Ganazu

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

Chapter 11: All In The Past

The kitchen was dark as Nani entered, shouldering the phone to her ear. She reached for the light switch, but when she flipped it, nothing came on. She grumbled and moved the phone to her hand, going to the hallway and using the light there.

"It's going to be on the outside stage in town." She said, putting the flyer for the performance on the hallway table. "Are you going to be able to get there in time?" She asked, walking back into the dark kitchen. The sky outside the window glowed with the colors of twilight. "Thanks, David, it'll mean a lot to her if you come.

"Yeah," she said with a laugh, "they've been practicing non-stop since last Thursday. I'm surprised; for a bunch of experiments they're pretty good for a band. You should hear her; she and Angel are wonderful. …Actually no, they didn't want me to hear it, but I snuck out of the house. I'm so excited! …Ok, I'll see you in a few hours, then. …All right, fine, it's a date. Bye."

She smiled as she pushed the button to end the call. With an anxious sigh she walked over to the dark wall and put the phone back on the cradle. She then looked at the kitchen light-fixture, which had been burnt out for a day or two, and muttered to herself that she needed to fix it while she sat down at the table.

"Akatooka!" Came a startled yell.

"Whoa!" Nani yelled back, flinching to a stand. "Angel?"

"Uh huh?"

"Sorry about that, I didn't know you were there." Nani apologized, taking another seat. She checked it to see if anyone was sitting in it beforehand, however. "What are you doing here in the dark?" She asked, her eyes getting used to the dimness. The light in the hallway illuminated Angel, and to Nani she seemed bored, or down.

"Acabita simie-ju…sedega." She replied with a low tone.

"Waiting for what?"

"You can understand me?"

"Well, a little bit, yeah." Nani replied with a smile. "I have to be able to understand sometimes if I want to live here in piece. I might be a little slow, but I can put it together well enough." There was a slight silence in the atmosphere, and Nani was beginning to wonder if Angel even listened to her.

She was staring off into the distance; her body was definitely in the kitchen but her mind appeared somewhere else. Her ears were down and flat over her arms, which crossed under her chin. Nani thought wrong—Angel didn't look down; she looked depressed.

"Is something wrong?" Nani asked slowly, shifting from a relaxed tone of voice to a concerned but friendly one. There was a long pause before Angel responded, and when she did she sounded reluctant.

"Naga…isa nagatusha."

"Hm…" Nani said rhetorically, "Dark room, head down, distant look and long pauses during response. Doesn't sound like 'nothing' to me." Angel's eyes shifted and stared back at Nani blankly.

She barely knew Lilo's older sister; she only saw her during mealtimes. Otherwise she was out—working or going to the store. There were a few occasions when Nani spent a little more time with them, but recently the rehearsals and practices for the performance had blocked her away for the past three days, with the exception of her apparent eavesdropping.

In fact, now that she thought about it, this was the only time since she'd moved in that she and Nani were ever alone. It struck her as sort of odd, but that didn't stay for long. The overwhelming feeling took her over again fairly quickly.

"There's no use in hiding it, something's got your attention." Nani's voice came again, this time a little softer, and sympathetic, "Not to sound pushy or anything, but," she continued suggestively, "maybe you should tell me what's on your mind? It might make you feel better." Angel didn't take so long to respond this time around.

"I already told Scruff…that helped a little…"

"Well then, maybe it's something that needs a little response to. Scruff's ok to talk to, but I hardly ever get a response out of her." Nani said, trying to sound convincing. Although, what she said was somewhat true—on occasion she would get her frustration out on Scruff whenever Lilo left the stuffed doll downstairs and she happened to be fuming at the time.

"It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just…it's a long story."

"Can you at least tell me how you feel?" She requested, waiting not too long, but also not asking too quickly.

"…Mala…" Angel replied, choosing the most vague word possible.

"Why so sad all of a sudden? You've been pretty energetic the last few days. And what could you be sad about? From what I've heard, the problem between you and the other cousins was resolved, and not to mention you were the one that took the initiative to rescue Stitch and the new experiment." 600 came into Angel's mind; the cousin hadn't shown up for days. She disappeared during the rally, and despite their search they couldn't find her.

"It's not anything that happened recently…it happened a long time ago." Angel explained, trying her best not to mention anything specific. But it wasn't necessary; Nani wouldn't be able to understand what was bothering her at all, or so she thought.

"Oh, a past-reflection is it?" Angel looked back up at Nani. Why was she carrying the conversation with Lilo's older sister? She hardly knew the woman, and here she was telling her how she felt. But, even though it felt awkward—talking to a slight stranger—part of her seemed to think this would help. "You don't need to tell me exactly what it is…but can you tell me why it's bothering you?"

"That's just it…I don't know why it's bothering me. It was a mistake I made…a really big one. I made a choice and it hurt a couple of people."

"That does sound bad." Nani stated with an emphases that made Angel pause.

