Author's Note: This started off as me wanting to delve into Danny and Kono's relationship; but then I realized just how much I've been wanting to incorporate Grace into a story. Hint: it's been a really long time. She's just so sweet and blissfully innocent in that childish way that it's a joy to write her. And plus, in a story that's bringing the angst (like this one), I think we could all use a character as sweet and refreshing as her. So, that being said, I do hope you enjoy this; thank you for the time you put into reading and reviewing, it's always sincerely appreciated!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any of its characters.

The Hawaiian air was unusually still and cool on the men's skin as they sat quiet and unmoving on Steve's lanai. Their beers were untouched, forgotten; but the memories of her weren't. They had yet to subject each other to much discussion about the events that had taken place in the previous week, but it was obvious by the tense set of their shoulders that they were all simultaneously on edge – waiting for someone, anyone, to broach the subject and let the floodgates come crashing down.

As if on cue, startling blue waves crashed against the shore, scattering snow-white foam over and into the sand. Chin heaved a sigh at the sight; if she had been there with them, they would all have been able to hear her from miles away, going off about wave height and her morning surf and just how much she had missed the water, her precious water.

Steve's fingers tightened around the glass neck of his rapidly warming bottle. The ocean looked so sweet; he couldn't help but close his eyes and imagine the two of them racing out to catch wave after wave, just like they had nearly every morning. He wasn't quite so sure how it had become a habit for them, a sacred ritual, but he found himself missing it now and the pain settled right in the bottom of his heart.

In the end, it wasn't any of the men that finally broke the steely quiet. Rather, it was a loving eight year old with wide unassuming eyes and a shave ice at her side. As if able to sense the mood around her, though, Grace's voice was nearly silent when she spoke up. "Danno?"

Danny cleared his throat against the sudden tightness that had manifested there. "Yes, baby?" he managed, bringing long calloused fingers to pinch his brow. When he didn't hear a response, however, he looked down worriedly, where his daughter had been playing with seashells at his feet. "Gracie?"

Grace thought sullenly for a minute longer before finally setting her shells down and untangling her small hands from the sturdy thread Steve had given her to make a necklace. "Danno, why can't I take lessons with Auntie Kono anymore?"

In less than a heartbeat, Danny was wrecked. He didn't have to look up at his friends to know his expression was mirrored on their tired faces. "Grace -"

But the little girl paid no heed. "She told me that I was getting really good and that...that I had a lot of potential." She sniffled a little, but didn't cry. "And it was fun. We were just about to try bigger waves." Her beautiful gaze sought her father's. "Daddy, please?"

"Gracie, sweetheart, you can't," Danny said, leaning forward to lift his little girl onto his lap. Her weight was a comfortable one; it was just what he needed as he struggled to explain something that even he was just beginning to understand. "And this time, it's not because I said so."

Grace blinked, confusion etched in her pretty features as she looked from her fathers to the two men on his either side. "Are you still taking lessons with her?"

"No," Danny said regretfully after a beat. "No, I'm not."

That caught her attention. "How come?"

"Because..." He grimaced, then dropped a kiss to the top of her head. "Because Auntie Kono isn't on the island anymore, monkey."

"What do you mean?" Grace wriggled in his lap, craning her head as if, if she looked around enough, she'd find Kono hiding behind a chair or buried in the sand. "Where did she go?"

"I..." At a loss for words, Danny finally looked to Steve. But it was Chin who spoke first.

"She...had to go away for a little while, Grace." He tried for a smile, though it didn't quite meet his eyes. "Think of it like a vacation."

Grace was silent for the longest moment. Then: "Is she all by herself?"

Steve shook his head, trying, too, for a smile at the girl's obviously sweet concern. "No, she's not alone," he said gently, thumbing her chubby cheek. Not with us here, she'll never be alone. "She's with her good friend Adam. And my mom is there with them. They'll be safe," he added on as an afterthought, though Grace hadn't asked. Later, he would realize that he had said it aloud for the sake of Danny, Chin, and himself; for the sole sake of making the sentiment all the more real.

"What's she doing?" As young as she was, Grace couldn't stop with the questions; not if it meant something was happening to the woman who was practically her best friend. "When is she going to come back?"

"We don't know that for sure, monkey," Danny said wearily, and there it was: the crushing truth they had been trying to ignore, to put off for a much later date. Only a child as innocent as the one before them would have been able to draw the story from them. "There might be bad guys after her friend and we just want to make sure that Uncle Steve, Uncle Chin, and I get them and save the day so she can come back and start giving you – us – surfing lessons again," Danny said, hoping beyond hope that his daughter's innocent nature wouldn't be marred by ugly tragedy. Not for a long time, not ever. "How does that sound?"

"Okay," Grace finally resented. It was with a longing glance back at the Pacific that she gave a little sigh of her own. "I miss her, Danno."

"Trust me, baby, we miss her too." Danny held Grace to him tighter imperceptibly then; if she noticed, she didn't utter a word. "We miss her a lot."

Steve bit his bottom lip hard enough to taste blood, and he winced at the pain – though, at the very least, it reassured him he was alive. "It's not forever," Kono had promised him, and now, he was hanging onto that promise with everything he had in him. "It's weird not being able to see her everyday," Steve murmured eventually.

"Yeah." Chin said nothing further; he couldn't say anything further, not when he had grown so accustomed to spending time with her and never leaving her side. Through thick and thin, childhood, adolescence, adulthood...they had always been together.

She had always been there. And she would return to them, they all knew it; but it wouldn't been soon enough.

When it came down to the line, Chin didn't regret telling Steve not to stop her from leaving, nor did he regret leaving her in Adam's charge or having his whisper of "aloha" – that flighty word with three meanings, all of which made sense at the time – get carried away on the wind.

Sometimes, Chin did wonder how life would have been like if she hadn't blown out her knee. But somehow, he knew as well that this family they had carved out for themselves, this law enforcement ohana...it was simply meant to be.

Like she had in the very beginning, Grace cut through the tension of heavy thoughts with the ease of the blissfully oblivious. "Can we go pick seashells, Daddy?" she asked, hopping off his lap with such determination that caught the Jersey native off guard. She tugged at his hand insistently. "I want to find a really pretty one and save it for Auntie Kono."

It was Danny's turn to feel a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. "Sure, Gracie, we can do that," he said, rising to his feet. He watched with shining eyes, beyond proud of his little girl, as she hurriedly finished her shave ice and made to scurry off with him toward the water. "I think she'll really like it," he said, quieter this time.

"I hope so," Grace said sincerely, waving Steve and Chin over. "It'll be a present from all of us, come on!"

"She won't just like it," Chin said to no one in particular, as he and Steve followed in their wake. Carefully, he kneeled in the sand and fingered the smooth surface of a cowrie shell. "Kono will love it; I just know it." If he closed his eyes hard enough, he could hear a conversation from seemingly a lifetime ago, one in which he had told her he trusted her instincts – and always would. Follow your heart, he had said.

He just hoped she would follow it back home, and soon.

THE END.

Author's Note: If you guys are interested, I could potentially see myself writing an accompaniment piece for this, probably once season four comes back in September – or maybe (most likely) even sooner. Just thinking about writing a Grace/Kono story is making me smile. But anyway, I sure hope you guys found this enjoyable and I would certainly love to hear what you think! I am always grateful for your time and feedback. Much love!