Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of this work of fiction and no profit, monetary or otherwise, is being made through the writing of this.
A/N: Spoiler alert for the season premiere (season three); written for cottoncandy_bingo square: sandcastles.
Grace gathers her pink pail and plastic shovel from the back seat of her father's car. She's looking forward to spending the day with her father's work ohana, and though she's just a little too old for the shovel and pail set, she's got this cool idea for a castle that she wants to build.
In her mad dash to the beach fronting Uncle Steve's property, she grabs Uncle Chin's hand and tugs him along with her. She ignores his startled, "Ugh," and propels the both of them forward.
Chin stumbles along beside her, his hand squeezing hers a little too tightly, and the sunglasses he's wearing cover more than just his eyes. Or at least that's what it feels like to Grace who takes a quick peek at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Grace!" Danno calls after her.
"Uncle Chin and I are going to build a sandcastle," she calls over her shoulder.
They come to a halt where wild grass meets sand, and Grace pulls her Uncle Chin down onto the soft sand with her. Both of them land on their knees, Grace a little more steadily than Chin who wavers a little on his knees before gaining his balance, and straightening.
"Hey monkey," Danno says, kneeling beside the two of them.
Her father's eyes aren't on her though, they're on Uncle Chin, and Grace cranes her neck to take in the both of them. Danno's eyes are sad, the blue in them stormy, like the sky when it's thundering and lightning. She doesn't like it when Danno's eyes are blustery.
"Danno?" Grace isn't sure what's happening, why her father is exchanging dark, mysterious looks with Uncle Chin over her head.
"Monkey, I think Uncle Chin might not be in the mood to build sandcastles with you," Danno says. Even his smile looks sad, and Grace frowns.
She knows why Uncle Chin's sad, why his hands are loose fists hanging at his sides, why his face is so tight and pale. It's because Auntie Malia's dead – Danno told her, and she knows that she's not supposed to talk about it, that she's not supposed to mention her name. She knows that Uncle Chin feels lost without her, the way that Grace would feel lost if her Danno or Mom died.
"That's okay, Danno," Grace says, smiling as big as she can, because she doesn't want to add to the sadness. Her plan is to make Uncle Chin feel better, not worse. "Uncle Chin doesn't have to help me build the sandcastle if he doesn't want to. I just thought he might like to join me."
"Thank you Grace," Uncle Chin's voice is a soft whisper when he speaks, and his smile pushes his sunglasses up a little and Grace can see that his eyes are bloodshot.
He's been crying, probably lots, and it makes Grace's heart hurt. She wants to do something to make him feel better, but doesn't know what to do. Her sandcastle plan seems to be falling through, and she wishes that people didn't have to die, that her Uncle Chin's heart hadn't been broken.
"So, what's the plan here monkey?" Danno asks, and he sits down beside her, burying his toes in the sand. When he turns to her, his smile is almost its usual self, his eyes a little less thundery.
Grace bites her bottom lip and tucks a stubborn piece of hair behind her ear. It never seems to want to stay in place no matter what she does. She sets her pail and shovel down on the sand, positioning it in the middle of all three of them.
"Well, I was thinking that we could build a sandcastle," Grace says, and suddenly she's not so sure that this was a very good idea after all.
But then Chin reaches for the pail and walks to the edge of the ocean. He stands there for a little bit, looking out at something that Grace cannot see, and lets the water lap at his feet as he bends down to scoop wet sand into the pail.
When he stands, pail of sand hanging loosely in his hand, the ocean swirling around his feet, Grace hefts herself to her feet and brushes the sand off her sundress. She hesitates just a little, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, eyes darting toward Danno, who nods, and then she makes her way toward Chin.
Grace isn't sure what to do at first, but she does what she thinks her Danno would do. She stands beside Uncle Chin and reaches out for the hand that isn't holding the pail, entwining her fingers with his.
They stand there hand-in-hand, silent sentinels looking out to sea. The ocean's waves grasp at the hem of Grace's dress, and the sand shifts beneath her feet as it's pulled out from underneath her when the water hurries back to its home.
Uncle Chin's hand grips hers more firmly when she loses her footing, and he hoists her up and out of the water, letting her sit on his hip. Grace wraps her arms around his middle, hugging him as he walks them back to where Danno is waiting, plastic shovel in hand, surrounded by a deep moat and upturned piles of dry sand.
Danno reaches for her, but Chin hands him the pail instead, and he sets her down on the sand, just inside the circle that her father has made, tucking the stubborn piece of hair behind her ear once again. The land Danno's allotted for their castle is just big enough for the three of them, and, after a moment's hesitation, Uncle Chin steps over the edge of the moat, kneels in the sand and takes the pail from Danno. He upends it on the flat surface of the sand, and expertly pats it on the sides and top to loosen the packed sand enough to slide the pail up off and keep the cylindrical shape for the base of their castle.
