A/N – I know I've been on a sudden hiatus after just stating that I could finally write more a few months back. I've talked about it with a few people but haven't really brought it up as a collective. The week after I got back from my big inspiration vacation to Hawai'i, my grandfather suddenly passed away. We weren't expecting it, and despite wanting to go up to the hospital in the big city, I was told it wouldn't be necessary. I hadn't had a good relationship with him recently, and not being able to say good bye and apologize for all of the fights, it's been really hard on me. This story is sort of my way of coming to terms with what I'm feeling and to help me heel. I don't know if it would affect others the way it does me. But if it does, that's my warning about what this story is going to hold.

How do you even begin to process the most Earth shattering sentence in the world? Something that takes everything you've ever known and cared about and just tossed it on it's head as if it was as casual as saying 'good morning?' The nurse's voice rang in Nani's ear as the phone suddenly felt twenty times more heavy.

"What?" Was all Nani was able to say in response. Her brain struggled to even comprehend what she was just told.

"We lost them." The nurse said again. This time with a hint more compassion in his voice. "The doctor's have done everything they can. Their injuries were just too great. I'm sorry Miss. Pelekai, but we lost your parents."

The next few minutes comprised mostly of details of where to go and what to do. Even if she were to rush over to the hospital it wouldn't change what has already happened. Suddenly, each and every moment of Nani's life was evaluated in her head. Each argument, every sassy remark, all the times she blew them off to be with her friends. All the little moments that could have been cherished just a little harder. Every time she could have said she loved them and she didn't. All coming down to last night.

"I suggest you collect yourself, and any family who may need to know. Once you're ready, come to the hospital to claim them. A nurse at the front desk will be happy to help you."

She knew it had been their anniversary, and they more than deserved to have a nice quiet night out together. So much of their time and effort was put into both her and Lilo. It was amazing they could keep their sanity most days. Yet not once did they complain. All they asked was for this one night to be alone together, not realizing it would be their last.

Nani slammed the phone onto the receiver, choking back the tears that she knew would never end if she ever let them begin.

"And what do I do?" She nearly screams to herself. "I throw it back in their face."

"Please, just look after your sister. We love you." The last words her mother ever spoke to her. Ones that would forever haunt her, and bind her to her sister. Even if she didn't know it in that moment. Or even the upcoming days of mourn.

Slumping against the wall, Nani brought herself to her knees and covered her face in her arms. The salty river of her tears started to flow as she rocked herself back and forth. Only the most timid of wails escaped her lips, trying not to wake the young girl upstairs. The very thought of telling Lilo that their parents would never be coming home sent a dark sinking feeling to the pit of her stomach. Her ear twitched at the sound of the toaster going off, but any earlier notion of hunger was completely destroyed. How could she possibly feel hungry anymore? She didn't want food, she wanted her parents back.

Suddenly, the phone began to ring again, bringing with it a small spark of hope. A hopeful thought that the nurse had called the wrong house. That her parents were actually fine and that he was sorry to have worried her so much. Or perhaps it was actually her parents calling her. The storm got them stuck out on the island and they stayed at a motel or something. That they weren't able to phone because a power line had been struck down. Anything. A small piece of hope that her life wouldn't be changed. That she could take back all of her regrets. It was just enough hope to get her to reach for the phone above her head, but not stand.

"Hello?" She didn't even recognize her own voice as it left her.

"Morning, Nani." David's voice said in return.

It wasn't the nurse. It wasn't her dad. It wasn't her mother. It shattered her heart even more.

"Nani?" David said again.

"Hey."

"Are you okay?" Nani did not answer. Rather, she couldn't. And so, David continued. "So, I know you were upset about having to cancel last night. And I hope it isn't too pushy for me to phone so early like this. We just really met a little over a month ago at the dance, and it'd be too presumptuous of me to consider us 'dating' at this point. But, if you're free, I'd love it if we could-"

"My parents were in an accident last night. They didn't make it." The words escaped her lips before she even realized her brain told her to speak. Along with them, was the very last grasp on the reality she held the night before. And now the new reality had begun to finally take hold of her. "My parents are dead."

Having it repeated a second time didn't make it seem any more real to David. His throat suddenly felt clogged as he struggle to process what he had just heard. Nani could almost hear the words travel through him on the other line. After a few moments, he finally managed to get himself back together.

"I-I'm so sorry, Nani. I can't believe it." The condolences would do very little, and David knew that thoroughly. "Is there anything I can do?"

