"I can't believe I'm free!"

The young girl ran through the forest. With a skip in her step and a joy in her heart she had never felt before, she let her feet carry her wherever they decided to go. The crash had long since left her mind, as did any repercussion for her actions. All that mattered was that she was out and she was finally having fun.

As she ran, it felt like all the forest animals and wildlife ran with her. Dancing through the branches and sky with as much happiness as she had. The sun cascaded through the trees, giving her wild path a heavenly glow.

Caught up in the moment, she didn't notice a root snake its way onto her path. Her foot got tangled up in it, and she fell to the ground hard. Tumbling through the forest, she finally came to a stop on her back, staring up at the sky. She was out of the forest.

"I made it." Lilac whispered.

Bright and puffy clouds filled her view. But they weren't the same clouds she had seen every day. These ones were filled with all the possibilities for her future. Everything she could do.

"Now what should I do?" She asked herself, standing up and brushing off her oceanic print dress.

With nothing in her way, her mind had suddenly gone blank. Day after day, and night after night, she would dream about all the things she would do once she escaped. Now that she was out in the world, she had no idea what to do. No goal in mind, she started to walk.

And walk.

And walk.

And walk.

Even though she was out of the forest, she had no idea where the closes city was. All she had before her was a long dirt road that winded between the trees. In the distance she could see water, making it feel like the road only led to the ocean. Down the other path, it wrapped around the forest, giving her no idea on which path to take.

"This isn't going to be as easy as I thought." She sighed.

Lilac lifted her head with courage and set down towards the ocean. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like if there was a city or town anywhere nearby, they would want to be by the water. Even her young mind could understand the need for water, and she knew that lunch time was coming soon. So she would need something to drink, and to eat.

"Maybe I didn't plan this out as much as I thought."

\\\

Silence.

Silence was always the worst part of space. No sounds, just a void of never ending darkness.

Reuben stared at the monitors, making sure that nothing out of the ordinary happened. As well to make sure that he answered the moment six-two-six called. He was scheduled to make contact hours ago. So the lack of word from their commander was starting to put him on edge. His eyes stayed glued to the flickering image, hoping that at any second it would show some sort of sign from his cousin.

Sadly, the screen never changed. It only ever showed the slow moving planet in the distance. And rather than contact from six-two-six, he heard the door to the command bridge open behind him.

"Hey, Reuben." Angel said with a cheery smile. "I brought you a sandwich."

"Thanks." Reuben replied without turning around. "But I'm not hungry."

"Come on. You? Turn down a sandwich?" Unable to believe it, she placed the plate down beside him anyway.

"I said I'm not hungry!" He snapped at her.

Angel blinked at him absently before turning around and walking away. Reuben let out a sigh and stared at the sandwich. A classic sourdough cheese sandwich with a little mayo and mustard, one of his favorites. He looked back towards the monitor before chasing after the girl into the hall. He hoped against hope that he hadn't hurt her feelings too much.

"Angel, wait!" He called out. Seeing that she stopped, he quit running a few feet from her. She didn't turn to look, only waiting for him to continue. "I'm sorry I yelled at you like that. I'm just worried. Stitch should have made contact with us a while ago, and I haven't been able to get through."

"He's probably just mad at us for earlier and wants to be alone… again."

Reuben gritted his teeth. "Well if that's the case then he's doing a great job worrying us over something stupid." He slammed his fist against the wall, almost leaving a dent in it out of anger. "I'm tired of this. I'm tired of him. I don't know if these missions are supposed to help him cope or let off steam, but it's clearly not working. And he's dragging us around the galaxy along with him to boot. I'm sick and tired of all of this."

"Are you tired of me too?" Angel asked, finally turning to him.

Losing his breath, Reuben stared at her. He could see small tears forming at the corner of her eyes. Being so caught up in his own feelings, he didn't think to realize how the situation had affected Angel. She had been going through all of this even longer than he had. More than likely, she was feeling even more isolated and alone. With no words of comfort, he tried to apologize, tried to say anything. But all the words got caught in his throat, forcing him to look away.

"Okay." Angel said. More to herself than to him. "You should eat something. And get some rest. He'll call us when he's ready. He always does." She began to walk away, but paused and looked at him to say one final thing. "I'm sorry I stole you away from your life for this." She motioned to the area in general. "I never meant for it to last this long. I really did hope things would be better by now. But you're not the only one who lost something because of the way Stitch has decided to act."

"What?"

Reuben's question fell on deaf ears. Angel was finished with the conversation, leaving them to part ways once again. Together, but alone and isolated on the small command ship.

