Chapter Two: Weaving

Bedtime and then morning came soon enough, Ani and Yuna immediately rushing out of bed upon waking and wolfing down their breakfast. Jumba had confirmed he'd get to work on Heat right after, and they wanted to spend some time with him before he went under.

However, as it turned out, her and Yuna wouldn't be the only ones visiting him that day…

"Oh gods, you really mean he gave you the go-ahead?!" Hammerface put his head in his hands, but the 5-series only shrugged and smiled at him, "He wanted me to, so I went and called her. She'll be here in about two hours."

Tigerlily groaned, shaking her head as she washed the family's plates in the sink, "I want nothing to do with Angel-she's yours as long as she's staying here."

"Relax Tigerlily, she's not that big of a problem when Heat's around." Lilo said, rolling her eyes at Yuna's cousin, "If anything, she'll probably behave given what he's going through."

"I sure hope so, the last time she came, we had to deal with Sprout's baby."

Lilo sighed, standing up from the table and taking out her phone, "Hopefully. Say Thresher? Did you say Angel sounded a little…?"

"Off? Not really, but she was pretty loud over the phone." Thresher explained, "I asked her if she'd just had a concert, and she said she didn't. I pushed her to get it checked out when she gets here."

Lilo nodded, "...Right. So, you two." She nodded to Ani and Yuna, "You get your visit done, and then you should probably walk around town, okay? It doesn't have to be long-his procedure's a few hours, but still."

"Okay, should we come back for lunch then? 'Cause if not, I'll go get my allowance." Yuna offered, ony to feel a tap on her shoulder.

"I can make money to carry you through." Witch offered, "How much do you need?"

"Oh! Uhhhh…" Yuna thought for a moment, "Maybe about 2500 yen? Just so we're safe."

"Cool, just show me some bills so I know how make them." The transmutation experiment turned back to her breakfast, prompting Tigerlily to raise her eyebrows, "We're not doing anything weird here, are we?"

Witch shrugged, "Don't you print it? It's the same thing."

"...Yeah, no. I'll come with and cover it, okay?" Tigerlily said, "No offense Witch."

"None taken."

Ani finished off the rest of her food, taking her plate to the sink to wash, "So, we go and visit Heat, then Tigerlily takes us around town then?"

Lilo nodded, "Basically, meanwhile, I'll be talking things out with Stitch. I'll call Tigerlily when things calm down here."

"You sure you'll be okay? Your first meeting was really awkward." Tigerlily said, crossing her arms and leaning against the counter, "He's been hiding around the house all day, I've never seen him act like this before."

"I'll be fine." Lilo said, "Nosy's gonna help me hunt for him."

The gossip experiment nodded, "Yep! I figured out all of his hiding spaces; he's currently behind the washing machine, so all we need is a net gun. Or Thresher." He grinned sheepishly at the 5-series' flat look towards him. Thresher sighed, "...Ani, Yuna? Get going, okay?"

"Okay..." Ani said, placing her bag over her shoulder as she and Yuna made for the door, "And um-mom?"

"Yes Ani?"

Ani took a deep breath, "Good luck with Stitch, okay? I think you can do it."

Lilo watched from the window as Tigerlily, Witch, Zap, and Plasmoid met with Yuna and Ani outside, leading them away from the ship and onto the path heading into town. Meanwhile, Jumba's silhouette could be seen through the ship's window, green light emanating from what she knew was an upgraded fusion chamber. It'd been years since it'd been taken out, and she hoped this time would be the last.

She and Stitch had taken many trips to the chamber over the year the four were getting treatment, usually sitting outside while Heat's charge was adjusted. She'd gotten into the habit of lining the interior with blankets and even the occasional pillow, and he'd sleep inside while they kept him company, hugging old plushies she was willing to sacrifice to its radiation. He'd sometimes stay awake, if only to listen in on readings of horror novels or watch the plays they'd put on for him.