"I'll need a ride." She managed to say through a few gasps. "I need to go to the hospital and the car..."

There was no hesitation.

"I'll be right there."

The phone was hung up before Nani even had a chance to thank him. She was glad he was able to stay composed under all of this. A small twinge of guilt for pulling him in was sent through her heart. But in all honesty, she needed the support. She needed so much support. It felt like her own head was a mess being held with duct tape and wire, about to spring at any moment like an over wound jack-in-the-box. She needed someone to lean on. Someone to help support her. Someone to talk to. Someone to help her figure everything out.

Finally pulling herself from the kitchen to get into decent clothes before David arrived, her eyes caught a glimpse of the room she shared with her sister. The tall steps never looked so menacing before. And by the time she opened the door a crack, she heard the small innocent child that was Lilo stir. And she immediately backed off. Her pyjamas would do. There was no way she was going to risk waking her sister from her dream into this nightmare. Instead, her feet awkwardly made it towards the living room, subconsciously taking the route through the kitchen rather than walk past her parents room.

"What am I going to do?" Nani asked. "What's going to happen to me?" She sunk deeply into the couch from the weight of her questions. "What's going to happen to Lilo?"

It was truly just the two of them left. No other family to speak of. Their mother's parents had just passed a couple of years earlier. And their father never had a family of his own. Travelling from foster home to foster home, always staying in the system after being given up at birth. The lack of a family made him realize just how important 'ohana was. And he made sure to teach it to both of his daughters. It was always meant to be the most important thing in life. Now, their precious family had been shattered. Having just turned eighteen not too long ago, she'd be able to legally look after her sister.

"Am I ready for that?"

Graduation wasn't too long ago, and she was planning on trying to get into college. She had enough experience and wins to try and make through on some sort of surfing scholarship. Not that she actually checked that there were any. Just had hopes. And if nothing else she could always try to go pro. But she always imagined her parents there every step of the way. Now the thought of even looking for a school was more daunting than before. If she did leave, then what would happen to Lilo?

Without anyone to take care of her, she'd most likely be thrown into an orphanage or a foster home. Travelling from place to place, never feeling like she belonged. Worse even, she could feel like she was abandoned.

'Ohana means "family." "Family" means "nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten."

The mantra Nani's father repeated on a near daily basis rang through to her. There was no way she could possibly leave Lilo. No matter what were to happen, she had to look after her sister. Lilo needed her. She needed Lilo.

Like clockwork, Nani did what she could to keep herself busy until one of three things happened. Either David arrived, Lilo woke up, or this nightmare ended. As it seemed the third was not happening, and it would take David some time to drive over, the most likely to happen first was Lilo waking up. So instead, she started folding laundry.

Pick up, fold, set down. Pick up, fold, set down. Pick up, fold, set down. Pick up, fold, set down.

The meticulous task quickly took over Nani's entire being. The fluid motion was all she let her world be. A simple existence free of any pain or suffering. Just her, the clothes, and setting them in a nice organized pile. If she could, she would have stayed there forever. Just her and the clothes. A war of emotions raging through her body suddenly brought to the surface by her father's favourite shirt.

With a sudden scream, she threw the shirt across the living room knocking over a vase in the process. And as if on cue, she heard the sudden shifting blankets, followed by the squeaking of bed springs and floor boards. Lilo was up, signalling the end of her stall. There was nothing left she could do to avoid it. The situation. The reality.

"What happened?" The small voice asked.

Nani hadn't even heard her Lilo come down the stairs. All she could do was stay silent, doing everything in her power to keep from making eye contact.

"Don't worry about the vase." Lilo said. "I break that one all the time." She started picking up the pieces carefully, placing them in a pile so as not to hurt anyone. "If we hurry, we can have it fixed before Mom and Dad get home. I know where the glue is!"

Lilo started making her way towards the kitchen, only to be stopped by her sister grabbing her arm. Seeing her sister wince from her grasp, Nani quickly let go and immediately apologized.

"I'm sorry, Lilo. I-I didn't mean..."

"Where's Mom and Dad?"

The question quickly cut Nani off and brought with it a torrential storm of guilt and sadness. Lilo was smart for her age. She knew something was going on the moment she realized is was almost lunch and she didn't smell pancakes from the kitchen. Nani had no idea what to say. What could be said. Compared to this, blurting it out to David was easy. This wasn't David though. This was her sister. Her little five year old sister who was looking forward to her first day of school soon. Who just started learning how to hula at the behest of their mother. Who in no way deserved at all to hear the words, "They're not coming home."

