The Hawaiian and the Hunchback
By Guille van Cartier
Author's Note: This is the first story that I have ever posted on the Net, and I pray you be as gentle as possible with it. I allow constructive criticism, but I don't take flames with good humor. So, here's the story. Review, Please! It's a weird crossover, I know, but I'd prefer it if you would at least consider reading it. You can even skim it if you want. Just read it. And review.
Disclaimer: The only things I own are a few art books, some posters...yada yada yada...Everything else belongs to someone that is not me. In this case, Disney. So there.
Chapter One
Screaming. That was all that Lilo could hear as she passed through the enigmatic tunnel, and its origin was her own throat. Yelps of pain escaped her lips, representing all the pain that pulsated within her tiny body, just like the light that flashed its rays, encompassing her in this unknown hell. What was happening? Why was she there? Who hated her so much as to force her there?
The rainbow streaks that passed mercilessly before her eyes blinded her temporarily with every convulsion, sending tears down her tanned cheeks. She was being pushed forward, compelled toward an unknown place and it was an uncertain detail if she would be safe there, or if she would survive the trip. This was all so confusing! What had she done for this to happen?
She wanted so badly to close her eyes. The flashes were so bright that it caused as much pain to her as the invisible forces that she was sure were cutting into her skin. She wanted to block out the light and spare her body of at least one part of its suffering. But something was keeping her eyes open and she was constrained to keep them in their exposed state. She felt she had no more control.
Why hadn't Jumba warned her that this might have happened? There must have been some sort of defect in the transportation device; otherwise she wouldn't be in the situation! Why was Jumba always leaving out the most dangerous parts of his inventions just so that someone in the household would test them for him? Why had Lilo been so naïve as to listen? She admitted quietly that she had known that such a thing probably would've happened when she had agreed to test the device, but the pain was not something that she had anticipated. Stupid Jumba, Stupid Dimension Hopper, Stupid her!
The pain increased minutely, Lilo feeling rough scratches at the wounds she suspected was all over her body. She yelped, her eyes producing more tears with every abrasion. She had to keep her mind off of the horrible feeling; she had to think of something of comfort! But for Lilo, comfort was a distant memory in this realm of existence. The only thoughts that streamed through her head were those of great lamentation. Memories of earlier in the day. The start of this whole abysmal suffering.
Earlier that Morning, 7:00
The day had begun for Lilo, marked by the unceasing chiming of her alarm clock. The tiny golden peals were enough to annoy anyone into waking, and yet the young girl still remained in the cushioned luxury of her warm bed, ignoring every ring as much as she could. But, as most of you might know, a ringing alarm clock cannot be forever kept at bay and it would be at the sad expense of your dreamscape to cease its endless chiming. There are many lucky people whom have the model of clock that end after a certain amount of time, but unfortunate Lilo had the ancient example, the type that's alarm is sent into its ringing by use of a tiny hammer. And those, sadly, do not back itself into silence at the comfort of its master.
Lilo stirred finally, after several irritated seconds, but only to flip her pillow over to cover her head and hopefully stifle the monotone of the bells. The cushion did muffle the noise, but not to the extent of satisfying Lilo's want. Those horrible persisting bells! If she weren't so emulous upon sleeping, she swore she would've gotten up and thrown the device and its abominable melody out of her window!
Though Lilo was so bent upon her slumber, Stitch wasn't so ardent as to be able to remain asleep. Lilo, who kept her eyes shut tightly, heard the offended grumbling of her alien friend, then a surprising (yet oddly expected) crunching of metal. The alarm clock had been silenced forever. The next sound that reached her ears were Stitch's heavy footsteps and the creaking of an opening door, and the slam of a shutting one. Lilo smiled. Count on Stitch to help her even in the most trivial of situations.
Lilo once again attempted to regain her lost dream, which she had been unable to grasp firmly onto during the tintinnabulation of her currently deceased timepiece. But, sadly enough, the reverie slipped from her upon the winged creature sleep, and she found herself not only dreamless, but also wide-awake. That stupid alarm clock had fulfilled its duty! Lilo could not find sleep again, no matter how long she laid in her bed in silence with closed eyes. It had flown away with the start of a new day.
Lilo sighed quietly and threw the pillow bitterly from above her head, sitting up. Unexpectedly, she did not feel the least bit groggy, which was rather habitual to most human beings that woke in the morning and wasn't looking forward to the day. Lilo did not feel as happy about waking up as she had the other day, either, and she decided, after a few seconds of thought, that even if she wasn't desirous of rest, she would remain in her room for the remainder of the day. And, perhaps, even the remainder of the week. Such was her hope, in all truthfulness.
She blamed all bitter feelings upon the devil of a girl Myrtle Edmonds. It wasn't until the happenings of the day before that she realized how much she hated the aforementioned redhead. Before that, her logic had been buried under the ardent want of friendship. Friendship from Myrtle and the small group that hung around her like flies to a piece of rotting meat. Now that Lilo thought more fully on the matter, it should've been an obvious thing to see how much Myrtle hated her, what with the rude nicknames and the absolute hesitance toward even communicating with her, with exception of a few impolite quips and pointers. She felt so stupid now that she had a greater understanding of Myrtle's loathing toward her, regretting those many days that she had vied for the attention and acceptance of that immature group. So many wasted days.
"Lilo!" Nani's voice broke the brief silence that had dominated Lilo's room, snapping Lilo from her rueful thoughts. "Get up and eat breakfast, Lilo! You'll be late for the bus if you don't hurry up!"
Lilo listened quietly to the maternal tone that her sister's voice had gained over the small amount of time that Lilo had been living with her. She sighed in such a wistful manner, and flung the warm blanket from its place atop her dark legs. She shivered a tiny bit at the sudden change of temperature, but shook it off and hopped unenthusiastically off the edge of her berth, her skin still somewhat goose-pimpled. She made her way to the elevator that allowed her down to the hall from her new room upon the roof of the house, and activated the machine.
