Author's Note: Yes, I know it's been so long! But, I've been busy with school, and I couldn't get the chapter started as good as I wanted it to be! Sometimes it ended up very horrible, and I tried to make it start with the fight, but the feeling never got through straight. So, here's chapter 27, and I hope you like it! Read and Review!

The open window looked out upon the stretch of sandy hill, the nearby forest and shallows moving slightly beneath the subtle drizzle that had begun to patter down not too long ago. Jumba Jukiba lumbered down the way, a piece of the Dimension Hopper's mainframe dragging behind him, their long trail from the house to the forest marking grooves and footprints into the loose sands. He seemed unaffected by the rain, doing little more than mumble incoherent words beneath rumbling breaths, making his slow journey to the forest's verge, soon to disappear beneath the mesh of leaves and branches.

Lilo watched the scene by the open window, her eyes, staring from beneath lowered brows, slowly trailing Jumba as he labored along in the sprinkle. She let out a harsh sigh, shaking her head in frustration.

"I hate the rain," she whispered to herself, leaning her cheek against the wooden sill. "When I think it goes away, it comes right back."

She didn't usually feel this way, but there was something about the gloomy weather this time around that made her feel increasingly angry at herself. Guilt haunted her constantly now, tightening her chest and threatening her with further unhappy weeping. She had become tired of that also, those constant tears, the salty drops that had so recently began to overcome her cheeks. She could almost imagine herself wandering around with ruts carved into her face, evidence of those many tears.

But, Lilo could do little about eradicating that remorse now as she watched the large, purple alien trudge through the grainy path below. Soon enough, he would pull into the woods and continue to walk until she could no longer see his form. And, not long after, she would hear the deafening explosion thunder from the woods, see the heated wind push through the trees and the black smoke fill the once clear air. Soon enough, the Dimension hopper would be gone forever, taking along with it that final chance that she had owned to see her Quasimodo one last time.

Lilo moved away from the window, frowning irritably as tears began to well up in her eyes, brought about by the bitter thought. With an angry groan, she attacked her eyes with balled up fists, rubbing them furiously, until they became red and pained. Crying, crying, crying! That's all that she did anymore!

Walking away from the window she turned, and, with a sudden jolt of ire and surprise, saw Stitch standing at the edge of the elevator, blinking at her uncertainly.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, her voice a low, resonating hiss.

"Lilo," Stitch began, reaching out a claw as if to touch her. But he pulled his hand back, holding it against the blue fur of his chest, and his eyes fell down to the cold, uncovered floor.

With an irritated roll of her eyes, Lilo pushed past him to her bed, clambering up onto the mattress and falling face down onto her pillow.

Stitch remained silent, watching her as she lay upon her bed, as limp and hopeless as a worm that lay dying from the summer heat. With tentative steps, he shuffled forward slowly, his hands clenching and unclenching in anxiety, keeping a rhythm as constant as his heartbeat.

"Lilo," he repeated, standing now just beside her bed.

"Go away," she interjected in irritation, her voice muffled by her pillow.

"Stitch is sorry," he finished, holding his hands together, his gaze moving from her form to wander uneasily across the floor.

"Sorry?" Lilo echoed, pushing herself off the bed, turning her head swiftly to stare at the blue creature that lingered at her side.

Stitch nodded guiltily, looking up at her in curiosity.

"Well, that's just great, Stitch!" Lilo said, her words dripping with sarcasm. "That's definitely going to stop Jumba from destroying the Dimension Hopper! Let's just wave our hands, say the magic word and then everything will be all better, right?"

The experiment blinked, the words slicing deep past his apology right into his heart. He never thought that he could force Lilo into such anger, but somehow he had managed to hurt her more deeply than he had meant to. He hadn't purposefully caused everything to happen; he had only wanted Lilo to stay, afraid of losing her again to the mercy of time and space. Maybe if he hadn't said no. Maybe if he hadn't told her he wouldn't help her. Maybe she wouldn't have attacked him, maybe Nani wouldn't have heard them, maybe they wouldn't be in this mess.

Stitch bowed his head shamefully, releasing a regretful sigh. "Stitch not mean to—"

"Leave me alone," Lilo cut in, an undeniable frustration tipping her words. With a disconsolate grunt, she fell back onto her bed, turning her back on the experiment to stare silently at the wall. She hugged her knees to her chest, kissing the bare skin with frowning lips, and she closed her red eyes. She wanted to go to sleep and dream, in hopes of leaving this painfully muddled situation behind her.

Stitch stared at Lilo's back, tense with anger and annoyance. He stood still, silenced by her sudden, hurtful words, the apologies he had so long planned caught in his throat, slowly becoming forgotten in a haze of uncertainty. A strange sort of impatience began bubbling upward from his stomach, gurgling in his throat as a restrained growl. He was trying to say he was sorry, and all she could do was ignore him and tell him to go away. What was the point in his kindness, in his regret? What reason did he have to apologize if she wouldn't even listen?

