WilyGryphon here, managing lovable redheads better than Joe Quesada and Tetsuya Nomura!

Which is one way to say that I beat Kingdom Hearts III earlier this week. It is probably my favorite in terms of gameplay, but the story, particularly bits and pieces of the endgame, were mixed.

I will not be saturating too many lore elements that were uncovered in that game into this story, though I will take inspiration from some aspects. Same goes for some of the most recent Union X developments. I'll pick and choose what I like.

On a note relating to this chapter and the previous ones, I had trouble at the time of writing finding the proper spelling of 'Ohana (i.e. the placement of the apostrophe). I only just checked again right before uploading this chapter to realize how it actually goes.

Without further ado, enjoy.

Chapter 109

'Ohana

The crowd parted to grant a path for the armored soldiers, who quickly ran up to Stitch and slapped a set of handcuffs on him. "We have 626," one of the soldiers reported.

"Take him to my ship," the Grand Councilwoman ordered.

"Leave him alone!" Lilo protested. She pulled at one of the soldiers, but he simply brushed her aside. and began to take Stitch to the ramp leading into their ship, which the party finally noticed had landed on the beach a minute ago. Sora, Riku and Kairi looked on, wondering how they might convince the intergalactic authorities to let Stitch stay. They thought back to what Aqua had told them about her previous encounter with the aliens, and tried to think of something they could draw from that to change the aliens' mind.

"G-Grand Councilwoman, let me explain," Gantu pleaded, realizing that his failure and the scandal which his efforts caused would not reflect well.

"Silence! I am retiring you, Captain Gantu," the councilwoman spat offhandedly. Gantu slumped, his fears realized.

Pleakley stepped in front of the councilwoman. "Actually, credit for the capture goes toー"

"Goes to me!" the political leader interrupted coldly. "You'll be lucky if you end up on a Fluff Trog farm after we sort this thing out!" Intimidated and recognizing that he was already in hot water for his failures leaving her at wit's end, Pleakley nervously backed away. Kairi felt bad for him, and even more so when she remembered that she blasted him in the face with a Blizzard spell.

"Your Excellency, please!" Aqua entreated, but the tall alien ignored her.

The Grand Councilwoman turned to Jumba and pointed an accusing finger at him. "You! You're the cause of all this!" she snapped. "You put us all through years of hassle and stress! If it wasn't for your Experiment 626ー"

"Stitch," the blue creature interrupted. Until that point, he had been patiently standing on the bottom of the ramp, flanked by the soldiers.

"What?" The councilwoman turned to him, puzzled.

"My name is Stitch," he clarified.

"Stitch, then," she nodded and turned back to Jumba. "If it wasn't for Stitchー"

"Does Stitch have to go in the ship?" Stitch asked.

The councilwoman stopped and did a double take back at Stitch. "Uh, yes," she answered, honestly surprised by the creature's manners.

Stitch nodded slowly, calmly accepting this. "Can Stitch say goodbye?" he requested.

The councilwoman was taken aback again. "Yes," she acquiesced. The soldiers looked at each other curiously.

Stitch nodded. "Thank you," he replied. He stepped off of the ramp and walked over to Lilo, Nani, Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Aqua. Lilo hugged him, and Sora knelt down to pet him on the head.

The Grand Councilwoman leaned in to observe the affection shared with the small group. "Who are you?" she asked.

Stitch turned around to face her. "This is my family," he explained. "I found it all on my own. It's little and broken, but still good. Yeah, still good." He turned back and gave Sora and Aqua a smile, then started to walk back to the ship. Everyone looked on sadly as he accepted his fate.

"Does he really have to leave?" Pleakley asked sympathetically.

The Councilwoman sighed regretfully. "You know as well as I that our laws are absolute. I cannot change what the council has decided," she told him solemnly.

"But Stitch is a good person now," Aqua interjected. "He's made lots of friends and he's been behaving himself."

"For the most part," Riku muttered. Kairi jabbed him with her elbow.

Sora stepped forward. "I can attest to that. Sure, he messed up a few times, but he's stood by his friends."

The Grand Councilwoman shook her head. "I can bring your claims up to the council, but I fear that the most we can expect is to reduce his sentence, but that would still leave him to be banished for several years."

A commotion built among the crowd. Several people let out cries of protest. "Let him stay!" they jeered. A few of them repeatedly chanted "'Ohana" at increasing volume. The Grand Councilwoman, Jumba, and Pleakley were taken aback. In the face of the overwhelming support for the experiment who had only been a part of the community for a few days, the aliens felt even more regret at not being able to do anything legally to allow Stitch to stay.

