Passion

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

Chapter 10: To Speak The Heart

"Why did he run?" Angel thought, sighing as she leaned against the old knotted tree on the hill.

"He ran because of me, he thought I was angry at him." She replied to her thoughts.

"But the look on his face before he fled, it almost seemed like he felt remorseful about something." She was well aware by now that her thoughts were challenging her words.

"Oh shut up." She replied, with a bored tone. "Stop thinking, you're just making excuses. It wasn't his fault; it was mine. I may as well have attacked him instead of Zeus. She kissed him, not the other way around. I had no right to intervene."

"But you did."

"Of course I did. At the time, I thought it was unfair; Zeus shouldn't have kissed him and told him she loved him because I did. I mean…I still do. It just…made me angry that she was doing that in front of me, that's all."

"Angry? You were more than angry."

"Was I? Was it…jealousy then? No…well, maybe. What does it matter, the point is, I tried to stop him because I thought he wanted me to…and I ended up blowing it."

"Do you think he still loves you? Do you think he'll come to you?"

"I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't come back to me though. Only a miracle would make him want to willingly see me again after what I did." She sighed again, her thoughts finally stopping, and stared at the cloudy sky. The sun was barely visible, only a spot of lighter clouds pinpointed where it was; it seemed a good distance past the highest point of the sky.

A drop of water hit her eye, which made her blink, but not with surprise. She suddenly felt a cold chill run down her back, and her pulse increased as she tried to slow her breathing. She closed her eyes and slid down the tree, eventually sitting with her arms crossed over her knees, and her head resting against them. She knew Zeus was back, but what she didn't realize was how close Zeus was to her.

"Hurry Stitch, it's starting to rain!"

"Makka-makka!" He shouted back over the sudden roar of a thunderclap. The rain came down in a few drops, then a complete mass, and Stitch was now fighting to keep his balance. He galloped over a log, and a branch, and slipped in a muddy puddle on the straight path beyond. He kept from falling, and shifted his weight so that Lilo could get a better grip on his shoulders. Her legs were at his sides, clasping tight around him, but not enough to cause discomfort. Her head was behind his as she ducked low to keep away from the branches. At one point, she was in the back of his right eye. When he looked behind him to see if she was ok, she smiled, and squeezed her hands, telling him to concentrate.

Suddenly the echoing raindrops of the forest vanished as they left the tree line, leaving only the ground for the sound of the pitter-pattering to emanate from. The sky was now dark with thick, black clouds, and a fine, bright fog covered the area, disguising the far horizon in the distance.

Stitch didn't stop; he ran down the hill, spotted Angel on the far side near the tree, and also spotted what he feared the most. His heart pounded furiously as he increased his speed, trying to faster.

Lilo looked down at him, she could feel his pulse from his shoulders. Quickly she realized why he had to work so hard. He was dragging her weight, causing him to slow down a bit no matter how hard her worked. She squeezed his shoulders and leaned over to his ear.

"Don't stop, keep going." She whispered, competing with another thunderclap. Stitch felt her weight immediately disappear from his back, relieving him of the strain. He silently thanked her and bulleted up the hill where Angel and Zeus were.

"624." Zeus said, as she landed a yard away from the tree. "I believe you and I need to…talk." She waited a moment, to give Angel a chance to speak. She saw the pink experiment stand and lean against the tree, but she didn't do anything else.

"Emigachu Angel." She said, speaking to Zeus from behind the tree..

"Angel then." Zeus replied, her stern tone unchanging. Angel could tell that Zeus wasn't here for a peaceful conversation; her aggravated speech was clearly giving her away. But Angel wasn't about to get aggravated. She didn't want to make a mistake like last time. "You do realize that only one of us can love him. I don't know about you, but I don't think I can stand sharing him."

"Why not let him decide?" Angel replied.

"He can decide on his own…this is between you and me." Angel heard a crackling noise behind her, and curiously peeked her head around the tree, only to see a bright flash heading toward her. She stepped back, just in time to see the tree she was standing next to get struck with the lightning.

"You're asking me to fight?" Angel asked, half surprised. Zeus merely smiled. Angel dropped her shoulders and stood straight, staring back at Zeus degradingly. "I won't fight you."

"What's the matter?" Zeus asked, as static crackled over her hands. "You were the one who struck first, remember?" Her eyes flashed, and soon were masked with a white glow. She seemed both angry and excited. Angel's legs lost their feeling; even if she wanted to run she wouldn't be able to, she'd take only a few steps and fall over. She stood petrified as Zeus charged another lightning bolt, and felt a shiver run down her back as she saw it come at her. But it missed. Angel felt something—someone—push her to the side, tackling her to evade the bolt. After the spots in her vision disappeared, she saw Stitch standing at her feet, facing Zeus.

"Stitch?" She asked, but it barely came out a whisper. An eerie silence came over the area, only the sound of thunder and lightning echoed across the sky. Angel felt both relieved and scared—he came back to her.

"What are you doing boochie-boo?" Came Zeus' voice. "That could've hit you!" Stitch didn't say anything. Angel wondered what Stitch was thinking, how he was feeling, what he was doing, but she couldn't tell anything. All she could see was his back. "This doesn't involve you, Stitch. Get out of the way, I don't want to hurt you."

"Then don't hurt Angel." He said calmly. Angel could barely hear his voice over the thunderclap.

"…I said I don't want to hurt you," Zeus said, hesitantly, "but I have to settle this, so if I have to…I'm deeply sorry." She closed her eyes and let the static wash over her hands again.

"Ju naga kishta!" Stitch shouted.