"There was an accident last night." She continued. "It was raining... and there was an accident... and they crashed... and they're not coming back."

If their was sadness in Lilo's voice, Nani couldn't hear it. She knew it was their, but she couldn't hear it.

"You said they would be okay." Lilo said. "It got really bad last night, but you said they'd be okay! You said they would be okay!" She got louder and louder with each declaration. The pain quickly took hold of her. "You said they would be okay!"

"I-I thought they would be, Lilo. I had no idea."

"You said they'd be okay!"

"Lilo, I..." Nani went to pull Lilo in a hug, but instead was pushed away.

"Don't touch me." Lilo turned and ran back to their room. "You liar. I knew we should have gone after them. This is all your fault!"

All Nani heard was the slam of the door and the faint sound of crying coming from upstairs. She was completely rooted to the spot. It hadn't gone exactly as she had thought it would. But a voice in her head told her there wasn't really any other way it could have gone. Lilo was right. Once the storm began she had suggested they go after their parents. But Nani said they would be fine, and truly they had no way to go find them. They took the car and with the storm it would have been impossible to walk. A complete and tragic hand of fate had been dealt to them. One that they, no, that she would have to live with for the rest of their lives.

Soon, David arrived, bringing with him as much comfort as he could. Lilo eventually returned from the room, eyes red and puffy from crying, and apologized. It was a hard morning for all of them. And it only became harder as they made their way to the hospital. The next couple of weeks was going to be a large hurdle in their lives. But it would be one they would over come together. It had to be. 'Ohana means "Family." Family" means "nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten." The Pelekai parents would never be forgotten. And would always be with both Nani and Lilo. Perhaps not in the way they initially would have liked. But they would always be there with them.

A/N- This was an extremely hard thing for me to write. While it is not an exact copy of what had happened to me, it does play very much from the events I had gone through. A lot of the thoughts and feelings I faced I projected onto Nani, and played it more to how I imagine it happened for them. There is very little record of my feelings towards my grandfather. And I wanted to immortalize that in some way. The story I have written ends here. What follows are my final words to and of my grandfather that I had had spoken at his funeral. This is my way of finally coming to terms with everything. And perhaps I can now begin to heal and move on. Thank you all so much for reading.

I'll always remember Grandpa for the type of person he was.

Proud, stubborn, and never one to shy away from giving his opinion.

But I'll also always remember that he was the type of person to do absolutely anything for his family. There wasn't a single time I would be in his house that I didn't hear, "Are you hungry? Jeannette, make him a sandwich." No matter what time of day, or if I said I had already ate, it was always the same thing. And then, when I met Calli and we both went over there. At least two times a visit, "Are you two hungry? Jeannette, make them a sandwich." It was always good to know we would never go hungry.

It wasn't just food though. If you ever needed anything he'd always be one to help without a second thought. You wouldn't even need to ask before he would offer. You could be helping him with something just because it's the right thing to do, and he wouldn't let you go without compensation. And you could never say no to him either. I'm not sure how many times I left his house with more money than I went in, but he knew it would help in some way. And that's one of the things I'll miss most about him. His overwhelming desire to help.

I feel that because I was the grandchild that lived in the same city, I took for granted the opportunity I had to spend time with him. Even though I did spend as much time with him as I really could, in hindsight, there's always the one extra time. The one extra phone call you could have made. The one last thing you could have done. For a few years I went over to his house at least once a week to either mow the lawn or shovel the walk. And in those times, I could have spent just a few more minutes visiting.

But we can't think about the things we could have done, or should have done. It's about the time that you did spend. The phone calls you did share. And all the things you did that you didn't really have to do. Those are the moments that matter. In the end, Grandpa wouldn't have wanted any of us to have any regrets over him. He would still be more worried about us. We shouldn't be sad over his passing, because we were truly blessed to have known him.

There are many lessons from Grandpa that I'll keep close to my heart. But as I stated before, what I'll take away the most is the care and love you put into your family. To quote my favourite movie, "Family means nobody get's left behind. Or forgotten." And I can assure you, there is no way I'll ever forget my Grandpa Phil.

At this time, when I think of him after his passing. My most vivid memory of him, is him sitting on a chair in the back yard, the sun beating down particularly hard as it does every summer. And he just has the biggest smile on his face. Either from the visit, or from how proud he was of that back yard of his. Either way, that smile as you say your good-byes will always what stands out the most to me.