Disney Friendship Stories by Disney Book Group Page A

found a book called The Ugly Duckling . He looked through it and noticed that the duckling was by himself a lot, just like him.
    He woke up Lilo and showed her the book. She explained that the duckling was sad because he didn’t fit in. Stitch knew how that felt. He wanted to feel like he belonged somewhere, too.

    Lilo decided to show Stitch how to be good so that he would fit in. First, she tried to teach him hula dancing. He did pretty well until his twirls got a little out of control.
    Then, they tried the ukulele. At first, Stitch was rather good. But all of a sudden, he began to play the instrument like a heavy metal guitar and smash! —all the windows around him shattered.

    Finally, Lilo took him to the beach. Here, she decided, he could show everyone what he had learned and how good he could be. Stitch grabbed his ukulele and waddled to the shoreline in front of all the tourists. He began twanging away.
    The tourists loved the music and swarmed around him, taking pictures. But the flashes were too bright for Stitch. He grabbed a camera and smashed it to bits. A man soaked him with a squirt gun. The blasts of water made Stitch angrier. He grabbed the tourist and hurled him through the air. Everyone ran away as fast as they could. They were frightened.

    Lilo was upset. Stitch hadn’t learned to be good. Plus, the social worker saw what had happened and worried about Lilo’s safety.
    That night, Lilo decided to talk to Stitch. “Our family’s little, now,” she told him. “But if you want, you could be part of it.”
    But Stitch knew he had made life harder for Lilo and Nani. He turned toward the window.
    â€œ ‘Ohana means family,” Lilo continued. “Family means nobody gets left behind. But if you want to leave, you can.”
    Stitch climbed out the window and headed into the night.

    When Lilo woke up, she told her sister that Stitch had left. “It’s good he’s gone,” she said, trying not to sound upset. “We don’t need him.”
    â€œLilo,” Nani consoled her, “sometimes you try your hardest, but things don’t work out the way you want them to. Sometimes things have to change…and maybe sometimes they’re for the better.” Then she left to look for a job.

    Meanwhile, Jumba had found Stitch and was chasing him through the forest. Stitch realized he didn’t want to leave, after all—Lilo was his friend. He ran back to the house.
    When Lilo saw him, she knew she had to help. “What are we going to do?” she asked.

    Together, they fought Jumba, but it was a losing battle. In the process, the aliens destroyed Lilo and Nani’s house. Lilo ran into the forest, devastated. Stitch followed her.
    â€œYou ruined everything!” she told him.
    Just then, Captain Gantu, another alien sent to capture 626, trapped them and put them in a containment pod on his ship. Stitch escaped, but the ship took off—with Lilo inside!
    Stitch knew he had to save Lilo. She was the only friend he had in the entire galaxy. He found Nani, and then he convinced Jumba and Pleakley to help them rescue Lilo. They fired up the police cruiser and raced after her.
    When they got close to Gantu’s ship, Stitch jumped out of the cruiser. He landed on the windshield and crawled toward Lilo. But Gantu managed to shake him off.
    Lilo saw her friend. “Don’t leave me, okay?” she cried.
    â€œOkay,” he replied.
    Stitch managed to get back to Gantu’s ship. He climbed through the windshield, threw Gantu off, and rescued Lilo. “You came back,” she said. “Nobody gets left behind,” he replied. He finally understood how important family was. With Lilo in his arms, Stitch leaped onto the cruiser as Nani, Jumba, and Pleakley flew by.
    They went to the beach where the Grand Councilwoman was waiting to take Stitch home. “This is my family,” Stitch said, pointing to Lilo and Nani.