As it made its quick descent to the main part of the house, Lilo silently remembered the fact that she was still in her bedclothes. Nani wouldn't be very happy at that, but Lilo didn't seem to care very much anymore. She wouldn't be going to school that day; she would make sure of it.
Finally, after several fast seconds, Lilo found herself staring out into the hall of the residence. She reluctantly stepped out of the elevator chamber, her bare feet growing cold from the slow-warming surface of the wooden planks that made up the floor. She made her way to the kitchen/ dining room of the small abode; her eyes still glued upon the ground her feet were stepping upon.
Nani, Jumba, Stitch, and Pleakley were assembled disorderly in the kitchen. Jumba and Nani sat at the small circular table that was set near the center of the modest room; Nani was completing a quick breakfast of toast and eggs, as Jumba spread what seemed to be a whole stick of butter upon the waffles that had been set before him. Pleakley stood at the stove, an apron tied neatly around his thin body, preparing what seemed to be pancakes for Lilo. Stitch was sitting upon a tall stool that was set against the kitchen counter, messily preparing Lilo and Nani's lunches for the day. They all barely noticed her as Lilo stepped sadly into the room, and only turned attention to her when she had finally sat down at the table.
"Good morning, little girl," Jumba greeted semi-politely with a mouth crammed full of eggs. The food flew out of his mouth as he spoke, right into Lilo's face, and yet it was the nicest greeting Lilo was going to get for the rest of the day.
Nani looked up from her breakfast and soughed disappointedly at the sight of her sister. As Lilo had predicted, Nani wasn't very accepting of her wearing her night clothes when she was already near late for the bus.
"I thought you were changing your clothes!" Nani declared, rolling her eyes in disbelief. "You were supposed to get up right when your alarm clock rang! What happened?"
Lilo kept her silence for a while, breaking it only to thank Pleakley for the pancakes when they were set in front of her, then continuing it as she stared at the small stack of flapjacks. Nani waited quietly, but her impatience would not allow her to stay in such a state for long.
"Well?" Nani snapped. Lilo kept her quiet. "Well, say something!"
Lilo looked up at her sister for a second, her eyes full of dejected glimmers, mixed with the anger that she held against her sister for not understanding her state. But, she did as her sister wished; though not exactly in the way her sister was suggesting.
"Jumba, can you pass the syrup?" Lilo asked timidly. The large alien lifted a questioning eyebrow, but complied to her request nevertheless. Lilo thanked him upon receiving the thin bottle and she proceeded upon pouring syrup on the pancakes, descending back into her quiet sadness. Nani groaned angrily at her sister's attitude and forgot about her breakfast, which had been sitting quietly on the table, as if waiting for her to complete an impending tirade that was sure to happen. If the breakfast was a living thing, which, I am telling you now, it is NOT, even it would've known about the increasing amount of lectures that the young woman had been presenting to her kindergartner sister. The other three occupants of the room shared a three-ways glance and braced themselves for what they thought would be another typical explosion from the older sister.
"Lilo, for the love of god, learn to take me seriously!" Nani yelled, her fingers rubbing her temples in a sign of her anger and weariness. Lilo's eyebrows lowered in a sign of her own anger, and she continued to watch the thick syrup as it oozed out of the nozzle at the end of the bottle. She didn't seem to care about the syrup at all, no matter how focused upon the substance she seemed. The pancakes slowly became soggy under the large amount of liquid.
"Sorry," Lilo mumbled, though her tone was rather distant. Evidently, Nani took such a thing into offense.
"No you're not!" She exclaimed, slamming a fist down onto the table. Lilo still kept her silence, her eyes brimming with tears. Why was Nani getting so worked up about her not changing her clothes? It was so stupid...like so many things nowadays. Was Nani becoming fed up with her? It was only the second day of school anyway! The tears that were forming themselves in Lilo's eyes finally began to fall, no matter how hard Lilo tried to keep them in. At the sight of her sister's crying, Nani suddenly felt herself becoming guilty and she cleared her throat. She stood up from her seat at the table and, with a much calmer manner than she had earlier, knelt beside her sister's chair, looking worriedly at her.
"Lilo is there something wrong?" She asked, her voice quieted to a concerned whisper.
"Nothing," Lilo replied unconvincingly. Her tears came streaming down harder than ever and Nani found herself feeling more or less guilty for her earlier impulsive actions. Nani took the bottle of syrup from her sister's hands, having noticed that the plate of pancakes was already drowning in a sea of the stuff. Lilo acted as if such a thing did not happened, not complaining at all, her hands just dropping nonchalantly to her sides.
"It's all right, Lilo," Nani said, "you can tell me."
"I...I just don't want to go to school today," she replied quietly. Nani lifted an eyebrow as the other three in the room looked at Lilo, unsure of her reasons for such a thing. Nani questioned her sister's statement and Lilo responded by claiming that she had no reason.
"But," Nani said, "that doesn't make sense. You were so excited about going yesterday, why not today?"
"I can't tell you," Lilo answered secretively, rubbing the tears from her cheeks. Nani sighed, wanting to be nice but firm, and, to be truthful, she was ultimately unsure of how to pull it off. Lilo looked so pathetic, crying over school, so she suspected it must've been important, especially if she wasn't going to tell her why she didn't want to go. It was only the second day that Lilo should go to school, so it would be out of the question normally for her to miss it...but, then again, what's one day of school, more or less?
"Did something bad happen to you yesterday?" Nani guessed. Lilo shrugged, evidently not wanting to even hint her sister on her reasons. Nani sighed, deciding to be firm for the day. Perhaps sometime later she would allow her sister such lenience. "I'm sorry, Lilo, but you'll have to go to school today if you don't have a reason."
