Chapter 6: Untimely -or- How Big A Change?

KAUAI, HAWAII

With the mayhem at the beach finished -along with Mr. Bubbles check in with Lilo-, she herself felt like she'd made their problems worse. Droping her head in her hands, she got upset over her stress relief technique.

"This couldn't get any worse," Lilo closed her eyes.

Sure as rain, rain started falling. Lilo wanted to get out of it as fast as she could, so seeing an old sugar mill not to far away from the beach was her first idea. With 626 following, Lilo ran through the bushes while she tried her best to cover her head. The ill-chosen part of the mill was the closest option, not that the new storm gave them many. Lilo opened the door and they jumped in before it got worse. 626 shook the water off, making sure to get Lilo even more drenched than she was.

A pattering noise stopped Lilo from saying anything about it, the sight of a large and charging dog stopped her from saying anything. She ran to a boiler, climbing up fast before the guard dog started bitting for her.

"Stitch!" Lilo called to him. "Help me, Stitch!"

There was no way 626 was getting involved in that, he even moved higher up to get a better view. With Jumba and Pleakley scared off and Lani and 624 no where to be found, all that was holding 626 back was Lilo. With her out of the way, Hawaii would be the first stepping stone in his conquest. As the vicious dog had Lilo cornered and begging for 626's help, the experiment derived satasfaction from the situation. Lilo fell and ran, luckily -sort of- into the owner of the mill.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked Lilo.

"It's raining," Lilo stammered.

"Not anymore," the owner openned the door. "Now get going."

Lilo once again would've spoken up, the guard dog stopped her words once more. 626 grumbled and followed her out, upset that he didn't get to see anything happen to her. Lilo was shaking because of the event, teasing 626 into thinking she was going to cry. If he wasn't going to enjoy her end, he may as well enjoy seeing her broken. His hopes were crushed as Lilo pulled him into a hug, "comforting" him from what happened. 626 was surprised, so he stood still as she continued hugging him.

"It's okay Stitch," Lilo rubbed his back. "I know you were just too scared to help, and I know what could cheer you up."

Lilo let him go, walking in the direction of a rocky patch of island near the ocean. 626 wondered why she brough him to the rocks and water, there were plenty of them on the island. What made this part so special? Reaching the rocks, they both made sure to stay out of the water for now -especially 626. Lilo stuck her hand in the water and moved it around. 626 walked behind her and they looked into the water. As a gold fish surfaces, Lilo pats the fish's head.

"This is Pudge," Lilo told 626. "He's my other best friend."

626 stuck his claw in the water and oohed at the bubbles he made, amazed that his hand didn't pull into the water. Lilo picked up Pudge from the water and kissed him, laughing when Pudge kissed her cheek.

"He likes Peanut Butter and Jelly," Lilo held Pudge towards 626. "Here. Now you kiss him."

626 -in one of his random acts of bad- slapped Pudge out of her grasp and the fish flopped around on the rocks. Lilo gasped and watched Pudge try to get back to the water, balling her hands into fists in rage as she turned to face 626.

"Why did you do that?!" Lilo yelled to 626.

626 gave her a blank expression, not really caring if he'd done something wrong -he was programmed for it after all. Lilo threw her fists down and ran to get Pudge, only to have a flock of seagulls swoop in for lunch. Lilo screamed as the sea birds swarmed around her in the air, her trying to get rid of them and the seagulls trying to take Pudge away to eat. She waved her arms around to try and get them to fly away, only making them want the fish more. Lilo couldn't do it alone, so she called for her unhelpful back up.

"Stitch!" Lilo called. "Help me!"

626 just laughed however, taking a seat to enjoy the newest show of the day. It was fun for him to see anyone in trouble, Lilo was one he was especially happy for. Any chance to get rid of her was welcome if it meant he could go back to causing mayhem, or at the very least seeing her cry would've made him feel better for having to be held back from his prime directive. 626 sat still like a child watching T.V., swinging his head to the side like he couldn't hear the growing screams of Lilo.

"Stitch!" Lilo repeated in a panic. "Help!"

Lilo was on her own, soon chasing off the birds solo. She bent down and looked at Pudge sadly, thinking the worst had come for him. Lilo turned to glare at 626 again, marching over to him angrily. She pushed the laughing experiment over, taking him by surprise.

"What's wrong with you?!" Lilo fought back tears that started to form.

626's ears dropped in curiousity. Sure Lilo got mad at him at times, he didn't think she had the courage -or even strength- to challenge him though. No one had ever been able to beat him, -however for some reason unknown to him- with this 626 suddenly didn't want to hurt Lilo.

