Nani was in a grumpy mood when she arrived home from work. The family was relatively quiet about it, not wanting to make it worse. Even David was keeping to himself.

Lilo, Jumba and Pleakley all remained in the living room watching the news. They wanted to see the weather updates. I took it upon myself to help Nani with the dinner. I could tell she was stressed. Occasionally Lilo kept checking around the door to watch me. It made me laugh, though I knew her reasoning for it was quite upsetting.

She was very over protective of me.

David was sitting at the kitchen table, watching us with his head in his hands. He watched both of us, but mainly was interested in watching what I was doing.

"Stitch, here. Mash this up."

Nani handed me a large bowl of sweet potato. I set to work mashing it.

"So... was there much damage?" David asked hesitantly.

Nani sighed as she cut up the vegetables. "Mild water damage. Most of the equipment is okay. But Old Man Wong is closing the shack down for a few days. Because it's a wooden floor it's going to need to be replaced due to mold issues so I have to go back there tomorrow afternoon and help out. Provided the weather is a bit better."

"So... will you need me to pick up Lilo from hula class?"

"Oh right. Class was cancelled today, wasn't it?" she responded.

"Aye. Due to the weather. She has to go back tomorrow."

Nani groaned. "Don't tell me. Afternoon?"

David pushed back his chair. "Actually, I'm not sure on that. Let me ask her."

"Afternoon," I spoke up. Both of them paused and looked at me. "No morning class."

"Oh," David responded, sitting back down. He looked slightly uneasy. I knew he forgot that I often went to hula class with Lilo. Even after two years he was still shocked sometimes to hear me speak as well. I wondered about it sometimes, but had come to a conclusion that David simply took longer to adjust than other humans. He didn't mean anything bad by it. Like the others, he was completely devastated when I'd died. So I knew he cared for me.

David had never believed in aliens. When Jumba, Pleakley and I had arrived on earth and he had learned about us, he took a long time to accept it. He seemed to think we were cool though. He had brought up the topic of space surfing a few times.

I liked David, even if he did have a reserved nature. I often thought about talking to him more and decided to give it a try after dinner.

Both of them went quiet again and Nani just went back to cutting the vegetables. I finished mashing the sweet potato and started to set the cutlery on the table. David watched me intently but didn't say anything about it.

"Thank you Stitch," Nani smiled, patting me on the head. "Tell the others to come in."

"Okay Naanee," I responded, heading in to call the rest of our o'hana for dinner.

Later that evening, Lilo decided to go to bed early. She gripped my hand, asking me when I'd be up. I knew what that meant.

We liked to pretend to go to sleep after Nani said goodnight to us, but we stayed up for a little bit practicing our hula. She looked keen.

I was helping Nani clear off the dinner table and wash up at that point, so I told her I'd be up shortly. Nani looked so tired that I thought she was going to drift to sleep on the spot.

"Naanee fooboo cha tagas yon?" I asked her.

She jumped a little and looked at me. I could tell she was confused. "Uh, what Stitch?"

I paused, thinking about my words. English was still something I struggled with. "Naanee. Tired... ack... ackter-" I struggled to remember the right word. That was it. "-after.. day big?"

She looked even more confused. I tried again. "Naanee tired after day big?"

It took her a moment, but then she seemed to realise what I was asking her. "Oh, big day. Yeah... it was a long day Stitch. I'm quite tired."

I gave a nod. "Naanee go to bed, get rest, ih? Meega finish."

She gave me a heartfelt smile. She didn't say anything but instead she reached down and picked me up, holding me up to eye-level.

I wondered what she was going to do. She simply put me over her shoulder in a hug and I could feel her scratching the nape of my neck. Normally I would have been surprised by this, but Nani had started to do this more often lately so I'd become used to it. I had also noticed she tended to do it when nobody else was in the room. In the past she'd never done this, so it was nice for me.

Each member of the family had their different ways of coping with what had happened to me and each of them expressed their gratitude and affection in various ways after that day. This was hers.

I couldn't stop myself from purring, though I think that's what she wanted. She laughed slightly, but gazed into my eyes.

I stared back at her. "Naanee okeytaka?" I eventually asked when she didn't look away.

She just gave me a soft smile. "Sometimes, I still can't believe that Jumba created you."

I was surprised to hear that. "Eh... Ih?" I honestly had no idea how to respond to it.

I had noticed Nani had been staring at me far more frequently as of late, especially over the past two weeks. I wondered...

