Well, before you start to read the last chapter, I wanna thank everybody who has been reading this story and reviewing. Your reviews make me to want to continue with my stories, and I feel realy happy when I'm told that you enjoyed the chapter or the story... well, I guess that's all for now. Enjoy!

BECAUSE OF LOVE

Chapter 4

"I can feel the sun stroking my face, and then the life comes back to my body. As I open my eyes and my vision becomes clear, I notice immediately that I'm not in the dome, as I normally would. I observe everything around the room, and my mind recognizes it as the bedroom inside Jumba's spaceship. Why am I here, instead of being in my warm bed up there in the dome? I can't remember anything from yesterday… my head aches whenever I try to remember anything… I don't have to worry; maybe my memory will come back to me in a few minutes. By now, I'm only interested in knowing what I am doing here. My feet slide off the bed, and by first time I notice the wires stuck to my wrists, arms and my legs, and some advanced machinery beside of the bed, as if it was monitoring each one of my moves. I freeze: why do I have all these wires stuck on my skin? Before my mind can formulate any other question, the old sluice opens, and after some seconds I can see Nani coming inside with a tray on her hands.

-Morning, Nani —I say sleepy, trying not to disconnect any of the wires off my limbs.

-Lilo… —Nani almost dropped the tray she had on her hands, as well as her jaw. Before I can learn what is happening, the tray is left in a near table night and she is holding me tight in her arms, almost suffocating me as she starts to cry —you're finally awoken… this is a miracle! Oh, thanks God… you're finally awoken, and you're not knocked out anymore… you don't know how long we were waiting for this…

-Nani, what are you talking about? You were waiting the whole night until I woke up? —my voice sounds with a touch of confusion mixed with some fear. I don't really know what she is talking about!

She looks at me with a worried glance —do you mean you don't remember anything before you passed out?

My head bends down slightly. She took it as a 'no'. She sighs and sits down in the bed, next to me. She seems worried about something, and seems to be afraid too about saying something she doesn't want me to know… or at least that's what I'm sensing about her…

-Lilo, you've been sleeping by 15 days until now.

My eyes grow wide —What????? 15 days????? I've missed a long time of school!!! What day is today?

-Saturday… but Lilo, that's not the matter… you were in a coma during all those days. You had a heart illness, you know? But fortunately, now you're okay because Jumba found a way to make you safe and sound. You were going to die, Lilo, but you're right here now!

-Wait a minute, Nani… I had a heart illness??? Was I going to die??? But how did I get that illness?

-Jumba says you might have felt too stressed about school. You had a high blood pressure and your stress level was too high for someone your age… several things that made you ill.

-But you said Jumba found a way to fix it. What was that?

Suddenly, my big sis' face turned from a serious face to a nervous one. I think I just asked something she doesn't want to tell me, and that makes her nervous. Finally, she remembered the answer to my question, and her face seemed to be easy again… for some seconds.

-Hum, Lilo… I… I don't really know what Jumba did… —she stutters —you know, he's an evil genius and I'm not, so I couldn't understand very well what he did… you better ask him later…

-But… —I plead.

-Oh, by the way, I brought you some food —she changes the issue quickly —you must be hungry after 15 days of starving, huh?

She hands me the tray quickly and offers me the food in it, consistent in toasts, two eggs with some bacon forming a silly smiley, some orange juice and gelatine. Even though I'm real hungry, there's something I want more than eating: to know why is she acting so weirdly. Only not to make her upset, I take a bite of bacon and a gulp of my orange juice, under the glance of my smiling sister. While I'm chewing, I start to remember some of the last night… or at least my last night. I remember I was crying, saddened because of something I can't remember now… then Stitch is the next I can remember…

Suddenly, the bacon skids down my throat, and I start to choke. Almost immediately, Nani takes me in her arms and starts to hit enough hard my back so I can spit out the piece of meat that is choking me. Finally, the bacon goes out my mouth and lands back in my plate, though it doesn't look like bacon anymore.