It pained her she couldn't be in the room for this one; it was another large rework, and Heat's abilities would diminish even further than they already had. Her and Stitch used to sit with him and Plasmoid because they thought it was scary-and it was, at least, to them.

She hoped the others had cheered him up before he went in.

But then, there was what she was supposed to do today...

She sighed, turning to Nosy and Thresher. "Well, I guess this is our last experiment hunt, right?"

Thresher snorted, "Look at it this way; you did pick a good team for it. I have past experience."

"Stop it." Hammerface nudged him as he walked by, "This is serious."

"Well yeah, but still."

The gray experiment shook his head and frowned, causing Thresher to sigh, "Fine..."

"Anyways," Lilo glanced towards the hallway, "I'll go and look with Nosy; Thresher, Hammerface? If he runs out here, try and catch him, okay?

Hammerface nodded as he put his plate in the sink, "Will do; either way, I hope it doesn't get to that point."

Lilo nodded, crossing her arms as she began to make her way down the hall. Nosy led the way as the two inched down towards the laundry room.

A quick sniff from Nosy led him to point towards the dryer, and Lilo's eyebrows raised at the hiding spot; it'd been years since she'd done that herself in a fight with Nani, and the irony of being on the opposite end of such a chase wasn't lost on her.

However, there'd be no blanket laid out to snag Stitch when he thought the coast was clear. Nosy simply closed the door and left her alone as she approached.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Lilo still ended up rolling her eyes at the hiding spot. "...Stitch? It's me. You wanna open up, or should I just sit outside and talk? Because this is important."

It was a moment before the dryer opened up, revealing the blue experiment. His ears were back, and it was apparent he hadn't slept well during the night, yawning as he surveyed her with bleary eyes.

Lilo couldn't help but do a double take, "Wait-did-did you sleep in here Stitch?"

Stitch shrugged, "Meega usually sleeps in Yuna's room, but Ani was in there. Meega…" He trailed off, glancing to the side and staring at the inside of the dryer. "Soka-isa…"

Lilo sighed, "I know. Don't worry; Ani's the same. But...it doesn't need to be like that, you know? That's what I want to do today-if you're up for it."

Her old friend bit his lip, but hunched his shoulders and nodded, "...Meega has a lot to explain…"

"So do I Stitch. But…" Lilo squinted at a pile of clothes with the occasional blue hair sticking out of them, "...Might wanna come out of there so we can actually do that."

Stitch looked around at the pile, his ears lifting up for a moment at the subject change, "Ih! Meega hungry though, so can meega eat first?"

"Sure! I think Hammer saved your breakfast."

Yuna and Ani hung back from Tigerlily and Witch as the group of five made their way down the street, Plasmoid and Zap keeping pace with them and on occasion, glancing around the area. It was a habit they'd developed over the past few years, and although Ani knew why they'd fallen into it, she still hoped they'd fall out of it given they were trying to fix things. She suddenly felt static next to her, and looked up to see Zap offering the two a reassuring smile.

"You two okay? I know this is serious, but still."

Ani shrugged, "I'm kinda nervous Zap. This is my first time-and Yuna's...aaaand she's also just met Heat yesterday too."

"Ah, right." Zap cast a glance over to Yuna, who nodded, "He seemed like he'd been through this before, but it sounded like Jumba was gonna completely rework him."

"I just hope he'll be okay; I know I only met him yesterday, but still." She added. Zap sighed, "He probably will; unfortunately, you're right Yuna; he's been there before when Lilo and Stitch were still dealing with us. It's not something we wanted to have happen again."

"...Is he-"

"-We've got health issues. Botched cloning incident when we were first activated." Plasmoid cut in, craning his neck up at Yuna, "Heat and I have to watch our charge or else we end up under the weather."

Yuna's brows raised in surprise, "Oh-I didn't realize…"

"Stitch was always kind of quiet about you four especially, so I didn't know." She explained, and Plasmoid sighed, narrowing his eyes, "Not surprising. Heat's the only one of us who's even lenient towards him running off like this. That and our stuff was pretty bad when it was going on."