"Stitch. I know that Jumba created you but..."

I tilted my head. "Neesa?"

She paused. "You two just look so alike. And the way he's been treating you ever since... it's been..." she trailed off. "Stitch, is he...?"

I realised what she was asking, and gave a big proud smile. "Ih!"

Nani looked shocked for a moment or so, but then smiled at me. "Well, that explains that."

She ruffled the fur on my head and then set me down. I looked up at her.

"Thanks Stitch," she said to me, looking around the clean kitchen. "I appreciate your help."

"You're welcome!"

She hesitated, before continuing. "I'll say goodnight to the others."

I gave a nod. "Jhua tehrqua."

I knew she understood what I said there. She'd often heard it from me before. She looked back at me before she left the kitchen.

"Goodnight Stitch."

It was quiet by the time I finished drying the last plate. After resisting the temptation to eat it, I put it back into the cupboard and threw the towel onto the kitchen counter, heading into the living area.

Jumba and Pleakley weren't there. I heard them moving about in their room and I could also hear Lilo upstairs in our bedroom.

David was on the couch, staring boredly at the television. A movie was on but he seemed distracted. When I walked in and climbed up to sit beside him he stared at me.

"Ey Stitch."

"Aloha," I responded.

He stared at me for a moment or so, before looking back to the television quietly. I crossed my legs and rocked on the couch slightly, before settling back. David wasn't uneasy around me, but he was usually quiet like this. After ten or so minutes, I tried talking to him.

"David busy day?"

He seemed surprised, though he looked at me. "Hm?"

"No home," I told him.

He seemed to think about what I'd asked. "Ah. Just at home, cleaning the place."

I gave a nod.

"Stitch, busy day. With Lilo. Doing new hula dance. Need lot of practice."

Again, David seemed surprised by this. I knew it was because I'd never really sat and spoken to him before.

"What... is your new hula about?" he asked, making an effort to keep the conversation going. I could tell it was hard for him.

"Same as other. Heeieeaka."

David stared at me and much like Nani I could tell he was confused. "Oh, Hi'iaka."

"Ih."

"What means that word, Stitch. Eeeh... eh?"

"Ih?" I repeated, and he nodded. "Means 'yes' and 'ok'."

"Ah, I see." David responded, looking quite interested. I smiled and nodded.

"You have a very interesting... language."

"Takka."

He went back to watching the TV after that. My ears flipped up when I heard Lilo calling me from up in the dome. I pushed myself down from the couch and David watched me curiously.

"Lilo," I pointed in the direction of our dome. "Call."

"Okay then," he smiled at me. "Have fun."

I scurried off towards the dome, opening up the door and heading up the stairs.

"Stitch!" Lilo cried happily when I stepped onto the landing. She barreled into me and knocked me over, but both of us laughed happily as we rolled about on the floor. I pinned her beneath me, but only gently. I knew how easily I could hurt her.

I stared into her eyes as I pinned her arms down and then used my two lower arms to pin her legs down.

She stared back up at me confused. "...Stitch?"

I remained quiet for a moment or so to throw her off, showing no expression on my face. Then I sat up and yelled. "Stitch wins!"

She threw herself at me and tackled me back to the floor again. I laughed. Eventually she lost her breath and collapsed across the floor beside me. I looked over at her.

"You're still fine to do the Hi'iaka story with me, right Stitch?" she asked me softly.

"Ih," I responded.

She gripped my paw. "Are you sure? We can always do another dance if it bothers you too much."

I shook my head at her. "Naga. If Lilo want to do, Stitch happy to do."

She gave a nod, staring up at the ceiling. Normally we had the roof opened up at night-time but the weather kind of ruined that for us. Lilo asked me something interesting.

"Stitch? What is space like?"

I sat up and stared at her. "Jajie?"

She gave a nod. I put a claw to my mouth and thought.

The only memories I had of space were distant memories of the planets Jumba had sent me on missions to and Turo's architecture. Though I didn't get to see much of the actual planet as we were in relative buildings.

I vaguely remembered Kweltikwan and Jumba's lab. When he had visited Kweltikwan with me he had kept me hidden. I told her what I could remember.

"Big. Open."

She laughed. "I know that Stitch. I mean... where you came from. What was your home planet like?"

"Stitch naga remember much," I said, looking at her. "But Kweltikwan... big... purple. Lots of purple and blue trees. Green sky. Jumba kept Stitch hidden."

"He did?"

