Reunion

The sun cascaded through the skydome and danced on Lilo's sleeping eyes. Lilo awoke and stared at the sky, it was a beautiful day. She turned over in her cot, afraid to get out of bed. 'Today, is the reunion,' she thought, 'I thought it would never come...'

Lilo rose out of bed and got dressed, yesterday she had bought a new dress. She smiled as she put it on, it was a dark green, and very beautiful. Lilo stared at the new dress in the mirror, Pleakly said it was a fashion nightmare, yet Lilo shrugged off the statement and wore the dress anyway.

Lilo stepped on the elevator and rode it down to see what was happening below. The house was a bustle with activity. Nani was in the kitchen, finishing off the last of the cooking, and to Nani's dismay, Pleakly was helping. Lilo smiled, Pleakly had arrived last night, and had immediately started in on Nani with new food ideas.

Pleakly turned and saw Lilo, "Ah! Lilo, would you take these out back to the tables?"

Pleakly handed Lilo two platters of alien food, they were green, gelatin in texture, and looked positively disgusting. Lilo saw Nani shake her head, and Lilo nodded and smiled, "Of course Pleakly."

Lilo stepped outside to the back yard and put the 'food' on the table with the rest of the treats. David and Komalla were playing with Jumba and Serenity, Gloria was refereeing, the five were exiled to the backyard by Nani and Pleakly because of their...'mistakes' in the kitchen. Lilo smiled, Komalla and Serenity seemed to be getting along great, ever since Serenity's arrival, the two had been inseparable.

David noticed Lilo, "Hey Lilo! Up for some Cops and Illegal Experiments?"

Lilo smiled, "No thanks David. Say, do you know how many people are coming?"

David walked away from the game towards Lilo, as soon as he left, Komalla pounced on Serenity, and the two rolled on the ground with laughter.

David watched them, then said to Lilo, "I'm not sure, we sent invitations out to some of our closest experiment buddies. But we didn't get replies from some of them."

"Who'd you send invitations to?" Lilo asked.

David thought for a second, "Let's see, there was Sparky and Clip, I know their coming, there's Angel, she's coming for sure. Hmmm, those are the only ones that replied."

Lilo smiled, she knew of Sparky and Clip's marriage, and she had become good friends with Angel. Lilo asked, "Who else did you invite?"

David thought, "Hmmm, Kixx, Splodyhead, and Slushy for the singles. And in the couples there was Yin and Yang, not that many you know, only the ones close to the family. Oh, and there was Houdini. I think that's all."

Lilo frowned, "I wonder why they couldn't come..."

Nani appeared in the door, all the preparations were complete. Nani looked at her watch, "It's just about one o'clock, Lilo, you need to start waking up sooner."

Lilo smiled, and Nani continued, "The guests should be arriving shortly, Jumba! You need to wear something nice!"

Jumba was wearing a tropical shirt and shorts, "I'm going for comfort, not fanciness!"

Nani shook her head, then they heard the doorbell ring. Lilo was nervous, Nani went to go answer the door, and Lilo heard her talking and some chatter from the other room. After some time, Sparky and Clip came through the back door. Lilo felt her heart waver, yet she was still happy to see her old friends.

Sparky walked right up to Lilo and gave her a big hug, "Long time no see! Where have you been?"Lilo smiled, "Hey Sparky, good to see you too."

Soon the conversations turned to personal things, and the day went on. Lilo was happy to see her old friends once more, yet she couldn't help but wonder, 'Is he going to come?'

Stitch was staring at himself in front of a mirror. He had his new clothes on, a light blue dress shirt and black slacks, he wore a pair of black tennis shoes as well. Though Stitch stared into the mirror, he didn't really see himself, his mind wandered, 'What will I say? What will she say? Will she be there? Should I really go?'

Stitch walked away from the mirror and sat down on the couch. 6-2-5 entered and plopped down next to Stitch. 6-2-5 wore a similar ensemble of Stitch, yet his shirt was green.

6-2-5 nudged Stitch, "What? Is the mighty 6-2-6 nervous?"

Stitch didn't answer, he barely heard 6-2-5, yet 6-2-5 tried to cheer Stitch up, "Listen, if things don't go well, I'll go on an eating spree, that'll draw people's attention, and you make a getaway! Alright?"

Stitch smiled, "That won't be necessary."

6-2-5 patted his friend on the back, "Listen, one thing I know is that you will never know anything until you attempt it, if you leave your life up to chance, you'll never get the chance you deserve."

Stitch stared at him, then Angel came in and said, "Come on you two, let's get goin'!"

