"Nani, did you lose your job because of me and Stitch?" Lilo asked her older sister once they arrived at her house.
"Nah," Nani replied, looking down back at her little sister. "The manager's a vampire and he wanted me to join his legion of the undead."
Lilo stared down. "I knew it..." she then whispered.
Nani opened the front door and turned on the light to welcome them all home.
"This is a great home," Lilo told Stitch. "You'll like it a lot."
Stitch sniffed the room and lowly hissed.
"See?" Lilo took that as a sign of approval.
"Uh... Lilo?" Nani called nervously.
"This is a new experience for him." Patch whispered.
"Comfy." Lilo handed a pillow to Stitch.
Stitch grabbed the pillow and started to rip and tear at it.
"Hey!" Lilo took it and put it back.
Stitch then came into the kitchen, he saw the blender and tried to play with it, but it made the juice inside of it splash him.
"Hey, what is the matter with you!?" Nani grabbed Stitch and turned off the blender.
"Stitch, please try to control yourself." Patch growled.
"Be careful of the little angel!" Lilo warned her sister.
"It's not an angel, Lilo, I don't think it's even a dog!" Nani retorted. "We just have to take him back."
"He's just cranky because it's his bedtime." Lilo said.
"He's creepy, Lilo," Nani reminded. "I won't sleep while he's loose in the house!"
Stitch glared at Darla and scanned at her like she were a possible threat.
"You're loose in the house all the time and I sleep just fine!" Lilo argued.
"Um, hello, boy, nice, uh, dog." Darla said, trying to pet Stitch.
Stitch glanced at her. Darla winced, then petted him gently on the head, fearing for her life. Stitch blinked, then seemed to like that and smiled to her with his ears drooping slightly. This caused for Darla and Patch to smile, happy to know that Stitch liked to be pet.
"Look at him, Lilo!" Nani grabbed the alien away from Darla.
"Hey!" Darla pouted.
"He's obviously mutated from someone else," Nani told her sister. "We have to take him back."
"He was an orphan and we adopted him!" Lilo suddenly shouted. "What about O'hana?!"
Patch began to pull on her pant leg, trying to stop her from taking Stitch away.
"He hasn't been here that long!" Nani defended, struggling now as Patch was being difficult. "Darla, control your dog before I take him back too!"
"Neither have I!" Lilo stomped her foot. "Dad said O'hana means family!"
Nani opened the door, only slightly. Patch, Stitch, and Darla looked curious of what Lilo said. This caused Nani to close the door after Lilo mentioned O'hana meant family.
"O'hana means family... Family means-" Lilo was about to continue.
'Nobody gets left behind." Nani said, finishing for her.
"Or?" Lilo prompted.
"Or forgotten," Nani sighed. "I know, I know... I hate it when you use 'O'hana' against me."
Lilo stuck her tongue out. Nani did the same, accidentally dropping Stitch from her hands. This caused for Patch to let go of her pant leg.
"He likes it when you pet him and he's really calm too." Darla smiled.
Stitch nuzzled against Darla with a small smile.
"Don't worry, you can sleep next to me." Lilo told her pet, leading her and Darla upstairs to her bedroom.
"Lilo, go find my old pajamas to let Darla borrow for the night." Nani said as she exhaustedily fell into a chair.
"Okay." Lilo smiled.
"Now you're getting it." Patch smiled at Stitch.
"I hope Nani's old pajamas will be okay..." Lilo said as she put Darla into a short-sleeved shirt with a double zero on it with matching shorts.
"This is fine." Darla smiled, very excited about her first sleepover.
"Really?" Lilo replied. "Well, okay then."
Darla, Lilo, Stitch, and Patch then came to Lilo's room. Stitch knocked the door open, then sniffed around the floor.
"Look how curious the puppy is," Lilo smiled, then showed Stitch around. "This is my room and this is your bed," she gestured to the wooden box with a blanket in it, then took out Scrump and a bottle filled with a brown liquid. "This is your dolly and bottle... See, doesn't spill..." she then shook the bottle.
Stitch took it and gave it a try and it didn't spill, then tasted it.
"What's that?" Darla pointed to the liquid. "Chocolate milk?"
"I filled it with coffee." Lilo stated.
"Um, are you sure that's wise?" Darla asked.
"He like it," Lilo gestured. "Good puppy..." she then lifted his blanket up. "Now get into bed."
Stitch looked up at Lilo's bed, finding it better, then shoved Lilo down and climbed up into her bed.
"Hey, that's mine!" Lilo glared. She then stood up in front of him as he drank from the bottle. "Down!"
Stitch threw the pillow at her, then saw something underneath it and reached to touch it. "What's this?"
"Stitch, don't touch that!" Patch told him. "It's Lilo's!"
"Did your dog just talk?" Lilo asked Darla in shock.
"Dang it." Patch whispered.
"Well, um, if he did, would you faint and think it was a dream?" Darla asked.