-Lilo, are you okay??? Be careful!!! I know you're hungry, but that doesn't excuse your way to gulp down your food like that!!! —she exclaims as I try to get my breath back.

-I'm sorry… —it's the only thing I can utter faintly. She didn't even hear me, but I don't really care. Then I decide to go back to my former thoughts. What was that?

-You're eating just like Stitch… —Nani whispers, somewhat sad.

Oh, yeah, I was thinking of him… I'm reliving again those images in my head, the images of that night. Well, at least there's no bacon now to choke with in my throat, so I can think of it more thoroughly… my mind gets filled with the images of when we were at the hammock, but unwillingly it goes ahead to the part when he pulled my head down to his and… well, when he kissed me. Every image and sensation from that night is coming to my mind right now… if it wasn't for I know where I am, I would think that I went back to the past and I'm living that moment again. Every part of my body is participating on reliving that moment; I can even feel again his lips pressed against mines, and I just want to go back to that moment and keep reviving that moment, when he held me tight and kissed me so tenderly…

Wait a minute, what am I doing? I'm acting just like if I were in love!!!! I cannot be in love with Stitch… he's just my best friend… but I cannot stop thinking about those moments in the hammock either. What if I fell in love with him, after all? Would it be that bad? Would it ever be bad? Well, now that I think about it, I have loved Stitch always more than just a friend or a brother… would that be romantic love? Maybe it is… I got unusually jealous when he got involved with Angel, when I was nine or so… maybe I started to feel something especial about him since then, but then why did I like Keoni? I guess I was afraid of accepting my true feelings about Stitch and that's why I always tried to make myself take a liking to Keoni, even if I knew that wasn't true love, just a stupid, childish crush… it should have changed when Stitch kissed me by first time when I was eleven. I knew that I loved him a lot more than just a friend, but I was such a coward… what should I do now?

-Lilo! Earth to Lilo, can you listen me???

I drop suddenly my fork and jump with fright as I hear my sister's voice. She broke me out of my thoughts… now I have to go back to real life…

-Huh? —I shake my head

-You know, I notice you very distracted… or thoughtful, I don't know… —she says quietly as she looks at me in a queer way.

-Hum, yeah… kinda… oh, by the way, where's Stitch? —I ask. I'm trying not to blush as I pronounce his name, but it's difficult not to blush with Nani's glance over me, and it gets even harder when all those memories are still in my mind, but to my surprise, she doesn't even notice my flushed cheeks nor my trembling knees and hands.

-Uh-oh, look what time is it!!! I'm going to get late for work!!! See you later Lilo!!! —she almost shouts as she kisses my cheek quickly and then gets out the room.

-Wait!!! —I shout, but she's already gone. Okay, now I have to do this on my own.

Slowly, my feet slide out the blanket and get to the floor. My legs feel like gelatine after fifteen days of slumber, but I can keep on my own feet. As I keep standing up, I feel a stinging pain in my chest, making me to groan, but after some quick seconds it soothes down. This is the first time I notice I'm in my pajamas, but it doesn't really matter. I can see that the clothes I used that night are hanging in a near hall-stand, and I just have to put them on. As I'm preparing to put my blouse on, I see a huge wound in the left side of my chest, and for some seconds I remain there astonished… that was why I felt the pain in my chest. The wound is about 5 inches or a bit more, and it looks like if somebody cut through my skin with a knife just like when you cut a piece of meat. It's a scary wound, one of those which leave horrifying scars in the skin, but after some minutes I manage to overcome my shock and I finally finish it off. I expect to see Jumba in the other room, but as I go out the bedroom I can see that there's nobody but me in the spaceship. When I get inside my house, I can see that nobody besides of Nani has awoken, or maybe everybody went out for shopping. Before I can know where I am, I find myself heading to the dome. Now I'm in the lift, and I'm hesitating whether pressing the button or not… I'm really nervous. I know that Stitch is probably still in his bed, but I'm really nervous… what will I tell to him? What will he say?

