I do not own Lilo and Stitch.

Welcome Home

The final notes of Aloha 'Oe could barely be heard over the roar of the cousins. Gantu's plasma fireworks exploded against the dusk sky, briefly casting a green glow across the arena. Lilo panted slightly, from a mix of exertion and adrenaline, her ukulele hanging limply from one hand.

Seeing Lilo trying to catch her breath, Stitch's euphoria from a battle won immediately faded. "Lilo hurt?" he asked anxiously, placing a claw against her shoulder.

"I'm fine!" said Lilo, offering her best friend a reassuring smile. She wiped the sweat from her forehead. "I don't think I've ever sang that hard before."

Reuben smiled at the girl. "You did it, kid."

"No, we did it," said Lilo firmly, pulling both Stitch and Reuben into a hug. "I couldn't have found Stitch without you, Reuben."

Stitch's ears perked up upon hearing 625's new name. "Ooh, bootifa!" He wound an arm over Reuben's shoulders. "Mahalo, cousin."

Intense fondness swelled within Reuben, love bubbling warm and tender in his stomach. He understood now how the little Earth girl had turned all of Jumba's evil creations from bad to good. She was the only one who could have succeeded in the task. She loved them, all of them, unconditionally and fully, exactly for who they were.

"I think I can get used to this cousin business." Reuben gave his new 'ohana members a squeeze. "I'm gonna go find Gantu. Make sure he hasn't set himself on fire."

"Okay!" chirped Lilo. "You can leave the saxophone backstage. We'll put the instruments away."

Reuben went off to look for Gantu. Stitch wrangled out of his Elvis outfit and Lilo giggled. "That was a nice touch, Stitch."

"Thank you, thank you very much."

"Little Girl!"

"Little monster!"

Lilo and Stitch promptly ran into the awaiting arms of Jumba and Pleakley. "Everyone okay?" asked Pleakley, looking over the nine-year-old for any injuries.

"I'm good!"

"I'm okay! I'm fluffy!" said Stitch, nuzzling his creator's hand.

"That you are," said Jumba with a chuckle. "Little Girl and 626 have done it again. Galaxy is saved!"

"It wasn't just the two of us," replied Lilo. "It was all of us." She twisted around in Pleakley's embrace to peer out over the celebrating cousins and the hundreds of deactivated Leroys. "Now what do we do?"

"I'll call the Grand Councilwoman," spoke Pleakley, digging his space cell phone out of his pocket. "She'll probably send a fleet to deal with the clones and Hamsterwheel." He frowned. "Where is that evil gerbil anyway?"

Lilo squinted out over the sea of alien experiments. "There he is!" She pointed at the white ball of fur being lobbed between the cousins. "He's getting his comeuppance."

"I will be calling Bigger Girl," said Jumba. He patted Lilo's head. "I am sure she is missing you greatly and we do not wish for her to by worrying, eh?"

"Or we could not, 'cause I didn't tell her where I was going, and maybe she doesn't know I'm gone," said Lilo with a slight wince.

Jumba laughed. "Ah, Little Girl, how I have missed you."

"Me too," said Pleakley softly.

Lilo beamed at them. "I missed you guys, too!"

Her adoptive aunt and uncle went in search for a quiet spot to make their phones calls. Lilo tugged on Stitch's arm and said, "Let's go see the cousins!"

With their hands linked, the two jumped off the stage, landing next to Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie grinned broadly and high-fived the girl as Clyde gave Stitch an affectionate noogie. "Nice goin', you two!"

"You guys were awesome!" gushed Lilo. "That was the best butt kicking I've ever seen!"

Bonnie's chest puffed out with pride. "We showed those frauds, didn't we?"

"That's what they get for stuffin' us inta nets," added Clyde.

Lilo's shoulders drooped slightly. "I'm sorry," she said guiltily. "I should have—"

Bonnie jabbed her reprovingly in the nose. "No," she said sternly. "It doesn't matter that we got captured. What matters is that ya saved us, just like ya always do. So none of this is your fault. Capiche?"

"Capiche," said Lilo with a small smile.

"Hey, Stitch, can I borrow that hair of yers sometime?" asked Clyde with a cackle. "I'd ask for the jumpsuit, but I don't think it'd fit."

Stitch growled playfully at him. "Ha ha, very funny."

"We're gonna go make sure everyone is okay," said Lilo. "I thiiiiink we're gonna have to walk home. The Grand Councilwoman has a galaxy to put back to order, so I don't think she's going to have time to give us a lift."

"My exercise quota is gonna be filled today," muttered Clyde.

"We'll help with the check-in," offered Bonnie.

"Thanks!"

Lilo and Stitch were greeted by their cousins with hugs and sloppy kisses. Other experiments volunteered to help them do a wellness check, greatly speeding up the process. Stitch and Angel reunited and, after being embraced by the pink experiment, Lilo politely wandered off to give them their moment.

"Hi, Lilo!"

Lilo turned towards the voice, her jaw falling open at the sight of a happy Gigi in the arms of a stone-still Mertle. "Ah—ooh. Mertle, are you okay?"

Mertle stared blankly at her.

"I think she's in shock," said Gigi, licking Mertle's chin.

"You can talk," said Lilo in pleasant surprise. "Neat!"

"I really, truly, do not know what to say," said Mertle numbly.

"You're not gonna give Gigi up, are you? 'Cause she's an alien?" asked Lilo with a sharp frown.

"No!" said Mertle, her usual fierceness returning to her eyes. "Of course not!"

She hugged Gigi closer, as if Lilo would rip her away at any moment. Lilo smiled. "Good. Her one true place is with you, after all. She wouldn't be happy anywhere else."