Yuna and Ani shared a glance, "So is this like…"

"A remnant of that? Yeah. I do think Heat'll be fine though; it's actually not as bad as last time." The scorpion experiment assured, pace wobbling slightly as he dodged a rock on the ground, "We just had to come here because we need Jumba to help him."

"But, in any case, I don't want you worrying. Or if you do, then...I kind of hope this is the last you'll have to worry about." He finished, giving the best impression of a shrug he could muster to the two.

"Well, okay uncle Plaz." Ani said, letting out a sigh at Plasmoid's words, "And hey, maybe we can get him something while we're out, right? For when he's recovering and all."

The scorpion experiment's antenna raised as he nodded in agreement, "He will. Granted, you don't need to knowing him, but I'm sure he'd appreciate it."

As if on cue, the horned head of the transmutation 6-series swiveled back to the four, Witch's eyebrow raised at the idea. Tigerlily, who'd been walking next to her in conversation, briefly paused to cast them a glance, "Well, we do have yen, so just say where the two of ya wanna run to."

"Well…" Yuna thought for a moment before getting an idea, raising a finger up as she thought of the place, "There's this new place called Anko's on the corner coming up. They've got plenty of pastries since-"

"...He gave you his leftovers didn't he?" Witch asked, and Ani nodded, "He said he didn't need them since he was being reprogrammed, but he's still gonna be recovering. I think Yuna's got a good idea for what we'd like to get him."

Witch smiled, nodding to the two in confirmation, "You're right about that; plus, we need sugar and junk to recover. And besides, if I know him, he'd be interested in seeing what they have here."

"So, Anko's?" Tigerlily asked, and Yuna and Ani nodded, "Yep!"

"Alright. Works out too; I've been craving their new shortcake lately."

Lilo and Stitch were greeted with a sea of relieved faces from the experiments upon coming into the kitchen, Hammerface nodding towards the fridge when he saw Stitch, "Your food's in there, wouldn't suggest eating it before what you two are about to talk about though. I don't want you getting sick."

"Oh…" Stitch surveyed the fridge for a moment before, "Isa talking about Heat going to do that?"

"It may."

The blue experiment nodded, walking over to the table and seating himself. Hammerface returned it, joining the rest of the experiments outside.

Lilo sighed as she watched him go; truthfully, she'd wanted Hammerface and some of the other early series to stay-the thought occurred to ask him to do just that, but given this was between her and Stitch, she knew asking would be inappropriate, especially for him and Sparky…

"Soooo…" She began. Her tone was awkward and the two looked away from each other for a moment before she continued. "I...I already told you why we came here, so now, all that's left is to just...make up I guess…"

Stitch gulped, "Ih...but-wait-meega wanted to ask about that some more-"

"Stitch, we'll cross that bridge when it comes, okay? You two need to focus on your things right now." Hammerface's voice called from the front door; it broke the tension between the two, Lilo turning to Stitch and nodding, "He's right you know."

"Ih."

Lilo's gaze softened as she surveyed him; she'd told Stitch about Heat's current situation, but her and the experiments had agreed long before that they should be the ones to tell him the full story. It was mostly because of how uncomfortable she was when it came to the subject-it was odd, she should be used to the health issues of Gantu's old "army" by now-more than used to them in fact-but Heat's powers hadn't acted up in years, and the four themselves could be very private about their problems nowadays.

