Stitch's Promise

“Stitch! Help me!” Cried the pink experiment as she pounded on the glass dome of the transport pod onboard Gantu’s ship.

“Hold on, Angel! I’m coming!” Stitch called back. He then turned to his companion, a yellow experiment with ridiculously long antenna who resembled a cross between a Chinese dragon and a Chihuahua. “Come on, Sparky! Hurry up!” He shouted frantically, desperate to reach the trapped pink experiment.

“I’m trying!” Sparky responded as he began to shock some power conduits in a ripped out section of bulkhead, frantically trying to find the one that led to the security barrier barring access to the transport chamber. Stitch’s eyes turned to a console in the transport chamber, which displayed the time they had left to free the pink experiment, Angel, from the transporter before it activated. At that time, they had less than twenty seconds!

“Hurry, please!” Angel cried out, tears of panic falling down her face as the timer menacingly counted down.

“I think I have it!” Sparky called out. He delivered a charge to the conduit, only to be blown back by a sudden force. “Fudge! There’s some kind of field around the conduit!” Stitch turned back to the timer. Seeing that he only had eight seconds left, he knew he had only one choice to save Angel. He immediately ran to the conduit and, ignoring the pain from the plasma shocks, grabbed the conduit and began to rip it out. Success! The barrier fizzled out, and Stitch immediately rushed towards the transporter.

“Transport in five, four, three…” Stitch was almost there! He could see the tears running down Angel’s face. In what seemed like slow motion, he raised his fist, ready to smash open the transport pod. “Two, one.” It was in vain. In brilliant flash of light, Angel disappeared, to whatever hell Hamsterviel had in store for her.

“Noooooooooo!” Stitch cried in agony. He collapsed on the floor of the chamber with defeat. He could feel every ounce of his being being overwhelmed with pure anguish.

Then, suddenly, the chamber disappeared, in its place a deep, dark nothingness. Stitch looked around, his face streaked with agonized tears.

“You failed her.” A voice spoke from the darkness.

“Who are you?” Stitch choked out.

“You failed her.” The voice repeated. It didn’t take long for Stitch to know whom the mysterious voice was talking about.

“No.” Stitch said.

“You were her bujibu, 626.” The voice said. “It was your responsibility to protect her, and you failed to.” Stitch shook his head.

“No, that’s not true!” He shouted to the unseen voice. “I wasn’t my fault! If I had had more time, I would’ve saved her! It’s not my fault!”

“You let her down, 626.” The voice said. “You’re a failure.” Stitch was on the verge of breaking down.

“No!” He shouted.

“You’re a FAILURE!” The voice shouted. Stitch lost it.

“NOOOOOOOOO!” He cried out in agony.

“Aaah!” Stitch gave off a muffled cry as he awoke. He flung the covers of his bed aside and sat bolt upright in bed, his blue fur drenched with sweat. He was still in the dome room he shared with his best friend, Lilo. Stitch breathed heavily. He had been having this dream for a long time now, ever since Angel was captured and sent to Hamsterviel. He hadn’t told anybody about these dreams. He didn’t want them to worry about him, especially Lilo. She had enough on her plate as it was, what with catching and rehabilitating the experiments, dodging Gantu, and trying to live as normal a life as possible. He didn’t want to burden her with worry for him.

Noticing that Lilo had not been awakened, Stitch silently crept down from his bed and over to the elevator, which he rode down to the bottom floor, and then crept into the kitchen. He decided to fix himself a glass of warm milk, hoping it would help him sleep. He walked over to the fridge, grabbed the milk, then grabbed a glass from the cabinets, poured some milk into it, and then climbed up on the counter to reach the microwave. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he opened the microwave, placed the milk inside it, and closed the microwave and set it. The soft whirring of the microwave didn’t make enough noise to wake anyone, but the blue experiment crawling around on the counter did. As Stitch was climbing down, his hand accidentally pushed off a plastic coffee mug that sat on the counter. The mug hit the floor with a loud cluttering sound. Stitch froze, hoping that he didn’t wake anyone up. His hope was in vain.

“Stitch, is that you?” He heard someone call from upstairs. Stitch frantically looked for a place to hide as he heard the elevator descend. Before he could, however, a figure entered the kitchen.

