A Day at the Beach

By: Kioko the pirate

Chapter 5: Questions

It had been an hour since Lilo and the family had left the beach. Kioko and 625 had gotten back just a few minutes after everyone else. They had already given 625 a good scrubbing and made him a nice bed in Jumba and Pleakly's room. The house was now quiet, the kids were tucked into bed and Lilo and Nani had gone off to their own rooms. Stitch and Angel had also retired to their room, but Angel didn't feel much like sleeping.

She sat in bed, the lamp on her side of the bed still on, staring at the wall. She gave a sigh as she looked over at Stitch, who was already fast asleep. She watched his chest slowly rise and fall; she still felt so grateful to be with him. Another sigh escaped her lips as she looked over towards the bedroom door, which was slightly ajar. She could hear that the TV was still on and she could barley make out Kioko and Jumba's voices. It sounded like they were arguing over something.

'No, this isn't the best time to ask him.' Though Angel. 'But I don't know what he'll do if I ask him. So it might be best just to get it out of the way. But it has been a long day… and he probably wouldn't like dealing with my question.'

Angel gave another sigh as she turned to sit on the edge of the bed, her legs dangling over the edge. 'But I can't keep hiding this inside of me; it almost ruined the day for me, and Stitch was getting suspicious.' Angel slide off the bed, landing with a quiet thump on the floor. 'And he will eventually figure it out anyway.' She quickly but silently made her way to the door. She started to open it but paused as she began to step out into the hallway.

The possible outcomes of what she was about to do began rushing through her mind. None of them ended well; a look of fear swept over her face as she slowly began stepping back into the room. But once again she stopped; the look of fear on her face was replaced by what could only be described as a look of determination and duty. She didn't want to keep feeling this way; she didn't want to keep feeling this way around him.

She didn't give the decision a second thought as she stepped out into the hallway, closing the bedroom door behind her. She quietly made her way down the darkened hallway, tiptoeing past each bedroom. She soon found herself standing at the top of the stairs, the soft, yet eerie glow of the television illuminating the area at the bottom of the steps. She gulped slightly as she began descending the stairs. One of the steps squeaked as she stepped down onto it, causing her to tense up her entire body.

After a moment she continued to make her way to the first floor. She reached the bottom of the steps and began walking towards the living room. She kept in the shadows as best as possible, not wanting to be seen just yet. Her anxiousness and her fear began rushing back as she neared the doorway leading to the living room. She stopped just as she got to the doorway, pressing her back against the wall and taking shallow breathes.

'Come on, Angel… you can do this. You'll feel better once you get this done with.' Thought Angel as she peered around the corner into the living room. Jumba and Kioko were sitting on the couch watching something on TV and arguing over something. Angel quickly hide behind the wall when she thought Jumba had seen her.

'Stop this!' screamed Angel in her head. 'There's no reason why you should be acting like this.' Angel gave a sigh. 'Lets get this over with.'

Angel once again turned around the corner to the living room; she slowly began walking into the room. Jumba and Kioko didn't even notice her, they just kept arguing.

"I'm telling you Jumba, if he adds another proton he's going to get a new element not found on any periodic table anywhere!" said Kioko almost shouting.

"I am being evil genius here and I am for to be saying he will be getting simple plorganarian alloy."

"If you're such a genius you should know that an alloy is the result of combining to existing metals. An alloy cannot be made by adding a single proton to one metal."

Jumba gave a huff as he folded his large arms over his chest. "Well excusing me, my field is being illegal genetic mutation, not metal working."

"Well you should know your elements considering the fact that you need certain metals to create a living creature. And you wouldn't want to have two metals that react badly to each other inside an experiment."

"This is being true but…" Jumba was interrupted by a small sound that came form the doorway.

Both Kioko and Jumba looked over to see Angel standing there, a look of uncertainty on her face. "Uh, hey… Angel. What's the matter?" said Kioko.

Angel took a small breathe before speaking and when she did her voice had a shaky tone to it. "Kioko I… need to… ask you something."

"What is it?" asked Kioko.

Angel didn't reply she just looked over at Jumba. "Uh, Jumba, could we have… some privacy? Please?"

"Uh, certainly, 6-2-4. I need to be getting plenty of winks anyways. Goodnight." Said Jumba as he got up and walked out of the room.

After they heard Jumba's door shut, Kioko looked back towards Angel. "So… what did you want to ask me?"

"It's… just something that's been on my mind lately."

"Well come on over here and have a seat." Offered Kioko as he patted the cushion next to him.

For a short moment Angel did not move an inch, but she soon gave a gulp and made her way slowly over to the couch, her head as well as her ears lowered. A curious look appeared on Kioko's face as he watched Angel hop up onto the opposite end of the couch. She crossed her legs and clasped her paws together, placing her paws in her lap as she seemed to lean away from Kioko.

"What's wrong?" asked Kioko, a concerned tone growing in his voice. She did not answer. "Angel, what wrong?" this time his voice was a little more forceful.

Angel seemed to sink lower into her seat. "Kioko… are… are you mad at me?" said Angel with out even looking up.

Kioko's eyes widened at the experiments question, for a moment he couldn't say a thing. He just couldn't believe that she had asked him such a question. Especially when he could think of no reason she would ask.

"Wh… What do you mean am I mad at you?" asked Kioko, finding it hard to speak.

"Are you mad at me?" repeated Angel.

"Why… Why would I be mad at you?"

"Because if it hadn't been for me… you would still be allowed to stay on the planet." Angel's voice was quiet and filled with sorrow.