"Alright…" She began, clasping her hands together on the table and letting out a deep breath, "Stitch, about...college, and...Keoni…"

"It...I was wrong. I can see that now. Things...they got so hard to balance, and I...chose a world to live in. That ended up being Earth, and it...ended up being Earth at the expense of my other life up in space. With you and the aliens." She said, "I could say it was college, but I should've asked for help. Cobra was right there and I did nothing. And…"

She trailed off and stared down at the table; she'd come fresh out of graduation and Nani's emergency hospital visit to find Stitch's tiki necklace dangling from a tree-the visit was entirely unplanned, but her own failure to tell Stitch she'd be late had been the final straw in a long string of missed transmissions and even a couple fights, mostly over her college career. She'd chosen such a demanding path that she'd often forget to call until it was too late-even some of the more patient experiments had called her out on it…

Stitch was silent for a moment, surveying Lilo as her eyes darted towards him. His ears drooped and, like his friend, he studied the table. "...Meega just...meega felt really…"

"Remember that hula competition? When meega had my glitch?" He asked. Lilo's eyes shot up to meet his; they were a little fearful-they always were when the subject came up.

Stitch paused, taking a deep breath, "Well...meega started feeling like...maybe naga cared whether or not I left. Whether meega was around or not...youga did it a few times, and this time...naga know what happened. Something snapped and meega ran. Some of the others tried talking meega out of it, but naga listened. And then meega ended up here. Yuna took meega in and...well…" He gestured around the room, "And then...experiments started showing up again…"

Lilo sighed, "That part's not even your fault Stitch-it's actually way more unfortunate than I've let on. Gantu's just…" She clenched her teeth at the thought of the former captain's antics post dishonorable discharge; they'd ultimately been the thing to jumpstart the problems in the first place. He, not so much Stitch, was the real reason they were there. "He's so selfish, I swear-" She drew in a breath and put a hand to her head, "I'll stop myself."

Stitch crossed his arms, resting his head on them, "Ih…"

"So, gaba now?" He asked, "Youga are getting that ban on 'em, you're getting Heat taken care of, and...we're talking...isa there anything else we have to do or…?"

"Oh god Stitch, I wish it were that easy. You know Heat's chronically ill, him and Kixx might have to move here just so he doesn't have a relapse. And that ban'll take months, and then…" She groaned, "we haven't even reached the apology between us Stitch, let alone actually tried and-"

She suddenly felt a soft feeling in her remaining hand, taking her other away from her face to see her friend had stretched all the way across the table to hold it. Lilo bit her lip, feeling a lump grow in her throat, "I…"

Stitch shook his head, "Naga Lilo-meega soka I ran. Isa wrong, and meega just-meega refused to understand why youga couldn't call at some point, naga right, what meega did."

Lilo nodded, her vision blurring with tears, "I'm sorry too Stitch. I didn't know it'd turn out like this."

"I'm gonna try, okay?" She asked, "I don't want you feeling like that ever again-I feel awful I let that happen…"

"And meega won't run anymore-meega'll stay and try to work things out, even if isa scary."

"'Kay." Lilo wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, sniffling, "Let's try then, alright? Together."

"Okitaka. Together."

They hugged. Lilo felt more tears well up in her eyes, blurring the scene of the kitchen...and of a pink experiment in a brown beret rushing past the window...

Angel didn't even bother to knock; she jammed open the door and subsequently crashed straight into Thresher as he tried to stop her, knocking the 5-series right to the ground and scrabbling off of him into the center of the room.

The rest of the experiments groaned in annoyance at Angel; she was panting from the run, clutching her beret in her hand and blinking partially melted mascara out of her lashes. From the looks of it, she'd ran right offstage-or had just been about to run on, ripping ear plugs from her ears and tossing them at the trash bin as she interrogated the group.

"Where is he?!"

"FIRST of all, Angel, knock before you enter houses. Second, you're cleaning yourself off before you even see Heat. I don't want that ship contaminated. Or smelling like the inside of a LUSH store." Hammerface snapped as Lilo and Stitch poked their heads out from the kitchen, "Did you just run offstage or what?"

"I was about to go on-I missed but-"

"We know. We can see the...buildup." Sparky said, wrinkling his nose at the plugs and taking a step back, "Just make sure you get the eyeliner off, alright? Last time it made you look like a raccoon."