Lilo looked up so angrily at her sister, apparently surprised at receiving such an answer. She was sure that Nani was going to give in; that was how it usually ended when she stopped herself from a diatribe to comfort her. "What?" she inquired, her tears having stopped, replaced by confused anger.
"You need an excuse to get out of school, Lilo," Nani replied adamantly, her eyes narrowed once she sensed her sister's anger. Lilo looked down at her uneaten food and grumbled furiously to herself, her words apparently insulting and aimed at her sister.
"You wouldn't understand anyway," Lilo said, her voice finally audible. "You're not the one who has...who has..."
Lilo's voice dwindled into a vague susurration, imperceptible to Nani and the others that stood in the room.
"Who has what?" Pleakley questioned, lifting his single eyebrow in confusion. Lilo just glared at him and sighed frustratingly. Nani sighed herself.
"If you're not going to tell me, then you might as well go," Nani said finally, standing up from the floor and straightening out her blue shirt. Lilo seemed to have decided that arguing would get her nowhere, nowhere if she wasn't going to reveal her problem, that is. Nani grabbed her bag from the floor beside the chair where she was sitting earlier, and accepted the lunch that Stitch had made her in a brown bag. "I'm going to work. I don't want to find out you didn't go to school later on, okay? Get ready quickly; you're going to miss the bus."
And with those words, Nani made her way into the hall, then out the door. Lilo remained seated at the table, noiseless as always (or perhaps speechless would be a better term), feeling the weight of the glances that the other occupants presented to her, probably thinking she did not notice. But the heaviness of such stares were easily felt by the embarrassed girl, and Lilo made her way as quick as possible out of the kitchen, then up the elevator into her room.
"Stupid Nani," Lilo whispered angrily, "she doesn't know anything about anything. I can't go to school when I have...when I have cooties..."
She felt the horrid tears reappear once again in her eyes and they ran freely down her tight face. The memory of her supposed ailment left her so wistful and angry that she had fallen to the floor upon her knees in a sign of her sadness. Cooties. She had cooties and everyone hated her for that. Stupid Cooties.
You who are reading this are probably wondering how Lilo could get such a ridiculous thought anchored in so firmly into her thoughts and beliefs, and I will take this time to explain it to you. It isn't too hard to explain, and I can do so with just the mention of a name: Myrtle Edmonds. Yes, Myrtle Edmonds. That little girl of whom is the manifestation of all that Lilo hated (except broccoli, but that's not the point), who seemed so harmless, and who turned out to be more insidious than she first revealed herself to be, not unlike an eagle who hid its claws or a viper who hid its fangs. She had caused so much pain to Lilo, not physically of course, for we know whom is the better fighter between the two (for those who don't, it's Lilo), and left the little girl an outcast from everyone in more ways than one.
She caused the chain of events that led to Lilo's torture with a single word: cooties. Such as a disease, a single rumor can spread with just a little bit of contact. From one person to another, this word, attached to Lilo's name, passed across the playground and in the twinkle of an eye, everyone was scrambling to rush away from the little Hawaiian. Like the children they were, they all knew the concept of these horrid cooties, but were too immature to realize its falseness, with the exception of a few whom just played around for the fun of it.
At first, Lilo was unsure just why everyone had chosen to avoid her, but after a moment standing behind a tree as others whispered the rumor to each other, she understood and finally learned about just what cooties were. Lilo, who was not completely innocent, but still had remained ignorant of the "disease" before that first day, was completely worried by it. So, Lilo was alone the whole time at school, fighting with the whispers of her classmates and the ever-growing fear of cooties. Cooties...and the day had begun with such promise...
Lilo remained on the floor of her bedroom for an unknown amount of time, but it would be known that the first thing that had snapped her from her thoughts were the odd little yelps that Pleakley emitted when he was in panic. Standing up and rushing quickly to the window, Lilo realized with a mixture of dread and happiness that the bus was already leaving the hill, seeing that she wasn't standing there waiting for it.
Lilo smiled and rushed to the elevator, descending quickly to the hall, just in time to catch the sight of Pleakley rushing through the corridor, his arms waving violently in the air.
"Where is she?" he yelped, grabbing his head. "Oh, the bus, the bus! It's gone and she's not with it! Where is she?"
Lilo remained in the small chamber of the elevator for a moment, unsure if she wanted the cyclopean alien to see her, or if she wanted to remain secluded from him. Pleakley rushed around, panic-stricken, several times before finally clearing his senses enough to notice her standing alone, staring at him. Pleakley coughed, embarrassed, regained his composure, and then started toward her.
"Oh, there you are," he said, pulling her gently out of the cylindrical cubicle by her arm. "You missed the bus, so we..." The thin alien eyed Lilo's clothes and sighed wearily. "You didn't even change your clothes."
"Oh yeah," Lilo responded, laughing sheepishly. "I'm sorry about that."
"Nani isn't going to be happy about this," Pleakley remarked, his voice taking an irksome approach. Lilo frowned suddenly, remembering her sister's warning.
"You aren't going to tell her, are you?" Lilo asked worrisomely, her eyebrows lifted in a pleading expression. Pleakley gazed at her for several seconds, sensing her apparent fear of Nani's reproach. Her eyes glittered with sadness, her lower lip quivering with impending tears, her expression absolutely heart-rending. He sighed, shaking his head wearily, realizing suddenly how much of a pushover he was and how much trouble he was going to be in later on.
"No, Lilo," he finally replied, stroking her head gently. "I won't tell her. Just-just go back up to your room and change your clothes. You're going to have to do chores since you're not going the school today."