"It's not your fault that I have to leave." Said Kioko as a serious look began to appear on his face.

"Yes it is, if I hadn't been so weak… I never would have been captured and you'd still be allowed to stay."

"You were not weak, you were very strong. You never lost hope that you would be saved, and to tell you the truth… I'm sure a lot of other people would have."

"If I was so strong… I should have been able to free myself."

Kioko gave a small sigh as he too sank into his seat. "There are different kinds of strength, Angel. And you possess the best kind of strength you could ever have. You have a strong heart… and that is something that not even I possess." Kioko paused and turned away from Angel. He stared straight ahead, unblinking as the light from the television flickered across his face. "I could never hope to have that sort of strength… my heart's become too tainted by hatred and my soul too consumed by darkness."

A cloud of silence fell over the two of them; the television even seemed to fade away into silence. Neither of them seemed to move, time seemed to stand still, the only movement was from the shadows that danced around the room the light from the television giving them life. The silence seemed to last forever, but was quietly broken by the female experiment.

"Are you going to destroy me?"

Kioko slowly looked over at her once again, but he was not surprised by her question. He had sensed it coming and was, for the most part, ready to answer it. "Angel, come over here." It sounded more like a command then a request.

For the first time Angel looked up and over at Kioko, a slight look of worry on her face. Not wanting to take anything to chance at the moment she slowly got up on all fours and slowly crawled over next to Kioko. She carefully sat down, still trying to keep some distance between them.

"Now, tell me… exactly why you would even think that I would destroy you." Instructed Kioko.

"You told me… after you rescued me that… if I ever did anything to hurt this family… that you'd destroy me." Said Angel, her voice still quiet and submissive.

"And you think that you've done something to hurt this family?" replied Kioko an almost amused tone hidden in his voice.

"Causing you to leave couldn't be considered helping them now could it?" replied Angel sarcastically, but still maintaining a quiet voice.

Kioko gave a small chuckle. "It's true that I told you that but… when I said that I didn't know you as well as I do now. I could never bring myself to hurt you now." Angel didn't say anything, she looked straight ahead. "You don't believe me do you?"

Again, Angel did not say a thing. She just continued looking straight ahead, her breathing was calm but it wasn't hard to tell that she was frightened on the inside. Kioko gave a sigh through his nose. With out warning Kioko extended his right hand out in front of Angel, his palm facing up. Angel gave a slightly startled gasp, pushing herself into the back of the couch. She looked up at Kioko nervously; she was expecting to see some sort of evil look on his face. But his face was calm; he was looking at his hand.

"Do you see this hand of mine?" asked Kioko his voice calm yet heavy. "This hand has been the death of countless people. This hand has been the death of entire civilizations." Angel was focused on his hand now. "Even to this day there are times that it longs to have blood spilt upon it and it doesn't matter whose it is. There have even been days were it's longed to have Lilo's blood upon it."

Kioko paused, causing Angel to look up at him. Kioko gave a sigh as he flexed his fingers slightly. "Angel, there's no reason to think that I'll destroy you. While this hand desires to destroy everything it touches… it also desires to protect you."

Angel gave another slightly startled gasp as Kioko ran his hand over the top of her head gently. But as he did she felt something happen. The fear that she had been feeling began to fade away and was slowly being replaced by a warm comfort. After a moment her whole body relaxed, she pushed her head upwards against Kioko's hand as it continued to stroke her head softly.

After a moment she paused and looked up at him, a slight smile forming on her face. "So… does this mean you're not mad?"

Kioko smiled back at her. "No, I'm not mad… I could never be mad at you."

Angel's small smile grew into a full one in an instant. A moment later she got up and wrapped her arms around Kioko's arm in a tight hug. Kioko quickly hugged her back, wrapping his other arm around her. She let out a content purr as the pirate stroked her back and rested his cheek on her head. The two for them sat there for a few minutes, Angel nuzzling Kioko's arm gently and Kioko stroking her back.

Finally Kioko stopped and sat up straight, having been bent over slightly in order to rest his cheek on her head. Angel also let go of his arm and took a step back. Kioko slowly got to his feet, stretching his legs for a moment before turning back to Angel.

"Well, I best get going. It's late after all." Said Kioko, a cheery tone in his voice.

"Why did you stay around this late anyway?"

"Well, at first it was to make sure that 625 didn't try anything sneaky. But then Jumba and me saw something on TV and we started arguing about it. Time just kinda flew by after that."

Angel gave a small laugh. "Thank you Kioko."

"Are you sure you're ok now?"

"I'm sure."

"Ok then, I should get moving. And you…" Kioko walked back over to Angel. "Should get back to bed." Kioko leaned over and kissed Angel gently on the forehead. She blushed brightly but it was well hidden in the dark. "You've had a long day and you don't want Stitch waking up, finding you gone and thinking you've been kidnapped again."

"That's true." Replied Angel.

Kioko nodded and turned toward the door. "Goodnight, Angel." Said Kioko as he looked back over his shoulder at her.

"Good night, Kioko."

Kioko smiled and opened the front door. A moment later he was gone; Angel gave a relieved sigh and hopped off the couch. She walked over and turned off the TV, sending the room into darkness. Through the darkness she made her way to the steps and walked upstairs. She once again opened her and Stitch's bed room door quietly and stepped in. She gave another sigh of relief before closing the door quietly.

Well, that's the end of this story. The ending was a little rough but I think it came out well. Anyway, please review. Thank you.