Angel nodded and sped off, leaving the rest of the group to exchange irritated glances amongst themselves. Despite the circumstances, Lilo couldn't help but chuckle to herself, wiping another tear from her eye. "It's starting to feel like the old house again."

Hammerface snorted, "Yeah, sooner or later we'll have her and Heat pulling each other's antenna and having slap fights. Anyways-how was-"

"Talk? Ih." Stitch nodded, "Youga were right Hammer, naga feel hungry right now. All the crying made meega forget."

The gray experiment nodded, "I knew it would."

"It's our turn now, right?" He asked, looking up at Lilo. She shrugged, "If you want it to be today, then go for it. Just-go easy, okay?"

Hammerface nodded before raising an eyebrow at a confused Stitch, "Sparky, Nosy and I are going to tell you about the Heat part. Heat would do it, but he's being worked on and Kixx is watching him for the day."

"Don't worry, they'll be backup for if I go off the rails." He assured the blue experiment, who'd opened his mouth to protest, "You have to hear this though, it's urgent given what's happening in that ship."

Stitch nodded, "'Kay, isa about...you know…?"

"It is."

"Oh…"

"Yeah," The two other early series walked over to the door, nodding for Stitch to follow, "Like he said, we're backup, so don't worry."

Hammerface ended up leading the way as the three exited into the front yard. Unsurprising since they were right in the view of the ship.

He tried not to look at the lower level.

The area he led them to was forested, probably a beach path from the small bits of dark blue peeking through the far-off treeline. Stitch seemed to know it, since Hammerface could hear his pace quicken in recognition; not enough to pass him, but certainly enough to pass the other two.

They were silent for a few minutes as they walked down the path, the sight of the ship having worn on them. Hammerface tried to push it out of his mind before he began.

"So, about...my-and their-our captures…"

He slowed his pace, tilting his head back to look at the 6-series. Stitch looked nervous, ears flattened against his head and his gaze turned towards the ground in apprehension. Hammerface…knew what part of this was about, and despite his resentment at Stitch's inability to take responsibility, he knew he'd need to get the first issue out of the way as fast as possible if they were going to get to the bottom of things.

"Ya wanna…?" Sparky mouthed, tilting his head towards Stitch, and he nodded, "Yeah."

"Alright, Stitch? Before…we go into that, I just…want you to know…I'm sorry." Hammerface began, seeing Stitch's eyes creep up towards him and quickly turn back towards the ground. "I am; I was angry, but…I wasn't watching. I wasn't as involved, so I didn't know how far it went between you two."

Stitch gave him a tiny nod, briefly raising his eyes again, "...Why were youga so…?"

"Angry? Well…you had no way of knowing, but…" Hammerface sighed and rubbed a temple, "...Stitch…Nani went to the hospital the day you and Lilo were supposed to meet up."

Stitch froze, now staring at him with wide eyes. Hammerface stared back in silence, but sighed and nodded, "She…her son, your-and our-nephew? He…came out early."

"He's doing fine right now, you don't…don't panic," He said, seeing Stitch open his mouth in worry, "but that's why I screamed at you back there. I was angry you left. Felt like you didn't care whether he was alive or dead, and…I lost my temper."

"I shouldn't have said what I said though, it wasn't right." Hammerface finished, seeing the 6-series close his mouth and gulp, nodding in agreement. "Okitaka. Meega forgive youga Hammer. Meega…meega naga know isa was-"

"I know. It…it was a hard time Stitch. You left at the exact wrong moment." Nosy said, shrugging, "Then after, everything kept goin' downhill. Nani and David had to deal with Hokū, then Lilo got pregnant and we had to take care of Ani too, then Pleakley disappears and experiments after him, it was just…too much all at once."

"And…about…" Stitch gestured towards the direction of the ship, causing all three older series to grimace. Hammerface sighed, "That…what's going on in there is the last straw for us Stitch. It's also…"

"It's the hardest reason we're here." He said, watching the 6-series gaze at him in solemn silence.

