Everyone's Ohana

Part VI

A Lilo & Stitch Fanfic

By Brenna "Snakelady" Dawkins

Rating: PG13

Disclaimer: Lilo and Stitch and all subsequent characters are owned and copyrighted by Disney Studios. I have made no money off of this or any of my other fanfics… pity!

Summary: Lilo and Gantu must work together to escape capture, if only they can cooperate long enough without getting on each others nerves.

When Nani drove up the drive late in the afternoon after finishing an early shift at work, it wasn't hard to notice the beginnings of a huge and permanent looking structure sprouting up from where the old shanty-esque shelter's original spot had been. Gantu was assisting Jumba and Pleakly as much as his injuries would allow. The structure was very tall and ovoid and looked like it had just started being built on that morning. It was still mostly a skeletal looking thing… like the ribcage of a giant whale exposed. She winced at the unfortunate simile. It looked like they had to clear a swath of nearby palm trees to make room for the new building. Nani couldn't help but worry about building permits. But she supposed she could always call Cobra Bubbles to fix them like he had when they had to rebuild the entire house.

She stepped out and approached the cacophony. It was then that she noticed the big hole in the ground and groaned. Jumba hadn't said anything to her about an excavation project so close to the house.

"Jumba! Can I have a word with you?" She called out to the multi-eyed and multi-talented alien.

Jumba removed the grime-covered goggles so he could see. "Yes Bigger Girl?"

"What's with the big hole?" She gestured towards the large pit. "I told you before, no motes!"

"That? Well, for to build working sink and water closet implements in Gantu's house, needed new pipe system. Then noticed how bad old septic tank was and decided, why not?"

"Why not what?" Nani wanted to know.

Jumba shrugged, "Ripped it out, built brand new better system, heheheh!"

Nani rubbed her temple and sighed. She was tired and wasn't up to alien shenanigans. As long as nothing blew up, then she was fine and dandy with it at the moment.

"Okay, fine. Whatever."

"Oh, and better not to use microwave." Jumba warned.

Nani had begun walking towards the house, but then turned in place and wasn't sure she wanted to know why, "Do I even want to know?"

"His fault! Oh yeah! All his fault!" Pleakly appeared beside Jumba and pointed accusingly at the larger alien. "I told him not to hook it up to the nebuliser, but no-o-o-o!"

Jumba laughed nervously as Nani glared at him. "It's broken?"

"Well, would not say broken." Jumba replied.

"Try, more like in orbit!" Pleakly crossed his rubbery arms and shook his head.

Gantu watched the exchange, wondering about the sanity of this particular family. A family he was now apparently a part of. Well, it was still better then being abused by that fur ball Dr Hamsterviel. But part of him still wondered what he was getting himself into.

Nani threw up her arms and made a disparaging sound, then turned and stomped off into the house. Gantu found himself watching her. Once he realized what he was doing, he quickly found something else to be of interest. What he didn't need in his life right at that moment was something else to complicate it even more then it already was. And getting that close to the natives of that planet was definitely going to complicate things. But who could blame him? He was lonely.

Annoyed at his flights of fancy, Gantu grabbed up another bolt and tossed it to Pleakly as he tried not to think too hard.

Later in the day after the construction was called to a halt. It was getting late. Lilo came and he played their usual card game with her. She chattered on and on about the usual, but he paid no mind. It did no good when he tried not to think. So he gave up the struggle and thought deeply.

"Hel-lo, Gantu!" Lilo had been waiting for the huge alien to play his hand for long enough.

He stirred out of his reverie with a shake of his horned head. "Um, what?"

Lilo shook her own head, "You think too much, Gantu."

"Nothing wrong with that." Gantu muttered.

"Well, maybe you should stop all that thinking and start doing." Lilo said. "Your play, by the way."

'Easier said then done.' He sourly thought to himself as he played his hand.

"Sure you don't want to talk about it?" Lilo asked.

Gantu opened his mouth about to spill everything out, but something made it all stick in his throat. He tried once more, but no luck. He shut his mouth again and shook his head.

Lilo sighed. "Well, if not to me, then to someone at least. Someone you can trust, 'cause apparently, you don't trust me enough to tell me about it."

He heard the tone in her voice and knew it upset her that he couldn't bring to himself to trust her enough to speak of whatever was on his mind. But he still didn't say anything. She never had cared what he'd thought before, so it still confused him why she should start now. This whole idea of sudden family still made his head hurt.

He still really had no idea what he was doing there. What he would do there. It still frightened him. The idea that his future was so up in the air… but at least now he had almost any option he chose available to him, unlike how it had been under his last employer. This time, he swore he'd make better choices.

The sun was going down when Pleakly called out dinner to Lilo.

"'Night, Gantu." Lilo gathered up the deck of cards and trotted off to the house.

He nodded in her direction listlessly. Some attempt at a roof had been started on before work had been called to a halt that day. But it didn't look like rain was in the forecast so he wasn't all that worried.

Nani had come out bearing his dinner tray after a time. Gantu followed her with his eyes, taking note of how Lilo was no longer his waitress.