"I wouldn't before, you're right." She replied as the static field over her fists grew in size. "But now is a different story. You see, I went to Hamsterveil, and he had a way to improve my strength. Unfortunately for some reason, I'm not able to stop myself now, like I'm being controlled." Angel saw Stitch drop his stance a little. Zeus spoke almost sadly, like she didn't know what was going on, and regretted having done whatever she did. But just as easily as Stitch dropped his stance, he picked it back up again, determined to stop her..

"Zeus still not hurt Angel." He declared.

"Then I'm sorry." Zeus replied, as she lifted her hands up to throw the electricity she gathered. Stitch readied himself to move Angel and—if he was lucky—himself out of the way. But he heard a sound that made his ears twitch with wonder, and made him drop his concentration once again. It was something like the sound of someone throwing a pebble into a pond. Zeus' body splashed and rippled, and Stitch saw a stone pass through her; entering in her right side, slowing down, and then rocketing out her left.

"Hey! Bug zapper!" Came a voice. Zeus dropped her hands and darted her glare toward the source. Stitch followed, and saw Lilo standing nearly a yard away from Zeus. "Leave them alone! If you wanna electrocute someone so bad, zap me!" Zeus' eyes narrowed.

"Gladly!" She shouted, throwing the charge without hesitation.

"Lilo naga!" Stitch and Angel both yelled. Stitch tried to run, but after one step he was too late, the lightning bolt was already too close to her. He closed his eyes, unable to watch.

"I hope this works, Jumba." Lilo thought as she closed her eyes trustingly. She saw the bright light through her eyelids, and braced herself for the possible failure of her idea. The light continued to shine in her eyes, but as she lifted her arms to cover her face, she didn't feel anything except static, which made her clothes cling to her body along with her hair. But then she heard something that filled her with dread; the watch on her wrist was beeping, and she figured that meant it was about to give in.

Stitch opened his eyes just as a massive flash crackled and blazed to life. His vision was blinded and his head felt dizzy. For a moment, he felt an extreme vertigo, but it almost instantly went away. His eyes, however, took a few more seconds to return back to normal. He could barely make out what he was seeing, but he knew where to run, and as he made his way toward Lilo, he heard the sound of the family buggy coming up the hill.

"Yah!" Jumba screamed. "Mr. Bubblies throw the switch!"

"That's Bubbles!" Cobra yelled back as he stood up, turned around and pulled down on a lever to turn on the giant fan attached to the buggy. In the front, a giant machine popped out from the hood, and aimed itself at Zeus. Stitch looked behind him to see what was going on, and saw the massive machine—which looked oddly enough like a giant hairdryer—and flinched as he saw it spew fire.

"Oi! Shut it off! Shut it off!" Jumba's voice shouted, and immediately the flame was cut as the fan died down. Jumba laughed erratically. "Well, was a bit much, but evaporated 599!"

"Jumba, what have you done?" Pleakley's voice shouted.

"Don't be worrying, 599 will pull herself together sometime soon…until then, let's see if…" Jumba trailed as he saw what was going on. Stitch was near Lilo, who was waking up, and Angel was on the ground, trying to stand to her feet. They looked as though they hadn't even noticed the buggy.

"See if what?" Pleakley asked.

"Never minding. Eh…perhapsing we should go back. Am thinking work here is done." Jumba suggested, scratching his head.

"What about them? Shouldn't we take them back?" Pleakley asked.

"Is not enough room in buggy. Let's go back, and I'll drop you two off, come here, and pick up little girl, 626, and 624."

"Well," Pleakley said, tapping his chin, "I guess you have a point." He stood up in the seat as Jumba turned the ignition. "We'll be back for you in a minute, ok?" He shouted to them, as Jumba drove away.

"Lilo, Lilo?" Stitch shook her, trying to wake her up. She moved her arm, and he held his breath, hoping that she was all right.

"What?" She asked, her voice sounding tired. She opened her eyes and sat up, leaning on her palms as Stitch hugged her and exhaled. She looked over his head, between his ears, and saw Angel, now standing up. Lilo saw her look at them for a moment, then turn around. "Hey," Lilo said, using Stitch to help her to a forward sit, "don't you have something to say to someone?" She lifted the pendant off of her neck, and put it in his hands. "Don't forget this." She said, looking up at him.

He stared back for a moment, then down at the pendant. He stood and ran to Angel in one motion, catching up to her in only a few seconds. Lilo fell back on her palms again as she watched, hoping that he would get through to her. Angel stopped as he neared her, but didn't turn around. Stitch halfway looked back at Lilo, but stopped and turned back to Angel.

"A-Angel," he said, as he reached down to take her fisted hand, "Stitch…has something to say." He paused, giving her a chance to respond, but as he expected, she didn't. She did, however, open her hand, and relax her arm. Gently he turned her wrist so her palm faced up, and placed the pendant in her hand. "I…I love you…and only you…" He said, taking a deep breath. "Forever." He finished, letting go of her hand. He closed his eyes and turned his head. "Angel can go now, if Angel wants." He sighed as he heard her footsteps recede.

She didn't want to; she wanted to stay and turn around—tell him she loved him back and embrace him. But she couldn't; she was too afraid. She didn't want him to see her cry. She was afraid he might think otherwise. She didn't know what to do—couldn't think of what to do—so she ran.

"Did…Stitch do good?" He asked, as he heard Lilo come up from behind, and felt her hand on his shoulder. He felt her arms circle around him.

"You did beautifully Stitch." She replied with a quiet, happy tone.

"Then…why did Angel run?" She let out a winded laugh.

"If I were Angel…I would've ran too." She said, as she let him go. He turned around and met her eyes with a dim smile. He was happy, but still unsure.

"Lilo?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we go to beach?"

"Why?"

"Naga nota…just want to go."

"Sure." She replied softly, as she took his arm. "If you want."