Between Us, Rings: Chapter Two

Lilo ran. She ran as fast as her eleven year old legs would allow her. The leaves let only a little light through the canopies of the trees but that didn’t stop her.  Only thoughts of Stitch filled her mind. Oh please be there. I’m so sorry I’m late. All Lilo could imagine as she dashed past branches and bushes was a sad look on Stitch’s face when he realized Lilo wasn’t there when she should have been. Would he be worried that something happened to her? Or would he think she opened the bag and just didn’t care about the surprise for her? These thoughts and more hurt Lilo even more than the insults Mertle used on her. I never want to hurt you, Stitch!


Stitch sat at the table, waiting for his precious Lilo to come to him. He knew that she should be on her way by now. But he couldn’t help but notice how much time had passed. Stitch just sat in his spot, his elbows on the table and one hand holding up his head. His eyes barely leaving the dancing flame of the candle that now had a noticeable amount of wax melted leaving a small puddle around its base. Maybe she had to stay late. Yeah, that’s it. She just late, I’m sure she’s on her way here now. Stitch tried to reassure himself that Lilo was on her way, but as the time went, on he couldn’t help but feel a little hurt. Suddenly he heard a rustling coming from the bushes.

Stitch jumped up with his arms outstretched and a big toothy grin on his face calling out to his friend.

“Lilo!”

“Croak”

“Gaba?”

“Croak”

Stitch looked down to see that out from the bushes leapt a little green frog.

“Youga nagga Lilo.”

He went over to the frog, ears lowered, picked him up and started to pet him as he sat back down. Staring over at the empty seat he imagined Lilo sitting there, her pretty face glowing under the low sun as they would talk and eat dinner together. Maybe she doesn’t care….NO! Lilo care a lot about Stitch. Maybe not as much as I care about her…. But she still my friend. She will show. Stitch noticed that more of the candle had melted, signifying the passage of time even more. Just then the frog jumped out of his hands and hopped away.

“Ah, okataka. Good night Froggy!” He waved good-bye to the frog and with a sigh blew out the candle.

“Meega best go home, Lilo probably there anyway.”

With a few tears starting to form in the corner of his eyes Stitch hopped down from his seat and took off his tiki necklace to set it down on the table. Even with the God of strength on his side he didn’t feel strong enough right now. He had all these plans to tell Lilo how he loved her, but now he couldn’t do it. He was just too sad. Maybe it best we just stay friends after all. With that final thought, Stitch left the necklace to sit by his plate and slowly walked back into the forest to go home. He looked and felt just like he did when he first arrived lost in Kaua’i.


“I’m almost there.” Repeated a very exhausted Lilo. Almost falling quite a few times in the forest nothing got in her way as she was dead set to find Stitch. Over and over she continued telling herself she was almost there when finally she saw the opening in the trees. Right there! Stitch will be just beyond there and I can tell him how sorry I am for being late.

Lilo burst through the bushes to find her best friend, but he wasn’t around.

“Stitch?” She said very softly.

She looked around and saw a small table with a red table cloth. She walked up to it and saw the beautiful set up made just for her. She looked down at the plates, empty and cold. Looking into the ebony painted plates she saw her reflection, it reminded her of Stitch’s eyes. Every time she would look into them she would see herself looking right back. The plates didn’t capture the care she always saw in his eyes though. She could see the puddle of wax around the candle with smoke trailing from the wick. If there’s still smoke he must have just left! As she turned around to start looking for her friend she knocked something to the ground. She looked down to see a necklace, the tiki necklace she made for Stitch before he left to pilot the BRB.

“He wouldn’t leave this unless…. Oh no. He must have thought I wasn’t coming.”

As quickly as she had come she ran to the edge of the forest and started shouting for Stitch. Putting her hands up to her mouth as if to create a megaphone so her voice would travel farther, she knew if he was nearby he would be able to hear her for sure. She wanted nothing more than to see him come out of the bushes, like he was playing hide-and-seek and had just won, but no one came.

“Stitch! Please come back! I’m sorry I wasn’t here! But I’m here now! Stitch!” She waited but no reply could be heard. Nothing but a small croak from a nearby frog and the warm breeze flowing through the trees.
Feeling defeated Lilo made her way back to the table, she picked up the necklace and sat in her chair holding the little wooden figure close to her chest. Seeing all the work Stitch went through, just for her, caused new tears to swell up in her eyes. She felt awful. For the first time since Stitch’s glitch she had really let him down. He’d never done anything like this for anyone before. He must really love me. I mean, of course he does. We’ve been friends for six years. That’s more than half my life and all of his. Of course he loves me, we’re best friends. But he didn’t even do something like this when he was with Angel… but he did for me. Oh, Stitch. I’m so sorry, I really let you down.