"I knew dogs could talk..." Lilo smiled. "Stitch talked to me in the kennel, that's how I knew he was the one."
"Uh, yeah, dogs can talk and so can other animals, but we don't let it go out of control by talking to every human we see, so then no one faints or takes the animal that can talk to scientists so they can find out how they talk." Patch told her.
"Hmm... Very interesting... Well, your secret's safe with me..." Lilo smiled.
"Well, that went better than expected..." Darla was surprised that Lilo didn't scream or pass out from the shock.
Stitch was going wild, chewing on Scrump's head and ripped a paper on Lilo's painting easel from her blue period. Darla was about to pet Stitch again, but Lilo put a flower lei around his neck instead. And where that calmed him down really fast.
"There..." Lilo said, coming to her pet's side. "You know, you wreck everything you touch... Why not try and make something for a change?"
"Hm..." Stitch looked thoughtful, he took off the flower lei and started to make a model city.
Darla sat on Lilo's bed next to her, seeing it was big enough for two people to sleep in and might be a better option than sleeping on the floor. Patch began to help Stitch with it who didn't mind the help.
Stitch smiled and they continued to work. "Ah!" he smiled once they were done.
"Wow, San Francisco." Lilo said.
Patch brought a lamp over and took off the shade, knowing where this was going.
Stitch then got himself ready and roared like Godzilla and even crashed against the city he built, feeling very refreshed. He even picked up a toy car. "Eeek! Save me!" he imitated a scared voice and chewed on the car as he wrecked what he built.
"No more caffeine for you..." Lilo shook her head at Stitch.
"I agree." Patch and Darla said.
Patch decided to act like the brave giant Dalmatian of the model city and play fight with Stitch. Stitch glanced at Patch and was just as strong as him. Darla was curious of what was under Lilo's pillow, but since she was really touchy about it, she decided not to bring it up. Lilo could somehow sense her new friend was curious about the picture. Darla looked back with a smile, then waved weakly. Lilo sighed, knowing that her friend had the right to know.
"Uh, Lilo, are you okay?" Darla asked as their pets were distracted.
Lilo came over and showed Darla a picture of her at a younger age with a couple and someone else who looked like Nani as a teenager.
"Oh, this is a nice family picture," Darla took it with a smile. "Where are your parents anyway? Are they out-of-town for work or something?"
Lilo shook her head. "They're up in Heaven now."
"Heave-" Darla asked, then realized what Lilo said. "Heaven...?"
Lilo nodded as a tear slipped out of her right eye.
"Oh... Uhh... Lilo, I'm so sorry..." Darla said softly. "I know how you feel..."
Lilo wiped her tear and looked to her new friend. "You do?"
"Mm-hmm..." Darla frowned softly. "I lost my parents when I was four, my sister was in the car with them, but she ended up in a coma and my nanny put me up for adoption because we couldn't find anyone else..."
"Oh, my..." Lilo frowned.
Darla frowned, then looked to Lilo with her own tears. Lilo looked back. The two then hugged each other as tears leaked down the sides of their faces. Darla and Lilo did have one thing in common. After Stitch tore down his city, he appeared very bored.
"Wanna get a drink from the fridge?" Patch asked.
"Yeah..." Stitch agreed.
Patch and Stitch then left Lilo's bedroom and wandered downstairs. Darla yawned as she broke out of the hug with Lilo.
"We better get some sleep." Darla said.
"Mm-hmm..." Lilo agreed. "Are you fine sharing a bed with me?"
"I think it's better that way..." Darla sleepily smiled.
The two then pulled back the cover and tucked themselves in as they had a very long day. While those two went to sleep, Nani was on the phone with David, talking about Stitch.
"I think it might be a koala," Nani said as she looked through a dog breed guidebook. "An evil koala... I can't even pet it... It keeps staring at me like it's going to eat me!" she then gasped as she looked at the fridge.
Stitch had the fridge door open. He slanted his eyes at her, but took a can of soda and gave it to Patch, then took the other, put it in his mouth, and shut the door with his back foot. Patch simply waved at Nani before the both of them went back upstairs.
'Hello?' David said on the other line, though the phone was dropped on the floor. 'Nani? Hello? Are you there?'
Nani was just in stunned silence over what she just saw.
Stitch drank both soda cans and burped before crushing them both.
"Thanks anyway for the soda..." Patch said as he felt very sleepy.
"What you doing?" Stitch asked.
'"Getting some sleep..." Patch curled up. "Stay up as late as you want to, I'm dog tired."
"Oh, okay." Stitch said with a frown before looking around for something to do.
Patch yawned and fell right asleep.
"Such a good puppy..." a familiar voice said.
Patch opened his eyes and found himself in a fluffy cloud paradise. "Annabelle?"
The pink whippet angel smiled to him. "Don't worry, young one, I just wanted to thank you for going on this journey for yourself."
"It's the least I can do." Patch smiled.