"Is she humoring me?" She thought. "She sounds like she either doesn't care, or she's really paying attention." But that little part of her that told to speak before urged her to go on again. "Well, yeah, it was. But, those people already let me know that it was all right. They told me it was all in the past. So I tried to forget about what I did, but the memory is like Myrtle; the harder you try to ignore her the more you realize she's affecting you—the harder I try to forget, the more I remember."

"And you're sad because you don't know why you keep remembering whatever it is?" Nani asked, after taking a few seconds to confirm her translation.

"Eh." Angel replied. "It's all supposed to be forgiven and forgotten…but I can't forget. It still troubles me, and I want it to stop." There was a long pause after she finished, her ending tone in a growl. She finally looked back at Nani again, and saw that she was looking back at her, with an expression of deep thinking on her face.

"I don't know exactly, but I think I might know what you're problem is." She said, breaking the silence. "You don't have to listen if you don't want to though, that's completely up to you."

Again the questions of why she was telling Nani about her feelings came to her mind. But then, the question of why Nani was even paying attention to her came afterward. She didn't ask Lilo's older sister to sit down and listen to her—Nani did it voluntarily. In fact, Nani almost begged her to explain.

"I don't mind." Angel told her openly, without hesitating. She was curious about what the source of the problem was—she didn't think anyone would be able to identify it. After all, she couldn't, and it was her own problem.

"You've done a good job to resolve the mistake you made with the other people, but I think the problem lies somewhere deep inside yourself." Lilo's sister told her. She paused for a quick second, and then continued. "I can't exactly quote my mom, but she always used to say something like, 'If you ever want to forget your mistakes, you've got to apologize to the ones involved—especially yourself'." Angel's ears twitched, she repeated the phrase to herself in her mind.

"Then, what you're saying is, if I want to put the mistake behind me, I've got to forgive myself for making it?"

"You know what?" Nani said rhetorically, leaning over and rubbing Angel's head. "I like you're version of the saying better." Angel tried to smile, but it didn't make it all the way to the corners. Nani's hand quickly receded, and then she appeared to go into her own thoughts. Angel immediately began trying Nani's method.

"Forgive myself. How do I do that though? Do I just tell myself it's ok? It's ok…helping to create Achie-baba Kino?

"No…it's not Achie-baba Kino. That's a mistake, but that's one I've made up for already when I talked to Scruff. This has to be something I overlooked…something I'm forgetting." She strived to think, closing her eyes. "Was it because I tricked Stitch; walked him right into a trap?"

"He walked into it because he chose to." A second voice came, answering almost as if it was waiting for her to ask that question. It was that part of her that forced her into telling Nani what was bothering her. Did it know something? "You warned him, remember? You met him in that gigantic leaf-bed, and told him about Achie-baba Kino—told him there was a trap waiting for him."

"That's right." She said, recalling the foggy memory. " I felt guilty, so ran and told him, but then I left him again. I only warned him…when I should've told him not to come." Nani saw Angel's eyes relax a little. "But he wanted to save me, that's why he came. I bet even if I had told him not to come, he would have. But I didn't realize how wrong it was until long after the explosion." Her left ear lifted a little; she was getting somewhere.

"Nah, you're wrong." Chimed that little voice again, which brought her ear back down. Nani shifted, but Angel didn't notice. "You didn't realize what you did after the explosion—you realized it when felt guilty about what was going on. You knew it was a mistake by the time you warned Stitch."

"But…if that's true, then why did I only warn him about the trap? I would have told him everything and at least tried convincing him not to come if I had that realization sooner." She mentally retorted.

"He didn't even hear your warning; the only thing he heard was your plea for help." Angel felt a ping of truth in the voice's sincere words.

"I wanted…help." She told herself. "And he knew it, even when I didn't. He wasn't angry in the hangar because I led everyone into a trap—he was angry because he wanted to get everyone out of it, to save me and everyone else. And maybe that's why he wanted me to stay with him; so that he didn't have to worry about me."

"You've got a couple of great friends." Nani said, "And with all the dangers you guys get into, rescuing experiments and all that, I'm glad you're all there to help each other out." Nani said softly, seemingly out of the blue.

Angel blinked her eyes, coming back to the kitchen. She realized she wasn't sad anymore—a smile was on her face and she found herself sitting back in her chair. When did she move? And when did the sadness go away? She tried to think, but she couldn't remember—she forgot. "That didn't take too long. You're a lot quicker than Lilo."

"You knew what was bothering me all along didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?" She replied with a wink.

"That's what I want to know…" Came Lilo's voice. Stitch wondered in, shook himself, and turned on his night vision in response to the pitch-black kitchen. "What's everyone doing in the dark? Didn't you fix the light Nani?"

"Not yet, but I'll get on it tomorrow morning ok?" She replied, her tone changing back to normal. "You'd better hurry up, we've only got a couple of hours left to get ready." Her big sister advised.