The lift is starting to rise, and I can't help but feel like if my legs couldn't stand my weight… I'm too nervous. The lift finally arrived and now I have to talk to Stitch… wait, he's not on his bed! That's quite odd for him… it's barely 8:00 a.m. and normally he wakes up at 10:00 a.m. or later… I don't think he went for shopping with Pleackley, that's sure… then where's him?

Well, I guess I can watch some TV while everybody wake up or come back form somewhere… I'll ask Pleackley or Jumba where's Stitch when they get here. Maybe he's with Jumba… hum, I'm still a bit tired… I know, I kept knocked out by 15 days, but I feel like if I need to have some rest… the TV ahead of me is getting blurry…

DREAM/FLASHBACK

"It's already night, and I know exactly where I am. Around of me is a crowd of my classmates and other teenagers, dancing with the noisy music. I'm at the school's gym. Keoni is standing there, saying hello to all of his friends while my arm is hooked to his arm. I have dreamed about this since I was nine: Keoni taking me by the hand to dance. I can see all the other girls looking at me with envy, and I just cannot feel anything but sheer joy to be the lucky girl Keoni asked to have beside of him tonight. He smiles at me and then he takes me to the improvised dance floor. A slow melody starts, and then the lights dims, but before we start to dance, the doors wide open. Every boy inside turn their heads to see the girl who is stepping inside, even Keoni. Great, my perfect night is ruined. There she is… there is Kayla and her army of silly girls.

Her blonde hair is gathered together in a pony tail, adorned with some shiny hairclips, with only a thin, curly lock of hair dropping on her right eye, remarking the features of her angelic face. Her white, shiny dress has an aperture that allows everybody to see her back, as well as another aperture in the lower part of her dress, leaving exposed her right leg. I'd bet every boy here is now drooling because of her, and with good reason: she's the most beautiful girl in the school, if not the whole island. When she saw Keoni, she approached him with flirty eyes and practically shoved me aside to talk to him.

-Keoni Jameson, what a surprise to see you here!!! —she said flirtatiously as she curled her hair with her finger, but then she noticed me and her tone changed to a mocking one —especially with such a dirty brat.

Her friends laughed as she said the last words and stared at me with scorn. I could bear the fact she shoved me aside hardly, but when she called me like that, I felt all my anger burning through my veins and making the blood inside them to boil with rage, and the fact that her friends were scoffing about me made me even more angry.

-Hey, look who are you calling dirty brat!!! —I said, trying to contain my anger. I didn't want to blow up as I used to when I was little.

She looked back at me and laughed sarcastically —and why not? That's what you are: a little, dirty brat, besides of being weirdo. I cannot understand why Keoni wanted you to come with him to the party, I mean: you're so ugly! I bet he invited you because you're just pitiful, because you wouldn't get somebody by yourself to be your Valentine. I'm amazed to see how good he is. He's even pretending he likes you!

I looked at Keoni then, like looking for an answer. He did nothing nor said anything, just stared at us with an amused glance. He must be thinking we're kidding or something… why all boys are so stupid?

-Shut up!!! I'm not ugly, okay??? —I yelled. Everybody is looking at us now, and they seem to be having some entertainment with this discussion. If only I wasn't alone… if only Stitch was here…

-Yes, you are. If you weren't ugly, then why did your parents leave you? I bet you were so ugly that they preferred dying instead of having a daughter as ugly as you! How could they handle with you? I don't know. That's why they're dead: because of you and your weirdness and ugliness!!!

A loud gasp was heard in the gym, it seemed like even the music had halted. Everybody stared at me to see what my reaction would be.

-That's NOT true!!! They loved me as much as I loved them!!! They died because an accident, not because of me!!!! —I said with tears in my eyes. What she had just said hurt me real badly. I knew I couldn't handle with this for too long…

-And what if they disguised it as an accident? The most likely is they committed suicide because they didn't want to have a daughter like you. They're dead because of you!!!

