Lilo span around, trying to find the flash of blue she was certain she'd seen from the corner of her eye. A single tear slid down her cheek, Stitch had been missing close to a month now. It was tearing her apart from the inside out. Lilo was even starting to believe she was just seeing things. Every day she swore she'd catch, just out the corner of her eye, a flash of blue but she could never see any more. She missed Stitch so much and was thinking her mind was just playing tricks on her since if he was so close why wouldn't he come to her when she so desperately called out to him?

Stitch stayed hidden, watching the single tear fall down his beautiful Lilo's cheek. He wanted to reach out and catch the tear, pull her into his arms and shield her from the world. But he also knew that if he got any closer, he would end up hurting her worse then anyone else in this world. The feeling was growing stronger, the need to mate with his Lilo was becoming too hard to ignore. He watched her from the shadows, making sure she was always safe but he couldn't go any closer without forcing her to mate with him. He wanted to take her over and over, making her scream his name to the heavens as he impregnated her. He wanted to curl himself around a round Lilo, heavy with his child but he couldn't. It was ripping him apart, the need to claim his mate. He cried into his fur as he curled into a ball, waiting out another night to pass, alone.

Lilo stared out the window, wishing that Stitch would come back. She still couldn't figure out why he left. She would do anything to have him back. Her heart called out for him, a couple of tears escaped down her cheeks. She distantly heard Nani call up to her, telling her to go to sleep. She sluggishly went to bed, curling up in a cold ball as the tears came cascading out.

The sun rose slowly over the horizon, Stitch stood on a cliff watching it rise to meet a new day of misery for him. He growled lightly to himself feeling the hurt in Lilo's heart. The bond called out, calling to be completed. But flashes of pain crossing Lilo's face, pain caused by Stitch gave him strength to fight the instinct to claim his mate. The knowledge of how deep his love for Lilo surfaced the night he left, after he had accidentally activated the bond. It had been a normal day for the two, Lilo had gone to school and he had waited for her to return, doing her chores to pass the time. As the clock struck three, he would run to meet Lilo at Hula class and watch her, mesmerised by her movements. They would return home together, laughing with each other. He would watch her complete her homework and help her when needed. After dinner they would play games or simply chat till they had to go to bed. But this night went a little different. They had been talking about the new kid at school. A new boy had just moved into town. Lilo was explaining to him how he was cute and nice. Stitch felt a swell of jealousy building in his frame as she spoke highly of this new boy. He knew he reacted badly, he had given her the cold shoulder and gone to bed, ignoring her till she gave in and went to bed as well. He instantly felt guilty as he heard her breathing even out signalling that she was asleep. Stitch had moved silently toward her, his mind flashing with the high praise she held for the new boy crossing his mind. The next thing he remembered was his teeth scraping the skin of her neck and the taste of her sweet blood in his mouth. He had yanked away, feeling the call start already. Telling him to bite down, to take his mate, to protect and possess. He ran. And he still hadn't returned, though Lilo wanted him to and he really wanted to.

Lilo woke up that morning to an empty room again. And she was fed up with it. She knew why Stitch had left and had been trying to get him to return using the knowledge that Jumba had given her about his mating rituals ever since the night he had left. She had woken that morning with skin deep scratches on her neck and no Stitch. She had been confused to what had happened and seek out Jumba to ask him. He had examined the scratches and looked mildly surprised as the answer hit him. He had explained some of the biological layout of Stitch and that his mating instincts were like wolves or bald eagles. That Stitch had activated the first step of his mating by lightly marking her and taking some blood, and then probably in the confusion had run away. Lilo had left Jumba, thinking deeply about this new development in her and Stitch's friendship, and knew deep in her heart she was truly happy. She had always loved Stitch in some meaning of the word but in these later years the friendly love of a friend had become much deeper but she never thought it would be possible. But now she knew he felt the same. And she wanted him back by her side.

That was it, if Stitch wouldn't come back to her, she would find him and drag him back she decided. Lilo climbed out the window knowing that if she tried passing Nani, she would be made to go to school and her plans would be thwarted. She left a note for Nani to stop her from freaking out but otherwise she was not going to be stopped. She needed Stitch and she was going to find him.