"Got some left over roast and sweet potatoes for you, Gantu." Nani offered him his tray.

"Um, thanks." Gantu still wasn't used to saying that word. He saw she was prepared to leave and realized he didn't want her to. "Nani."

She hesitated in mid step and looked over her shoulder at him. "Yes?"

"You said you'd be willing to listen if I was willing to talk." He said uncertainly.

Surprised, Nani nodded and came back to his side. "Something on your mind?"

Gantu paused, not sure as to how he should begin. "Always." Well, that much was true.

"Well?" She sat beside him, craning her neck so she could look at his face. A face she was still trying to learn how to read.

Now that he had her attention, he really had no clue what to say.

"I'm not going to judge you, if that's what you're worried about." Nani told him, sensing how difficult this was for him.

Gantu exhaled, not entirely secure, but he had to forge ahead. The only other time he'd spilled his guts had been to 6-2-5 once and THAT had been a mistake. But something told him that Nani would not make him regret it. So he did something he very rarely did… he let his defenses down.

----

He'd actually felt better afterwards and had the most restful sleep he'd had since he'd come to live with this family. Was it all due to the trust? He snorted at that. But so far, after the incident, every time he laid his trust out on the table, it hadn't been violated. However, he couldn't help but be fearful that it wouldn't last. Things always went dramatically wrong for him, especially of late.

But part of him was screaming at him that it didn't have to be that way. Nani hadn't judged him when he imparted some of his personal baggage. Hadn't made fun of him like 6-2-5 had. It had been refreshing. She literally seemed to give a blitznack about him. Why did that frighten him so?

Of course, it could all just be in his imagination. Something his love-starved mind had created as a form of dementia. Gantu sat there, head cradled in his arms, trying to figure out what was going on with him. Wondering if he really was crazy.

His back was feeling better as was his mood. Construction continued on his new living quarters. Once, even 6-2-5 came out to oversee the building, if only to annoy Gantu with his constant and ill conceived banter. But Lilo had distracted the yellow experiment and Gantu was relieved to be minus one less headache. Of course, there were many more lined up and just waiting to fill the void.

The house, concentrate on nothing but the house.

Yeah, right!

Jumba had installed the electrical and the plumbing, but Gantu's mind was not where it ought to be. He worked, he even took orders, but that was the limit. But he dared not let anyone know that he had Nani on the brain.

Nani drove up and parked, but before she could get out of the car, Lilo called out to her from the front door, "David on the phone for you, Nani!"

Gantu felt his teeth grind and watched as Nani almost fell over herself to answer the phone. Who was he kidding, after all? He had absolutely nothing to offer. His light mood suddenly darkened and he inexplicably felt like hitting something… anything that was handy. But he took a deep breath and continued on the construction efforts instead.

"Get out the lead, Gantu." Jumba admonished the huge alien when he noticed the sluggish movements.

"I think the saying is step on the lead." Pleakly replied.

"No, I think that is step on the long leaded pedal to the medal." Jumba fingered his chin as he tried to figure out the bizarre Earth sayings.

"Or is it let out the cat's pajamas?" Pleakly too was lost in thought.

'You've got to be kidding me.' Gantu stared at the two very odd aliens who were now apparently his family.

"I'm taking a break." Gantu stood and walked off without speaking further.

Which left the two aliens, one thin, one thick, staring after in silence.

Without thinking about it, he found himself back at the old ship. Well, since he was there already, he might as well pick up a few things. So he started scrounging around the broken up space ship, looking for anything he thought he might not be able to live without. He dug through a lot of trash that had been 6-2-5's addition to the decor. To tell the truth, there wasn't much in that broken up hull that he could bear to live without. There was a cup he did want to keep that said 'World's greatest cop' that he really had no idea how it had gotten there. He had no more spare uniforms left. Perhaps he could talk Pleakly into making him some new clothing, as long as they weren't in those hideous patterns the rubbery alien preferred.

He continued digging through the slog. Not much that seemed to be promising. He definitely would not miss the ship. How many years had he been forced to sleep in those cramped quarters? How many years tucked away in the backcountry of those tiny islands? Too many! He was quite ready to bid that place farewell!

"They said you might be here."

Gantu whirled around, willing his heart to start beating again after that.

"What are you doing here?" Gantu asked after managing to recapture his breath. He hadn't meant it to sound as surly as it had, but she HAD startled him.

"Well, Jumba suggested you'd be here after your hasty exit." Nani told him as she surveyed the strange ship.

"I just had to get away from those two jabber jaws is all." Jumba grumbled.

Nani picked up an odd looking piece of equipment, examined it for a moment, then set it back down, "I know what you mean. There are times when I need a breather from them too."

Gantu sat down in his chair and looked away.

"Thought you had decided to change your mind." Nani said. "About staying."

That got his attention. He turned around and found she was suddenly beside him. "Um, no, I haven't changed my mind. Just was going to collect a few things from my ship for my new place."

Nani nodded. "Need some help?"

He should just send her back home, but instead what he told her was, "Sure."