"Yeah, c'mon Angel, it's your turn for a bath." Lilo ushered, rushing toward the stairs. Stitch followed, and the two of them proceeded, holding a conversation of their own. Angel moved out of the seat, and went to the light of the hallway. She paused, and turned her head back at Nani.

"Thanks."

"All right," said Pleakley as he took the pen from out of his mouth and lifted up the clipboard, "we've got Kixx on the keyboard, Stitch and 'Splodey on the electric and bass guitars-"

"I believe the pronunciation of that particular word is similar to base—as in, impenetrable stronghold. Not the pronunciation of oddly shaped aquatic creature with big mouth's name."

"I believe I'm the earth-expert here, Jumba, and I also happen to be the manager of this band until the show's over. Now stop talking nonsense. Do you job and make sure the stage is set!"

"All right, all right, am going." He said, waving his hands and stepping away sideways.

"Now, where was I? Oh yeah. Yaarp and Yin are on the flutes, Rich's on the drums—where's our finale-drum?" He yelled. Cannonball turned around, and jumped across the back of the stage to him, trying not to fall through the floor. "Right, you're over there." He nodded and took his position. "Ok, then we've got Angel and little Lilo on vocals-"

"Pleakley, Pleakley, I can't find my pendant!" Lilo yelled quickly in a panic above the other animosities on the stage as she jittered toward him. "Have you seen it anywhere?"

"I think Stitch had them last, go talk to him."

"Thanks!" She yelled back, already running at the mention of the name.

"Again, let's see, we've got Cannonball…Sample's getting hooked up—we've got our amplifier. And last but not least is—Slushy,"

"Eh?" He asked, passing by while Pleakley called his name.

"Where's you ex-why-lo-phone?"

"It's pronounced like 'eye' but with a 'z'; xylophone!" Jumba's voice corrected him from behind the back leg of the stage.

"Whatever!" He yelled back. "Where is it?" Slushy looked at him for a moment, his mouth in an "o", and then finally shrugged. "Please don't tell me we forgot the phone-thingy…" Pleakley sighed with frustration.

"Naga toe-chiba." Slushy said, holding up a hand. He took in a breath, and as he exhaled, created a xylophone of ice. He blew the sticks in his hands, and pinged his creation. A smooth, calm, chrysalis-sounding note filled the air.

"All right, I guess that works."

"I appreciate you helping us out, Mrs. Pleakley." Moses said politely, stepping up onto the stage. "Are we ready to begin?" Pleakley adjusted his wig and glanced around the stage. Aside from Jumba rushing to the curtain-rope, everyone was in place. Lilo, he spotted, had found her pendant.

"Let the show begin!"

"How long do we have until we're on?" Lilo whispered nervously. Angel shut the eye-sized hole in the middle of the curtain.

"He's almost done. Are you ready?"

"Do I look ready?" She asked, the butterflies in her stomach were screaming.

"Yeah, you do. Just remember the tricky part."

"I know, I know, I won't mess up, I promise." She replied with a rushed breath. Her shoulders quivered. "I can't take this…"

"Calm down, calm down, you're fine." Angel told her, trying to quell the nervousness in herself.

"And now, before our show is over, we have one last song for you. And one of our singers tonight, was actually fortunate enough to know this wonderful band, and was happily willing to arrange them on such a short notice. Everyone, our last performance tonight; Lilo and Angelica!"

The lights went out, the crowd cheered, and the curtain opened. All at once Lilo's nervousness and trembling was forced to a stop, and a rush of excitement and energy started, taking the place. She realized that she didn't think while she was singing; her mind felt strangely detached, like she was getting sleepy. The words and movements of the song seemed to come to her as though they were laid out on the stage prior to the show, and all she was doing was picking them up and using them when their time came.

As quickly and as quietly as it started, the music stopped. The crowd—which Lilo now noticed, and felt was practically all of Hawaii—was overwhelmed with a giant tidal wave of a scream. Judging by the noise, she assumed she didn't mess up, but she couldn't really recall—it happened so slowly and quickly at the same time. Backstage, after the final bow, the curtains closed, and Lilo fell over, pretending like she was too weak to walk.

"Are you all right?" Angel asked with a laugh.

"I can't believe I did that…I thought I was gonna flop." She answered, standing up. She and Angel moved away from the clutter of instruments and departing crowds, to a quieter corner of the stage.

"Flop nothing, you did great!" Angel exclaimed on their way over.

"I couldn't have done it without your help, Angelica." She said with a tease, well aware of how much the name seemed to make Angel cringe. But she got a completely different reaction; Angel looked at her with a smile, and brought her into a hug.

"That's what friends are for—helping each other." Angel replied solemnly.

"Bonsai!" Stitch screamed. Lilo and Angel both looked up just in the nick of time to see him jetting toward them through the air a split-second before he playfully knocked them down.

Atichura

(The End)

"Friendship" coming soon