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For once, in the quirky home of a family that chose each other, the quiet of night was broken by a whimper and not an explosion or something breaking.
Lilo trembled in her bed, her blankets clenched tight enough in her fingers to make her hands ache, her eyes wet with tears she stubbornly tried to keep from falling. 'It was just a dream' she told herself. 'Just a dream, it's not real.' She knew this. Could hear Stitch breathing nearby, knew that if she went to the kitchen she would probably find Jumba making himself a night-time snack, that everything was okay and she didn't have to cry—
But, the tears still fell, and the fear, the hurt, lingered.
"... She won't be mad."
Lilo sniffled and rubbed her eyes before crawling out from under her blanket, shivering when her bare feet touched the floor. "She won't be mad..." She repeated in a quiet voice, pulling the blanket off the bed to wrap around her shoulders. It was just a blanket, but feeling the weight of it around her made her feel safer, less alone. "I'll be back, Stitch."
She heard a noise like a snore from his bed, and a small smile came to her face that faded as she turned towards the door and anxiety settled in her stomach. She'd been kidnapped by a giant alien before, she'd gotten into fights with Murtle, she was brave and strong! This was nothing, this was baby stuff, but she still couldn't find the strength to start walking until she'd taken a few, shakey deep breaths in for support.
Sometimes, if she woke during the night and walked through the house, she'd hear noises. Pleakley's voice, muffled by the walls but still loud enough for her to hear the excited way he was speaking (probably watching tv, she found it funny how invested he got into his shows and how much he talked during them); at times she would hear Stitch crawling on the walls during nights he couldn't sleep, she'd even hear David's voice sometimes too when he would stay the night. It was quiet tonight though, everyone else apparently in bed and asleep, yet here Lilo was, now standing in front of Nani's door and about to ruin the quiet with her stupid dream.
Lilo was still blinking away tears as she stood there, blanket wrapped around her shoulders and one hand shakily holding onto the doorknob. She knew better, she knew she was welcomed, that Nani loved her, she knew and yet... And yet...
"Ohana means family." Lilo murmured to herself, sniffing as she resolutely twisted the doorknob. "Ohana means nobody...." Her trembling worsened as she pushed the door open, and she felt weak as she stepped inside the room. She had thought saying her Dad's favourite quote out loud would reassure her, but it just made her dream hurt more. "N-Nobody gets left behind, o-or forgotten."
She hadn't been left behind, she hadn't been forgotten. Nani would tell her it was just a dream and she'd be okay.
"N-Nani." Lilo had to clear her throat before she called out her sister's name, voice soft and unsure.
Through the darkness, Lilo saw her sister's blanketed form shift slightly.
"Nani." Lilo shuffled closer, her voice a little louder, a little more desperate. Everything was going to be okay, she was here now and Nani would make everything okay, would tell her to stop being so silly and worrying so much.
"Mmmm?" this time there was a confused and tired sound from the bed, the blankets ruffling as Nani twisted and started pushing herself up. "Lilo...?"
"I. I'm sorry to wake you—"
The quiver in her voice must have been obvious, because Nani was immediately reaching for the lamp beside her bed and sitting up to look for her sister. "Lilo hunny, are you crying?"
"I had a bad dream and—" Lilo couldn't keep talking, not when Nani threw her blanket back and held her arms open like that, inviting her in for the comfort she needed. Lilo ran to her, dropping her own blanket on the way and crawling into her sister's open arms as fast as she could. She was sobbing before Nani's arms were even around her, her hands holding onto Nani's shirt so tight she was afraid she'd rip it, her face against her sister's neck with one of Nani's hands petting her hair.
"Oh Lilo, shhhhh. It's okay to cry, it's okay, whatever happened in your dream I'm here, okay?"
"You weren't!"
Lilo pushed away from Nani so she could glare at her, as if it was Nani's fault the her in Lilo's dream had done what she did. "You, you left me and—"
"Never."
Nani pulled Lilo back in against her and held her tight, the strength and love in those arms holding the broken pieces of Lilo's heart together.
"Lilo baby I'm not going anywhere, I promise. I don't care who I have to stand up to, or fight, you're stuck with me and I'm stuck with you. And do you know why we're stuck with each other?"
Lilo, shaking and trying to breathe properly, couldn't answer, and so Nani loosened her hold and started rubbing Lilo's back.
"I know that I'm not Mom, and I'm not Dad." Nani's voice was soft, it was familiar, it was full of love. "I know that I'm your older sister, and I know that you're my little sister not my daughter. I also know that I still would much rather have you than a rabbit." As she spoke Nani started moving them both, settling into the bed and reaching for the blanket with one hand to cover them both in its comforting warmth. "Sometimes dreams feel real, and even though they're not real they sometimes make you feel real fear or hurt. I know you're hurting right now, and it must have been really scary, but I need you to know that I'm here, okay?"
Lilo felt a kiss press against the top of her head, and she wordlessly nodded.
"One day, far far away, you'll probably live on your own, or have adventures elsewhere with Stitch, but even then I will never leave you completely. We'll call each other, and I'll have to make sure you visit—"
"—there's no way I'd miss yours and David's wedding."
A smile finally broke through Lilo's tears at the flustered noises Nani made at those words, followed by a yawn and her snuggling in against her sister more.
"Yes, well." Nani cleared her throat. "If that happens—"
"—it will."
"Brat. Stop interrupting me." Lilo tiredly giggled as Nani tickled her sides for a moment. "If that happens, if anything big happens, and especially if we just miss each other, we'll be there for each other."
"Because we love each other."
"That's right."
Lilo's eyes were closed now, but she felt Nani move and then heard the click of the lamp turning off. Her eyes hurt a bit from crying, and she had probably gotten snot all over Nani, but she didn't want to move. She was warm, and loved, and it was getting harder to remember the terror of her dream with Nani holding her close like this. Nani wasn't mad at being woken up, and Lilo's chest no longer felt like someone had dug her heart out of it. Everything was okay, just like she knew it would be.
Even if she had been a little scared of being wrong.
"Are you okay to go back to sleep?"
Nani finally spoke again after a few minutes of silence, during which she had been humming and soothingly rubbing Lilo's back.
Lilo hummed back, then nodded, not opening her eyes.
"No fears of another bad dream?"
"Mm-mm" Lilo yawned, almost too close to sleep to shake her head 'no'. "I know you'll beat them up if I have any..."
"Damn right I will." It was Nani's turn to yawn now. "Tomorrow maybe we can get David over to make breakfast, and we can introduce Pleakley to those weird reality tv dating shows, I bet he'd love them. Jumba finally fixed the barbecue, we'll have a tasty supper and pig out on junk food after, sound good?"
Lilo didn't respond, having drifted to sleep as Nani spoke.
Nani, as tired as she was having been woken up in the middle of the night, didn't fall right back asleep after Lilo did. For a few minutes she simply lay there holding her sister, still rubbing her back and being thankful Lilo had come to her for comfort. She didn't want to think about Lilo lying in her own bed all alone, breaking down because of a nightmare that Nani would never let become reality. She didn't know if it was just a random nightmare, or if something had happened recently to put the fear in Lilo's mind, but regardless of the reason she never wanted Lilo to dream of it again.
She still had nightmares sometimes of when she had lost Lilo, of Bubbles taking her away or Lilo never being rescued from Gantu's ship. She didn't want the same for her sister. "I'm here, and I'll always be here. I'll keep you safe Lilo, so you make sure to have sweet dreams now okay?"
Eventually, Nani drifted into sleep as well. Curled together, safe in each other's arms, the sisters slept and dreamed of happy times with their family.