Enter Scrump!

A/N: Alright, I understand that it HAS been a while since I have last updated, and it feels very nice to finally be back. I surprised myself when my writing sort of fell back into obscurity in my schedule, considering the fact that I had that two week period of time that was SPRING BREAK, which, may I add, is OVER! Now I have school and my writing is to be delayed by those little bits (Pfft...Little) of homework that I was assigned by those people of whom I know as my torturers. Well...I also have another explanation, but I'll discuss that later. Read and Review peoples!

Lilo's features lit up dramatically at the sight of Quasimodo's discovery, and a gentle exclamation escaped her lips. She rushed over to the single- strap bag that dangled from the hunchback's large arm, grabbing the pouch and pulling it against her in a relieved embrace. All of her supplies and snacks, everything that she had decided to bring with her when she had originally decided to take on the challenge of inter-dimensional travel, was now here. And, hopefully, they were unharmed, and it would be easier to eke out an existence in this mysterious place.
"I almost forgot about it!" she exclaimed, grabbing the strap of the bag and attempting to pull it off of Quasimodo's forearm. "Thanks!"
"You're welcome," he replied, smiling amusedly at Lilo as she tugged eagerly at the bag, accidentally tangling the strap on Quasimodo's fingers. Quasimodo laughed quietly as she growled at the sudden obstacle, and reached in to assist her in claiming her possession. Unfortunately for him, Lilo did not notice his attempt and made her efforts more vehement, pulling the strap tight against his fingers and forcing it painfully into his skin.

"Lilo," Quasimodo said, trying to pull the cord from his fingers; he found it very difficult to do so with Lilo still tugging. "Lilo!" He repeated, his tone a little more annoyed, and his digits working harder to untangle the belt. The little girl was causing his entangled fingers into a most uncomfortable position, and he found himself exerting more energy. Couldn't she hear him?
Finally, after several more moments of his complaint and her deafness, the bell ringer was able to pull the cord from his hand. Lilo, who still was engrossed in her own endeavor, was unable to notice the sudden improvement of the situation, and gave out a loud exclamation, and seconds later, a strange creak of wood sounded as she fell backwards sharply on the wooden planks.
"I'm sorry, Lilo, are you okay?" Quasimodo asked, rushing quickly to her side, his expression filled with that familiar worry. Lilo looked up at him with a crooked smile, as if it were half forced, but moaned in pain just seconds later. Quasimodo leant down to help her up, but she just shook her head.
"I'm all right, really," she said, turning to examine her backside. "My butt broke my fall."
Quasimodo chuckled, relieved and Lilo looked up at him and smiled. He really wasn't that different when he just smiled and laughed. It probably would be a lot easier for him if he just sat back and giggled a little bit. That way, maybe he wouldn't look so sad all the time.
Lilo shifted her attention once again back to her newfound bag, placing it with a renewed enthusiasm upon her lap. She unbuttoned the flap and flipped it open, an expectant smile on her face. The inside of the bag was a little more disarrayed than it had been when she had at first stuffed everything in (and that had already been quite messy), but nevertheless, it seemed most everything was intact. The only things that seemed at least a little mussed up were the bags of chips that she had thrown in there, which had all, for one reason or another, popped open, and the couple of soda's that she had kept in there were shaking mysteriously. She was smart enough to know not to touch those any time soon.
She delved deeper into the depths of her bag, examining and pulling out different things during her search. A pack of crayons along with some paper that she had packed; just in case she wanted to draw during her stay in another realm. She also had several different travel games, unfilled water balloons, and extra clothing.

Quasimodo watched her as she pulled every array of odd items that he had never before set his eyes on before, wondering more and more just where this little girl had gotten all these things. Lilo was odd enough without the sudden appearance of these things. Just where did she come from anyway?

Lilo continued to unpack her bag; still no sign of what she was looking for. Where did that little green thing go? She dug deeper and deeper, until, finally, she found a little white blanket bundled up at the bottom of the bag.

"There you are!" she exclaimed, taking the bundle in her arms and embracing it tightly.

Quasimodo lifted an eyebrow in confusion. A blanket?