Lilo pouted angrily, her eyebrows lowered, but this expression soon dwindled into a happier, more neutral one. She realized that it was better this way than the other option that she had been presented, and she accepted it with as little bitterness as she could. Beggars couldn't be choosers, as the old saying went, and Lilo tried her best to live by it...though not without complaint every once and a while.
Once she had completed changing her clothes, she rushed back down, more enthusiastic than she had started out that day. Stitch greeted her as she sped out of the lift giving her a hug of salutation, and Lilo returned it happily, giggling in spite of herself.
"Come on, Stitch," she said, grabbing his arm and leading him to the kitchen, "we have to do chores."
Stitch pouted, pointing out that is was she who had to do the chores, but followed anyway, racing against her upon reaching Pleakley. Stitch, as expected from the super alien, reached the Cyclops first, but had some difficulty with the brakes. This was shown by the sudden thrashing sensation that Pleakley experienced once Stitch reached the kitchen, toppling him over and pushing him violently against the tile of the floor.
"Sorry," Stitch muttered quietly, crawling off of Pleakley's back onto his feet. Pleakley moaned in response and shook his circular head, mumbling something about a license plate. But he was standing upright soon enough, dusting off his clothes with a regained equanimity.
"Alright," Pleakley said, grabbing a mop and bucket from their place against the wall, "Let's get started. We've got a lot to do today."
Lilo spent the remainder of the day cleaning, though not with bad humor, for Stitch, although his obvious rancor toward chores, had decided to help her with them for the day. Pleakley, as usual (when Nani wasn't there, that is) was their taskmaster, and the fact that he was a neat freak just added more tasks than the normal household (at least those free of neat freaks) would have to endure. This irritated Stitch little, for he didn't know very much about other families' routine lives, just his own, so he took it as just another ordinary chore day. But that didn't necessarily mean he enjoyed it.
Lilo knew Stitch better than anyone in the household, even Jumba, who was the mischievous blue creature's creator, and understood his hate of cleaning and decided to add a little fun to the usually unpopular mix. The duo had fun finding odd ways of turning their task into a game, just as Mary Poppins had once said (though, one must admit, not as magical as that). They ignored the fact that most of their fun resulted in not only the completing of the chore but the creating of a new one, for the mess that was created for the fun always resulted that way when Pleakley saw it. They just cared about their entertainment, and were happy to do the extra chore if it meant another bout of creativity and amusement.
After three hours of this, Stitch and Lilo soon became bored of the game and decided to get the chores done the correct way. It took longer with this method, and they did want to get it done as quickly as possible, but they also did not want to risk the creating of another chore.
Later, after all the chores were done and Pleakley decided that the two deserved a rest, Lilo and Stitch rested upon the sofa in front of the television. The TV, rather unexpectedly, remained blank, the programming that early in the morning lacking anything truly interesting for someone like Lilo, and the two decided to have a burping contest. Soda cans lay strewn across the floor, the product of the earlier rounds of their competition, and Lilo let out as loud a belch as she could with much more enjoyment clear upon her face than usual. Nani, whom was a more conventional woman, did not agree with such conduct and tried her hardest to push her sister in the same direction, so if she was there at that very moment (which, thankfully, she wasn't), Lilo and Stitch wouldn't be having such fun.
It was then when Jumba lumbered down the stairs, having come from the attic, a surreptitious grin spread across his wide face. Lilo had admitted defeat after several rounds of their contest, realizing modestly how good of an eructor he was, and was just beginning to conceal the cans beneath the sofa when she noticed the scientist as he made his way into the living room. She stopped as quickly as possible, doing her best to hide the pile of soda cans that she had slowly began to push as far back under the couch as she could, afraid that he might reveal this scheme to the two serious guardians of the house. It was not easy to do such a thing, for the size of the pile was so prodigious that her kneeling form did not hide it very properly, but if Jumba noticed it, he did not put a sign to it. Apparently, he had something else taking hold of his mind at the moment, much to Lilo's comfort.
"Good morning again, little girl," he saluted, smiling slyly as he approached the two occupants. "I see you are being home from school. I am seeing that Nani has changed her mind, yes? Good."
Lilo kept her quiet, leaving Jumba's question unanswered, but the alien didn't seem to care very much about it anyway. He still held a preoccupied manner, and Lilo suspected that it had something to do with her and Stitch, barely anything with Nani. Stitch seemed to believe the same as her, catching the suspicious look that Lilo presented secretly to him and returning it with one of his own.
"Lilo," Jumba finally spoke, "do you think that you could do something for me?"
Lilo smiled in a triumphant way, having known that Jumba was up to something, but hid it when she turned to face the scientist. "Like what?" she asked.
"It's nothing. Just a little invention that I've been using up most of my time on, and I was wondering..."
"If I could test it for you?" Lilo finished for him, accustomed to this question, having had Jumba ask her for several times. The little Hawaiian girl, despite several times when she was caught in a life- threatening situation, enjoyed trying out Jumba's inventions and was eager to figure what it was that she would be dealing with this time, and, though hiding it right at the back of her head, she was wondering what dangers she would have to endure. But she showed little of that to the scientist, who seemed so agog for her to comply to his request.
"Sure," Lilo finally answered, asking as if she cared little for it. Jumba gave out a yell of triumph and led her and Stitch upstairs, explaining his invention on the way up. It turns out he created a dimension hopper, a rather odd device that allowed one to travel anywhere, even in the worlds that were usually confined to the movie and television screen. Lilo and Stitch's enthusiasm about the device increased exponentially now that they knew what it was, and it was a challenge that they refused to take to hide their excitement.
This was going to be great.
Well, that's how it seemed.
A/N: Okay, Okay, I know that was pretty crappy, but I suspect that my muse, who decided to leave me for a short vacation right in the middle of the chapter, will come back by the time this stupid flashback's over. The next chapter will still be part of the flashback, so stay with me; it'll be over soon. Not the story, the flashback. Be nice and review now, thank you.
