Beating Hearts.

Stitch sat at the diner. He was waiting for Lilo. He thought back to the weeks, they had been seeing each other for some time now. Stitch sighed, 'Still though, no talk of taking our relation up a step...maybe she doesn't want to...'

Stitch sat pondering the point for a moment, when Lilo walked into the diner. Stitch noticed her and felt his heart leap and bound, 'Of course, I can always hope...'

Lilo noticed him and walked over and sat down, "Hey there Stitch!"

Stitch smiled, she was dressed nice, with a white shirt and blue jeans, 'Heck, anything looks good on her...' he thought.

"Hey Lilo, what're you doing?"

"Well silly, you called me to eat dinner, and it sounded great, so that's what I'm doing," she giggled, "so what're we eating?"

Stitch grinned, "This place has about anything, name it, and they'll deep fry it and stuff it full of cheese, sometimes they use road kill..."

Lilo's smile disappeared, and Stitch laughed, "Lilo, I'm just kidding."

Lilo grinned evilly at him, "I'll get you back for that one."

Stitch continued to smile, "Yeah, I'm sure..."

The waitress came to take their order. They talked and joked around some more before their meal arrived. They ate, and talked some more.

"So," Stitch said between bites, "how's Serenity?"

Lilo looked away from her plate at Stitch, "Oh she's fine, nutty as usual..."

"Yeah, she seemed a little jumpy when I met her..."

"Oh, have I ever told you how I met Serenity?"

Stitch shook his head, "Nope, how did you guys meet?"

Lilo told him the story about when she and Gloria had found Mertle's old house, about the destruction inside, and about how they found Serenity in the back room. Stitch listened, interest open on his face. Lilo finished and looked at Stitch.

Stitch rolled the story through his head, then said, "Hm, weird, what do you think happened in that house?"

Lilo shrugged, "I don't know...I wish I did though."

They sat there awhile in silence. Lilo checked her watch, "Oh, we'd better go, the movie should be starting soon."

They got up and left, getting in Lilo's buggy and driving to the movie theater. When they got to the theater, Lilo went ahead and got the tickets. Stitch took a look at the bulletin board of local events, one of them sparked his eye...

It read, 'Summer's Festival! Dance on the beach in the moonlight with your special someone! Welcome the spirit of Summer with the love of two people!'

Stitch mulled it over, 'Would she go with me?'

Lilo came behind him, "What are you looking at Stitch?"

Stitch jumped, she had surprised him. He turned smiling and saw her eyeing the bulletin, he blushed, "Just some...silly dance, you know?"

Lilo smiled, she spoke quietly, "Yeah...silly dance..."

Stitch tried to think of something to say, but Lilo beat him to it, "Come on Stitch, the movie's starting."

Lilo turned and walked to the movie, Stitch jogged to catch up with her, thinking, 'Did I say something wrong?'

They found a seat and sat down for the movie. Though Stitch had been looking forward to this movie, he barely watched it, his thoughts ran constantly, 'Oh no, did I make her mad? Is she sad? Crap, what if she wants to go with me? I mean I wouldn't mind, it'd be great! Just...'

Lilo moved closer to him, and snuggled in under his arm. Stitch felt warmer with her touch, happier when she was around. He looked at her, 'God she is so beautiful, she's just so wonderful,' he thought, 'I'll ask her...'

Stitch moved his arm around Lilo's shoulders, and they watched the rest of the movie, lost in the trance each had over the other.

The movie ended, and Stitch walked with Lilo out of the movie theater. The night was beautiful, the air whistled through the trees, creating a melody of the night. The stars twinkled in the sky above, illuminating dreams and beating hearts.

Stitch looked around the night, it was so perfect. He looked at Lilo, and thought, 'It can't get any better. I don't know what could spoil this evening...'

A hand gripped Stitch's shoulder, he whirled around to find Sparky standing behind him. Stitch was shocked at Sparky's appearance, Sparky looked haggard and thin. His clothes seemed dirty, and he looked like he had seen the Devil himself.

Lilo turned and saw Sparky, "Sparky? What's happened to you?"

Sparky looked at them both, then looked to Stitch, "Stitch, can I talk to you? In private?"

Stitch nodded and turned to Lilo, "Um, go get the buggy, I'll only be a second."

Lilo nodded and left. Stitch turned to talk to Sparky, "So Sparky, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Sparky shuddered, "I don't know what I've seen lately Stitch. I've seen things, in my dreams, that you couldn't begin to imagine..."

Stitch stared at Sparky, "Sparky, what are you talking about?"

Sparky looked at Stitch, his eyes were bloodshot, "He walks where no man dare to tread. He appears from your darkest nightmares, carries your darkest fears on his shoulders. He knows no fear, he has none, everything I've tried to stop him failed. I've faced him thrice now, and I'm growing weaker...and these last weeks, he's shown me nightmares, horrid things that man cannot comprehend, yet I've never seen his face..."

