Just a wee one-shot that popped into my noodle whilst procastinating. DISCLAIMER: no really, I own nothing. The fricken show isn't even on DVD yet so I don't even own a tiny bit of it! :)


Uh-uh. No way. Danno hasn't left us, I don't care what Momma says.

I wasn't too unhappy when Momma told me that we were going back to New Jersey. I mean, I started getting really excited when I thought about seeing Gran'ma again, and Aunty Ruth and my best friend Sophie, and I didn't mind leaving Step-Stan behind. The best part though, was that Danno was comin' with us. We were gonna be a family again!

Momma was being kinda squirrelly before we left. She'd been sick a few times, even though she tried to hide it, but she can't hide anything from me. I think she's worried about going back to Jersey and Danno going back to the police department over there, and I know that her and Gran'ma didn't always get along. She's been cryin' a whole lot too, mostly at night after I've gone to bed. Danno says that its naughty to earwig, no matter how good the reasons, but I can still hear everything anyways. Still, she never lets me see her get upset, just the same as Danno does.

Must be hard being a grown-up.

So we were sneaking around, although Momma kept telling me that we weren't, and we weren't supposed to let Step-Stan know that we were leaving (but Momma said that wasn't true either). Momma said I could pack some of my toys but not everything, and that Mr Hoppy had to stay behind. It wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be, packing up my toys an' all – I just grabbed a few Barbies and my Cabbage Patch baby Elizabeth, and a GI Joe that Uncle Steve gave me, even though Momma tried to take it out of my suitcase I snuck it back in. I asked Momma if Aunty Kono could look after Mr Hoppy for me, but she told me that Danno and Uncle Steve would take care of all the rest of our stuff.

So Danno had organised everything for us to go back to Jersey. I was gonna miss Hawaii, but Danno always says that it's family what's important and not where you live, and it will be nice to be back with Gran'ma and Pa, and have Momma and Danno together again. We had to wait though, until Step-Stan was off looking at his new hotel before we could leave. I didn't understand why, but Momma said it was because it would make her too sad to say good-bye because even though we were leaving she still loved him, just not the way she loves Danno.

Now we're here at the airport. We've been waiting outside for so long, but its okay because I called Danno and he said that he had to go and stop Uncle Steve from doin' something stupid but he would make it to the airport in plenty of time and not to worry. So I'm not worried, but I can tell Momma is. She's trying to pretend like everything's fine but I know she's starting to freak out. She keeps looking at her watch, checking her phone, and looking for Danno's car, before she looks at her watch again. We wait outside for a while and then she stands up straight and gets her 'Stern Mommy' face on, and grabs my hand and starts pulling me inside. I gotta walk real fast to keep up with her, even though I want to wait.

The flight attendant at the counter is super nice and I do all the talking, 'cause Momma's got that look where she looks like she might start to cry if she opens her mouth. She just keeps looking back over her shoulder like she expects Danno to walk up and then looks disappointed when she doesn't see him. The flight attendant keeps talking and then hands me the tickets, and I feel like a real grown up because she's not talking to me like I'm a little kid. This time its me that takes Momma's hand and I pull her away from the counter. I hold her hand really tightly, and say to her, "Don't worry Momma, Danno won't miss the plane!" I don't think she hears me.

If this is what being a grown up feels like, I don't think I want to be one.

People are everywhere at the gate. It looks like half of Hawaii wants to fly to Newark and I say so to Momma, tryin' to make her smile. She looks down at me and gives me a kind of smile, like the smile you make when you're really sad but you want everyone else to think that you're happy. The flight attendants start checking peoples tickets and letting people on the plane. Momma keeps looking around, standing up on tip-toe to try and see over the people's heads. She's getting really worried now. Pretty soon we're the last ones left, and it looks like they're waiting for us. Momma's holding my hand so hard she's practically breaking it. I think she's crying.

The flight attendant checking everyone in says to us that she's real sorry but we have to get on the plane now 'cause they're ready to go. I hear Momma whisper, "I deserve this," but when I look up at her to ask her what she means she's got this look on her face that makes me sad. I want to ring Danno and find out where he is, but there's no time. We have to go because if we miss this plane then Gran'ma will be cranky because Pa is driving to pick us up and he doesn't like it when plans get changed at the last minute.

There must be something wrong with Danno's team because there's no way that he would just forget us without even a phone call. The flight attendant on the plane helped me and Momma get settled in our seats and it wasn't too long until we took off. Momma's crying for real now and she's not even trying to hide it from me, so that's how I know she's feelin' real bad.

I'm sad too, but I know that it's gonna be okay. He made a promise to me and I know he'll keep it no matter what. Danno hasn't forgotten us. Whatever it takes, Danno'll come for me.