By Guille van Cartier
Author's Note: This is the first story that I have ever posted on the Net, and I pray you be as gentle as possible with it. I allow constructive criticism, but I don't take flames with good humor. So, here's the story. Review, Please! It's a weird crossover, I know, but I'd prefer it if you would at least consider reading it. You can even skim it if you want. Just read it. And review.
Disclaimer: The only things I own are a few art books, some posters...yada yada yada...Everything else belongs to someone that is not me. In this case, Disney. So there.
Chapter One
Screaming. That was all that Lilo could hear as she passed through the enigmatic tunnel, and its origin was her own throat. Yelps of pain escaped her lips, representing all the pain that pulsated within her tiny body, just like the light that flashed its rays, encompassing her in this unknown hell. What was happening? Why was she there? Who hated her so much as to force her there?
The rainbow streaks that passed mercilessly before her eyes blinded her temporarily with every convulsion, sending tears down her tanned cheeks. She was being pushed forward, compelled toward an unknown place and it was an uncertain detail if she would be safe there, or if she would survive the trip. This was all so confusing! What had she done for this to happen?
She wanted so badly to close her eyes. The flashes were so bright that it caused as much pain to her as the invisible forces that she was sure were cutting into her skin. She wanted to block out the light and spare her body of at least one part of its suffering. But something was keeping her eyes open and she was constrained to keep them in their exposed state. She felt she had no more control.
Why hadn't Jumba warned her that this might have happened? There must have been some sort of defect in the transportation device; otherwise she wouldn't be in the situation! Why was Jumba always leaving out the most dangerous parts of his inventions just so that someone in the household would test them for him? Why had Lilo been so naïve as to listen? She admitted quietly that she had known that such a thing probably would've happened when she had agreed to test the device, but the pain was not something that she had anticipated. Stupid Jumba, Stupid Dimension Hopper, Stupid her!
The pain increased minutely, Lilo feeling rough scratches at the wounds she suspected was all over her body. She yelped, her eyes producing more tears with every abrasion. She had to keep her mind off of the horrible feeling; she had to think of something of comfort! But for Lilo, comfort was a distant memory in this realm of existence. The only thoughts that streamed through her head were those of great lamentation. Memories of earlier in the day. The start of this whole abysmal suffering.
Earlier that Morning, 7:00
The day had begun for Lilo, marked by the unceasing chiming of her alarm clock. The tiny golden peals were enough to annoy anyone into waking, and yet the young girl still remained in the cushioned luxury of her warm bed, ignoring every ring as much as she could. But, as most of you might know, a ringing alarm clock cannot be forever kept at bay and it would be at the sad expense of your dreamscape to cease its endless chiming. There are many lucky people whom have the model of clock that end after a certain amount of time, but unfortunate Lilo had the ancient example, the type that's alarm is sent into its ringing by use of a tiny hammer. And those, sadly, do not back itself into silence at the comfort of its master.
Lilo stirred finally, after several irritated seconds, but only to flip her pillow over to cover her head and hopefully stifle the monotone of the bells. The cushion did muffle the noise, but not to the extent of satisfying Lilo's want. Those horrible persisting bells! If she weren't so emulous upon sleeping, she swore she would've gotten up and thrown the device and its abominable melody out of her window!
Though Lilo was so bent upon her slumber, Stitch wasn't so ardent as to be able to remain asleep. Lilo, who kept her eyes shut tightly, heard the offended grumbling of her alien friend, then a surprising (yet oddly expected) crunching of metal. The alarm clock had been silenced forever. The next sound that reached her ears were Stitch's heavy footsteps and the creaking of an opening door, and the slam of a shutting one. Lilo smiled. Count on Stitch to help her even in the most trivial of situations.
Lilo once again attempted to regain her lost dream, which she had been unable to grasp firmly onto during the tintinnabulation of her currently deceased timepiece. But, sadly enough, the reverie slipped from her upon the winged creature sleep, and she found herself not only dreamless, but also wide-awake. That stupid alarm clock had fulfilled its duty! Lilo could not find sleep again, no matter how long she laid in her bed in silence with closed eyes. It had flown away with the start of a new day.
Lilo sighed quietly and threw the pillow bitterly from above her head, sitting up. Unexpectedly, she did not feel the least bit groggy, which was rather habitual to most human beings that woke in the morning and wasn't looking forward to the day. Lilo did not feel as happy about waking up as she had the other day, either, and she decided, after a few seconds of thought, that even if she wasn't desirous of rest, she would remain in her room for the remainder of the day. And, perhaps, even the remainder of the week. Such was her hope, in all truthfulness.
She blamed all bitter feelings upon the devil of a girl Myrtle Edmonds. It wasn't until the happenings of the day before that she realized how much she hated the aforementioned redhead. Before that, her logic had been buried under the ardent want of friendship. Friendship from Myrtle and the small group that hung around her like flies to a piece of rotting meat. Now that Lilo thought more fully on the matter, it should've been an obvious thing to see how much Myrtle hated her, what with the rude nicknames and the absolute hesitance toward even communicating with her, with exception of a few impolite quips and pointers. She felt so stupid now that she had a greater understanding of Myrtle's loathing toward her, regretting those many days that she had vied for the attention and acceptance of that immature group. So many wasted days.
"Lilo!" Nani's voice broke the brief silence that had dominated Lilo's room, snapping Lilo from her rueful thoughts. "Get up and eat breakfast, Lilo! You'll be late for the bus if you don't hurry up!"
Lilo listened quietly to the maternal tone that her sister's voice had gained over the small amount of time that Lilo had been living with her. She sighed in such a wistful manner, and flung the warm blanket from its place atop her dark legs. She shivered a tiny bit at the sudden change of temperature, but shook it off and hopped unenthusiastically off the edge of her berth, her skin still somewhat goose-pimpled. She made her way to the elevator that allowed her down to the hall from her new room upon the roof of the house, and activated the machine.