Hammerface stared back, knowing that what he was about to say would change Stitch-and he wasn't sure which direction he'd go in once he realized it.

"Heat's…here because of, well, his charge, but the reason…"

"...Should I take over?" Sparky asked, and he nodded. "'Kay. Stitch…we don't really know how else to tell you this, but…"

"Heat found out Kixx got taken, and…well, he broke down and his powers went out of control." He explained, "Dunno how much you heard, but he made Kauai have a record heatwave. Fires all over, the ocean about ten degrees hotter, even caused a red tide because some of the local algae went nuts. Ground zero's desertified-we're enlisting 5-series to try terraforming it back to normal, but we're not sure if we can."

Stitch's eyes were as wide as saucers as he surveyed the older series. Hammerface could see the beginnings of tears forming in the bottoms of them and sighed, "Stitch, it's okay; he-he didn't-"

He was too late. Hammerface watched as Stitch's gaze flitted to a stretch of fur on his chest-fur that was shorter than the rest of his coat, as it was still growing back from well…burns.

Of course. He'd had to be a part of the experiments who'd retrieved Heat. Him, Drowsy, Cloudy, and Witch.

He crossed his arms and shook his head, but this left Stitch even more distraught than before. The navy blue experiment blinked and two large tears slipped down his cheeks. Hammerface hunched his shoulders at the sight, uncrossing his arms and rushing forward to hug him. "Stitch, it's alright, you didn't-"

"Meega soka-meega so soka-"

"It's alright Stitch. It's not your fault, okay? It's Gantu's. Did Lilo tell you? One of the reasons we're here?"

Stitch sniffed and shook his head, raising it from where it'd buried itself into the older series' chest. "Naga."

"Well, then we will; we're banning Hammy and company from Earth." Sparky said, stepping up beside Nosy. Stitch looked between them in surprise, but the 2-series nodded in confirmation, "This was the final straw; we're basically getting restraining orders, and uh…I know you probably know about Earth ones, but these are a lot harsher."

"Gaba ih?"

"Well, for starters, they can't even look in the general direction of this side of the galaxy. They'll be under strict watch, and part of our demands are that Gantu and Reuben cut contact with Hamsterviel for good." Nosy explained, "There's more, but that's the gist of it for now."

Stitch stood in silence, still wrapped in Hammerface's arms. He gazed down at the ground for a moment before tentatively nodding, wiping an eye as Sparky ruffled the tuft of fur on his head, "It's gonna be alright Stitch. We'll try and help you, but…no more running, okay? Besides, the more you do it, the more awkward things're gonna be with Ani and Hokū. And…they wanna meet you, you know? You kind of got them scared to since they only know you from our stories."

"Ooh." Stitch looked down at the ground for a moment; he'd promised this before to Lilo, but his cousins needed to hear it too…

Especially Heat.

"Okitaka." He said quietly, "No more running. Meega promises."

"That's…that's all we wanted to hear Stitch. Thanks." Hammerface said, "And we're going to make sure you don't feel alone with these. We know how you and change are."

"Ih-naga, naga good." Stitch gave the 0-series a sheepish grin, though not without another sniffle, "Soka-isa a lot to hear all at once."

"Well, we said it was gonna be a rough day." Nosy said, shrugging as Stitch gently pulled himself out of Hammerface's hug, "We still have time to kill before Jumba's done, so…if ya want I can let you in on what we're planning to get past this? Change the subject to somethin' lighter?"

Stitch nodded, "Isa sounds good. Can meega pick?"

"Sure! You could use the subject change. Plus if you can't think of one, I'll pick."

"Ih!"

The group of four walked through the rest of the path, all three earlier series letting Stitch show them the rest of the oddities lining the trail. Hammerface let Sparky and Nosy take the lead, slightly hanging back as he cast a final glance towards the ship outside the Kamihara household. Despite the promise from Stitch to improve, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of apprehension.

He…wasn't the only person Stitch needed to make up with…