Chapter Five: Pua Manu

Heat's vision cleared to dark purple, a heavy weight on his side indicating he'd woken up before his fiance. He stretched and sighed, thinking over the events of the prior day. Experiments had swamped the house to plan for today, many worried about the timing, others irritated at Gantu and Reuben for…everything. Still others had taken to helping the Kamiharas prepare for the next day, worried about their own presence in the house-they were used to having tens if not hundreds of mouths to feed, but the Kamiharas…were not. And they understood that all too well…

Heat gently pushed himself out from underneath Kixx's arms and swung his legs over the side of the bed, feeling the knot in his stomach start to return; there'd been no response from Lilo or the experiments since that morning, and while this was likely because they were trying to get back home as fast as they could-there was no reception in Hyperspace after all-the lack of communication still worried him.

Stealing out into the front room revealed a familiar sight of numerous Witch-generated sleeping bags containing cousins, leading the heat experiment to hold his breath as he stepped around them to cast a glance outside.

Still no ship.

At least there was no mist this time around.

Heat bit his lip as he made his way back to his and Kixx's room, finding the purple experiment sitting up in bed and stretching, squinting out the window facing the sideyard.

"Still nothing?"

"Yep."

"Gods."

"I know."

"Really hope they put on autopilot for that thing. Just so they could get some sleep."

"Hopefully."

"Well. Do we…go down there or…"

Kixx shrugged, "Aren't Jumba and the others taking over?"

"They are, but still."

"Let's go then."

Heat quietly scratched the last of the measurements down onto the binder's paper as he eyed the record. 99.99%-and soon to be 100. Attempts to get in touch with Lilo by some of the awakening early series had again ended in failure, Carmen fretting they'd somehow run into traffic in Hyperspace of all places. Nosy and Fibber had managed to calm her and Spooky, but Heat could see they weren't all that sure themselves. He frowned as the two eyed the last of their work for the week, wondering when 001 would finally hit 100%-and when her parents and Lilo would return.

"Last one until she's out then." Kixx mused beside him, and Heat gulped as he nodded, "I can't believe we're worried about this of all things. Not Gantu ripping the roof off, just timing."

"Neither of us got to use our powers."

"Nope. Kinda glad for that actually."

"Me too. And…even if they're late, it's not that big of a deal, right?"

Heat sighed, "Nah, just…you know. Her parents should get to hold her."

"...They should."

"Wanna head back up?"

"Sure-"

Kixx's voice was suddenly drowned out by a massive, cacophonic mixture of shrieks and sirens-a grating cross between Sample's song remixes and Hunkahunka's chirps. A quick glance from both of them revealed progress was complete-a large green 100% flashing as Sample's alarm continued to blare.

"Aw-shit!" Heat grabbed onto Kixx and felt himself squeezed against the fighting experiment's chest, both their hearts pounding from the shock of being caught inside the alarm, "She's gonna come out-we've gotta get out of here-!"

"You two-oh my gods-I can't believe this!" A familiar set of purple claws yanked both of them back as Flute pulled the 6-series up the stairs, "Sango and the others are coming-you didn't need to-!"

"Yeah we did Flute!" Heat snapped back, but this did little to calm the 0-series. Flute simply shook her head as she dragged them out into the living room, experiments and humans struggling to make way for Jumba, Sango, Pleakley, and Joules-the former of whom wrestling themselves into lab coats as they rushed to the still-open door.

"601, 609, thanking you for help-she's being done however, so you didn't have to go down there!" Jumba exclaimed, letting the two experiments dash down the stairs before him, "021, keep them in sights while we take her out."

Flute saluted, causing her creator to roll his eyes as he shut the door, footsteps pounding away into the darkness to be replaced by…

"They're here!" Angel's voice was faint against the ship's engine, and she flinched and yanked her hearing aides out from her ears upon the sound of the hatch opening. Flute hugged her to her as three frazzled figures shot out of the hatch and barreled through the door, Lilo hastily accepting hugs from Ani and Yuna as Hammerface and Clip stood wheezing in the middle of the room.

"Tell me she's not done yet-" The tool-headed experiment sputtered, but Heat shook his head, "They're getting her out of the tank Hammer-you're right on time, just…"

"Just need to get myself situated before I hold my child. Great." He huffed, almost immediately rushing with his partner to their spare room. "Dogshit Turian traffic-"

"Don't start!" Clip's voice rang out, immediately silencing Hammerface as they disappeared down the hall.

