Hey guys! *ducks at the flying tomatoes*

I'm soooooooo sorry for not updating sooner. I really don't have an excuse for the past month, but here they are anyways. For the past week or so, I was sick and along with school, I'm on the bowling team as well as in the AFJROTC program in my school(Air Force Junior Reserve Training Officer Corps) and I'm involved in a community service program that a friend of mine had set up. We recently did a walk for Domestic Violence and I've been working on a prequel to this story. The prequel takes place the morning after the flashback from the last chapter and sheds some light to some of the content during this chapter. I'm starting to work on it and hopefully it will be up this weekend. Again, I'm superrrrrrrrrr sorry. :3

Disclaimer: I, obviously, don't own Hawaii Five-0, but if I did, Steve would've declared his love for her in the jungle during the season finale as well as there be more Kono & Adam scenes. :3

A/N: Wow. So, if you're reading this on 10/6/13, then I apologize for not entering this earlier. I'm writing this note on 10/3/13 and won't let me submit this document until 10/6/13, so again, I apologize.

Adam's house.

She saw him smile. It was a small smile, but a smile nonetheless.

Leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed against her chest, she saw him running his thumb over a photo that they had taken together during the beginning of their blossoming relationship.

~o~

It was the morning after their encounter at the Royal Hawaiian and he had surprised her by coming up behind her, snaking his arms around her waist and giving the top of her head a slight, gentle kiss.

She had closed her eyes and let herself enjoy it, but still teased him with a, "Didn't know the infamous Adam Noshimuri was such a snuggler. I'll be sure to remember it so I can give Hawaii its next gossip topic."

He had given her a sincere laugh in return and in that moment, she had felt content, more so than when she had learned that she was going to graduate from the Police Academy.

She had stood in front of her bedroom window, looking out at the clouds floating gently across the sky, and closed her eyes again, as if, if she opened her eyes, she would wake up to find that all of this was just a dream, a wonderful and intoxicating dream.

With each slow breath, she had felt her mind begin to clear and finally noticed that Adam wasn't wearing anything else but his boxers.

She smiled a little and stated, "You didn't change."

"So?"

"Don't you have a business meeting or a major financial decision or something?" She'd turned around in his arms, his own still wrapped around her waist as his fingers interlocked together. Her idle hands left her sides and moved them along his arms. As they each met his neck, she slowly intertwined them together and looked at him with a sparkle of curiosity in her eyes.

"I do, but I already cancelled it and put it off for next week." Kono had been about to interject with her own reply of 'No, you didn't have to. Blah, blah, blah' when he had admitted, "I wanted to spend the day with you, no interferences, no thinking about Five-0, no thinking about thinking about Five-0, just us. This might be our last day together without being afraid of getting caught."

She'd given him a smile and nuzzled into his chest. He embraced her tightly and after a few seconds of comfortable silence he asked for what felt like the millionth time this morning, "Are you sure?"

She just chuckled and swatted at his chest lightly as she looked up at him. "I've already told you that I want to be with you, so stop asking me that."

He'd replied with a small smirk, "Yes, ma'am."

~o~

"That's one of my favorite pictures of us." She came out of the quiet silence and walked towards him.

"Mine too. Things were so simple then."

She stared at him incredulously and he admitted, "Okay, simpler."

"I'm gonna miss you so much, Kono."

He placed the photo on top of his duffel bag that was filled with his already folded clothes that lay rest on his bed and turned towards her.

"I've never felt the way that I do with you than I have with anybody else. I love you, Kono."

"I love you too, Adam." She hugged him tightly and shed droplets of tears onto his newly changed shirt. "16 year old you would've been so proud." She joked.

He let out a small laugh and released her from the embrace. As soon as he saw her tears, his demeanor quickly changed into concern, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just that I'm going to miss you so much."

He didn't buy it, "Come on, Kono. It's me. You can tell me anything and you know that. Tell me what's wrong."

She admired him for being so strong. She shouldn't have been the one crying and he shouldn't have been the one comforting her. She should've of been the one comforting him as he mourned and cried for the loss of his brother. He should've been packing for his escape, not being strong for her.

"It's my entire fault. Everything is my fault. I should've never come up to talk to you at the Royal Hawaiian, Adam. If I didn't, you wouldn't be in this situation."

"Kono, don't say that." He cupped her face in his hands as she tried to look away. "Please don't say that. Please, Kono. Look at me, please."

"Adam-" She began, but he interjected, "You're making it sound like you wish you'd never had met me."

She could just hear the cracks in his voice and feel his heart stop at every other beat. "I love you, Adam. I do, but l can't help but think that if I had never gotten up to talk to you, we wouldn't be in this situation. You wouldn't be in this situation."

Her tears were falling freely now and so was his.

"Kono, listen to me." He brushed a stray piece of hair away from her face and continued, "The Yakuza, Michael, and me; this outcome, would've been inevitable. I just didn't think I would've been the one to kill my own brother, but it would've happened. My personality and Michael's always have clashed and as we got older, it got more severe. With the Yakuza and our father, it was all just too much. But no matter what would've happened, I'm just glad that I have you by my side."

He pulled her closer to her, just to make sure that she wouldn't leave him. The smell of her coconut shampoo and vanilla scented lotion relaxed him as she nuzzled into his neck.

When she didn't say anything in response, he asked her, "Do you believe in destiny, Kono? Or fate?"

Confused by the sudden change of topic, she pulled away and gave a short reply of, "What?"

He let out a soft chuckle and said to her, "I believe in destiny and fate. We all end up somewhere. No matter the paths we take, no matter how many side streets and alleyways that diverge away from the original path that we take, we always end up at the same ending."

"You're sounding really Asian, you know."

He laughed at the accusation, but continued, "If you'd never blown out your knee, you wouldn't have enrolled into the police academy to become a cop. If you'd never become a cop, you would've never been in Five-0. If you never had joined Five-0, you wouldn't have known who I was that way you had done from my file. Then we wouldn't have ever met. Maybe if you hadn't blown out your knee, you wouldn't have known about the amazing food at the Royal Hawaiian and decided to go there. Everything has a cause and an effect."

She nodded.

"I believe that everything happens for a reason, Kono. I believe that life has a funny way of giving you little hints of your future ending. I believe we were meant for each other, no matter what would've happened along the way."

Kono took a few seconds to digest what he had said to her and finally replied with a witty retort of, "So you mean to tell me that every other guy that had a poster of me on their wall back in my surfing days could've had a chance with me? Or maybe they still do?"

"Nope, just me."

"That wouldn't be fair."

"Life isn't fair."

She smiled at him, "I'm glad that the only fan that I've ever fallen in love with is you."

He just looked at her with the most sincere look he'd ever given her when he said to her, "Me too, Kono." He took her by surprise again and hugged her tightly as their bodies melted together in their embrace.

"I'll be back soon, I promise. Even if the world splits in half, I'll get back to you. Forever and always, I'll be there." A gentle kiss on her head and 3 hours later, Kono found herself climbing aboard onto the freighter ship with him and whispering to him, "I'll be right beside you, forever and always."

Please review if you liked it, and also if you're looking forward to the prequel! :)