It's perfect, not a single crack or crumbling edge, and Grace is in awe. "How'd you do that?"
Uncle Chin taps her on the temple. "Family secret." There's the hint of a smile on his face.
"Can you teach me?"
Chin seems to take it under serious consideration before nodding slowly.
"What? Am I chopped liver? What about my moat?" Danno asks, pouting, and Grace rolls her eyes.
"Anyone can dig in the sand, Danno," she says, and giggles when Danno crosses his arms over his chest and leans back on his heels.
"Oh, anyone can dig a moat? I didn't see either of you two helping me dig this trench, and since when does it take two people to get a single pail of sand?"
"Danno, all of our castles always end up crumbling or with cracked edges," Grace reminds him, and she points at the perfect castle base, "Uncle Chin's doesn't even have a single grain of sand out of place."
"Not a…" Danno throws his hands up in the air and shakes his head, "not a single grain of sand out of place? An entire moat, five feet in diameter, and four inches deep, dug single-handedly, mind you, and I get nothing, no recognition. But Uncle Chin can upend a bucket without losing a lone grain of sand and you're all over him with the adulation."
Out of the corner of her eye, Grace can see Chin's lips tug up at the edges of his mouth, but, very seriously, he says, "It is a skill which requires much finesse, unlike digging a ditch, which, as Grace pointed out, anyone can do."
Danno reaches over and plucks Grace up into the air, tickling her. He twirls her around before setting her down once again. She's laughing, her hands clutching at her sides, and Chin, shaking his head, picks up the pail and walks to where the wet sand is. Grace skips over to him, and together they make the trip to and from the water's edge at least a dozen more times. Each time, Chin's upended pail of sand makes a perfect replica of the inside of the bucket.
Danno keeps up a steady stream of complaints as his hard work of sculpting and etching the castle 'into shape,' go largely underappreciated with Grace carefully studying Chin's every move, asking him questions and attempting to copy his technique. For his part, Chin is a devoted teacher, taking the time to show Grace what to do, and guide her as she makes one attempt after another to achieve perfection. When her first few attempts fail, he gently corrects her, and encourages her to try again until she gets it right. And, when she does get it right, Chin gathers her up in a hug.
"I'm proud of you Kako`o," he whispers in her ear, and then they wend their way to the ocean's mouth, gather another pail of sand and bring it back to Danno.
The sun is dipping its first rays into the ocean when the trio begins to put the finishing touches on their three-story castle. Uncle Chin's laughing at Danno's latest rant, which Grace is only lending half an ear to because she's secretly been keeping an eye on her Uncle Chin, watching as his sadness is slowly displaced by something else. His sunglasses are sitting on the beach towel outside their moat, and Grace can see that the smile on his face reaches up to his eyes.
The sun sets in a vast array of colors – blood-orange edged with lavender, the sun dripping gold. It casts its waning light upon the castle, giving it an otherworldly glow that has the three of them sitting back and simply admiring the work that they've done. Grace is sitting on Chin's lap, his arms are wrapped around her in a loose hug; Danno's got an arm draped across Chin's back, and he's leaning against the other man, head resting on his shoulder; and the sandcastle, in all its glory, sits before them.
Grace reaches up to grasp her father's hand, interlacing their fingers; the two of them encircle Uncle Chin. She twists on his lap so that she can see both of their faces. The castle is reflected in Chin's brown eyes. Her father's eyes, focused on Chin, are no longer dark and stormy. Grace smiles, because her plan worked, and Uncle Chin is a little less sad than he was before they built the sandcastle.
A flash of unexpected light, eerily green, steals their breath, and garners a soft, "Ah," of wonder from her father, and a squeal of glee from her. The grin that stretches across Chin's face is filled with reverence, and devoid of sorrow. A second flash, bright and white, momentarily blinds them, even as it captures this moment that the sun disappears into the ocean.
Uncle Steve, camera in hand, and a grin on his face ushers them to the lanai where he's got burgers and hotdogs waiting for them. Aunty Kono's there with salad and fruit. There's laughter and shared stories, and Uncle Chin's mouth is not strained and taut around the edges like it was when Grace last saw him.
The sandcastle, with its many towers – fashioned by a plastic cup that Uncle Steve had donated to the cause – mans its station on the beach. Cloaked in shadow, it stands tall and proud. A plumeria flower, Kono's contribution, acts as a flag, and reflects the moonlight.
Malia's name, lovingly engraved with the pointed edge of a seashell, adorns the main turret. Facing the ocean, it remains for some time, even as the rest of the castle begins to erode when the tide comes in. Grace sits between Danno and her Uncle Chin, and they watch until the last of the castle melts beneath the gentle waves, and Malia's name is claimed by the ocean. Grace has one hand firmly in her father's, and the other in Chin's, and she thinks that there's no other place that she'd rather be than with her father and his ohana.