Voila! This one is a bit shorter than the others, and I apologize for that. Things have been a little bit hectic since the semester is over now and I had final assignments due, and I didn't want to keep you guys waiting for too long! But, my final portfolio assessment is tomorrow, and then I'm done for a month! And that means -if everything goes according to plan- frequent updates!

Unfortunately because of school, Lilo was unable to help Stitch search for his cousins throughout the day. When she got out of school each day, the duo only had a small amount of time to search before they were required to be home for dinner. The first few nights, Nani had been understanding, and had extended their curfew so they had longer to look for the missing alien. Now that it had been over a week, however, Nani was trying to coerce them back into their previous schedule.

To say the duo was reluctant would be an understatement, but they knew they had no other choice; they couldn't afford to have Nani mad at them. Technically she could stop them both from going out at all, and they knew it was already nice of her to disrupt their usual patterns to give them a little bit longer to search.

Victoria helped whenever she was able, which was most days since her mother adored Lilo. The task the trio had before them tonight? They were going to find Finder. They hadn't seen him in a very long time, and if anyone could find Slushy, it would be him.

The day felt like it dragged on unpleasantly to Lilo, her worry over her Ohana making each minute feel like it was an hour. Her gaze was contantly flicking back to the clock, hoping against hope that by some miracle the day would be over and she could go find Slushy, and put Stitch's poor frazzled mind at ease.

Stitch sat on the roof, worry keeping him glued in place as he listened intently for any sign of trouble in the school. Usually when things started to go wrong, and people started disappearing, it was because they were after him. Following that logic, it stood to reason somebody might try to take Lilo, and that was the last thing he wanted. So he sat, muscles tense, and watched the surrounding area, listened to what was going on and hoped that nothing would go wrong.

Both were immensely relieved when Lilo's final class of the day ended, and as soon as the bell rang she had sprung out of her seat. Victoria was right behind her, grabbing the backpack that her friend had forgotten underneath her desk, and both rushed through the halls of the school. When Lilo burst through the front doors her arms were instantly occupied by her furry blue boyfriend, and she visibly relaxed, some of the worry draining from her body. Stitch was okay. Nobody had taken him away.

She held him close and Victoria couldn't help but smile as she watched her friends relax, visibly feeling more at ease just from being around one another.

"Ready?" she asked, holding the backpack out to her friend.

"Ih" Stitch nodded, while Lilo slung the bag over her shoulder and smiled in thanks.

She set Stitch down and he dropped onto all fours as the group began walking, trying to seem as though everything was fine. They thought they were in the clear, when they heard a throat cleared behind them. Lilo turned, back tensed as though she thought there would be trouble, and she relaxed again when she realized it was just Mertle.

"Oh, Aloha Mertle" she greeted

"Aloha Lilo" she offered a smile "You guys didn't collect your reports" she held them out toward the girls, whom let out noises of relief. "Is everything okay?"

"Um..." Lilo hesitated

Mertle blinked and raised a brow

"Lilo?"

"Have you noticed anything strange going on around the island?" Lilo asked instead

Realization flashed through her eyes

"Oh, that's right, I had something important to tell you" Lilo frowned at the serious look on the girls face, stepping closer

"Mertle? Is everything okay?"

"Gigi said she saw someone take Splodyhead and Plasmoid" Lilo stiffened and Stitch shot up off the ground "Does that mean anything to you?"

Lilo couldn't find the will to make her mouth move. While she had been focusing on biology and math, two more cousins had been taken. Guilt slammed into her full force, making her feel short of breath. Mertle let out a surprised cry when Lilo suddenly stumbled backwards and dropped to the ground in a seated position, legs splayed in front of her, gaze trained on the ground. Victoria crouched next to her and put a hand on her shoulder, Stitch put his hand over hers on the ground, and Mertle crouched in front of the girl. Lilo couldn't bring herself to look up, the words 'selfish' and 'failure' ringing through her head.