Gantu couldn't help but be distracted by her presence. He knew it was foolish. After all, he was nothing more then the Big Dummy to them. This was doing nothing for his newest bout of depression. He promptly escaped by going up the lift into the upper level of the ship. But he didn't think he could be blamed for feeling confused. What was she doing there?

Gantu tried to keep his mind on the business at hand. Who knew when he'd get back to the ship? He sifted through everything, amazed that most of the stuff was so unnecessary. He wondered how much of it was his and how much of it was 6-2-5's. Then a disturbing thought came to him. Most likely, he'd have to share his new dwelling with that annoying yellow sandwich maker. He couldn't figure out why he hadn't thought of that until just then. Maybe he could persuade Lilo to let 6-2-5 live in her room with her and her miserable blue trog. If not, he'd have to talk to Jumba about creating a separate space for the yellow trog and a separate bathroom area. He hated clearing out all that fur from the drain (when he could get the smelly thing to bathe), plus he had yet to figure out what that gunk was 6-2-5 always left all over the bathroom sink.

"You know, I have no idea what it is you'd want to take." Came a voice that was becoming familiar to him from behind.

He'd jumped at the sound again and managed to turn after a moment, "Do you have to do that?"

"Do what?"

"Just… appear suddenly behind me like that."

"Why are you so jumpy?" Nani wanted to know.

"I'm not jumpy." Gantu lied.

Nani grinned, "Yes you are. You jumped twice."

Gantu sighed and wished Nani was just a little less observant. Truthfully, she made him nervous as hell and he hadn't really a clue why. By the way, that one truth was one that he had NOT imparted to her last night. He may be a Big Dummy, but he wasn't stupid.

Nani added. "If I didn't know any better. I'd say you were nervous."

'Blitznack!' Gantu swore to himself.

"Nervous about the move?" She asked.

Gantu discreetly sighed in relief. "Yes. I thought I told you so last night."

The island girl nodded, "Yes, you did."

"What are you doing here, Nani?" Gantu decided to get to the meat of the matter. It had been bugging him. She'd never been to his ship before now.

It was Nani's turn to look uncomfortable to which Gantu took full notice. "Jumba had said you'd left in a hurry after I got my phone call."

Gantu just stared down at her from his towering height waiting for more.

"I thought you had changed your mind and left."

The big alien blinked at that. "You were afraid I'd left? Even after the talk last night? I'd thought… SIGH … I don't know what I thought."

The ship was engulfed in uncomfortable silence.

"I'm… sorry." Nani stared out the window past Gantu, hoping Gantu was as lousy at reading human expressions as she was at reading alien ones.

"Um, it's okay, I guess." Gantu felt he was suddenly treading on dangerous ground. On the razor edge, if he wasn't careful, he could screw whatever was happening up so badly there would be no salvaging it. Whatever 'it' was. "You really were afraid I was leaving? Why?"

"Well, you didn't say where you were going or for how long-"

"I meant," Gantu interrupted, "why…" he groaned. He really wasn't good at this. He flopped into another chair and closed his eyes tiredly while messaging his temples.

"I didn't want you to leave me too." Her voice was suddenly right beside him and he started again at the sound of that alien lilt. He drew his hand away from his temple and opened his eyes again. His downward stare showed that Nani had closed the distance and was right beside his chair.

Gantu's jaw dropped open in shock but he managed to close it quickly. He continued to stare, hoping she'd enlighten him just a bit more. The silence lengthened. He truly had no idea what was going on.

"I don't usually do this." Nani sighed. "I mean, I'm not a chaser."

Gantu frowned, still feeling very much in the dark.

"But when you left…" she shrugged helplessly.

"I can not be David." Gantu thought he was finally focusing in on the picture and though it inexplicably hurt to say that, it was true. And it was at that moment when he finally caught a clue his own brain had been trying to toss to him. But it had been so utterly absurd an idea that he'd spent most of his time attempting to ignore it and so failed to even recognize it for what it was. But now she was throwing that unobtainable possibility back in his face and he didn't think he could take the disappointment of losing her because… well…

Nani looked up at him and he stared down at her, his frown fully back in place. "We cannot do…" he gestured helplessly, "… the … things that… well… a male and a female… um… do."

Nani knew exactly what he was trying to get across. She had realized it too once she discovered how she felt about Gantu. Penetration would very well kill her. But whenever she came in contact with him… it sent primal things in her awry. Below, things in her body would tighten. It embarrassed her that she had to concentrate so hard not let it show on the outside. She didn't want him to leave her the way David had left. So she had done something she'd never done before… ran after a guy. Why hadn't she run after David? She honestly didn't know. But Gantu was there, just as lonely, just as available as she was. If they could be creative and figure out a way around the obvious problems, well then … why not?

The End and (To be continued in the sequel… "Gantu's Ohana" since that is going to contain just a bit more, u-u-u-um, decidedly explicit material. Sorry if Nani seems to be slightly out of character here, but I was struggling with trying to figure out a way to get these two together in a viable way.)