As it made its quick descent to the main part of the house, Lilo silently remembered the fact that she was still in her bedclothes. Nani wouldn't be very happy at that, but Lilo didn't seem to care very much anymore. She wouldn't be going to school that day; she would make sure of it.
Finally, after several fast seconds, Lilo found herself staring out into the hall of the residence. She reluctantly stepped out of the elevator chamber, her bare feet growing cold from the slow-warming surface of the wooden planks that made up the floor. She made her way to the kitchen/ dining room of the small abode; her eyes still glued upon the ground her feet were stepping upon.
Nani, Jumba, Stitch, and Pleakley were assembled disorderly in the kitchen. Jumba and Nani sat at the small circular table that was set near the center of the modest room; Nani was completing a quick breakfast of toast and eggs, as Jumba spread what seemed to be a whole stick of butter upon the waffles that had been set before him. Pleakley stood at the stove, an apron tied neatly around his thin body, preparing what seemed to be pancakes for Lilo. Stitch was sitting upon a tall stool that was set against the kitchen counter, messily preparing Lilo and Nani's lunches for the day. They all barely noticed her as Lilo stepped sadly into the room, and only turned attention to her when she had finally sat down at the table.
"Good morning, little girl," Jumba greeted semi-politely with a mouth crammed full of eggs. The food flew out of his mouth as he spoke, right into Lilo's face, and yet it was the nicest greeting Lilo was going to get for the rest of the day.
Nani looked up from her breakfast and soughed disappointedly at the sight of her sister. As Lilo had predicted, Nani wasn't very accepting of her wearing her night clothes when she was already near late for the bus.
"I thought you were changing your clothes!" Nani declared, rolling her eyes in disbelief. "You were supposed to get up right when your alarm clock rang! What happened?"
Lilo kept her silence for a while, breaking it only to thank Pleakley for the pancakes when they were set in front of her, then continuing it as she stared at the small stack of flapjacks. Nani waited quietly, but her impatience would not allow her to stay in such a state for long.
"Well?" Nani snapped. Lilo kept her quiet. "Well, say something!"
Lilo looked up at her sister for a second, her eyes full of dejected glimmers, mixed with the anger that she held against her sister for not understanding her state. But, she did as her sister wished; though not exactly in the way her sister was suggesting.
"Jumba, can you pass the syrup?" Lilo asked timidly. The large alien lifted a questioning eyebrow, but complied to her request nevertheless. Lilo thanked him upon receiving the thin bottle and she proceeded upon pouring syrup on the pancakes, descending back into her quiet sadness. Nani groaned angrily at her sister's attitude and forgot about her breakfast, which had been sitting quietly on the table, as if waiting for her to complete an impending tirade that was sure to happen. If the breakfast was a living thing, which, I am telling you now, it is NOT, even it would've known about the increasing amount of lectures that the young woman had been presenting to her kindergartner sister. The other three occupants of the room shared a three-ways glance and braced themselves for what they thought would be another typical explosion from the older sister.
"Lilo, for the love of god, learn to take me seriously!" Nani yelled, her fingers rubbing her temples in a sign of her anger and weariness. Lilo's eyebrows lowered in a sign of her own anger, and she continued to watch the thick syrup as it oozed out of the nozzle at the end of the bottle. She didn't seem to care about the syrup at all, no matter how focused upon the substance she seemed. The pancakes slowly became soggy under the large amount of liquid.
"Sorry," Lilo mumbled, though her tone was rather distant. Evidently, Nani took such a thing into offense.
"No you're not!" She exclaimed, slamming a fist down onto the table. Lilo still kept her silence, her eyes brimming with tears. Why was Nani getting so worked up about her not changing her clothes? It was so stupid...like so many things nowadays. Was Nani becoming fed up with her? It was only the second day of school anyway! The tears that were forming themselves in Lilo's eyes finally began to fall, no matter how hard Lilo tried to keep them in. At the sight of her sister's crying, Nani suddenly felt herself becoming guilty and she cleared her throat. She stood up from her seat at the table and, with a much calmer manner than she had earlier, knelt beside her sister's chair, looking worriedly at her.
"Lilo is there something wrong?" She asked, her voice quieted to a concerned whisper.
"Nothing," Lilo replied unconvincingly. Her tears came streaming down harder than ever and Nani found herself feeling more or less guilty for her earlier impulsive actions. Nani took the bottle of syrup from her sister's hands, having noticed that the plate of pancakes was already drowning in a sea of the stuff. Lilo acted as if such a thing did not happened, not complaining at all, her hands just dropping nonchalantly to her sides.
"It's all right, Lilo," Nani said, "you can tell me."
"I...I just don't want to go to school today," she replied quietly. Nani lifted an eyebrow as the other three in the room looked at Lilo, unsure of her reasons for such a thing. Nani questioned her sister's statement and Lilo responded by claiming that she had no reason.
"But," Nani said, "that doesn't make sense. You were so excited about going yesterday, why not today?"
"I can't tell you," Lilo answered secretively, rubbing the tears from her cheeks. Nani sighed, wanting to be nice but firm, and, to be truthful, she was ultimately unsure of how to pull it off. Lilo looked so pathetic, crying over school, so she suspected it must've been important, especially if she wasn't going to tell her why she didn't want to go. It was only the second day that Lilo should go to school, so it would be out of the question normally for her to miss it...but, then again, what's one day of school, more or less?
"Did something bad happen to you yesterday?" Nani guessed. Lilo shrugged, evidently not wanting to even hint her sister on her reasons. Nani sighed, deciding to be firm for the day. Perhaps sometime later she would allow her sister such lenience. "I'm sorry, Lilo, but you'll have to go to school today if you don't have a reason."