I wanted to punch her right on the face, but then I had a better idea. Her dress… it seemed to be one of those expensive dresses. I took a glass with some of the ice cream we had that night and drained the content on her beautiful dress. She screamed as she felt the contact of the icy cream, and then screamed again when she realized her beautiful dress was stained with chocolate, strawberry and other ice cream flavors.

I was about to rush out when I felt a hand grabbing me by my wrist, and turned my head angrily, ready to shout at that person to let me go, but when I twirled my head I saw Keoni's smiling face:

-Hey Lilo, you're really funny! I had seen before people tossing food at other persons, but this…!!!

-Keoni, don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want to be here with you anymore… I need to go home.

-Oh, come on, Lilo!!! You're not going home now, right? I mean, she was just kidding you! Everybody was having fun!

-I was NOT, Keoni… what Kayla said hurt me beyond measure. Can't you understand that? Come on! Even you were laughing because all those stupid things she was saying, instead of defending me! I thought we were friends! We were supposed to spend a good time with each other tonight… if not, then why did you ask me out?

-Well… I don't know if it's a good idea saying this to you, but well… I asked you out because I needed someone to make Kayla approach me… if she saw I was alone, she wouldn't have asked me to dance with her because she would have wanted to have competition with some other girl. She's that kind of…

-Then you used me…

-I'm sorry, Lilo… I like you, I really do like you, but I wanted her to be my Valentine… not you. I just ask you not to take this the wrong way, I mean, we're friends after…

-How can you ask me not to take this the wrong way??? You used me!!! You're such a…!!! I'm going home right now…

-Lilo, please…

-I don't want to hear a thing about this anymore! I'm going home and that's all!!!

I didn't look back at him, at the school. I opened the huge doors and went out of the gym, and then out of the school. Kayla had said things that hurt me beyond of measure, but Keoni hurt me even more when he told me that he wasn't interested about me in the way I had thought. I ran across the school playground and then into the forest. It was dark and gloomy, but I wasn't afraid. I knew it very good. I had been here a lot of times when Stitch and I used to catch experiments, so I could ran inside of the forest even with my eyes closed. I let the tears run down my cheeks freely. I stumbled every time my body shook with my weeping, but always stood up and continued my way.

Finally, I arrived the front side of my house. Inside, the lights were turned on. I climbed upstairs to enter my house, but when I was about to open the door I remembered that Pleackley should be watching the TV at this hour. He always turned on the TV at this time to watch his program. That shouldn't have been a problem for me, because I had fooled him a lot of times, but I didn't feel like if I could fool him this time. It would be too obvious that something was wrong about me, and he would tell Nani about this, and I didn't want Nani to know about how Keoni hurt me tonight, because she had advised me several times not to go out with him, but I never listened… I didn't want to hear the typical 'I told you'… I needed to calm down at least a little so I could fool Pleackley just as the other times. Then my feet started running towards the backyard.

After some seconds, I was sitting in the hammock cross-legged as I stared at the bright stars above me. Then I remembered my parents, and what Kayla had said about them… I knew it wasn't true, but even so I felt guilt… I felt like if it was my fault they died, and then I started to cry, asking them to forgive me…

-Lilo?

I lifted my head when I heard that voice. I knew it was him… I felt relieved to know that Stitch was there. He was the only one I could talk to without being criticized nor scolded. He lifted his hand and dried a tear off my cheek. Without thinking about it, I took his hand too… it was warm and soft, especially because I knew he was trying to comfort me, though he didn't know why I was crying. I let out all my anger and sadness with him. He just listened at the non-sense things I was saying, paying attention as if it was important. From time to time, he diverted his head aside; I guess he needed to process what I was saying. When I finished, he talked to me, comforting me… he said that I wasn't pretty, but I was beautiful. I remember I felt like if I wanted to blush, but I controlled my feelings and diverted my eyes aside as well as him, but he took my chin between his fingers so I looked him right at his eyes. I felt something weird when I stared into his eyes… something I had never felt. We talked a bit more, and then he said he had a better way to make me feel comforted. I thought he was going to do some of those silly things he usually does to cheer me up, so I let him free… the next thing I knew was he had his lips upon mines. He was kissing me tenderly, like trying to erase with his lips all my pain, and I didn't stop him. Just when I thought everything was going perfectly, I felt a stinging pain in my chest… I pulled him away and then I dropped in the hammock…"