Flute leaned back and heaved a sigh, ears flattened against her head as Lilo sheepishly clicked the button on the keys. The hatch closed with a whine as Ani and Yuna led her to the couch with the rest of the family.

"Any more action from you, or are we good?" Flute asked, causing Lilo to snort, "Hopefully the latter; we're really sorry-took the wrong path and then got stranded in the middle of traffic. And you know how Turian traffic can get."

"Jeez. Did you put on autopilot eventually?" Heat asked, and Lilo nodded, "We had to; we also had to drag Hammer away from the steering wheel beforehand. Now I know why he's not allowed to drive alone."

Kixx shook his head at the mention of the 0-series' anger, "And here we were worried you wouldn't make it back. Good to know he would've broken physics to get back on time."

"Still can't believe what happened to that sweet-tempered Household I fished out of the container." Flute joked, causing some other early series to chuckle amongst themselves, "Still though-we're glad you made it back in time."

"Speaking of." She cast Heat and Kixx a sly grin, "These two were doin' their duty to the very end; they were taking her measurements when the alarm went off."

"And then you dragged us out here." Heat finished, "We didn't know if we were supposed to keep doing it, so…"

"That sounds like you. 001's lucky to have you as uncles." Flute said, making the couple flush, "I mean that; you've been holding down the fort here pretty well from the looks of it."

"That you have." Hammerface's voice called out, signaling his and Clip's entry into the room, "We're late, but it's nice to see everyone's so prepared."

"Yeah-makes me feel a bit better about rushing over here." Clip added, the two replacing Lilo on the couch as she got up to wash her hands in the kitchen sink, "It's nice to know we'd be covered even if we missed her."

"Speaking of…" Angel peered towards the floorboards of the room as she turned her aides back up to maximum volume, "I think they're close to done cleanin' her off. Might wanna…"

The parents nodded, Hammerface taking Clip's hand as the families waited for 001 to be taken up…

Around ten minutes passed before the basement door was opened by Joules, who nodded to a misty-eyed Jumba as he quietly stepped into the room carrying a tiny bundle. Sango and Pleakley were close behind, the latter sniffling under a large tissue while the Leroy clone carried the shoebox he'd stored 001's outfits in.

"Here's 001-I didn't expect she'd be so small!" He exclaimed, Sango rolling her eyes beside him, "I mean sure, we knew she would be, but…"

"-It's different seeing her out of the tank. I know." Sango said, bringing the shoebox to her front and peering at the post-its left by the Plorgnarian coating its surface, "Still can't believe you tried making her hats."

"I made some for Ani and Hokū, I can try for 001." Pleakley retorted, Jumba shaking his head as he gently handed 001 to her father, "...Here's being 001; she'll be taking bit to wake up, but is perfectly healthy. No last minute issues."

"Thanks Jumba; I'm…I'm glad to hear this. Nothing with…her blood or…" Hammerface asked, and his creator shook his head, "White blood cells are being normal 033; believing me, I watched for that specifically."

Hammerface smiled and nodded, gazing at the fluffy brown head poking out of the bundle.

001 was tiny in his arms; a crest of short antenna sprouted down the back of her head, the last being partially concealed by three sets of ears and long, light brown fur. The blanket she was wrapped in hid her claws, so only her hammer-shaped head was visible to the rest of the family. Her eyes were tightly closed-as they had been since she'd developed them. They-along with her name-were the only remaining mysteries about her, and Hammerface and Clip had done everything they could to hide the latter from Nosy and Fibber.

Nosy and Fibber were some of the first to cluster around 001 and her parents, followed by the others on the couch and the Kamiharas from the opposite side. Heat felt a slight pressure on his lap and gently lifted up Plasmoid for a better look at 001.

By this point, everyone was quiet, trying to not disturb 001 as Hammerface held her. Clip leaned her head against her partner's side, smiling to her daughter as Hammerface gently readjusted her in his arms.

001 suddenly let out a small cough and opened her eyes, Hammerface carefully pulling the blanket down around her shoulders as she awoke. He smiled, tearing up as he gently stroked the fluffy fur concealing the back of 001's head. "Oh-hello little one." He said, causing multiple early series to exchange teary smiles. 001 snuffled in response to her father and blinked, gazing around the room at the ring of faces surrounding her. Upon seeing this, Carmen's eyes teared up and she placed a hand to Clip's shoulder, "Clip-she's got your eyes; look."

001's gaze locked onto her aunt as Carmen finished, and Clip smiled softly upon seeing she was right; 001's deep blue eyes traveled around the room before coming to rest on Heat and Stitch…or-more accurately, their fur-as she suddenly babbled in excitement. Her arm-and her sword-like claws-shot out of the blanket and reached straight for the 6-series. Despite the distance, Stitch jerked back and flattened his ears, "Agh-soka 001-youga can't have hair yet!"