Lilo looked up so angrily at her sister, apparently surprised at receiving such an answer. She was sure that Nani was going to give in; that was how it usually ended when she stopped herself from a diatribe to comfort her. "What?" she inquired, her tears having stopped, replaced by confused anger.
"You need an excuse to get out of school, Lilo," Nani replied adamantly, her eyes narrowed once she sensed her sister's anger. Lilo looked down at her uneaten food and grumbled furiously to herself, her words apparently insulting and aimed at her sister.
"You wouldn't understand anyway," Lilo said, her voice finally audible. "You're not the one who has...who has..."
Lilo's voice dwindled into a vague susurration, imperceptible to Nani and the others that stood in the room.
"Who has what?" Pleakley questioned, lifting his single eyebrow in confusion. Lilo just glared at him and sighed frustratingly. Nani sighed herself.
"If you're not going to tell me, then you might as well go," Nani said finally, standing up from the floor and straightening out her blue shirt. Lilo seemed to have decided that arguing would get her nowhere, nowhere if she wasn't going to reveal her problem, that is. Nani grabbed her bag from the floor beside the chair where she was sitting earlier, and accepted the lunch that Stitch had made her in a brown bag. "I'm going to work. I don't want to find out you didn't go to school later on, okay? Get ready quickly; you're going to miss the bus."
And with those words, Nani made her way into the hall, then out the door. Lilo remained seated at the table, noiseless as always (or perhaps speechless would be a better term), feeling the weight of the glances that the other occupants presented to her, probably thinking she did not notice. But the heaviness of such stares were easily felt by the embarrassed girl, and Lilo made her way as quick as possible out of the kitchen, then up the elevator into her room.
"Stupid Nani," Lilo whispered angrily, "she doesn't know anything about anything. I can't go to school when I have...when I have cooties..."
She felt the horrid tears reappear once again in her eyes and they ran freely down her tight face. The memory of her supposed ailment left her so wistful and angry that she had fallen to the floor upon her knees in a sign of her sadness. Cooties. She had cooties and everyone hated her for that. Stupid Cooties.
You who are reading this are probably wondering how Lilo could get such a ridiculous thought anchored in so firmly into her thoughts and beliefs, and I will take this time to explain it to you. It isn't too hard to explain, and I can do so with just the mention of a name: Myrtle Edmonds. Yes, Myrtle Edmonds. That little girl of whom is the manifestation of all that Lilo hated (except broccoli, but that's not the point), who seemed so harmless, and who turned out to be more insidious than she first revealed herself to be, not unlike an eagle who hid its claws or a viper who hid its fangs. She had caused so much pain to Lilo, not physically of course, for we know whom is the better fighter between the two (for those who don't, it's Lilo), and left the little girl an outcast from everyone in more ways than one.
She caused the chain of events that led to Lilo's torture with a single word: cooties. Such as a disease, a single rumor can spread with just a little bit of contact. From one person to another, this word, attached to Lilo's name, passed across the playground and in the twinkle of an eye, everyone was scrambling to rush away from the little Hawaiian. Like the children they were, they all knew the concept of these horrid cooties, but were too immature to realize its falseness, with the exception of a few whom just played around for the fun of it.
At first, Lilo was unsure just why everyone had chosen to avoid her, but after a moment standing behind a tree as others whispered the rumor to each other, she understood and finally learned about just what cooties were. Lilo, who was not completely innocent, but still had remained ignorant of the "disease" before that first day, was completely worried by it. So, Lilo was alone the whole time at school, fighting with the whispers of her classmates and the ever-growing fear of cooties. Cooties...and the day had begun with such promise...
Lilo remained on the floor of her bedroom for an unknown amount of time, but it would be known that the first thing that had snapped her from her thoughts were the odd little yelps that Pleakley emitted when he was in panic. Standing up and rushing quickly to the window, Lilo realized with a mixture of dread and happiness that the bus was already leaving the hill, seeing that she wasn't standing there waiting for it.
Lilo smiled and rushed to the elevator, descending quickly to the hall, just in time to catch the sight of Pleakley rushing through the corridor, his arms waving violently in the air.
"Where is she?" he yelped, grabbing his head. "Oh, the bus, the bus! It's gone and she's not with it! Where is she?"
Lilo remained in the small chamber of the elevator for a moment, unsure if she wanted the cyclopean alien to see her, or if she wanted to remain secluded from him. Pleakley rushed around, panic-stricken, several times before finally clearing his senses enough to notice her standing alone, staring at him. Pleakley coughed, embarrassed, regained his composure, and then started toward her.
"Oh, there you are," he said, pulling her gently out of the cylindrical cubicle by her arm. "You missed the bus, so we..." The thin alien eyed Lilo's clothes and sighed wearily. "You didn't even change your clothes."
"Oh yeah," Lilo responded, laughing sheepishly. "I'm sorry about that."
"Nani isn't going to be happy about this," Pleakley remarked, his voice taking an irksome approach. Lilo frowned suddenly, remembering her sister's warning.
"You aren't going to tell her, are you?" Lilo asked worrisomely, her eyebrows lifted in a pleading expression. Pleakley gazed at her for several seconds, sensing her apparent fear of Nani's reproach. Her eyes glittered with sadness, her lower lip quivering with impending tears, her expression absolutely heart-rending. He sighed, shaking his head wearily, realizing suddenly how much of a pushover he was and how much trouble he was going to be in later on.
"No, Lilo," he finally replied, stroking her head gently. "I won't tell her. Just-just go back up to your room and change your clothes. You're going to have to do chores since you're not going the school today."
Lilo pouted angrily, her eyebrows lowered, but this expression soon dwindled into a happier, more neutral one. She realized that it was better this way than the other option that she had been presented, and she accepted it with as little bitterness as she could. Beggars couldn't be choosers, as the old saying went, and Lilo tried her best to live by it...though not without complaint every once and a while.