"Really?"

"I don't want to be with anyone else," said Gigi. "I just want to be with you."

Lilo pretended not to see the tears fill Mertle's eyes. Mertle coughed roughly to clear the lump from her throat. "So all this time, those weird animals of yours were weird aliens?"

"Yup," said Lilo brightly. "I told you I've been to space."

"Why are there so many of them?" asked Mertle uneasily. "And what the heck was that thing who grabbed us?"

"My Uncle Jumba created six hundred and twenty-six evil illegal genetic experiments," explained Lilo. "Gigi is Experiment 007. Stitch is Experiment 626. Everyone before Stitch used to be in dehydrated little pods, but they all got activated over the last three years. So every time I found one, I turned it from bad to good." Lilo spread out her arms, gesturing to the hundreds of colourful aliens of all shapes and sizes surrounding them. "They're all our cousins."

"Even the monster red thing?" asked Mertle in alarm.

"Not Leroy," said Lilo quickly. "Leroy is proper evil. He and his clones belong to Hamsterviel—er, I think you called him Milton."

"What?!"

Lilo grinned. "Did you really think talking gerbils existed on Earth?"

"Moses didn't seem to think anything of it!" protested Mertle.

"Yeah, everyone on Kaua'i is kinda oblivious to the existence of aliens," said Lilo with a hum. "We try to keep it that way."

"Aliens," repeated Mertle, trying not to sound horrified for the sake of Gigi. "I was kidnapped by an alien, and now I'm surrounded by aliens."

"You're taking it pretty well," said Lilo, rather impressed.

"I don't…I…"

Mertle trailed off, looking completely out of her element, and Lilo patted her shoulder. "You should probably sit down. I think we're gonna have to walk home, but I'll come get you when we're ready to leave. Maybe, if you want, Gigi could introduce you to some of the cousins? I know Link would be happy to see you." Leaning down to whisper in Gigi's ear, Lilo said, "Try to keep her from insulting anyone. You know how some of the cousins have tempers."

"I'll watch over her," vowed Gigi.

Lilo straightened and continued on with her rounds. When a shadow fell over her, she turned around to see the towering form of Gantu entering the arena. Lilo sprinted over to him, coming to a halt next to his elephant-like legs.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully. "Your fireworks were really good."

Gantu peered down at her. "Uh...thanks," he said awkwardly. "You certainly know how to play an instrument."

"Thanks." Lilo rocked back on her heels. "Um, I just wanna apologize for calling you a Big Dummy all those times. It wasn't very nice of me."

"You're apologizing to me?" Gantu asked incredulously.

"For the name-calling," Lilo clarified. "Not for beating you up and taking away the experiments. 'Cause that was necessary."

"I…I suppose it was. I'm sorry for trying to take the experiments from you and the trog—I mean, Stitch."

"And for wrecking our roof a bazillion times," Lilo urged.

"And I'm sorry for wrecking your roof a bazillion times," repeated Gantu with sincerity. He paused for a moment before saying hesitantly, "I must say I don't understand. I spent three years fighting to take away your beloved experiments and doing terrible things to you. But yet you treat me as if none of that ever happened."

"I always knew there was good in you, Gantu. I could tell," Lilo said seriously. "I'm really glad you found it. You're 'ohana now, so none of the other stuff matters anymore."

Gantu knew what 'ohana meant to the nine-year-old. He knew she never used the word lightly or casually. He found himself touched and honoured to be included in her family fold. "Thank you," he said quietly.

"You're welcome!" She peeked around his legs. "Reuben was looking for you. Did he find you?"

"I sure did!" Reuben came wandering along in Gantu's wake, a ham sandwich in his grasp. "Pleakley wanted me to tell you that the Grand Councilwoman is on her way. He also wanted me to tell you that she unfortunately can't give us a ride back to Kokaua Town, but she'll make it up to you."

"That's okay," said Lilo, unbothered. "I was expecting to walk home anyway."

"How're the cousins?"

She gave a thumbs-up. "Good! Everyone is safe and sound."

Gantu glanced down at the yellow experiment. "How does it feel to be a cousin?"

"It feels like I've gained hundreds of relatives for whom it will be a pain to shop for at Christmas," Reuben joked.

"We've already got Heckler to make all the wisecracks," said Lilo, lightly punching him.

"Then I guess we'll have to double-team." Reuben grinned slyly. "The material we have on Gantu should be enough for an entire show."

"Very funny, 625," Gantu growled.

"Reuben," he corrected. "My name is Reuben."

He said it with such pride that Gantu could not help but smile. "My apologies, Reuben."

"Ah, it's okay. So what's the plan, Gantu? Think the Grand Councilwoman will let us hitch a ride to get back our spaceship?"

"I thought you'd be going with Lilo," said Gantu gruffly. "She still has to find the one place you truly belong."

Reuben visibly deflated at this, and Gantu seemed pretty miserable at the thought of his constant companion leaving his side.

"You two are silly," said Lilo with a laugh, surprising them both. "Reuben found his one true place all by himself. It's with you, Gantu."

"Lucky me," Gantu grumbled, but his attempt at a jab was ruined by his soft expression and the affection in his voice.

"Ah, shucks, tell me how you really feel," said Reuben with joy.

Happiness surrounded Lilo, folded all around her, securing her and grounding her. She was giddy with love and she burst into delighted giggles. Reburn and Gantu looked at her in bemusement. "What's so funny, kiddo?" asked Reuben.

"I'm just so happy to have my family back together," said Lilo brightly. "Welcome home, you two."