Lilo couldn’t hold back the tears anymore, she let down her one true friend in the whole wide world. How could I do that to him? How can I ever make this up to him? Knowing she couldn’t stay there forever, she looked down at her plate and saw her reflection. Her tears had left a trail down her cheeks. Quickly wiping them away she began to get up, when a sound caught her attention.

“Happy Anniversary.” said a soft voice from behind her.

“Huh?”

Lilo frantically turned around to find Stitch. Looking very bashful and very unsure of himself, adorned in a very fancy tuxedo.

“Stitch!” Unable to hide the happiness in her voice Lilo ran to her friend and pulled him into a huge hug. Kissing his cheek, she apologized over and over to him.

Stitch meanwhile was suddenly frozen. Having Lilo suddenly hold him like that was more than he could handle. He grabbed hold of her, smelling the coconut aroma from her hair, all he could think about was how much he cared about her. Then he felt the kiss on his cheek!

“Youga not forget Stitch?” He asked a bit apprehensively.

“Of course not. Why would you think I could ever forget you?”

He pushed her off him a little so he could look into her eyes. Again lost in the beauty that was Lilo he told her how he felt when she didn’t come and that he thought she had forgot about him or didn’t care about the day.

“I’m so sorry, Stitch. I just had such a bad day.” Lilo realized how hurt Stitch actually was, in an effort to make him feel better she wrapped her arms around his neck and re-hooked his necklace. She then took his hand to lead him back to the table. “Mertle said some things in class. She actually said a lot of things.” As Lilo continued Stitch was hanging on every word, but he couldn’t pull himself away from the feeling of her hand in his. It felt as though their hands were made for each other, perfectly intertwined, like two pieces of a puzzle becoming whole. Finally reaching the table, Lilo was almost finished her explanation, however stopped when she noticed an odd look on Stitch’s face.

He looks really happy about something. What’s he looking at? She traced his gaze and found herself also staring at it. She was still holding his hand. She suddenly felt nervous and tried to pull her hand away but it wouldn’t listen to her. In fact she was quite enjoying the feeling of his hand in hers but something told her to let go. A little voice in the back of her head saying that if she didn’t let go it would be too late. Suddenly feeling her cheeks flush and heart quicken she let go, releasing both of them from their shared trance.

As they began to sit back in their respective seats Lilo quickly finished her story, “Anyway, after I got home I looked for you and was sad that I couldn’t find you.”

“Youga look for meega?”

“Yeah, I really needed to talk to you but you weren’t there.”

Hearing that he wasn’t there for his friend Stitch became sad again. Ears drooping back down Stitch thought that maybe his big surprise wasn’t as good an idea as he thought.

“Meega soka, Lilo.”

“Oh no, Stitch.” Lilo mentally kicked herself for using the wrong words. “It was my fault, if I had just done what I said I would, I would have been here right away. Then we wouldn’t have been sad.”

“Youga sad?”

“Not anymore, now that I’m with you.”

“Ih! Meega not go anywhere.” With that Stitch pulled a match from his jacket pocket and struck it, lighting the candle he quickly shook the flame out before burning himself. As he prepared their meal, Lilo just looked on in amazement. Stitch was being so thoughtful and so gentle. Of course, since they’ve known each other Stitch hadn’t been the same destructive experiment that he was programmed to be, but this was something more. He looked completely nervous, like something was on his mind. As he laid out the salad, he made extra sure not to spill anything, and despite being really hungry he made sure that Lilo had everything she would need first. This was her day as well after all. As he started to pull out a sandwich for each of them he accidently dropped the one that he was meaning to put on Lilo’s plate. She saw that he looked absolutely devastated.

He is so cute. Lilo couldn’t help but giggle at her friend and upon hearing this Stitch laughed at his mistake alongside her.

”It okay, meega made more.” Stitch quickly pulled the extra sandwich he had made and placed it on Lilo’s plate before going back to sit in his chair. “Now weega eat.”

The meal was absolutely delicious, it was just a simple salad and sandwich but it was one of the best meals they had ever had. Stitch put so much thought and care into making it the best meal he could. Soon they were finished eating and the sun was getting low, the two just sat across from each other talking. They talked about all their adventures together and everything that had happened between them. Lilo made a move to put a stray lock of hair behind her ear and when she looked back at Stitch all she saw was him admiring her. She felt her heart speed up in her chest and her cheeks flush, she looked down as she put her hands on the table hoping that Stitch didn’t notice her blushing.

Stitch did though, the entire time they were talking all he could see was Lilo. There was no world around them, it was like the only thing that existed was the two of them right then and there. He saw how her eyes lit up whenever she laughed and smiled, he noticed how her beautiful raven hair flowed in the slight breeze. He was ecstatic, he knew then that there could never be another girl like her. Everything about her was perfect, at least to him she was, and that’s all that mattered to him right now. He hoped that while they were talking she didn’t notice him fidgeting and blushing as he tried to find the right time and the right words to tell her how much she truly meant to him.  