"What is it, Lilo?" he asked, seating himself on the floor beside her. Lilo turned to look at him and smiled widely and proudly.

"Scrump!" she exclaimed. As you may imagine, this did not explain much to the hunchback.

"What?" he asked, his tone obviously confused.

Lilo held up the bunch to his face.

"Scrump!" she repeated.

She unwrapped the blanket and slowly revealed, bit after bit, more and more green. And soon enough, Quasimodo was greeted by the sight of a green rag doll, its stuffed limbs hanging limply at its sides. Lilo once again pushed it up against his face, and he stared quietly at it as its button eyes and stitched face stared blankly back.

"It's my doll!"

Quasimodo continued his bewildered gaze, then, for some reason, reached out a hand, taking the thing into his own possession.

"I made her," Lilo added, a smile creeping across her face as she watched him examine Scrump closer.

"Oh," Quasimodo said at the bit of information. He looked at the strange toy. "It's very creative, Lilo."

"Thanks," she said, not noticing how Quasimodo had slowed down his speech, perhaps to weigh his words (when you can't say anything nice, say something vague). "You know, you're the first person ever to say something nice about her."

Quasimodo smiled quietly to himself.

"Except for Nani," she said, thinking quietly, her expression suddenly changing. "But, you could tell that she only wanted to be nice, and she really thought it was ugly. But I never told her that."

"Who's Nani?" Quasimodo asked gently.

Lilo sighed harshly.

"My sister."

Quasimodo was a little surprised at this statement, having not known for until then that his new friend had a sister. He wondered why she seemed so sad at the mention.

"Is there something wrong, Lilo?"

"No," Lilo said, shaking her head without a lot of enthusiasm. "I just don't want to talk about her just now."

"Why?" he asked her, his big eyes glittering with concern for her. (Bad writing)

"We had a fight," Lilo answered, looking down on the floor. "She didn't really trust me, and I think that she's mad at me. I was mad at her, too. But not now."

"Why don't you tell her that?" Quasimodo suggested.

Lilo shook her head.

"No, I don't want to," she said.

"Why not?"

"Because..." she started. She was silent for several seconds, as if thinking up her response to the question, but ended up just sighing and looking down at the floorboards.

"Just, because."

Quasimodo was silent for moments afterward, but then shrugged his shoulders acceptingly and watched her as she transformed her usually bright figure to a dimming sad one. He was concerned, yes of course, for his little friend, and felt for her when he saw her show such sadness as she did him. His silence showed that he was compassionate enough to realize that he should further delve into the details of Lilo and her sister's fight; it didn't mean at all that he stopped thinking about it. What could cause such a happy little girl (which is what he supposed) such sadness? He found himself becoming a bit biased toward Nani for doing whatever she did to Lilo, even if he didn't know just what it was. Why would anyone want to make anyone else unhappy?

Lilo lay staring up at the ceiling of crossbeams and open windows, thinking nearly the same thing, though her point of view was a bit changed by her knowledge. She understood how and why Nani acted in such a way, she knew that it was a bad thing for her to skip school just because nobody liked her; she also understood how Nani still loved her, and was just thinking about her welfare. But why did she have to be so mean? It probably would have ended up a lot better (or at least more in Lilo's favor) had she told her what was ailing her so much. But she forgave her, nevertheless. Why she did not want to tell her, even if she did have to opportunity, was quite simple to explain. Though Lilo was usually rather proud of herself for learning a lesson at the end of the day, admitting herself wrong to Nani was like admitting defeat in an ongoing war. She didn't usually admit she learned something until Nani apologized first. At that time, Lilo had already won the battle.

Her eyes closed for several seconds, and she attempted to redirect her thoughts on something else. It was a difficult thing; it was obvious how much she missed Nani and the rest of her ohana. But she somehow managed to anchor her attention on the bag and how Quasimodo had found it. She had almost forgotten about it, what with the plunge and having found herself in a world that may be alien (which reminded her, she wasn't completely sure if she was still on Earth or not), and she was almost completely sure that she had not had it while she was teetering on the beam. Or when she was in that hellish tunnel for that matter. But, she was sure that she was wearing it when Jumba had forced her into the Dimension Hopper. That was weird. It must have come off when she was thrown in... But then how did it end up with her in the world?