DREAM/FLASHBACK ENDS

I wake up. Finally, I remember what happened that night. I can remember everything now… I have to talk to Stitch now.

Then the door opens. Jumba and Pleackley come in, Pleackley wearing his wig and dress and Jumba using his Hawaiian shirt and his shorts.

-Hi guys —I greet them. Both of them freeze as they look at the one who just talked… me.

-Oh, Lilo's awoken now! That's just a miracle!!! —Pleackley shouts as he drops his groceries bags. Jumba is smiling widely now. I can see that both of them are really happy about having me back… I try to search for my little friend behind of them, but I cannot see him.

-Hum, Jumba, where's Stitch? —I ask confused. Both Jumba and Pleackley's smiles disappear at the moment I mention Stitch's name, and their glances change too.

-Hum, heheh, you know Lilo… it's kinda difficult to explain, but Stitch… well… err… —Pleackley stutters. I cannot understand anything.

-Be shutting up, walking noodle! —Jumba whispers a bit annoyed at Pleackley. Then he turns his head to look at me, and then he beckons me to follow him. I do, with Pleackley going right behind of me, following my steps. Finally, we arrive Jumba and Pleackley's room.

-Be waiting a bit more, Little Girl… am looking for the letter 626 left for you.

I freeze as I hear the mention of a letter —a letter? Stitch can barely talk in English. How could he write a letter for me? And why? —then I feel a cold chill running down my spine… I haven't a good feeling about this —Jumba? Where's Stitch?

-Am thinking it's better for you to be reading letter first, Little Girl…

-Jumba… what's going on? I really need to know what's going on…

I feel my knees trembling, and my forehead is now wet with some sweat… Jumba just sighs, and then he starts to tell me everything… well, almost everything.

FLASHBACK

"The morning of the tenth day finally broke. Stitch opened his eyes and stretched under the blanket as he felt the sun on his face, then turned his head to see a sleeping Lilo beside of him… though he knew she wasn't precisely asleep. Today was the day.

He stood up. He needed to tell Lilo why he wouldn't be there when she woke up, but he could speak only one language fluently: Turian… nobody there beside of him knew Turian… nobody but Jumba. "No, I would delay a lot if I asked Jumba to translate it for me" he thought and shook the idea off his mind. What else could he do? "The computer!!! Jumba's computer!!!" Stitch was hit by that idea. The computer would translate from Turian to English while he was still writing his letter… the only way he could use to tell Lilo the reason he wouldn't be there.

He looked at the digital clock on the night table. It read barely 6:30 a.m. He had still plenty time until his whole family woke up to tell them his decision… until then, he could use his time to write a letter for Lilo. Without missing even a second, he headed to Jumba's desk and grabbed the little laptop and turned it on while he walked back to the bed to be with Lilo. He sat down on the bed and let his fingers lingering in the keyboard, erasing from time to time a sentence or a word to replace it by another one which would describe better what he meant.