"Lilo…" The girl looked up at Mr. Bubbles when he spoke. "Didn't you buy that thing at the shelter?"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "What's that have to do with…" He trailed off when he noticed his mother smirking confidently. He had seen her in the courtroom enough times to know that that expression meant that she was about to present a decisive piece of evidence that would close the case beyond a reasonable doubt. He had seen similar expressions on the defense attorneys, but he always thought it looked cooler on his mother. As such, although he did not yet know what it meant, he immediately had faith that things were going to turn out alright.

Lilo gasped as she realized what Bubbles meant as well. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pink sheet of paper, the receipt that she received at the animal shelter upon purchasing Stitch. She ran up to the tall alien and tugged on her robe. "Hey!" she shouted. The Grand Councilwoman turned around to locate who had gotten her attention, then looked down at the young girl. Lilo unfolded the receipt and showed it to her. "Two days ago, I bought Stitch at a shelter," she said. "I paid two dollars for him. See this stamp? I own him. If you take him, you're stealing."

The Grand Councilwoman took the receipt and examined it closely. She smiled at Lilo, glad to have been presented with a loophole that would give her an excuse to do what she thought was right.

Sora and Riku looked at Mr. Bubbles, wondering how he knew that would work. "Aliens are all about rules," Bubbles explained.

The two teens looked at each other in bewilderment. Have aliens been to the islands before? Or has Bubbles been to other worlds, including on an occasion when aliens visited?

The Grand Councilwoman picked Stitch up and unlocked his handcuffs. "Take note of this," she announced. "This creature has been sentenced to life in exile, a sentence that will be henceforth served here…" She paused, appearing uncertain, and looked to Pleakley for help. "What is this celestial body called, again?"

Pleakley flipped through his notes, trying to find the answer, but Braska helpfully interjected. "We call it 'Destiny Islands', ma'am."

The Grand Councilwoman nodded. "Right, thank you. Ahem. The sentence will be henceforth served here, on Destiny Islands," she concluded, setting Stitch down in front of Lilo and Nani. Lilo hugged Stitch. "And, as caretaker of the alien lifeform, Stitch, this family is under the protection of the United Galactic Federation." Cheers rose up from the crowd, although some of the chatter was focused on small conversation discussing the fact that not only were aliens real, but they had a galaxy-wide government right above them.

Aqua smiled. "Thank you, your Excellency," she said.

The councilwoman smiled warmly. "It is my pleasure. Aqua, was it?" The blue-haired woman nodded. "I'm glad to see that you were right about Stitch after all." She turned to face Mr. Bubbles. "We'll be checking in now and then," she informed him.

"I was afraid you were going to say that. This won't be easy to explain back at headquarters," Bubbles replied.

The councilwoman chuckled. "I know what you mean." She turned and began to walk back to her ship. She saw Jumba and Pleakley waving to her, hoping not to be forgotten, and she waved back. However, she leaned over to the soldier beside her. "Don't let those two get on my ship," she whispered. The soldier nodded and followed her to the ship, which resembled a rotund rocket. The other soldier escorted a halfhearted Gantu. When the Grand Councilwoman, Gantu, and the two soldiers had boarded the vessel and closed up the hatch, they launched off into space, with the party, Stitch, Lilo, Nani, Jumba, Pleakley, Mr. Bubbles, and the spectating crowd watching it fly off into the sky.

Chikyu grumbled. "Did nobody seriously notice the giant spaceship in the last three days?" he asked in an exasperated tone.

Jumba chuckled. "Well, you see, we parked high up in the woods on the hill, out of sight," he explained.

A patrolman cleared his throat. "Truth be told, sir, I thought I saw something funny with some of the trees up there," he admitted. "But I just brushed it off. I wouldn't have really expected it to be anything too weird."

"Yet not a single person noticed it landing?" Chikyu sighed. "Never mind. Let's try to keep that in mind, just in case."

Sora and Riku turned their attention back to Bubbles. "You've met aliens before?" Sora asked, awed.

Bubbles smirked. "That's a story for another time," he said. "For the moment…" He turned to Nani. "About your house…"

Stitch and Jumba chuckled nervously. "Our bad," Stitch admitted.

"I stuffed the carrot," Jumba added.

Bubbles raised an eyebrow.