\\\

Once six-two-six finally came to, his mind was reeling from the attack. All that stuck in his mind was the last thing he could remember. The evil smile that had stood over him. One that sent immobilizing fear and chills through his body.

"Why didn't he finish me?" He wondered out loud.

As far as he knew, he was completely vulnerable. An easy target. Anyone could have managed to finish him then. And even if they didn't have the strength to destroy him, he would have been easy enough to capture.

"So why didn't you?"

Looking at his wrecked and fire damaged ship, his heart suddenly began to race. With an extreme panic, he ran to what remained of the side entrance door. This ship was meant for only one man to pilot, used mostly for stealth missions, or ones where he needed to be a bit more nimble. It wasn't as fast as some of the cruisers, nor as powerful, but it got the job done on multiple occasions. Despite being on the smaller side, it still had a small living space just behind the cockpit. It was only big enough for a bed and some cabinets for storing whatever would be needed, but that was all the space he could ever want. There wasn't a whole lot he needed to take around with him anymore.

However, it wasn't the bed he was worried about. It was what he had kept there for safety.

"Where is it? Where is it? Where is it!?"

Six-two-six repeated the question over and over. Nearly tearing the entire ship apart. It smelled awful. Like burnt fur and wet dog. He was thankful that he was able to put the fire out as quickly as he did. If he wasn't fireproof things would have been much worse. None of that would matter to him if he didn't find the small box he always kept hidden under the pillow.

Desperately, he looked and looked and looked for the precious item, until he finally collapsed on what remained of the bed.

"No…" He whispered to himself. "How could I let this happen? Feeling like his heart was about to break and a lump caught in his throat, his mind flashed to what the true cause of this was. "Tarnet. You're going to pay for this."

Ignoring proper protocol, six-two-six decided to head out on the bounty hunt rather than call back to his ship. His anger started to pump adrenaline through him, and the only way he was ever going to manage to calm down, was to capture the one who had done this to him.

Grabbing what remained of his capture equipment, he stepped out of his ship. The sun had already began to set low in the sky. With no idea how long day and night lasted on this planet, six-two-six realized how little of an advantage he actually had. Back-up, or some sort of guide would be more than welcomed. Sadly, there was no time for that.

"Computer." He said in a commanding voice. "Locate Tarnet Magmora."

A deafening ring and buzz emitted from the tracking device in his hand. After smacking it with his fist a few times, it gave a weak signal, giving him at least a sense of direction to follow.

He looked up, rather surprised by the direction the device was showing. "Towards the coast, huh?"

Through the few trees, he could see a slight glimmer of light reflecting off water. The familiar scent of salt also wafted through the air along with the warm oceanic breeze. It was near eerie how much this island reminded him of Earth. And the feeling only grew with each step he took towards the distant ocean. It was as if everywhere he looked was some twisted joke. Trying to remind him of the past, trying to bring up old memories and feelings he had long since tried to forget and bury down. Bury deep within himself.

He knew full well how much Reuben and Angel were trying to make him talk about the past. His past. A part of him wish he could. That was why he had asked Angel to join him in the first place. To have some sort of reminder of where he came from, and what he hoped he could return to. But the days turned into weeks turned into months turned into years. And it only became more and more difficult to try and talk and remember. It became so long that he couldn't even bring himself to try anymore, and every time they tried to bring it up it only made him angry. Angry at them, and angry at himself. Now, he just lived with it. Lived with the knowledge that nothing would make it better, and that he would feel this emptiness inside him for however long he managed to live.

And with the way he had been fighting during the last few jobs. His reckless endangerment to not only himself, but his crew. It didn't look like that would be too much longer.

As he reached the edge of the forest, the sound of a nearby town quickly overtook the sounds of the wildlife. A few vehicles whizzed through the winding roads, and people quickly hurried themselves to their personal destinations. Either none of them had noticed, or cared that his spaceship had crashed a mere walking distance from their small home.

Hoping it was former, six-two-six quickly hurried down the slopping hills to the edge of town. Needing to stay hidden, not just form the general public but also from Tarnet, he eyed the tracking device again. This time there was no loud beeps or sounds. The faint signal had somehow grown fainter. Thankfully, he wasn't going to need it in order to locate his target.

"Help!"

The scream of a young girl came crashing into him like a blue punch buddy. With no hesitation he ran along the edge of the town, keeping behind buildings and with the shrubs. He ignored the instinctual feeling that swelled inside him at the cry for help. There was honestly no proof that Tarnet was even the cause of the scream. But six-two-six wasn't going to just stand by and play guessing games. He was going to be there as fast as he could to help.