The minutes passed, turning into hours, and finally he finished his work and pressed the 'translate to English' button. Then all the symbols and confusing words turned into clear words in unmistakable English. Finally, he printed his work and looked at the clock again. Now it read 9:37 a.m. and surely everybody was awoken now. He placed the letter on the night table. He jumped to his feet and then headed to the Pelekai house. There's no needing of telling the kind of comments he received when he told them what he wanted to do. 'Stitch, are you lolo?', 'But Stitch! Have you thought what Lilo will feel when she realizes that you aren't here anymore?' and 'Are you being sure of doing this, 626?' were the first words he received just after he told them, but nothing and nobody was going to make him think different. He had made his decision, and had already convinced Jumba to do it, no matter how painful it resulted for him…

Stitch lay down in a surgery stretcher now, with Lilo beside of him on another stretcher, several wires stuck to her wrists. He barely felt the shot of the syringe in his arm… yeah, it had been a little bit painful, but that was nothing compared with the overwhelming joy of knowing that he was going to repay Lilo all what she had done for him along all those years with his own life, giving her his heart not only figuratively, but in real life too. His eyelids started to feel heavy… he felt drowsy now…

-Do not be worrying, 626. Everything will be ending soon —Jumba said with tears on his eyes. This was going to be the way his Experiment 626 would die, the best among all the others experiments. He wasn't going to die battling or fighting, as he had always thought, but he was going to die because the girl he loved the most. He was going to die just because of Love.

-Thank you, Jumba —Stitch whispered as the anesthesia entered his bloodstream, but before Jumba walked away to look for his tools, Stitch grabbed him a last time by his white coat —When Lilo wakes up, tell her… that I love her.

Stitch dropped Jumba's coat to let him go. Jumba walked away and started to look for the adequate tools he should use. Weakly, Stitch looked for Lilo's hand with his own hand. When he reached it, he squeezed it weakly and smiled at Lilo, who lay unconscious in the other stretcher. Big tears of both joy and sadness inundated his eyes as he squeezed his hand more tightly. He never thought this would be the way he died, but even so he liked the way this was going to end: beside of Lilo… his boojibu. With the last of his strength and awareness, he made a last effort to pull his stretcher close to hers, and when he was enough close to her, he barely could make his lips to brush against hers, in a last, tender kiss, as he caressed her cheek with his free hand. Finally, all his strength went away and he had to lie back on his own stretcher, still looking at Lilo, wanting her to be the last person his eyes saw. Then his eyelids fell upon his eyes and fell asleep not to wake up again… to keep his eyes closed forever now."

FLASHBACK ENDS

Now I'm in the dome, hesitating about opening the letter. I know there's something I don't want to know about, though I don't know exactly what is it. Finally, I gather all my courage and open the letter. My eyes land on the paper as they start to read it:

"My dearest Lilo

By the time you're reading my letter, you must've noticed that I'm not around home, and you might be wondering too why I'm not with you after 15 days of being practically in coma… well, before I start to explain you why I'm not there with you, I must confess you some other things about some feelings I started to have since a long time ago…

Do you remember that little adventure we had six years ago, when we were kids? When you were helping me to make Angel jealous just because I had the silly thought that she was dating somebody else? Well, there are just so many things I regret about what I did during that adventure… I should have never said certain things to Angel… I should have never treated her the way I did… I should have never left you alone for so long because for my relationship with her and then use you to make her jealous just because of my selfish purposes… those and other things are several of the mistakes I made, but there's something among all those mistakes I don't regret, and I think it's the second best thing that happened to me after meeting you, and that second best thing is the kiss I stole from you. I don't know what you felt, but I want you to know what I felt… true is that I had never felt anything like that feeling I got while we were kissing, something that not even Angel had made me feel when I thought I was in love with her… I don't know how to describe it, I'm not good at describing things that detailed, but I certainly can say that I felt like if my eyes opened by first time in my life. I didn't know then what was that I felt in those moments, but now I know that that I felt was love…sheer and true love for you. I had always felt something especial about you since we were little, but I never knew what it was. I thought it was totally normal, so I never told you about my feelings, but now I can see that the love I felt for you had been always beyond of friendship love. That's why I always felt extremely disappointed when you disapproved some thing I did, such as when you didn't want me near from you when I had my glitch; the jealousy I felt whenever I thought you were paying more attention to any experiment, such like Finder or Mr. Stenchy, instead of me, even if I knew that you loved me more than all of them together. That's why I always tried to do good, heroic things, to show you all that I was able to do just because of you… I had never wondered about why I did all those things with nobody besides of you until I kissed you. Yeah, I know, I had felt jealous about Angel then, but you know that I'm too possessive when I get something, but had you ever noticed the way I wanted to protect you, and especially you? Even if I knew that the things you wanted to do were wrong, I was always there to protect that little girl from anything... but the little girl grew older, and turned into a teenager, somebody I couldn't protect as well as when she was little, because needed her own space now.