The party hired a construction team to build a new house for Nani and Lilo. Jumba offered his two cents and built in some special features, such as an elevator that led up to a loft above the main section of roof, which would serve as Lilo and Stitch's new room. Mickey, Donald and Goofy supplied some Gummi blocks for the structure. On their free time, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aqua, and Stitch helped with the construction.

While they awaited completion of the project, Kairi and Braska allowed Nani, Lilo, and Stitch to stay at their house. While Nani worked at the rental hut, Kairi would play with Lilo along with Selphie, Tidus, Wakka, and Lulu. Lulu helped Lilo assemble a stuffed doll, which became a green toy with a large head, blue button eyes, string hair, and a pink bow, exactly like the one that Lilo had previously made and which was destroyed when the house blew up. She named this doll "Scrump 2". Wakka would joke and act goofy to make Lilo laugh, causing Lulu to roll her eyes. Wakka only shrugged in response.

Over the following days, Sora, Riku and Kairi attended school and spent time with their friends and families. They watched one of the Destiny Aurochs' games, cheering Tidus and Wakka on, and celebrated their victory. Kairi met with Selphie to help her plan for the festival, and Lilo offered some rather creative suggestions. One day, she bought a pair of sneakers to replace the ones that had been marred when one had been impaled, along with a pair of hiking boots. Sora trained with Sion, learning more kenpo techniques, as well as being schooled in Sion's own brand of street fighting. Meanwhile, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy monitored the radar on the Gummi Ship, keeping track of their enemies' movements. One night, the party, along with Lilo, Stitch, Nani, Jumba, and Pleakley, gathered at Riku's house to watch a monster movie. Sora expressed concern for if it was okay for Aqua to watch, but she insisted that she was fine, and they all ended up enjoying the flick together.

It was decided that the party would return to the adventure on Thursday, a week after their arrival. On Wednesday afternoon, Kairi and Sora, with Nani's permission, brought Lilo and Stitch over to the islet. They gave the girl and the alien a tour of the island where they had played growing up. Stitch took an interest in the Paopu fruits, recognizing the similarity to Terra's Wayfinder. Noticing this curiosity, Kairi explained the legend, and told him and Lilo how in the old days, sailors would fashion trinkets after the fruit as good luck charms. Lilo asked if they could make Wayfinder charms together, to which Kairi said that they might do so another time.

After showing them all around the beach and scaffolding, Kairi and Sora led their charges into the Secret Place, through the cave entrance directly next to the waterfall spring. They pushed the brush aside to allow Lilo and Stitch to enter unimpeded. They walked through the narrow path, sliding their hands on the rock wall as a guide to make sure that they followed the dark, winding path without difficulty. When they stepped into a more open cavern, they found that they could see more clearly, as sunlight shone through a hole in the top of the cave, which was only somewhat covered with canopy leaves from the trees outside. A few old, dead trees hugged against the wall, having taken root years ago in the soil and grown around the sides of the cavern, taking advantage of rainstorms and the occasional monsoon to attain the water to feed on the nutrients in the ground only to be unable to sustain themselves through adulthood. Mushrooms and other fungi grew at the base of some of the trees On the end of the cave across from the group, there was a flat wooden door with a simple yellow design around the edge, which lacked a doorknob. For most of their lives, Sora and Kairi did not understand what the purpose was or what it was for, though Mickey's story about his encounter with Aqua in the Realm of Darkness offered a few clues as to its nature. The walls and large rocks were marked all over with chalk drawings and scribbles. Most of the drawings had been made by Sora, Riku and Kairi when they were children. They doodled in the cave less and less as they grew up, although they still cherished the memories of their childhood.

Lilo and Stitch gaped in wonder as they examined all of the drawings. They could easily imagine the make-believe worlds that the teens had placed themselves in when they were Lilo's age. Sora and Kairi smiled as they watched them run around and look at each of their drawings. They recalled their own behavior when "exploring" the "mysterious" cave, imagining new secrets to be found even though they already had every square inch of the small room mapped out. Looking around at their artwork, they remembered every story they told and every fantasy they envisioned.

Lilo turned to Sora and Kairi, a smile stretching from ear to ear. "This place is amazing!" she shouted. Stitch laughed as he heard her voice echo all around them.

Sora nodded in agreement. "It is pretty cool, right?"

Lilo and Stitch ran around to look at some more drawings, laughing at each one. However, they stopped when they saw one drawing a few feet from the door. Lilo stepped toward it to study it. Sora followed her gaze to see what she was looking at, but he was only able to see part of the drawing. However, he recognized that part, and he felt a shock of embarrassment as he realized that it was drawing attention.