"Aaaaaand there she goes; she definitely got both our functions there." Clip said, chuckling as she gently held her own set of claws in front of her daughter, "Come on, let's put those away now."

Lilo smiled as she surveyed 001, ponytail-tied hair swaying behind her as she watched 001 pout and retract her claws, "Aww-it's okay 001, you'll get milk instead-I think you'll like it better."

"That reminds me-I've gotta warm up her formula real quick." Frenchfry said, himself and Felix quickly excusing themselves from the room. Lilo watched them go before raising an eyebrow at Hammerface, "...Need any help with her or…?"

Hammerface nodded, but only slightly; upon looking at his face, Heat could see why; a gigantic tear was threatening to escape the 0-series' eye, "Can someone…"

"I'll take her for a moment; you just go and collect yourself Hammer." Lilo said, smiling to the 0-series as he gingerly held his daughter out to her, "Make sure to support her head."

"Don't worry, I've done this twice by now." Lilo gently ran a finger down the fur at the back of 001's head as the new experiment giggled and reached for a stray strand of hair hanging down from her forehead, "Speaking of…I think Nosy's ready to explode."

"That I am." The gossip experiment exclaimed-albeit as calmly as he could, "Fib and I didn't spend all-nighters trying to figure out her name for nothing you know."

Hammerface laughed through a tissue conjured up by Witch, trying his best to compose himself, "Okay Nose-just…wait a moment, alright?"

"It's Dina." He said, the name hanging in the still air of the Kamihara house. It was a few moments before it sunk in, but for Lilo, the new name instantly replaced "001". She turned back to smile at Dina as the new experiment continued to bat at the stray strand of hair, "Well, in that case, aloha Dina; welcome to Earth."

Dina surveyed Lilo for a moment before giggling and reaching up with a clawed hand. Lilo slightly tilted her head back, but quickly realized she didn't need to; Dina's hand carefully felt the bottom of her cheek as Lilo smiled down at her, though not without some slight relief at seeing she wasn't looking for any hair. "Aw, hey there! It's nice to finally meet you."

The fluffy brown experiment let out an excited cry at her aunt's greeting, readjusting herself in Lilo's arms and craning her neck as she gazed around the room. Yuna and Ani, who had carefully edged their way over to Lilo, smiled between each other before the latter reached out a finger, letting the newly-made experiment tap at it with a claw. "Hi Dina-Mom's right; you're gonna love it here!"

Dina laughed and reached out with her claws, but her eyes gleamed with newfound determination upon seeing Ani and Yuna's hair. Yuna realized before Ani did, giving her a sheepish smile and taking a step back, "I see that look Dina; you're gonna have actual food, you just need to wait a little more, okay?"

"Still though; like Lilo said-it's great to finally get to meet you." She said, carefully letting the new experiment take her hand in between her claws, "I can tell you're gonna be running all over the islands-both Kauai and Izayoi!"

Her exclamation caused a murmur of realization amongst the gathered experiments, Heat and Kixx exchanging surprised glances with Angel, Crystallene, and Witch; Yuna was right-Dina would have her pick of the two islands, and with the transporters, there was nothing stopping her from running back and forth between both Kauai and Izayoi.

"...Huh. You're right Yuna." Heat grinned, "She's going to have a ton of ground to cover when she gets big enough."

"It's a big world out there, and we have the ship on top of it." Lilo added, "She's got the whole galaxy at her claw tips."

"Isn't that right Dina? Our cute little dust bunny?" She asked the new experiment. Dina smiled and giggled, gently tapping her aunt's shoulder with her nose. "Yeah; you're gonna be rushing between both places all day long, I can tell."

The family were interrupted by Frenchfry and Felix's return into the room, the latter holding up a bottle of formula and presenting it to Hammerface, "Alright, hopefully she's not gonna be hungry for hair after this." The cleaning experiment said, Lilo gently returning Dina to her parents and brushing a stray strand of hair away from her niece's grasp, "Hopefully! She's already a handful. I know they already have their teeth in, so if all else fails, we can try some solid foods."

"Eeeh…" Jumba shrugged, "001 is leaning on more carnivorous side like 033. She'll require lots of red Earth meat to grow."

"Sooooo…stuff like ground beef?" Lilo asked, and Jumba nodded, "Is being case; 001 will be needing plenty of food given powers."

