitch assumed it was either water or some kind of gel.

"What's wrong, afraid I'll attack you?" Zeus asked. Her voice was oddly calm; she was actually asking the question rather than trying to sound provoking.

"Oh, so she can talk." Angel jibed, trying to struggle to get free. Zeus shot a glance back at her, and the gel surrounding Angel's shoulders crawled up past her lower jaw, freezing it in place, and disabling her ability to speak.

"Egata!" Stitch snapped, raising his hands to a stance.

"Calm down." Zeus ordered. "I'm not here to fight." She took another step forward, and put a hand on Stitch's closest fist, pushing it down.

"Naga jokita?" Stitch asked perplexedly. "Gaba metooka chakatu?" Stitch asked with disbelief.

"I wasn't trying to attack you last night! I was trying to get you alone." Stitch's eyes bulged for a second; silently asking Zeus what she was talking about. "I suppose I should explain myself, shouldn't I?" She asked rhetorically. Stitch noticed she was acting rather strange, almost embarrassed, or shy. He also noticed that droplets of water seemed to melt off of her like ice cream; he wondered if she was sweating.

"Explain…what?" Stitch asked. Zeus looked away for a second, trying to shoot a glance at Angel, but then turned her head back to Stitch and grabbed his hand.

"I'm pretty sure by our encounter last night, that you know who I am. Well, to be truthful, I know who you are, 626." Stitch blinked his eyes.

"Is she trying to be formal?" He thought. "Stitch," he said to her, "my name Stitch." She smiled back at him. "How does she know me?"

"Stitch then. But, more to the point, I've seen you many times since I've been activated. And, even though I've only seen you, except for last night when we met face-to-face…well…" Her speaking pace seemed to speed up as she continued, and Stitch noticed that the hand she held on to was beginning to get soaked.

"What is she talking about?" Angel thought, as she ceased her struggle to get free. It was impossible to get out of whatever she was in. It felt like ice, except it wasn't cold. She tried to move her arms and legs but couldn't get a shift out of them. She was thankful she could still breathe though, and stared curiously at Zeus and Stitch. "She's been 'watching' him? And why is she holding his hand like that? …Wait a minute…"

"After I saw how you rescued your friend, I realized that you weren't so evil, like Gantu had said you were. To be quite honest, I think you're very brave, and I kind of like that." She said with a blush. "I don't know exactly how to say this without you thinking I'm crazy but…I love you."

"What!" Angel's mind shouted with surprise, as she widened her eyes and raised her pupils up to see Zeus and Stitch's heads. But she immediately regretted looking at them now. Inside of her chest, Angel's heart skipped a beat, as she saw Zeus kissing Stitch on the lips.

"Jumba, Pleakley, we're home!" Lilo shouted as she kicked the front door open. Expectedly, no one was there to hear her. She shrugged her shoulders and continued in, her arms carrying two bags of her and Nani's goods. She hopped up on the kitchen table chair upon reaching it and dropped the bags on the table itself. She immediately began sifting through the one she knew contained the pendant, and pulled it out with a jerk as it got stuck around the milk jug. No sooner than had it slid free did Lilo jump down and bolt up the stairs to the elevator.

"Stitch, are you here?" She yelled, before she stepped inside. She waited a few seconds but didn't hear an answer. "Must be outside." She said to herself, as she ran down the stairs and out the back door. "Stitch!"

"Little girl?" Came Jumba's voice almost immediately.

"Jumba?" She asked, running around the house to the back where Jumba's voice originated.

"Hello little girl. Back from market-shopping so soon?"

"Yeah, have you seen Stitch?" Lilo asked in one breath.

"No, have not seen 626 since he left for to capture 599." Jumba replied. His attention was soon turned to Pleakley screaming, and of what sounded like Cobra's voice telling him to be careful. "Eh…One moment." He told Lilo as he jogged behind the bushes. Lilo followed him curiously through the greenery, and came upon what looked like a usual project Jumba was working on. Pleakley, she found, was wrapped around inside a giant fan, and Cobra was trying to help him out.

"What are you guys doing?" Lilo asked, as Cobra finally pulled Pleakley's wiry body out of the fan.

"Pleakley and Mr. Bubblies-"

"For the last time, it's Bubbles." Cobra interrupted, standing straight and stolidly as he always did.

"Right, Bubbles." Jumba confirmed. "Anyway, we are working on device that will help capture 599." Jumba tossed the towel he picked up to wipe his hands while speaking, and proceeded over to the fan; Lilo following.

"But I thought Stitch and Angel were going to capture Zeus. I mean I still don't understand why we need to make something if we might not need it. And what's it supposed to be anyway? You've been keeping it a secret ever since you mentioned it this morning." She said, turned to the buggy next to her—which was where the focus of the project seemed to be—and lifted up the hood.

"Would take too long to explain exactly, but, 626 and 624 may be able to find and evaporate 599, but will not be able to evaporate experiment enough to weaken it. Will be needing much more heat."

"And that's what you're making? A giant heat-generator?"

"Exactly." Jumba replied. "Alright, break time over, back to work." He said to Cobra and Pleakley. "Little girl should wait inside for 626 and 624, is very dangerous out here; older sibling would have Jumba's head if she found little girl was around such dangerous equipment."

"Alright," Lilo said, rolling her eyes, "I guess I'll update the experiment log while I wait." She parted the bushes and leapt back through, heading back toward the house. Before she got to the door, an explosion sounded off, and she heard Jumba screaming with frustration. Giggling to herself, she opened the door, and headed inside.