While Stitch was going through his mental-war, Lilo was having a struggle of her own. She could no longer ignore these feelings she was having. Every time he looks at me I feel like I’m on fire. Keoni never even made me feel like this. But Stitch is my best friend. Could I be falling in love with him? Even if I did he couldn’t love me back. Besides, he’s probably still in love with Angel right? Thinking about Stitch and Angel getting back together tore at Lilo’s heart. No, she can’t have my Stitch. Wait, my Stitch? He isn’t mine…. Lilo began to fidget, playing with her fingers on the table, she was uncomfortable about the thought of Angel and Stitch getting back together. Where are these feelings coming from? When did they start? Lilo began thinking back, back through all the times she and Stitch were together. I suppose it really started back when he saved me from Gantu and I gave him that kiss on the nose. Thinking about all the kisses she had given Stitch over the years, she felt her lips start to tingle. Even though they were always innocent, suddenly, they felt more meaningful. She put one of her hands up and touched her lips slightly, now she knew for sure. Okay, I am in love with him. She felt her heart beat against her chest as a soft unnoticed hand enveloped her own.

Stitch finally knew what he had to do. If he didn’t tell her tonight then he had no right to tell her at all. Even if he didn’t like the outcome at least he told her. I at least know she won’t hate me. Stitch reached out to grab the hand Lilo had left on the table. She looked up to see Stitch gazing at her longingly, seeing him like that made her heart skip even faster and the hair she placed behind her ear fell back in front of her face. She quickly put it back, never once losing eye contact with Stitch.

“Would youga like to go for a walk?” Stitch asked knowing exactly where he wanted to confess.

“Um, y-yeah. Sure.” Lilo notice herself starting to stutter. Normally talking to Stitch was the easiest thing in the world, but right now it seemed like the most difficult thing to do. After getting his answer, Stitch leaned over and blew out the candle, and Lilo couldn’t help but smile at the continued delicacy that this “experiment meant for destruction” continued to hold. Having just blown out the candle Stitch jumped down, never once letting go of Lilo’s hand. Now that all the fear of hurting each other was gone she finally got a good look at him in his tux. Thinking about how handsome he is she felt her cheeks redden again but didn’t hide it. Ready for their walk they headed out, Stitch in the lead lightly directing her towards an empty beach. They never let go of each other’s hand the whole way.

“Did youga enjoy dinner?” Stitch was finding it difficult to just talk with his friend.

“Y-yeah, it was really good. Did you make it all yourself?”

“Ih, meega make it for Lilo.”

“Well it was delicious.”

“Meega glad youga like it.”

Lilo kicked off her shoes so she could feel the warm sand on her feet. The sun was already starting to set. They both knew they would have to go back home soon, but neither wanted the evening to end. Lilo began to run towards the water, hoping the cool refreshing ocean would help calm her down a bit. Seeing his friend run off Stitch could feel the emptiness in his hand now that it no longer held hers. He paid no mind though and chased after his friend. Before she could fully reach the water Stitch jumped, playfully tackling her to the ground. As they began to roll around, each one trying to be on top, they couldn’t stop laughing. Eventually, though, Stitch won.

He was on top of her, his hands on her shoulders. They were both transfixed, staring into each other’s eyes. Nothing hidden, they could see every emotion that they held. All the years they spent together seemed to rush back to them in that moment. Lilo could feel Stitch’s breath on her lips, their faces only an inch or so apart. She didn’t know what she was doing, or what came over her but she slowly closed her eyes and started to bring her lips closer to his. Stitch was doing the same. Both telling themselves that they shouldn’t be doing this. It’s wrong. Our family wouldn’t understand. We’re different species.

I haven’t even told her how I feel yet, I can’t kiss her.

What if he doesn’t feel the same and I force him to kiss me like this.

They didn’t stop there though, all they could hear was the waves rolling on the ocean. The beach was completely deserted except for the two friends. A genetic alien experiment and a Hawaiian girl. About to share their first kiss with each other. No. Lilo thought. Breaking her trance she pulled herself away. I can’t kiss him. I need to know if he feels the same first. Stitch having been broken from his trance realized what he almost did. Not wanting to force her into anything she didn’t want this was the moment he had to tell her. As he got off, she sat up. Both breathing slowly, realizing what they had almost done. As soon as they caught their breath they looked at each other, almost pulled in again as if the world itself didn’t want them apart.
Stitch began his confession, “Lilo?”

“Yes…”

“Meega have to tell you something.”

Lilo’s mind jumped all over the place, wondering what he was about to say. Knowing it could have been anything, but mostly thinking he was upset that she was about to kiss him. She had to reply with something.

“What is it, Stitch?” As the words left her lips, it suddenly felt like time had stopped.