"Well, she's in good hands then." Clip said, resting her head against Hammerface's side as he fed Dina, Felix standing by with a napkin, "She'll go from a dust bunny to one of those puffball mushrooms if Hammer's not careful."

"Hey." Her partner said, though not without smiling at Clip's comment. She smiled and gently reached out a clawed hand, brushing her daughter's fuzzy cheek as Dina finished the rest of the formula, "Feeling full Dina? No more hair-eating?"

Dina's response to her mother was a loud burp, causing Hammerface to chuckle, "I think that was a yes. Was that a yes?"

Dina gave the room another gaze before looking back up at Hammerface; she was definitely calmer than before, nestling against his chest and nuzzling it with her nose. She sighed, and Felix carefully patted the back of her head with two of his fingers as he took the empty bottle from Hammerface.

"I think that did it; she's settling down now." He observed, "She's awful cute. Hard to believe she was a blob just a few months ago."

"Even then we could see her head..." Frenchfry said, "You two better keep her on the red meat diet. I can send you lentils for extra protein; she's going to need a lot of them."

"That'd be nice; thanks Fry." Clip said, nodding to the 0-series. Their conversation was interrupted by Dina, who yawned and stretched in Hammerface's arms. He smiled down at her before casting a glance to the two 6-series, then back to his daughter.

"...Since you two watched her for the last week…wanna hold her a moment?" He asked, and Heat blinked in surprise, "Wait, really?"

"Well yeah; you are her uncles after all; you're probably going to be the people we call to babysit; you may as well get to know her." Hammreface explained. Heat and Kixx exchanged glances before the latter nodded, "We'd like to; thanks Hammer."

The tool-headed experiment smiled as Heat got up from the couch. He carefully stepped forward and reached out, watching Dina deposited from Hammerface's arms to his.

She was small, just like Clip. Small and ridiculously fuzzy, her soft brown fur puffing up against his own as he held her. Heat was aware of Kixx, Angel, Crystallene and Witch gathering around him, and looked to the former upon feeling a knot rise in his throat.

"It's…this is really a new start." He said; he was almost afraid to say it-there was always a chance he was wrong, but with everything that had recently happened, he felt much more comfortable saying it now than he had as recently as the beginning of the week.

"It is." Kixx said, smiling, "And if something happens…given what I've seen so far, I think she'll run circles around them."

"Have a bit of a hunch she will." He finished as Dina let out a curious babble, "See, she's telling you she'll kick Gantu's ass if he shows up, right Dina?"

"You'll annihilate 'em both?" He asked, and Dina laughed, albeit a bit less strongly than before. She was growing more tired than before, as despite being surrounded by long fur, she had no interest in trying to-

He'd thought too soon. Heat's eyes widened as he gingerly took his niece's claws in his hand, trying in vain to pry them away from his chest, "Oohhh no, no no no no, come on now, you've just eaten."

Witch snorted, "Should've known she'd try that eventually; you can hand her to me if any of you need a break from her haircut attempts."

"Will do Witch; thanks for letting us know." Heat said, though still trying to hold Dina back from his hair. The sudden entrance of one of Angel's antenna drew her attention away from him, and Dina batted at it as Angel grinned to her, "Hi Dina-wouldn't go for Heat's hair if I were you, it's salty since he cries so much."

"Angel…" Heat said, giving her a sly smile, "Come on."

"I'm just warnin' her, that's all."

"Well, the actual issue is that my hair vaporizes; it's gonna be like pop rocks to her." Heat said, "...But still…"

"It…this feels so surreal." He said, looking down at the tiring new experiment. Dina had quickly grown bored with her aunt's antenna, letting it brush against her forehead as she began to settle down in his arms.

Heat knew he was far from the only person to think this; Dina was, in many ways, the proverbial "end" of the previous era-a far more dangerous and stressful one that'd finally, and hopefully permanently, faded into the past.

It occurred to Heat just how far he was from where he'd been the prior May; a depressed, terrified mess afraid for his and his ohana's futures. Locked inside a ship's room and unable to touch his loved ones for fear of burning them. Wanting to empty out the rest of his energy out of despair at sending transmissions. Now, here he was a year later, surrounded by his friends and family and holding someone who, a year ago, he would have never imagined existed.

His vision temporarily blurred with tears, but only for a moment. Heat blinked them away and gazed around the room, feeling a sense of calm he thought he'd never experience again.

"Hey Dina," He said, and her blue eyes turned towards him in interest. She must already be getting used to her name judging from how fast she'd responded.

"Welcome to Earth."