Stitch thought back to the attic, where everything had began, where Lilo had asked him to help her see him again. He remembered everything that had run through his head at that moment, the sudden despair, the fright and unhappiness at his suspicions being realized. He couldn't help but feel that jealousy, hearing the half-hidden desperation that flowed with her request. Without thinking, he had said no. No, he would not help her. No, he wouldn't operate the machine. No, he would not risk losing her again. Lilo had questioned him, asked him why he refused, and all he said in reply was "no" yet again. Soon enough, it erupted into a battle of words, which evolved, with a holler and tackle, to a physical match. Stitch hadn't fought back when Lilo had begun; he rebuffed every impulse that took him to hurt her. Nani had heard them from downstairs, and, after Lilo was forced to stop her attack, Stitch had explained the story leading up to the fight. And of course, Nani said no too, causing another fight, this time between her and the little girl. In the end, Nani, in a blaze of emotion, ordered Jumba to destroy the Dimension hopper and sent Lilo up to her room.

It had taken Stitch a long time to gather up the courage to come and apologize to her, and now he felt as if none of his words, no matter how heart felt and truthful he made them, would have any substance to her.

Crossing his arms irritably, he turned away from Lilo and glared at the elevator that had brought him up to their shared room.

"Stitch said sorry," he said, taking a step toward the exit. "But if Lilo not care, Stitch not care then too. But…" Stitch turned to glance over his shoulder to where Lilo lay. "…But, Stitch is sorry. And…" The experiment let out a sigh. "Stitch means it."

Lilo hugged herself closer at the words. She felt guilty now, the tone of his voice evident to her now that she took her time to actually listen. But she couldn't turn, her pride and frustration holding her in a tight grip, and she resigned herself to laying there, wrapped up in her shadowed feelings.

Stitch hadn't moved for a while, but now, his sincere words greeted with a cold, awkward silence, he took heavy footsteps toward the elevator. His chin was on his furry chest, his clawed hands once again opening and closing in that rhythmic anxiety. Well, he thought, he had tried.

"Wait."

Stitch stopped, his ear twitching at the sound of his best friend's voice. He turned about to look at Lilo, who he saw kneeling on her mattress, her hair veiling her face in a drape of black.

"Look, Stitch," Lilo began, her eyes still on her pillow. "I'm sorry too. But… it's just that…" She looked at Stitch, and the experiment saw with a jolt the tears that had begun to well up in her eyes. "Stitch, I promised!"

Stitch made his way back to the edge of her mattress, watching Lilo attentively as she wiped away the tears.

"He's sad all the time, Stitch," she began with a tired sigh. "He doesn't have a lot of friends, and people run away from him all the time, because they're scared."

Stitch nodded, guessing only that it was Quasimodo that she was talking about.

"But I saw him smile, Stitch, and I know that he could be happy someday…" Lilo smiled gently, and looked down at her experiment lovingly. "Sometimes, he made me think of how I felt a lot of the time… before you came around."

Stitch looked away in embarrassment, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish grin taking his face.

"You're my angel, Stitch," Lilo told him. "And I think that, maybe, I'm Quasimodo's, if that doesn't sound too weird."

Stitch shook his head. "Not weird."

Lilo smiled sadly. "Yeah," she said. "I wanted to help him so much… but, I got him into a lot of trouble… and I broke one of the things that he cared about the most in his life… he was so angry, he told me to go away."

Stitch felt a sort of familiarity now toward the unknown man that Lilo spoke of, thinking back to those vivid memories of his first three days with her, the trouble he had forced upon her, the photo he had burnt, the accusing words that she had shot at him.

"But, I ended up living with him for a while, and I learned a lot of things… I know that he didn't want me to go away… He was crying… And I promised to go back, Stitch… Even if it's only for ten minutes, or something like that… It's my duty as an angel, right?"

Stitch didn't answer for a while, thinking over this question.

"Plus," Lilo added, "he's got Scrump."

Lilo let out a harsh sigh and leaned against her headboard. "But I guess I can't do anything about it now, huh? Jumba's going to destroy my only way to see him again, and Nani's not going to leave him alone until he gets rid of something. I guess we're sunk."

Stitch tilted his head, tapping a nail thoughtfully against his chin. "Maybe not," he said at length, crawling onto Lilo's bed.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe we can get you to finish Angel Duties," Stitch said. "But, Stitch needs Lilo's help, okay?"

Lilo smiled at him thankfully. "Yes," she said suddenly, throwing her arms around his neck and pecking his cheek. "So, what's the plan?"

And... that's the end... Two more chapters until the end... it's so close... could it be possible that Ms. van Cartier is actually going to finish something that she started? Let's hope so... I want to know how it feels like! Read and Review, constructive criticism, if you please!