Stitch all of a sudden felt cold, like cold water had rushed over him. He was reminded of Houdini, and he realized he was in the exact same place Houdini had confronted him. Stitch reached to pat Sparky's shoulder, but Sparky moved away, "Don't touch me Stitch, I think he's watching right now, don't get involved..."

"Sparky, have you talked to Clip about this?"

Sparky seemed enraged, "NO! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND? HE'LL KILL HER! FOR GOD'S SAKE STITCH! HE'LL KILL ALL OF US! THERE'S NO STOPPING HIM! No stopping him...none...none at all...we're all going to die..."

Sparky began to laugh maniacally, Stitch began to back away. Sparky advanced on him, "Haha, but Stitch, I've had a helper to hold him off, I've seen her, she's so beautiful! Her voice, her moves, everything she does is perfect..."

Lilo pulled up in the buggy, Stitch moved away from Sparky, who yelled after Stitch, "HEED MY WARNING! HEED IT! KEEP HER SAFE STITCH! KEEP HER SAFE FROM HIM! DON'T YOU LET HIM TAKE LILO!"

Sparky turned and ran down the street, as if Hell's demons followed at his feet. Stitch watched him run, and said to Lilo, "Let's go, now..."

Lilo nodded and drove away.

The buggy pulled up to Angel's house. Stitch slowly got out, it had been a crazy evening. He turned to Lilo, who looked at him with those big beautiful eyes, Stitch thought she seemed to want something...

"I'll see you later...Lilo."

Lilo sighed and said, "Okay Stitch, see ya."

Stitch turned and began to walk towards the door, Lilo remained parked, watching him go. Stitch's thoughts buzzed, 'Ask her you idiot! No, she wouldn't want to go... How do you know? You didn't ask her!'

"Stitch, you should ask Lilo to the dance."

Stitch heard the melodious voice, it sounded so...wonderful. He heard the buggy fire up behind him, and he turned and yelled, "Wait!"

Stitch rushed to Lilo, "Lilo, um, you know that dance thing in the movie theater?"

Lilo seemed to brighten, "Uh huh!"

Stitch gulped, gathering his courage, "Well uh, would you go with me? You know, unless-."

Lilo grabbed him and held him close, Stitch had to bend down because she was in the driver's seat. Lilo's voice sounded shaky, "Stitch, I'd love to."

Lilo turned him loose, and he smiled stupidly, "Great! Um you know, yeah, that's...great!" Stitch said.

Lilo smiled, "I'll see you this weekend at the dance, Stitch."

Stitch blushed furiously, "Heh, yeah! Um, see you there!"

Lilo put the buggy into gear and drove away, waving as she turned off the street. Stitch walked clumsily up to the house, turning to watch her go, 'She said yes, oh my God, she said yes...'

Stitch remembered the beautiful voice. Yet he paid it no heed, he was to excited to think anything else of any importance, even Sparky was forgotten.

Stitch turned and walked inside, Angel and 6-2-5 had already gone to bed. He looked at the clock, and was surprised to see it was past ten. He walked to his room, thinking of everything, how great everything was going.

Then Stitch recalled a time when he had discovered something horrible, something that would shape his future in more ways than he knew...

Stitch left the general store, his hands full with groceries. He turned and began walking towards the street. It was afternoon, the sun beat down on him, it was a beautiful day.

He rounded a corner, and down the street he saw Ricky. Ricky was holding Lilo in the middle of the street, and they seemed to be having a good time.

Stitch was about to turn and walk away, when he noticed that something was out of place. The girl Ricky was with, was not Lilo. She had short brown hair, but she was of lighter complexion. Stitch stared at the two, trying to convince himself that everything was normal. Then Stitch watched in horror as Ricky bent down, and passionately kissed the girl.

Stitch dropped the groceries, he didn't even seem to notice, his mind whirled, he felt lost, scared, confused, and most of all angry. His thoughts buzzed, 'What is he doing? Wh-why? Does Lilo know? Of course she doesn't! God, why? Why hurt Lilo like this? That bastard...he won't get away with this...but, should I tell Lilo? What will she say?'

Stitch gathered up the groceries, he didn't know what to do. To tell Lilo would be to hurt her, yet to not tell her...would that be better? Would that be worse?

Stitch turned and hurried home, unsure of what he would do, unsure if whatever he did would be the right thing to do...

Stitch mulled over his memories for awhile longer, when he got to the next one he shut it away. He didn't want to think about it, didn't want to recall that moment, that time, 'No,' he thought, 'not tonight."

Stitch got up and changed, and fell into bed, where he dreamed peacefully through the night.