"Is this supposed to be you two?" Lilo asked. Sora and Kairi moved closer, and saw the art in full. It was a drawing that the two of them had done a decade before. They had each drawn a caricature of the other's head in profile. Sora recalled updating it nearly two years ago, adding a cartoonish arm delivering a star from his head to Kairi's.

"Ter-ra," Stitch said, pointing to the star shape.

"You're right, Stitch. Those do look like Paopu fruits," Lilo agreed.

Sora chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, flustered. "Uh, huh, so it is…" He paused and blinked, realizing that something was weird. "Wait, 'those'?" He glanced over at Kairi, and realized that she did not seem at all shocked or surprised to find that the drawing had been updated. Rather, she was looking at him with an endearing smile on her face. He looked back at the drawing and realized that it had been updated again, at some point after he had applied his own adjustment. There was a mirror version of the hand crossed over the one he had drawn, passing a star from Kairi to Sora.

Lilo turned to the two teens and giggled, clearly having figured out what it all meant. Sora turned back to Kairi as the same thing dawned on him. "So, uh, you saw that already?"

Kairi nodded. "It was about the day after the islands came back," she replied. "I came in here, taking a walk down memory lane after everything that happened, and then I saw that."

Sora chuckled nervously. "So, uh, you drew that other part?" he surmised.

Kairi nodded. "Mm-hmm." She took a few steps toward Sora.

Sora still acted nervous, although he started to calm down as his and Kairi's eyes locked. They smiled. Kairi took another step forward.

Lilo giggled and Stitch clapped his hands, breaking them out of their trance. They stepped back, suddenly self-conscious that the young girl and the alien were watching them. They laughed nervously, trying to think of something to save face. Sora glanced up and saw that, through the hole in the top of the cave, the sky was turning orange.

"Well, uh, heh, look at that," he said. "It's, uh, it's getting kinda late."

Kairi glanced up and nodded. "I guess so. Well, I guess it's time to start heading back."

Lilo giggled teasingly, before she and Stitch followed Sora and Kairi out of the cave.

The party, along with Sora, Riku and Kairi's parents and closest island friends, gathered at Kairi's house the following morning. The islanders had packed everything they needed and were prepared to say good-bye to their friends and families.

"Take care! And good luck," Suta said as she hugged Sora, then kissed him on the cheek.

"I will. Thanks," Sora replied. He separated from his mother's embrace and hugged his father, then Sion.

"Stick together. Trust your friends," Chikyu advised Riku. "Remember that you're all in it together. You'll pull through."

Riku nodded. "Thanks, Dad."

Kairi hugged Braska and Selphie, then turned to Lilo and Nani. "You guys take care of yourselves, okay?"

Nani smiled and nodded. "Thank you for all your help, Kairi." She hugged Kairi tightly. For a moment, Kairi struggled to breathe. "Come see us when you get back."

"Yeah!" Lilo agreed. "I can't wait for you to see the house when it's done!"

"And while you're out there, playing hero, don't forget that you've got your 'ohana cheering you on," Nani added.

Kairi's eyes widened. "'Ohana…?" she repeated, touched.

"Fren-ship circle!" Stitch shouted in confirmation. Aqua chuckled at this remark.

Nani nodded. "Of course," she replied. "You've always been here with us. You're just as much a part of our 'ohana as the rest of us." Lilo, Stitch, and David nodded in agreement.

Tears rolled down Kairi's face. She hugged Nani, then she stooped down to hug Lilo and then Stitch. Sora, Riku, and the others watched, smiling warmly.

Kairi stood up and rejoined the party. Sora stepped forward and knelt down in front of Stitch. "You stay out of trouble, okay?" he advised.

Stitch nodded. "Stitch will be good," he replied.

Sora smirked, then looked up at Jumba. "And try to be a little less on the 'evil' side, alright?"

Jumba chuckled nervously. "Of course! I would never, ever dream of causing more trouble. Or, at least not too much more trouble. Heh, heh."

"Hmph." Sora petted Stitch on the head, then gave Lilo a high-five. He stood back up and rejoined the party. Everyone waved good-bye as a column of green light shot up around them, and they were beamed up into the sky.

A/N: Oh, don't worry. Selphie is also considered a part of the 'ohana. I just figured that writing it into the scene would cut away at the mood.