When you started to be absent from home because school stuff and other things, I felt the same you felt when I was with Angel: loneliness and nostalgia about the old times when there was only me and you and no other thing mattered. I had always feared that someone or something snatched me away from you and your love. That's the reason I always felt jealous whenever you paid more attention to any experiment, and that's why I never liked Keoni, because I knew he could take you away from me… and that you wouldn't complain about it.

Now imagine what I felt when I found out that Keoni Jameson wanted to take my friend away. I can't say that I expected you to reject him, because I knew that since you were a kid you liked him, but I felt like if I was crashed into pieces whenever you talked about going out with him, going to the movies, going to the beach… all the things I had done formerly with you. I felt he was going to replace me in your life… that nothing was going to be again the same about us, just when I had arranged my confusing thoughts about you, after six years of trying to understand what was that I felt when I kissed you… and just when I could finally understand my feelings, Keoni took you away from me. Every hope was lost for me… or at least that's what I thought.

That night you went to the Valentine's Day Ball with Keoni, I was wondering again about all those things I've already told you in my letter, but I'm so glad that not every hope was lost… when I found you crying on the hammock, I knew immediately that something had went wrong. You cannot even imagine the rage I felt when you said it had been Keoni the one who hurt you the most… I just wanted to toss him to the sea and not seeing him alive again here! But then I understood that if Keoni wasn't the one for you, then there was still a little hope for me… that's why I kissed you. I wanted to know by the way you acted if you loved me the same way. When you kissed me back, I felt the joy overwhelmed me to see that you loved me that same way. I realized about it just because the way you kissed me… it was enough for me to know that you were in love with me as well as I am with you.

Well, now I have to explain you why I'm not there with you. While we were still kissing, you pulled me away and then you passed out. I got worried about you and brought you to Jumba, hoping that everything was okay with you, but then he told me the bad new. You were going to die unless he found a solution for you, but when he found it, it was too late to carry it out, so the another solution was finding somebody who wanted to donate a heart. I'm sure you know how hard is to find somebody who wants to donate a heart, so everybody thought you were going to die irremediably. While you were knocked out, I told you so many things… I remember I told you I would give my life to keep yours here, and then it hit me… while you're reading this, a strong heart is beating inside your chest, telling you with each beat how much I loved you and still do in the after-life…"

I gasp loudly as I read the last part. I cannot believe this… no, he's not dead… no…

I read that last paragraph one and other time, and still cannot believe it.

With the letter still in my hand and tears starting to form in my eyes, I run off to a place I hadn't visited by years. I know he's probably there, in that same place. There was an empty spot beside of my parents' graves, and Nani must have wanted to bury him there, beside of them. Finally, I arrive the old graveyard where my parents were buried. Even though the place where they were buried is far away from the entrance, my feet carry me so fast that I reach it in a matter of minutes. I should be gasping for air now because of my dash, but I don't feel even tired. The speed of my feet decreases as I approach the graves of my parents, and I whisper an inaudible 'hello' to them. Then my eyes go to the formerly empty spot of soil. There's a new headstone there, and even though I haven't read it, I know this is Stitch's grave. I approach it slowly, like not wanting it at all, but now I'm right in front of the headstone, and start to read what it reads:

"To our beloved

STITCH PELEKAI

Intergalactic hero,

Friend and Ohana

2002-2012

Rest In Peace

We will love

you always"