Once she had completed changing her clothes, she rushed back down, more enthusiastic than she had started out that day. Stitch greeted her as she sped out of the lift giving her a hug of salutation, and Lilo returned it happily, giggling in spite of herself.
"Come on, Stitch," she said, grabbing his arm and leading him to the kitchen, "we have to do chores."
Stitch pouted, pointing out that is was she who had to do the chores, but followed anyway, racing against her upon reaching Pleakley. Stitch, as expected from the super alien, reached the Cyclops first, but had some difficulty with the brakes. This was shown by the sudden thrashing sensation that Pleakley experienced once Stitch reached the kitchen, toppling him over and pushing him violently against the tile of the floor.
"Sorry," Stitch muttered quietly, crawling off of Pleakley's back onto his feet. Pleakley moaned in response and shook his circular head, mumbling something about a license plate. But he was standing upright soon enough, dusting off his clothes with a regained equanimity.
"Alright," Pleakley said, grabbing a mop and bucket from their place against the wall, "Let's get started. We've got a lot to do today."
Lilo spent the remainder of the day cleaning, though not with bad humor, for Stitch, although his obvious rancor toward chores, had decided to help her with them for the day. Pleakley, as usual (when Nani wasn't there, that is) was their taskmaster, and the fact that he was a neat freak just added more tasks than the normal household (at least those free of neat freaks) would have to endure. This irritated Stitch little, for he didn't know very much about other families' routine lives, just his own, so he took it as just another ordinary chore day. But that didn't necessarily mean he enjoyed it.
Lilo knew Stitch better than anyone in the household, even Jumba, who was the mischievous blue creature's creator, and understood his hate of cleaning and decided to add a little fun to the usually unpopular mix. The duo had fun finding odd ways of turning their task into a game, just as Mary Poppins had once said (though, one must admit, not as magical as that). They ignored the fact that most of their fun resulted in not only the completing of the chore but the creating of a new one, for the mess that was created for the fun always resulted that way when Pleakley saw it. They just cared about their entertainment, and were happy to do the extra chore if it meant another bout of creativity and amusement.
After three hours of this, Stitch and Lilo soon became bored of the game and decided to get the chores done the correct way. It took longer with this method, and they did want to get it done as quickly as possible, but they also did not want to risk the creating of another chore.
Later, after all the chores were done and Pleakley decided that the two deserved a rest, Lilo and Stitch rested upon the sofa in front of the television. The TV, rather unexpectedly, remained blank, the programming that early in the morning lacking anything truly interesting for someone like Lilo, and the two decided to have a burping contest. Soda cans lay strewn across the floor, the product of the earlier rounds of their competition, and Lilo let out as loud a belch as she could with much more enjoyment clear upon her face than usual. Nani, whom was a more conventional woman, did not agree with such conduct and tried her hardest to push her sister in the same direction, so if she was there at that very moment (which, thankfully, she wasn't), Lilo and Stitch wouldn't be having such fun.
It was then when Jumba lumbered down the stairs, having come from the attic, a surreptitious grin spread across his wide face. Lilo had admitted defeat after several rounds of their contest, realizing modestly how good of an eructor he was, and was just beginning to conceal the cans beneath the sofa when she noticed the scientist as he made his way into the living room. She stopped as quickly as possible, doing her best to hide the pile of soda cans that she had slowly began to push as far back under the couch as she could, afraid that he might reveal this scheme to the two serious guardians of the house. It was not easy to do such a thing, for the size of the pile was so prodigious that her kneeling form did not hide it very properly, but if Jumba noticed it, he did not put a sign to it. Apparently, he had something else taking hold of his mind at the moment, much to Lilo's comfort.
"Good morning again, little girl," he saluted, smiling slyly as he approached the two occupants. "I see you are being home from school. I am seeing that Nani has changed her mind, yes? Good."
Lilo kept her quiet, leaving Jumba's question unanswered, but the alien didn't seem to care very much about it anyway. He still held a preoccupied manner, and Lilo suspected that it had something to do with her and Stitch, barely anything with Nani. Stitch seemed to believe the same as her, catching the suspicious look that Lilo presented secretly to him and returning it with one of his own.
"Lilo," Jumba finally spoke, "do you think that you could do something for me?"
Lilo smiled in a triumphant way, having known that Jumba was up to something, but hid it when she turned to face the scientist. "Like what?" she asked.
"It's nothing. Just a little invention that I've been using up most of my time on, and I was wondering..."
"If I could test it for you?" Lilo finished for him, accustomed to this question, having had Jumba ask her for several times. The little Hawaiian girl, despite several times when she was caught in a life- threatening situation, enjoyed trying out Jumba's inventions and was eager to figure what it was that she would be dealing with this time, and, though hiding it right at the back of her head, she was wondering what dangers she would have to endure. But she showed little of that to the scientist, who seemed so agog for her to comply to his request.
"Sure," Lilo finally answered, asking as if she cared little for it. Jumba gave out a yell of triumph and led her and Stitch upstairs, explaining his invention on the way up. It turns out he created a dimension hopper, a rather odd device that allowed one to travel anywhere, even in the worlds that were usually confined to the movie and television screen. Lilo and Stitch's enthusiasm about the device increased exponentially now that they knew what it was, and it was a challenge that they refused to take to hide their excitement.
This was going to be great.
Well, that's how it seemed.
A/N: Okay, Okay, I know that was pretty crappy, but I suspect that my muse, who decided to leave me for a short vacation right in the middle of the chapter, will come back by the time this stupid flashback's over. The next chapter will still be part of the flashback, so stay with me; it'll be over soon. Not the story, the flashback. Be nice and review now, thank you.