25 Words of Lilo and Dib

01. Love

Lilo glared at Dib on the monitor. “How could you run off without saying goodbye? Without even leaving a note?”
Dib didn’t have the grace to look guilty. Instead he looked surprised and bemused.
“I didn’t think you’d care.”
“What?” shrieked Lilo. “Of course I care, you idiot! I love you!”

02. Hate

“Is it true that you and Lilo are dating?” asked Nosy. “’Cause French Fry said that you two are always eating shave ice together, and Gigi said-”
“Look,” interrupted Dib, “I’ve run out of money to bribe you to shut up, but can you please shut up anyway?”

03. Pain

“Here.” Lilo handed Dib a tube of sunscreen. “Don’t forget it next time. It hurts me to look at you.”

04. Joy

Dib knew he should feel sorry for making Lilo worry, but all he felt was joy.
Lilo said she loved him.

05. Fear

“I can’t go with you to look for the night watchers tonight.”
“Why not?”
“It’s raining.”

06. Trust

On his own, Dib never would have trusted a self-proclaimed evil genius alien. It was only Lilo’s trust that made him reconsider.

07. Betray

“You’re actually going to buy a ticket to see that?” Dib’s eyes widened and he shook his head slightly. “Why?”
“Only to mock it and ruin it for the fans,” said Lilo. “It could be fun.”
“It’s still not worth giving that company any money. It’ll only encourage them to make more movies, and they’ll spread even more lies about vampires and werewolves!”

08. Promise

Dib opened the door to the space hotel room. It was like a regular hotel, but IN SPACE.
“Aloha Dib,” chirped Lilo. “I’m glad I found you.”
“Wha- How did you get here so fast?”
“Oh, I took the new super-powered teleporter that Jumba’s been working on.”
“Isn’t that still very experimental? You could have been hurt.”
“I was willing to take that chance. I made a promise to always be there to help when you’re in trouble.”
“But I’m not in trouble.”
“Oh, you will be."

09. Appreciate

“Thanks for coming,” said Dib.
“You’re welcome.” Lilo grinned. “Let’s go find Zim.”

10. Annoy

“How can people not notice the GIANT WALKING SHARK?” demanded Dib.
Lilo glanced at Gantu, who had come back to Kauai to visit. “Jumba’s anti-detection device works for him too.”
Gantu nodded. “That was good of him to help me blend in.”
“Blend in? You’re eighteen feet tall!” Dib paused, scratching his head. “Although, sometimes you seem more like ten feet tall.”
Gantu beamed. “See, that means Jumba’s device is working!”
“But you’re still a shark! You have no nose and those fleshy horn things instead of ears!”
“No one notices little things like that when you dress hip,” said Lilo.
“Huh?”
As if on cue, a young woman passed by and smiled at Gantu. “Nice wetsuit!”
“Thank you,” said Gantu, clasping his hands behind his back and trying to look modest.
Dib planted his face in both palms, because one palm wasn’t enough.

11. Death

Dib and Lilo stared in horror and revulsion at the limp, battered Irken laying on the cell floor. Lilo fought to contain her nausea when she saw the raw gouges in Zim’s face and scalp.
“Is he dead?”

12. Blooda

Some of Zim’s gashes oozed blood the color of hibiscus leaves.
“I don’t think it’s safe to move him,” said Lilo.
Dib looked paler than usual, but he set his jaw. “We can’t leave him here in this cell. He’ll only get worse.”
Lilo nodded. “Okay, we’ll just have to move him as gently as possible.”

13. Grave

Dib squeezed Lilo’s hand as they gazed at her parents’ headstone.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore, not like it used to. But I still miss them.”

14. Life

The first thing that struck Dib about Hawaii was not its warmth, but how full of life it was. And that was before he’d seen the experiments.

15. Breath

“Lilo…You can let go now. I can’t breathe.”
“Then how are you talking?”

16. Mind

Lilo invited Dib to her house to watch a marathon of old Japanese sci-fi movies. Near the end of the first film, Dib stretched and casually (at least he hoped) put his arm around Lilo’s shoulders. To his delight, she leaned into him.
“Beautiful!” squealed Pleakley.
Dib and Lilo swiveled their heads to see him operating an ancient camera on a tripod.
“Don’t mind me,” he said. “I’m just filming the sequel to my documentary on Earthling relationships. Keep doing what you’re doing.”

17. Think

Lilo rolled her eyes and sighed.
“I think we should finish the marathon at my house,” suggested Dib.

18. Share

“I didn’t mean to share my cold with you,” said Dib. “You can have the rest of my tissues.”

19. Toy

Lilo blinked in surprise at Dib’s outburst. “I was talking about Scrump’s head, not yours.”
“Oh.” Dib’s face reddened. “Sorry, it’s a defensive reflex.”

20. Guard

Dib was still guarded around most of the alien experiments; by all accounts it seemed like they could be turned from bad to good like a switch. Who could say that one of them couldn’t turn bad again?

21. Moonlight

“Did you bring the wolfsbane?”
Lilo held up the plant. “Check. And I see you brought the werewolf catcher. Let’s do this.”

22. Sunshine

“It’s just an average yellow sun that gives Superman his powers,” said Lilo. “I don’t see how it could be the hottest sun in the universe.”
“Oh, but it is!” said Zim. “And it gets hotter every stinking Earth year!” He pointed at Lilo first, then at Dib. “I know you’re making it hotter on purpose to melt the paste off my skin!”
Dib rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’m purposely heating our sun just to make you uncomfortable.”
Zim didn’t seem to catch Dib’s sarcasm. “Well, your own sun is burning your horrible head, so joke’s on you!”

23. Wish

“I wished on a shooting star once. But it didn’t come true, so I gave up wishing.”
“What did you wish for?”
“I wished that I could convince just one person that aliens were real.”

24. Undecided

Carrying Zim’s body between them, Dib and Lilo found the hallway blocked by robot guards.
“Great, now what do we do?”

25. Heaven

Meeting someone who was nice to him and listened to what he had to say - that was heaven to Dib.