"Pudge is part of our family!" Lilo lectured. "You don't let your family die! You don't ever!"

Lilo walked back over to Pudge leaving 626 to think about her words once more. Lilo hugged Pudge letting a tear fall on him, unnoticed by a confused 626. Lilo was going to bury Pudge, until the fish wiggled to life again. She gasped and brought him over to the water, putting him back in his giant home that was like a flat wall to 626. 626 caught the scent of something and walked away from the beach, unnoticed by Lilo who stood as the weather shifted. The wind blew and freshly dewed flowers from the nearest tree fell down, flowers that Lilo knew too well.

"Mom's sending decorations for us," Lilo put one in her hair. "Stitch?"

Lilo looked around and saw him go down a path she hadn't been to in a while. She would usually come down the path with Nani, it was the only time 626 had been though. Two curved stones lay in the field, writing covered by moss so 626 couldn't read them.

"My mom is here," Lilo told him sadly. "My dad too."

626's eyes went wide, causing him to wipe away the moss and see the names on the stones. Seeing the graves of Lilo's parents, 626 put his head in his hands -actually feeling sad. Lilo walked behind him and put a flower in the fur on his head, just as she'd done for her own hair. She sat down and 626 followed her lead, even allowing himself to sit beside her. The wind blew once more, signaling the appearance of her unseen parents. Lilo did shed a few tears, only 626 didn't enjoy them at all.

"Dad," Lilo's voice cracked. "Mom. Thank you for the flowers. I got my wish, I have a new friend. This is Stitch."

The wind blew through 626's fur, making him feel bluer than he already felt inside. The wind wrapped around them both, dancing in between them before flowing around them -bringing the two together.

"You sent him to me," Lilo smiled. "And he's the best. I would've gave up on the world if it wasn't for him."

626 was feeling the worst he's ever felt, the feeling only getting worse when Lilo put a ring on his collar. The silver ring -as told to him by Lilo- belonged to her father, Lilo had her mother's ring in hand. It was now for 626, a "Medal of Honor" for what Lilo called bravery for not running away from the mill -even though he knew the horrible truth of why he stayed. 626 took a piece from his collar and the ring Lilo had. He made a chain for Lilo to keep the ring around her neck, his first offical good deed. Lilo hugged him, making 626 feel somewhat afraid.

"You didn't do it on purpose," Lilo tilted her head. "Did you?"

He did though, he knew he did. He'd never wished in any point to not cause trouble, except this was different. The concept of "O'hana" began to hang over his head like a rain cloud, all because of this. These graves, Lilo's parents' graves, her O'hana. She still had Nani, which was better than being alone with no family. 626 was afraid now, afraid that he was going to take away Lilo's curent family. If it wasn't because of him, it would be Mr. Bubbles who would do the job. He couldn't allow it.

Walking back to the house, 626 thought up a way to avoid trouble altogether. He needed to find a way to contact his crew, make Nani seem like perfect caretaker to get Mr. Bubbles off their case and -above all else- give Lilo her family. An unattened police car was the best way for him to accomplish his first task. 626 jumped on the hood and started to rip the car to shreds. Not knowing what got into him, Lilo tried to stop him. 626 pulled out the very device he need, stopping his attack on the vehicle.

"Jalipaa," 626 smiled to himself.

Jumba -having finally caught up with the two- jumped out of the bushes and ran towards 626. 626 went behind Lilo and put a claw to her throat, having no intention to hurt her. The sound of people coming caused Pleakley to jump in, again to pull Jumba away before they were discovered. With the police present, 626 had to give back the radio. He looked to Lilo, who didn't seemed to be happy with him. Mostly for the destruction of the police car, she didn't know what to think about the Jumba thing.

"Bad dog!" Lilo told him sternly.

"Ih," 626's ears dropped as he thought. "Nala dog. Meega nala dog."

A/N: This was a decent, fully Kauai chapter. Sure I would've loved to show what happened to Nicholas, but I can leave that for the next chapter. And the ending of this chapter was pretty sad, but this is just the set up for the next full Scran Town chapter.

Important: The break chapter is getting closer, so I ask what you want to see in the theater. Keep in mind, everyone from the franchise is there. The sky's the limit! Questions, reactions, just a way to have fun from where I started.

Disclaimer: I own a very small percent of this, Disney and Sanders have dibs on the main things.

Next Time: The SBS crew follow Nicholas' lead to 626, unfortunately what they find isn't what they seek.