I gave a nod. "Stitch illegal."

"Oh... right," she responded.

"Stitch... created in Jumba lab. Then sent out to destroy," I looked away. "Sent to worlds. Jumba wanted Stitch to collect things. Big missions. But also destroy."

"Did you hurt anybody?" Lilo asked me sadly. She was aware of my original destructive programming.

I couldn't face her, but I also couldn't lie to her. "Ih. Stitch very bad. Hurt innocent aliens. Killed police soldiers."

Lilo looked afraid. She went quiet.

"They all try to kill me," I tried to explain. "Hated me. Stitch, ugly mutant. Wanted me to die."

She said nothing but simply reached over and pulled me into a hug. "I don't hate you. You're the best thing to ever happen to me. And you're not ugly or a mutant at all."

"Lilo same," I responded. "Lilo change Stitch."

I felt her nuzzling her head into my shoulder and she gently ran her hands along my the fur of my lower arms.

"Why did they want you to die?"

"Illegal," I repeated. "Jumba criminal."

I still recalled the day we finally got arrested. They wouldn't listen to Jumba's pleas about my molecules needing to be charged. They didn't care. They just saw us as monsters. The whole council did. And because of what those police officers had done, I had ended up momentarily dying and breaking Lilo's heart. I hated those police officers so much. I'd probably kill them if I knew who they were. Not just for breaking Lilo's heart, but Jumba's too.

"Stitch and Jumba... put on trial," I started to explain.

"Stitch sentenced to life on desert asteroid. Jumba go to jail. But I'm clever," I grinned. "Stitch escaped in no time!" I pretended to be holding a blaster gun and stood up, shooting around the room. "Pew pew! Guards fire at Stitch! Meega-o-itumi! Ziz-ziz, tsi'cong! Air-vent! Let's escape! Chabata!"

Lilo watched me curiously. I tried to make it interesting for her. She seemed a bit distant.

"Stitch destroy power to ship. Escape in police cruiser. Red one! My favourite colour!" I grinned. "Blast away! Escape from shooting guards, but then... tsi'cong!" I made an explosion with my hands. "Crash into Stitch. BOOM! Stitch activate hyper-drive and blast off. Blast off to earth!"

At this, Lilo perked right up. I'd never told her this before. "Earth? Here?"

"Ih, ih!" I told her happily.

"I... remember that..." I heard her say, but had no idea what she meant by that. "The falling star!"

I tilted my head at her.

"That night, the night before I met you at the pound. We saw something come out of the sky and crash. It was green. I thought it was a star, but it was you!"

I smiled and gave a nod.

"Crash here. Big explosion. Stitch, not know where is. Strange planet! Doonga! Stitch haga bla-bla earth. Kweesta! Then hit by big wheels and get knocked out. Stitch wake up... meet you. Tada!"

I grinned at her. She knew I'd tried to use her as a shield, but I wasn't going to bring that up. I was bad back then. Back when I'd met her. She understood that.

Lilo smiled slightly, but she gave a clap. "Very nice story, Stitch!"

I bowed. "Takka, takka."

"Ok silly," she flicked me on the nose. "I'm just glad you did crash here. Want to practice some more?"

I gave a nod and went to get my costume.

We climbed up onto Lilo's bunk and started practicing our new and improved dance. Lilo called it the '2.0' dance. I watched her as she moved about the bed beside me.

She seemed much happier. That was all that mattered to me, seeing her happy.

I was bad once. I had hurt and killed in the past. Like Jumba, my past was dark. Lilo was too young to understand the extent of damage I'd really done. I just hoped she would never bear witness to that side of me. I would rather die than see her in pain.

I watched her dance intently.

I couldn't imagine how she'd react to seeing what I'd done. Destroying the amplifier in the hula school was nothing. In the past I'd destroyed buildings by throwing cruisers into them, causing fires and devastating explosions. I had four blasters, provided by Jumba, that I'd gone around shooting and anybody that was unfortunate to cross my path ended up dying. At the time I was proud, because that was what I was designed to do. Now thinking about it made me feel sick. I wasn't a murderer.

I'd never told her about this. I didn't want her to know. Jumba and I kept it only between us and he had sworn me to silence. Only the Grand Council knew of our heinous crimes. She had forgiven us. Forgiven me when she'd seen I'd been given a 360° rehabilitation by Lilo.

I hated myself for it. For my past and what I'd done. Because back then I wasn't Stitch-

I was Experiment 626.