Well, here it is. I like this one. It's one of those more tender-mushy chapters every love story must have. At least I think so…. I dunno, this is the first love story I've written! Anyway, as always, enjoy.


"C'mon, we're getting close!" Lilo shouted. "Jake, quit lagging behind!"

Jake looked up from his view of the ground. He hadn't noticed how far behind Lilo and Stitch he'd become.

"I'm coming!" he yelled back and quickened his pace. He wanted to get to Ari as soon as possible, but it was hard to keep up when these terrible thoughts kept entering his mind.

What if she's gone when I get there? He would think. Then he would drive the horrid thought away and think Of course not! Hamsterveil wouldn't accept an experiment in the middle of the night!

But that logic was fading with the night. The first rays of sunlight were peaking over the horizon, and technically "middle of the night" wasn't the proper term anymore. He jogged up to Stitch's side.

"Do you think we'll get there in time?" he asked.

Stitch looked at him for a moment, and Jake was almost sure he would say no, but Stitch nodded. "Yes. Bushi-bu will be there."

That was the second time Stitch had referred to Ari as Jake's "bushi-bu" and Jake still didn't know what it meant.

"What does…?" he wasn't able to finish his question. Lilo had put her hand over his mouth.

"Shush! We're here." She removed her hand from his mouth and pointed at a large, purple spaceship. She motioned for Jake to follow her and Stitch, to which he quickly obeyed.

Please let her be there, please let her be there… he kept thinking desperately to himself as they approached the ship. He didn't know what he would do if she weren't there when he got in there. He just prayed things wouldn't come to that.

By this time they were at the ramp leading into the ship. The door wasn't open.

"Darn!" Lilo stamped her foot.

"Naga good…" Stitch said softly. Even though they all knew he could easily claw the door open, he couldn't possibly to so without raising such a racket to wake Gantu up.

"What'll we do now?" Jake whimpered. He was frustrated in getting this far and to be suddenly stopped by a closed door. "We're just going to sit here and wait for the door to open!"

Lilo shrugged helplessly. "Do you have another plan?"

Jake could hardly believe his ears. "What about those other times you came here? Did you give up then? NO! And I will not give up for ONE FRIGGIN CLOSED DOOR!" He was shouting by now.

"Sh!" Lilo whispered nervously.

"NO! I won't! I will not sit here and let Ari be sent to Hamsterveil! I will do everything I can to MAKE THIS DOOR OPEN!"

His rant was interrupted by a rumbling sound coming from the ship. They all turned to look. The door was somehow opening! They all ducked down behind a large boulder for a moment, in case Gantu came out, but no one emerged from the ship.

"What the…?" Jake muttered quietly.

"Don't ask questions, just be glad it opened! Come on, we've gotta get Ari!" Lilo exclaimed.

Jake smiled and followed her and Stitch into the ship. His smile faded, however, when he remembered what Jumba had told Ari and him. Will wear off in about a week…If his math was right, this was the fourth day they'd been here. Only three more days. Surely they'd save Ari by then… right?

In Gantu's Ship

Ari sighed heavily and paced the floor of the cell nervously. Dawn had just broken, a sign Gantu would wake up soon and… she gulped… send her to Hamsterveil. She bit her lip and continued pacing, taking three steps one way and three steps the other way.

Angel watched her with concern. "You've gotta stop pacing like that, or you'll wear a hole in the floor!"

Ari didn't answer; her heart was pounding in her ears and she couldn't hear a word Angel was saying.

Please let him come, please let him come… She kept thinking. She wanted him to come and save her, she would have no other do it. Not even Stitch. She wasn't ready to give up on Jake yet, but if he didn't come…

No, she thought angrily to herself. He will come. He will. He will, he will, he will. Oh, God, please let him come. She tried to hold her tears back, but one ran down the side of her furry cheek, staining her fur for a moment.

She could see Angel's mouth moving, but couldn't hear the words. She felt as if she had gone deaf.

Suddenly she perked her ears up. A voice had reached her ears, distant and barely audible. But it was there. She ran to the glass door of the cell and pressed her ear against it. She heard it again! It was faint, but she could just make out the words, "Ari! Where are you?"

It was Jake! She felt energy flow into her body, more than she had ever felt. "I'm here, Jake!" she bellowed out, her voice reverberating off the walls in the cell, echoing.

"What is it?" Angel questioned. Ari turned to her.

"It's Jake! He's come to rescue me!" she cried joyously. She turned back around and banged her paws on the glass. "Jake, over here!"

She heard new voices. "She's over here!" "Iki baba!"

"It's Stitch! And Lilo!" Ari shouted. She saw then round a corner, Lilo first, then Stitch, and Jake at the end.

But he was soon at the front of the line when he saw her. "Ari! I found you!" He pressed his own paw up against the glass on the other side.

Meanwhile, Stitch seemed preoccupied with something else.

"A-Angel?" he murmured in disbelief.

"Bushi-bu!" Angel cried in joy. "I always knew you'd come eventually!"

"We come to rescue Jake's bushi-bu from big dummy." Stitch exclaimed. "Naga idea you still here!"

Angel turned to look at the unlikely pair beside her. "Bushi-bu?" she questioned. "You're his bushi-bu?"

Ari looked over at Angel. "Well, uh… I mean-" What could she say? "Well, no, I mean not… yet…" she chose her words carefully. "We're just friends."

Jake finally seemed to catch on to the meaning of "bushi-bu." "Yeah, we're just friends." He said. There was a hint of sadness in his voice.

Stitch nodded. "Achi-babas." When Jake looked confused, Stitch laughed and said, "Friends," in explanation.

Jake nodded. "But we've already done enough standing around. How do we get you two out of there?"

Ari nodded towards the red button Gantu had pushed to make the door open. "You press that. At least, that's what Gantu did."

Jake looked up at the large button. It was nearly three feet above him, fitted to the wall to match Gantu's size. "Someone give me a boost," he ordered. Stitch moved to grab his legs and lift him above his shoulders. Jake wobbled a bit, but Stitch held him steady. He leaned forward to put all his weight into pressing the bright red button. It pushed forward into the wall… and an alarm sounded!

"Intruder! Intruder! Intruder!" a robotic female voice ringed on the intercom.

"Shit…" Jake mumbled. Stitch quickly put him down.

"Go!" Ari hissed. "Hide before Gantu comes!"

"But what about you?" Jake asked.

Ari hesitated, indecisive. "Just go!" she finally said. "Come and get me after Gantu goes away!"

Jake ran off down the hall through which he, Stitch, and Lilo had come. At the end he paused, looking back at Ari. Then he disappeared around the corner.

Gantu came through a door on the opposite side of the wall. "Where are they?" he demanded.

"Who?" Ari asked in a sickly sweet voice.

"The intruders!" Gantu shouted, obviously exasperated.

"What intruders?" Angel inquired, joining in on the game.

Gantu looked around the room, eyes narrowed. When he seemed satisfied it was empty, he said gruffly, "The computer must be broken again. I'll have to fix it later… But now to get rid of you trogs."

Ari's stomach dropped to her feet. "Now?" she asked weakly. "But…" Then she caught on to what Gantu had said. "Trogs? As in plural? Why send Angel! You already sent her once!"

"Hamsterveil's decided to try again with 624, now that she's regained her health," Gantu replied simply. He moved to open the cell in which Ari and Angel were trapped…


Haha! Another evil cliffhanger! MUAHAHAHA! Don't worry, I'll update sooner next time.