The two got up and followed Angel outside. On the way out, Stitch stopped once more in front of the mirror, thinking to himself, 'She won't remember me. She won't care.'

Yet, 6-2-5's words rang in Stitch's head, 'Yes, I have to try, I must try!'

Stitch walked outside and joined 6-2-5 and Angel in the cab waiting, and set off to the reunion, to face his past once again.

Lilo sat outside, munching on a slice of pizza. They ordered pizza because Pleakly was the only one who could stomach his own food. Serenity came and sat beside Lilo, quizzically looking her over. Lilo stared back at the little experiment, wondering why she was all of a sudden the center of interest.

Serenity smiled, "What's wrong Lilo?"

Lilo gagged on her pizza, "Nothing...nothings wrong! Hahaha! Why do you say that?"

Serenity began counting incidents off her fingers, "Well, you've been staring at the house the entire time, you haven't been joining in any of the games that Sparky has been winning, which is all of them Lilo."

Serenity said the last bit with a bit of jealousy, because Sparky had beaten her in every game they played, Lilo smiled as Serenity continued, "You are walking around like a zombie, and you ate nearly all of Mr. Pleakly's disgusting goop."

Lilo groaned at the last part, she hadn't been paying attention while she was chowing down on the goop. Her mind was, of course, on who else might show up. Pleakly had argued all the while that they ordered pizza that Lilo had enjoyed his cooking

Lilo said, "I'm okay, I'll get better, alright?"

Serenity smiled and nodded, "Okay! Come on! Let's beat Sparky in the apple bobbing!"

The cab pulled up, and Stitch stepped out. He gazed upon the old house with watery eyes of being nervous, and of nostalgia. Angel and 6-2-5 stepped out behind him, Angel watched Stitch for a minute, and when Stitch began heading for the house, the two followed him.

Stitch reached the stairs, he took them one step at a time, with every one the distance between the next seemed to grow. With every step, it felt like gravity bore down on him more and more, until he felt like he couldn't support himself. He reached the top, the feeling of anxiety felt like a weight on his back.

Stitch reached the doorbell and rang it, waiting for the one, to answer the door...

Lilo watched Sparky drag another apple out of the tub, and by now she was feeling sick of watching him grope around like an animal in the water. Lilo giggled when she saw how embarrassed Clip was as well. Lilo heard the doorbell ring, and felt almost gleeful to escape the eating Sparky.

Lilo ran inside, "I'll get it!"

Lilo walked inside, she giggled, things were going well. She reached the front door, and turned the handle, and opened the door...

The door opened, and Lilo faced Stitch for the first time in a year. They looked at each other, Lilo stared, Stitch struggled, trying to say hello. What was a minute hung through the air like eternity. Two hearts, dashed through time and strife, faced their other halves once more.

Stitch looked at her, she was so beautiful. Her eyes that you could melt you away with their gaze, her hair the same ravenous black it had always been. She still looked perfect to Stitch.

Lilo looked at him, so strong and sure. His blue fur, a deeper blue than the ocean could ever hold, his penetrating eyes staring back at her. He was taller and more muscular, yet he was still the Stitch she remembered from so long ago...

The moment hung in the air a while longer, the two reunited, once again. Lilo felt tears welling up in her eyes, "Stitch? Is that you?"

Stitch smiled, trying to hold back his own tears, "Yeah, it's me Lilo..."

Lilo flung herself into Stitch's arms, her tears dampening his shoulder. Stitch couldn't hold back his own tears any longer, and they both held each other in the doorway, their tears of joy spilling forth.

Lilo pulled away and looked at him, "Where...where have you been?"

Stitch wiped away a rogue tear, "Not where I belonged."

Lilo smiled, and they hugged once more. Angel watched from behind, she felt her own tears welling up. 6-2-5 smiled, "Thank God for second chances."

Lilo and Stitch ended their hug, and Lilo greeted Angel and 6-2-5. Lilo turned back to Stitch, "Come on! There's food on the table, and I'm sure everyone will be glad to see you."

Stitch followed Lilo inside, Angel and 6-2-5 followed close behind. They came out the back door and the pandemonium ensued. Everyone came and said hello to Stitch, Jumba gave Stitch a huge bear hug, after which Stitch had to sit down. Angel and 6-2-5 got the same welcomes, with bear hugs from Jumba included.

Lilo looked around, she saw Serenity hanging back from the crowd. Serenity did not venture near Stitch, she stayed playing with Komalla in the corner. Lilo let her play, she didn't want to ruin Serenity's fun.

