Chapter 1: Sightings of Beast

"Little Girl!" Jumba shouted from the couch, "That thing you are liking on the news is being on." Lilo ran in from the kitchen and jumped up onto the couch next to him. He put one of his large arms around her little shoulders and she scooted closer to him. In the past, this interaction between them would never have happened. But ever since that night at the prison, the large alien had begun to show more kindness with the people around him. As a result, bonds between him and the others around began to form; such as the one he was strengthening with Lilo right now.

"Wolf Watch is the only reason that I watch the news, you know?" Lilo said, grateful for the warmth that Jumba gave off on the cool, overcast morning. Jumba smiled and nodded, then looked back at the television in front of him.

"Wolf Watch, day fourteen," the anchorman said in a dramatic voice. Wolf Watch was the title given to an ongoing news story about a lone wolf on the island. Hawaii was not a wolf's natural environment, but one single wolf had been sighted numerous times on the island, and it made great news. This was the fourteenth day that the local authorities had been trying to catch this creature, but to no avail. The wolf had not hurt anyone so far, and it had shown very odd behavior, or so said the mammal 'expert' that had been interviewed.

"As those of you who have been tuning in know, sightings of the wolf have been scarce these past few days. But today, we have an eyewitness that not only saw the wolf, but also says that it saved her three-month-old baby. Our own Diane Williams is with her now. Over to you Diane." The picture switched to the beautiful Diane Williams, standing beside a very stressed out woman, cradling a small baby in her arms.

"Thank you, Brian. Now Mrs. Handson, would you please tell us about your sighting of the wolf last night?" Diane said into the microphone, pushing it toward Mrs. Handson.

"Well, I was walking along the edge of the woods, down Lane Street, when I tripped and lost my grip on the stroller that my baby was in. It started to roll down the hill, toward the busy interaction ahead. I was on the ground, and there was no way that I would have been able to save my child. But then it came out of the woods and knocked the stroller over, taking my daughter out with her blanket in its mouth. I thought that it was going to go back into the woods the eat her. But it slowly approached me and set her down gently not five feet away from me," Mrs. Handson said, fussing over her baby the whole time.

"Thank you, can you please show us the blanket that you say the wolf carried your baby in?" Mrs. Handson bent off screen and then came back on holding a small, pink baby blanket. She handed it to Diane, who spread it out for the viewers to see. Large tooth marks were in the cloth, and it looked stiff with dried slobber. "That is very odd of a wolf to save a small child, but then again, this obviously is not a normal wolf. If it were, it wouldn't be on the island. Back to you, Brain." With that the screen switched back to the anchorman and he started to talk about some other news.

"I still say that it's a werewolf," Lilo said, looking up at Jumba, "Why else would it be on the island?"

"But, Little Girl, there was being no full moon last night. Nor for the past thirteen days," Jumba said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, but it appeared on a full moon. Plus, werewolves are known for breaking the rules," she answered in matter of fact tone.

"You are thinking that everyone is either werewolf or vampire or some other monstrosity," Jumba said lightly, "Even your Uncle Jumba."

"No, Jumba," Lilo giggled, "I tested you for werewolf, remember? And your teeth aren't sharp enough for you to be a vampire." Jumba smiled, remembering the time that she had slipped some plant into his coffee, wolf's bane, if he remembered correctly. She had said that it was used to ward off werewolves, and since his head didn't explode from eating it, he wasn't a werewolf.

"Lilo!" came a high-pitched shout from the kitchen. It was Pleakley, a skinny little noodle of a person. "You need to go wake Stitch up. It's almost time for your hula lessons!" Lilo jumped up and ran out of the room and Jumba heard the little elevator whoosh up the shoot. A moment later, Pleakley came in, wearing his normal flower print dress, but with an apron over top. "Jumba, you're going to have to take Lilo to her hula lessons because Nani is at work and I'm cleaning."

"Jumba would be happy to escort Little Girl and Stitch to the lessons of de hula," Jumba stated, standing up and placing his hand over his heart just to be funny. It worked, as Pleakley cracked up and walked out of the room. Lilo came back into the living room shortly after, followed by Stitch. "Come, Little Girl and 626, we must be leaving for the lessons of hula."

A few moments later, the three of them were in the buggy, breaking the speed limit to Lilo's hula class. The buggy skidded to a halt outside of the school and the two shorter ones jumped out as Jumba went to park the car.