Lilo's eyes fluttered open at the appearance of a thought. What if the transmitter had come along with the bag? She had lost the little metal band just moments prior to losing the bag, so, even if it was just a bit earlier, wouldn't it be very possible that it had somehow found its way into this world?

Quasimodo watched as Lilo sat motionless on the floorboards, wondering if, perhaps he should leave her be; she seemed so upset when the subject of her sister had come up. He shrugged quietly to himself, leaning forward to pull himself into standing, when he felt something grabbing his arm before he could get up. He turned to look at what it was and saw Lilo holding onto his forearm.

"Quasimodo, wait," she said.

He replaced himself on the floor.

"Yes, Lilo?" he asked, looking at her curiously.

"I wonder," she started, "if maybe you found a little metal thing that can fit around my wrist when you found the bag."

"Do you mean," Quasimodo asked, lifting an eyebrow, "a bracelet?"

"Yeah!" She said. "A bracelet. It's silver and it has a little green thing on it with numbers and words."

"Alright..." he said. "But, no, I didn't see anything like that. Why, did you lose one?"

Lilo sighed, nodding.

"Well, keep your eyes open for it, okay? I really need it."

"Okay..."

Lilo's eyes lit up for a second, as if another idea had come to her.

"Quasimodo," she said, "where did you find it, anyway?"

"Just beneath the beams where you fell..."

"Okay," she nodded. "And that would be where?"

Quasimodo gave her a curious glance, but he pointed to the right, where a lot of the tower was shadowed by beams and statues. Lilo thanked him politely and stood up, replacing everything in the bag, and heading toward where he had pointed. Quasimodo was confused by the whole thing, but did not ask a single question afterward, just holding out Scrump so that she could reclaim the little doll.

Lilo shook her head.

"You play with her," she said.

And, before Quasimodo could say anything more, she disappeared into the gloom. Quasimodo pouted somewhat, but then just shook his head, and, with Scrump hanging from one of his large hands, he headed to his miniature.

Noon was approaching, and the sun was now shining right above in the pale winter sky. The pallid rays shone upon the little city upon its table, where the modest wooden dolls stood smiling agreeably and one another. Quasimodo's mouth curled pleasantly at the sight of his toys; he loved them that much, for they were his own creations. Like they were his children.

He brought Scrump over to the little table and set her down to the side, leaning against the model of Notre Dame. His own little doll, its one open eye staring at the townspeople grouped around him. Quasimodo grimaced just a bit at the sight. It was his fantasy to be surrounded like that, and not secluded in the bell tower; maybe that's what made the sight so unnatural. It didn't make sense. There was still a feeling of alienation in the scene. But, it had never been that way before, which made it ever the more stranger.

"I wish this made sense," he whispered to himself, sitting on a stool set near the table. He stared at his models for moments in silence, trying to contemplate the difference. It was not until several minutes later when he remembered Scrump, sitting alone in the shadow of the wooden cathedral, staring expressionlessly into space. Something about that odd little rag doll changed the whole ambiance of the miniatures. Why? He was unsure just why. There was a lot he didn't understand, especially at the arrival of Lilo. He stared at her quietly. It just felt weird alienating something like that from the crowd while he got to stand in the center, surrounded by smiling people.

He sighed, picking up Scrump and staring into the buttons that were her eyes. There was something familiar bout the notion. Quasimodo smiled at the thought. Something very familiar. And, with a great smile, he picked up Scrump and placed her beside him in the center of the square. Perhaps he wasn't too different from everyone.

Stitch did not have any problem admitting the fact that when Jumba had said "a little talk," he had expected more that just a little talk. And, he thought bitterly, much more than just sitting in the living room, letting Nani have her say while everyone just sat in silence, waiting for her to shut up. All this Stitch had no problem admitting. But, unfortunately for him, at the time he would have to admit everything to himself.