"Lilo? Is everything okay?" Mertle prompted

"I'm not sure" she finally responded, not wishing to worry Mertle with the information they already had "I... Just keep Gigi close, okay? Promise me that you'll do that"

The urgency in her tone frightened Mertle, but she knew that the raven was serious. Something big was going on, and she clearly didn't have all the details. From what she knew of her friend, it was because Lilo didn't want her to worry. And maybe that was a good thing. Lilo would tell her when she was ready, and Mertle thought she could wait.

"I promise" she nodded. Lilo was visibly relieved, but before she could reply Mertle spoke once more "Hey, I know something is bugging you, but..." she paused briefly, gaze searching Lilo's before pressing on "But if you ever need to talk to me, I'm here" she offered a grin "I know to be bugging you this much, it must be big, but I also know that you're you, and you'll figure it out" she stood "You and Stitch always do"

She offered one more smile before turning and leaving. After a moment, a smile grew on Lilo's face and she nodded

"Yeah" she beamed "She's right! I can do this! I'm me! We're a team! Everything will be fine. We'll find the cousins!" she leapt to her feet "Come on, we have to talk to Jumba!"

With that she took off, Stitch and Victoria eagerly following.

BOOMBABY

"Jumba!" Lilo cried, bursting through the front door "Jumba we need to talk to you!"

"He's in the ship" Pleakley informed them, entering the room and offering a smile "How was your day?"

Her face fell

"Two more experiments were taken" she muttered

Pleakley reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder

"Don't worry" he offered a smile "You'll find them"

Her smile returned at his reassurance, and she tossed her backpack onto the couch, Victoria following her example

"We're going to go talk to Jumba" she told the alien

He nodded his head

"Tell him to come inside soon, it's not good for him to be hiding away in that lab all day"

She giggled

"Alright" she nodded "I will"

BOOMBABY

Days passed, and they had no luck finding any of the missing experiments. They had learned that this wasn't a recent thing, however, by speaking with all of the cousins they could get in contact with. They learned that for approximately a year now experiments had been disappearing; it had started as one or two a month, and now was clearly building up to be more than that. As well as learning about this, they also found out that there were 16 more missing experiments they hadn't even known were missing, which made them feel like complete garbage.

Lilo sighed as she sat on the couch, list in her hand. The list now contained the numbers 444, 123, 298, 469, 456, 399, 368, 620, 601, 301, 507, 555, 615, 101, 005, and 006, as well as Slushy and the ones from the other day. She clenched it in her fist and stuffed it into her pocket, hanging her head over the back of the couch

"I don't know what to do, Stitch" she said honestly, turning her gaze upon the alien laying beside her

A heavy sigh escaped him

"Meega naga nota gabba do" he muttered miserably

She turned her head fully so she could watch her best friend, brows furrowingin concern. For the first time since this all started happening, it struck her that Stitch quite possibly felt worse about this than she did. It was reasonable to think he'd feel that way as well; he looks upon himself as a protector, and feels miserable when he fails.

"Hey" she whispered, pulling her legs up onto the couch and reaching out, grabbing the alien off the back of the couch and pulling him into her arms. He made a noise of surprise, but after a moment she felt his claws grasping at her shirt, and his face was pressed into her chest. "It's okay" she whispered

However helpless they felt, she knew they would get through it. They always did, no matter what. Why would they fail now?

BOOMBABY

Jumba made a noise of surprise in the back of his throat when his computer came up with no results. His eyes narrowed and he practically slammed his large fingers onto the buttons, his agitation seeping into his movements, and it took Pleakley's hand on his arm for him to stop. Jumba heaved out a sigh before turning to face his friend

"What?" was all he said

Pleakley offered a small smile

"I don't know what you're working on, but you shouldn't stay in here. Come on" he tugged Jumba's arm, and the scientist sighed heavily and got to his feet, allowing the noodle to lead him out of the room, defeat in his posture.

Neither saw the screen light up red, flashing in white the number 625.

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