Now I cannot stop the tears. They're running down my cheeks freely, and I won't try to stop them. Then I lower my eyes and see a very well-known thing, and I lift it from the dusty ground. It's the tiki-necklace I gave him before he left to command the BRB several years ago, and then I look back at his grave. Then I remember I didn't finish reading the letter, still in my hand. I open it again and decide to finish reading:

"…I give you my heart and my whole life too. Use them as you think is the correct way, my love. I'm sorry I couldn't say 'good-bye' while you were still conscious… but don't be sad, after all it shouldn't be a 'good-bye' instead it should be a 'see you later', because you know? We will meet each other one day. We will have a party up here when your time comes, and we will see each other again and embrace again…I will be waiting for you until then. I love you.

Yours,

Stitch"

I close the paper piece and then look up at the cloudy sky. It seems gray and sad, but suddenly, some clouds divide, letting a beam of sunlight through. I don't know why, but the sunbeam seems to be falling only upon me. I start to imagine that this sunbeam is sent by Stitch, like if he opened a window in the clouds, but that would sound silly if I tell it to anyone. Without even thinking about it, my lips start to move as I sing my farewells to Stitch:

"Aloha 'Oe, Aloha 'Oe

'E ke ona ona noho, i ka lipo

One fond embrace, a ho 'i a 'e au

Until we meet again… until we meet… again."

A soft breeze coming from nowhere makes the top of the trees to move, and then some flowers from a near tree fall right ahead of me. Then that same breeze caresses my face and dries away the tears I had in my cheek… if only Stitch was the one who is drying my tears away…"

Lilo stood up, feeling in a strange way that she wasn't alone at all… and in fact she wasn't alone. She gave the grave a last glance and then looked at the tiki-necklace, resting on her hand. She pressed it against her chest as some other tears dropped to the ground and then she placed the necklace gently on the headstone. After some minutes, she walked away to go home.

Stitch looked at Lilo while she walked away. He wished he could follow her, but it would be to no avail. She couldn't see him, and he couldn't touch her directly. He had needed to use the sea breeze to dry away the tears she had on her face. Besides, he had been given permission to be on Earth only until Lilo read his letter, and he knew he had to go now. The bright sunbeam that illuminated Lilo some seconds ago was falling upon him now, and as it illuminated him, he started to disappear. Before he was totally gone, he could barely pronounce some last words:

-Until we meet again… boojibu.

Well, it didn't end as tragic as I would have wished... I'm not used still to be mean at Stitch or Lilo, so let me get used. I hope in future stories I'll do it better...

I'm already working on a new story, in case you wanna give it a read. It's name is 'If I never met you'. I'll make a bit detailed summary:

The story takes place six years after the Leroys' events. Lilo is already a teenager, and lives comfortingly along with Stitch and all her ohana. Her life is practically perfect, but there's something that still makes her sad: she never overcame her parents' deaths, and one night, while she's about to fall asleep, she says she wished her parents were still alive because her life isn't full without them, but unknown for her, Stitch overhears her wish, and then he feels so bad about his friend that decides to take the old time surfboard that Jumba made. He travels to the past and saves Lilo's parents from a certain death... no, this story isn't going to be like the other traveling-through-time stories, because when he somes back, everything is still just as he left. Jumba explains him that the changes that are going to happen are going to be slow, making that Lilo's parents appear eventually, and that's exactly what happens: they appear in the Pelekai house one morning from nowhere. Stitch is happy when he sees that Lilo is happy about her parents' return, but what he doesn't know is that the slow changes Jumba talked about are still happening, making him to forget slowly his past with a younger Lilo, making him eventually to become what he would have become originally if he never met Lilo: some king of gangster or hooligan. Well, that's all what I'll tell you about the story. I was going to update the first chapter the same day I updated the last of 'BOL', but at last minute I had an idea that would fit better for the first chapter, so probably I'll update the first chapter until next week, wednesday or Thursday for sure. Thanks!