One way or another, Pleakley had convinced Jumba to allow him to do the talking to (which was now and always a BAD idea), and now they were stuck grumbling to themselves while Pleakley tried to stutter in a word or two when Nani took a breath from her seemingly endless tirade. It was horrible.

"And, I don't know why any of you are making such a deal out of it, but I think that what I did was a good idea, and you can try to convince me other wise, but I don't think it's going to work!"

There was a silence following, and Pleakley jumped when he realized that the woman was finished.

"Yes," he started, "but we want to know why you called the police!"

Nani groaned at Pleakley, joined by Jumba and Stitch, when they all realized that the one-eyed alien had not listened (well, not very well) to what Nani was rambling on about.

Stitch was annoyed more by the fact that he thought that maybe she would restate the whole thing so that Pleakley would understand. And, he did not want that happening again.

"Pleakley," Nani said, rubbing her temples in annoyance, "you are so dense."

"Well," he said indignantly, putting his hands on his waist, "that's just rude!"

"Since when were you a master of etiquette?" Asked Nani sarcastically, though she did know that she was in fact being rather impolite. But, she didn't care.

"Always!" he retorted. It was somewhat true; he had read several books on the subject. But, most of the time it occurred that he didn't completely understand it!

And, Nani, with the bitterest of her voices, announced this to the cyclopean, receiving little more than just flustered stutters from him. Jumba grunted, half-laughing at the sight. Stitch glanced at his creator and smiled wickedly to himself. Served the idiot right for taking the polite route. If it had been up to him, why, Nani wouldn't get a chance to speak. At least not until he was done forcing her to understand. It would be a lot more direct. And, Stitch added to himself, smiling maliciously, a little bit more violent if you know what I mean.

"You just don't understand why we don't want you to call the police!" Pleakley exclaimed, his eyebrow lowering in frustration.

"Then why don't you tell me?" Nani asked sitting up straighter. Pleakley stopped suddenly. Jumba's eyes opened wider. Stitch's ears pricked up. A feeling of tension filled the room.

"Well?" The other three occupants of the room stared expectantly at Pleakley, waiting for his answer. Nani did not know a thing about Lilo's excursion into the unknown. Would he be stupid enough to reveal to her the fact?

This we shall never know, for before Pleakley could speak, a loud siren blazed throughout the whole house, forcing everyone to plug their ears with one thing or another (except for Pleakley. No Ears).

Jumba stood up, heading toward the staircase and motioning for the other two to follow him upstairs. All but Nani, who did not know what was going on, stood up and made their way to the attic. Stitch was the first to reach their destination, and the first to jump in through the holo-wall to the workplace beyond. The dimension hopper's control panel was beeping horribly, the loading bar flashing green.

"As I have suspected," Jumba said, yelling over the noise. "It is complete!" The purple alien stepped forward and, flinching for a moment as his hand left his ear, pushed a green button adjacent to the screen. Typing in several things in the keyboard, he flipped a switch and suddenly the screen blanked into darkness. Stitch, who was afraid that perhaps they had lost the information, made a rude exclamation, and was quickly shushed by Jumba and Pleakley. Soon afterward, the screen reappeared, this time filled with words.

"There you go, 626," Jumba said looking pleased upon the screen. "There is where the little girl's transmitter went." Stitch hung over the screen from his place on a black stool, the sight reflecting across his eyes.

Paris, 1481, February twenty-eighth

A/N: Okay, there was the chapter! I hope it ended up well; I'll never be sure until you tell me! So review. Now, I just want to tell you just why everything about writing seemed to disappear from my view for several weeks. Okay, now, I have an acquaintance (I shall not reveal to you their name), read my story. They seemed to enjoy it, and I liked how they told me what they thought (not in the reviews). But, then, they said: "I noticed some subtle romantic themes between the two characters; are you going to make something with it?" I said nothing to them then, but inside Mr. Nieby (my muse) was asking me, "subtle romantic themes? Where?" I'll assure you, the same question came into my head, and I spent several days thinking over what she could have meant. Can any of you point out to me where anyone seems at least a little romantic in this story? Okay...Well, bye now. Read and Review, Mes Amis!