Once Tani and Junior arrested Alvarez everything went quite fast. Steve, Danny and Lou came right after with Livia and then took Alvarez to the headquarter for an interrogation. He tried to deny the fact that he had murdered the Garcia, but Noelani confirmed that the bullets in his gun matched the ones found on the crime scene, therefore he had no other choice but to confess. After that, he was taken into custody by the HPD until his trial and the team, as well as Gemma, Livia and Leo went to celebrate at Kamekona's.
While Livia, Junior and Leo were playing with a red ball on the beach, the others were sitting at a wooden table, waiting for Kamekona's food to come fill their stomachs.
"What will happen to us now ?" Gemma asked as she watched her little sister giggling at Leo and Junior who were making funny faces.
"You both will go back to the children's center as you were before." Steve said "You're safe now that Alvarez is behind bars. Concerning the money your mom hid somewhere on this island, we're just gonna pretend we never heard of it. "
Gemma nodded "Thanks to all of you..."
"Anytime !" Tani exclaimed "You know, you can always crash at my place now that you know where I live ! Besides, as you like to run away a lot, come see me once in a while !"
The teenage girl chuckled and so did the team.
"Sure, I will ! Livia and I will be coming to see all of you, if you'll allow us. I think she's really getting attached to all of you. You know, everyone that cares at least just a little for us... is Ohana."
Tani turned to look at Gemma with puppy eyes before she hugged her so hard that the teen almost suffocated. "Commander, can't we just adopt this kid already ?! I mean, I always wanted a little sister ! Not that Koa is not enough but, ugh, it's a dude, know what mean ?"
Steve smiled and took a sip of his beer "I already have two kids to take care of, Junior and you, the nice kiddo and the tough brat. Actually, three, Eddie counts."
Tani pouted and the others laughed. As she was trying to dispute the 'tough brat' of McGarrett, Kamekona arrived his hands full of paper plates filled with shrimps, rice and other foodstuffs that made everyone speechless and hungry.
"I'll call the guys and Livia." Tani said as she got up from the wooden table and headed towards the beach.
"So, did you talk to Gemma again about the Navy ?" Junior asked Leo as he threw the beachvolley ball in the air.
"I did." the young man nodded "We had a long conversation as you were all busy with Alvarez. I think I managed to convince her but I know she's still a bit mad at me deep down."
"At least, she knows why you're doing this now, she knows you're doing this for her." Junior added.
Livia caught the ball before staring at Leo "Can you also tell me why ?" she asked. "I agree with Gem, I don't want you to leave..."
Leo sat in the sand next to the little girl and took her tiny hand in his "I want to make you and Gemma happy, Liv... If I join the Navy I'll have a better wage than I have now as a mechanic, do you understand ?"
As Livia was being gloomy after what Leo just said, Junior came to sit next to them and started making funny faces to make her smile again.
"You look like a baby dinosaur when you squint !" she exclaimed bursting into laughter.
"WHAAAT ?! Seriously ?! A baby dinosaur !"
The ex Navy SEAL looked at the kid with wide eyes before turning to Leo who approved while giggling.
"Yeah !" Livia screamed. "Leo, do it ! I want to know what you look like when you squint too !" she ordered.
The young man did what he was told and squinted.
"I think you look like a pigeon !" the kid exclaimed while she laughed even more.
This time Junior and Leo also burst into laughter and they all squinted together making strange animal noises. After a while, they saw Tani coming up to them and stoppped laughing.
"Guys, food is ready." she said.
Leo and Livia almost instantly got up before running towards the others as if they hadn't eaten for days, leaving Tani and Junior alone on the beach.
"Having fun ?" she asked as she watched Junior getting up.
"Yup, apparently I look like a baby dinosaur when I squint !" he exclaimed dusting the sand off his body.
Tani grinned "Please, let me see that !"
The ex Navy SEAL hesitated a few seconds before doing it. As Tani chuckled, he immediately understood that Livia didn't lie to him and got a little flustered.
"Anyways, let's go eat." he said trying to forget that he just did that for her.
He started to head towards Kamekona's truck but Tani caught his arm with the same gentle grip of last night when she leaded him to her bedroom. He didn't know why his heart missed a beat when their eyes met again that time.
"Are you still mad at me about today ?" she asked in a whisper.
Junior sighed and turned around to face her properly. "Of course not, why would you think that ?"
Tani crossed her arms "Well you didn't tell me Ashley asked you on a date ! So I assumed you were still mad..."
Junior looked at her, surprised that she knew about this "How do you know ?"
Tani shrugged. "She told me ! And she did right, because obviously you were not gonna tell me !"
"I was ! I just... I just I had my mind somewhere else this afternoon. I was probably too focused on the case." he said smiling at her childish reaction.
The truth was : he couldn't say otherwise. He couldn't tell Tani he had been more focused on the fact that she could have been hurt by a psychopath than the case itself.
"Sorry I didn't tell you." he said trying to shut down the little voice in his head that was saying the opposite of what was actually coming out of his mouth.
He knew he wasn't sorry at all deep down. He actually wished Tani never knew about Ashley asking him out. Or maybe he didn't tell her on purpose just to see how she would react. Was it wrong to do this ?
"I'm a bit nervous to be honest..." he said walking by her side along the beach to join the others.
No, what he was truly nervous about was Tani knowing about this date, that if he had been true to himself would have never agreed to go to.
"Listen, there's nothing to be nervous about." she tried to reassure him. "Ashley is a really good person, and so are you. Two good people together would be just right, don't you think ?"
Junior nodded "Okay, but what if it doesn't work ?"
"What if it does ?" Tani replied.
"You always have all the answers don't you ?"
The brunette sighed "Could you please just stop answering my question by another question ?"
"Am I ?"
"Damn it Junes !" Tani exclaimed.
The Navy SEAL giggled and put his hands up in the air in sign of surrender "Okay okay, I'll stop. I was just messing around with you."
Tani suddenly stopped walking and turned to him with her hands on her thighs "Thank you! Plus, maybe she's the one ! Who knows ?! So stop asking yourself questions and just go for it ! Go for this date and see what it does !"
The ex Navy SEAL nodded.
As Tani saw him smiling and staring into space, she thought that he was thinking about the gorgeous police officer he was going to meet tomorrow night and suddenly, it was like something in her just snapped.
"It's probably noting" she thought as she turned to watch the sun slowly drowning in the ocean.
What they were both far from knowing at that time was that he actually smiled because of her.
After a few seconds, he also turned towards the water but, without really knowing it, he was not looking at the beautiful colors that were painting the sky that evening. He had eyes on something else.
1) Hey guys hope you liked this chapter ! Next one will be the last of what I call the "1st Part" of this story before we get into the "2nd part" which is going to be intense, I think. Also, you need to know that I will not be uploading as mush as I did recently in the next few weeks because my final exams are coming and I won't have the time to write that much. Of course when all of this will be over (around the june 22nd) I'll be back on my regular uploading. Hope you'll understand :)
2) ALSO VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION : What is Tani and Junior ship name according to you ? (Personally I love ReyRei !) Tell me in the comments or in Private Messaging what do you think !