"You are a very good puppy..." Annabelle said. "Your parents are very proud... They pray for you every night."
"That's good to know." Patch smiled.
"You will make an excellent guardian angel when your time comes..." Annabelle gently patted the top of his head.
"Why, thank you." Patch smiled proudly and honorably.
"And which might be close by." Annabelle whispered to herself with a frown.
"Wait... What!?" Patch sounded paranoid. "What do you mean!? What's going on?! What're you talking about!?"
"I knew I shouldn't have whispered that," Annabelle sighed out of defeat. "Okay, you see, you'll be meeting your death soon, but don't let that let you worry about it happening."
"How do I die?" Patch asked.
"You sacrifice yourself for when an alien shoots and tries to kill one of your friends," Annabelle said. "And just know this alien is much bigger than Stitch and anyone that you have ever met."
"Is it Jumba?" Patch guessed.
"No, he's much bigger than Jumba," Annabelle explained. "You will know him when you see him."
"Then I'll be prepared." Patch said.
"You are a very brave, unique, and special puppy." Annabelle replied proudly.
"Anything to be one of a kind..." Patch smiled to her. "How is Charlie anyway?"
"He's doing okay, I suppose..." Annabelle hid a roll of her eyes.
"Itchy and Anne-Marie miss him a lot," Patch said. "Anne-Marie even asked Harold and Kate to name her new baby sister after Charlie, short for 'Charlotte'."
Annabelle seemed to have a grave face when Itchy was mentioned.
"What's wrong?" Patch noticed that.
"He's going to die as well." Annabelle frowned.
"What?! How?" Patch asked out of shock.
"I'm sorry, but it's time for me to go..." Annabelle's voice grew shallow.
"No, wait, tell me!" Patch begged. "Ms. Annabelle, wait!"
"Itchy will choke on a chicken bone." Annabelle's voice answered him before fading away.
"Mr. Itchy..." Patch pouted as he hung his head in sadness, remembering the good times he shared with the weiner dog in Puppy School.
He was a kind, funny, and warm dog. Even if the first day of Puppy School didn't go so well, Itchy was always his favorite dog outside of Thunderbolt, Lucky, and his own father Pongo. Patch just couldn't believe that Itchy's time would come so soon. But he didn't let that get in the way of his sleep or at least, he tried. He woke up and looked exhausted, unable to go back to sleep.
Stitch was looking around Lilo's stuff, but didn't cause too much destruction and found a series of books, then found one that really made him curious.
"You okay, Stitch?" Patch asked.
"What this?" Stitch showed him what he found.
"It's a book," Patch noticed. "That probably belongs to Lilo, maybe you should ask her about it."
Stitch hummed, then shook Lilo awake, crawling up to her bed.
"Huh?" Lilo asked, waking up.
"What this book about?" Stitch opened it.
Darla woke up too since Stitch was now between them with the book.
"That's the Ugly Duckling," Lilo explained with a yawn. "See? He's sad because he's all alone and nobody wants him... But on this page, his family hears him crying and they find him. Then the Ugly Duckling is happy because he knows where he belongs."
"Maybe that's what you need, a place to call home." Patch smiled to Stitch.
"Hmm..." Stitch looked thoughtful for a moment, then crawled down from Lilo's bed.
Lilo then found a record and held it in the air. "Wanna listen to the King?" she offered to her pet. "You look like an Elvis fan."
"Elvis?" Darla asked.
Lilo gaped at her new friend. "Don't tell me you've never heard of the King of Rock and Roll!"
"No, sorry, I've never heard of Elvis before." Darla apologized to her friend.
"You need to get out more..." Lilo said as she dropped from her bed and went to get her record player. "This is one of my mom's favorites."
"Your mother must have really loved Elvis's songs." Darla said.
"Mom and Dad did a whole lot," Lilo smiled. "My dad even played ukulele."
"Cool." Darla smiled.
Lilo got down from her bed and brought a record player and put the record disc on it. Darla felt more awake now and decided to kneel next to Lilo. Stitch looked curious as he was in his bed and turned his head to the record player. Lilo played 'Suspicious Minds' on the record player, but luckily, it wasn't loud enough to wake up Nani. Stitch decided to place one of his claws on top of the record.
Lilo and Darla got worried that that might scratch it and make the record useless, but luckily, it didn't. It only made the music stop. Stitch lightly purred and smiled, then opened his mouth a brief moment which made the song come out from Stitch's mouth like magic. This surprised the girls and Patch. Patch decided to close Stitch's mouth and then open it again. Every time Stitch's mouth opened, the song played, and when it would close, the song would stop.
"We gotta tell Nani." Lilo suggested.
"Yeah." Darla nodded.
"Later though." Patch said once he saw what time it was.
"Oh, right, we'll show this to Nani in the morning." Darla agreed.
"This is so cool." Lilo was excited.
After a little bit longer, Lilo, Darla, and Patch went back to sleep.