“What are you doing, Stitch?” He heard the familiar voice of Lilo ask him, slightly groggy from tiredness. “It’s almost two in the morning.” Stitch breathed a sigh of relief. If it had been Nani, he probably would have heard it.

“Stitch can’t sleep.” He answered. “Soka for waking Lilo.” He quickly apologized. By this time, his milk was done heating, and he retrieved it.

“It’s okay, Stitch.” Lilo said. “So, why can’t you sleep?” She asked.

“Stitch have bad dream.” Stitch said, taking a sip of his milk. “Stitch make warm milk to help miga sleep.” Lilo nodded.

“May I ask what kind of dream?” Lilo asked. Stitch shook his head.

“Stitch naga want to worry Lilo.” He answered. Lilo smiled.

“It’s okay, Stitch, you can tell me about it.” She replied. “I’ll be fine.” Stitch looked at her.

“Okay.” He said. “It’s…Angel.” Lilo nodded.

“You miss her, don’t you?” She said. Stitch had told her about the relationship he had had with Angel back in Jumba’s lab.

“Ih.” Stitch replied. He then began to narrate his dream to Lilo.

“Miga back on Gantu’s ship.” He began. “Miga and Sparky try to bring down barrier to get to Angel. We get barrier down, and then miga rush in to save Angel, but… miga not fast enough. Angel sent away.” He said, tears beginning to form in his eyes. Lilo put her hand on his shoulder in comfort.

“It naga end there.” Stitch said. “Then, miga end up in darkness and… Stitch hear voice.”

“What did it say?” Lilo asked.

“Voice tell miga that… miga failure because miga not protect Angel.” Stitch said, now crying full on. Lilo gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze.

“Stitch, you know that’s not true.” She said. “You’re not a failure.” Stitch wiped his tears away.

“Miga miss her so much.” He sobbed.

“I know, Stitch.” Lilo replied, hurting to see Stitch in so much pain. “Hey, I have an idea.”

“G-gaba?” Stitch said.

“When my parents died, and I felt sad, I would write them a letter.” Lilo said. “I would tell them how much I loved them and missed them. I know it sounds silly, but it helped me out. Maybe you could write Angel one?”

“Stitch… think about it.” Stitch replied. Lilo smiled.

“Okay, Stitch.” She said. She then yawned. “I’m going back to bed. Good night, Stitch.”

“Stitch be up soon.” He said as Lilo shuffled off to bed. Stitch sat and though about Lilo’s proposal for a few moments. He decided to give it a shot. He gulped down the rest of his milk and scurried off back to the dome room. Noticing Lilo had gone back to sleep, he quietly pulled out a piece of paper and pen. He then set it down on the floor and began to write. The words were in Turian, as Stitch couldn’t write good English just yet.

This is what his letter said.

Dear Angel,

You probably will never see this letter, as it will probably be lost or destroyed somehow before you can see it. I’m writing this because I have things to tell you, and since you’re not here to hear me say them, I’m saying them to you in spirit, through the words on this paper.

I’ll get right down to it. I love you, Angel. I love you more than anything else. When we first met, back in the lab, I knew that there was something there, something my programming wouldn’t allow me to see. I think you saw it, too. You hung around me like a moth to a light, taught me about things that Jumba never did, things like friendship, having fun, and most importantly, love. At first I denied my feelings, but they grew stronger every day, and eventually I couldn’t deny them any longer. Even when Jumba found out about us, and erased my memories, somehow they stuck, refusing to leave my conscious. When I saw you in that alley, it all came flooding back to me. I knew I still loved you. That’s why I forgave you back on Hamsterviel’s ship, when you told me what happened. I loved you then, I love you now, and I’ll love you forever.

I don’t know where you are now, but I swear that I will find you. I’ll search this entire galaxy if I have too. Nothing will stop me from bringing you home safe. If I have to risk my life to find you, I will gladly do so. You are worth it. That is my promise to you.

You have all my love, now and forever,

Stitch

Stitch delicately folded the letter in half and placed it under his mattress. There it would stay, until Angel returned home he said. He then crawled back into his bed and lay on his back. He briefly opened the roof of the dome and stared into the stars.

“No matter what it takes,” Stitch said to himself, “I will find you, Angel. I swear it.” Then he closed the dome, and the his eyes, and allowed sleep to take him.
The End