Stitch felt true happiness for the first time in months, he was back, and all his old friends were here. Nani walked up to the group and said, "Well, now that everyone's here, I say we start eating."

They gathered around the table, Lilo and Stitch sat next to each other. It was when they had all been seated that Stitch noticed Serenity. She sat at the opposite end of the table from him, Lilo noticed this and thought it was odd, 'Serenity is such an out-going person,' Lilo thought.

Stitch leaned over to Lilo, "So, what've you been up to?"

Lilo told him of her year in California. She introduced him to Gloria, who was gulping down pizza, Stitch smiled as he watched the crazed Gloria eat. Lilo told Stitch about her plans to become a crime scene investigator, and to write books on the side.

Stitch smiled, "Books eh? You'll be great at that..."

Lilo smiled right back at him, truly glad that he was back, "Yeah, I hope so. But tell me about your year, how's the war?"

Stitch told her about some of his adventures throughout the war. He told her about his and 6-2-5's harrowing adventures, Lilo listened with great interest.

After the stories were swapped, and the dinner eaten, darkness shrouded the yard. Nani suggested they go inside to watch the movie she had rented. The group fell in step to the house. Inside, while Nani was getting the movie ready, Stitch got a chance to meet Serenity. He saw her in the kitchen, and decided to say hello.

Stitch walked over to Serenity, "Hi, I'm-."

"N-n-no, don't come near me..." Serenity said as she backed away from Stitch.

Stitch knelt down, "I'm not going to hurt you..."

Serenity backed away, "I've been good...I've been good..."

Lilo walked in and saw what was going on, she walked over to Serenity, "Serenity, you don't need to be afraid, this is my friend I told you about, remember?"

Serenity looked at Stitch, who smiled and said, "Yep, I'm Stitch, experiment 6-2-6."

Serenity seemed to calm, and she walked closer to Stitch, "I'm sorry..."

Stitch laughed, "Hey, don't be, Lilo's the only one who hasn't tried to get away when they first see me."

Serenity smiled, "You're not scary, you're fluffy."

Stitch laughed, "Well, thanks, nice to meet you Serenity."

Lilo picked up Serenity, "Come on, the movies starting!"

The three walked into the living room to watch the movie. After they left the lights flickered in the kitchen and went out, and a pair of luminous red eyes appeared in the window. Yet none noticed these strange events, and they watched on, careless to the danger outside.

After the movie, the troupe decided it was time for bed. Sparky and Clip left in Sparky's hybrid car, which he never had to refuel. And Angel and 6-2-5 waited outside for their cab, Lilo and Stitch talked on the porch.

"It's been wonderful to see you again, Stitch," Lilo said.

"Yes, too long," Stitch said, feeling sad that the night was about to end.

The cab pulled up and Angel called for Stitch. Stitch turned back to Lilo, "God, I really missed you..."

The two embraced in a farewell hug, knowing that a great hurdle was past. They looked at each other, and Stitch started for the cab. Lilo called after him, "Stitch! Sometime, you wanna get some coffee?"

Stitch stopped on the stairs and turned around, "I'd love to."

Lilo smiled and waved as Stitch got in the cab and drove away, her heart sinking as she saw the cab disappear beyond the horizon. Lilo watched for a second longer, then turned and headed back inside.

Stitch sat quietly on the way to Angel's, smiling quietly as they drove along the bumpy road. Stitch conversed a little with Angel, 6-2-5 was fast asleep.

"So Stitch, did you enjoy yourself?"

Stitch thought a minute, then smiling answered, "Immensely."

Angel smiled, "You've still got a soft spot for her, don't you?"

Stitch watched the scenery pass by, thinking of the place in his heart he still felt for Lilo. He looked at Angel, "Yes, yes I do..."

Angel smiled, and they both grew silent. Only the soft snoring of 6-2-5 could be heard. They got home and rested, the day was done, and tomorrow promised great things.

On top of the hill overlooking the Pelekai house, the cloaked figure watched. He had seen 6-2-6 earlier that week, and here he was again at this small hovel. The figure turned, his red eyes could be seen from beneath his cloak, he pondered 6-2-6, thinking, 'Why has he returned?'

The figure was not worried about the reappearance of 6-2-6 though, he turned again to the household, and watched as the small white experiment crawled into bed with a small human. The figure scowled, "So, you still live. Hmph, I will deal with you in due time."

The figure turned to the path the truck with the experiments 2-2-1 and 1-7-7 had taken. The figure watched the house a moment longer, and began to walk down the hill, "I have more pressing issues with our dear...Sparky..."

The figure vanished into the night, and all was still.