First of all, thank you to all those who continue to read, I appreciate the fact that you still find this interesting. For all my readers who leave notes, I love each and every one! Elle, I love your ideas and your enthusiasm! Shamrocker1980, Stephanie, Elle, and my Guest note leaver, your words are always appreciated and so uplifting. Thank you all so much! ~ Avy73

#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

Steve exited the Palace and headed for his truck to meet Azucena. As he approached the truck, he could tell his sister was lost in thought, "Ready to go kiddo?"

She jumped down from the tailgate and locked it into place, "Heck yeah!"

She walked around to the passenger side of the truck and climbed in. He could tell she was excited to see her friends, and the happiness that exuded from her was palpable. Steve had to admit to himself that he was a little excited to meet Frog and Tommy. They had been such a big part of her life from the stories he had heard.

As it was early afternoon, they maneuvered city traffic with ease and managed to make it to the airport with ten minutes to spare before the guy's flight landed. As they walked to the luggage claim, Steve noticed Azucena could hardly contain her excitement. He had only seen his sister this excited one other time, and that was when she was introducing him to Lawrence. It was the closest thing she had to home to share with him, and he knew that her friends represented home as well. She was doing a great job of adjusting to life in Hawaii, but he knew that Silver Pond and its people were home for her.

Steve noticed Frog and Tommy the minute they stepped into view, as they carried themselves like every other military guy he knew; strong and aware. He watched as his sister launched herself into the arms of an extremely tall and muscular brown-haired guy. He was able to discern that this guy was Frog, as he had on a pair of military issued glasses. Frog wrapped his arms around Azucena and pulled her into a bear hug, lifting her off her feet. "Red, it's so good to see you."

He could hear his sister squeal with delight, and he watched as people observed the spectacle of the two of them. Two friends reunited after a long time from one another. "Frog!"

When the young man finally placed his sister back on the ground and released her, she immediately looked over to the other young man. Tommy was a few inches shorter than Frog and lankier. Where Frog was all muscle and bulk, Tommy was trim and lean.

He watched as Azucena wrapped her arms around Tommy's neck and held onto him, Tommy's arms wrapping around her waist. She had to stretch slightly to allow her chin to rest on his shoulder. He could see Tommy's lips moving, but he couldn't make out what was being said. However, he did note that she stayed wrapped up in Tommy's arms longer than Frog's. He chalked it up to missing her best friend.

He continued to watch from a distance until Azucena and the two young men walked towards him. Azucena took the time to introduce them to Steve, "Frog, Tommy" she gestured to each of them, "I would like for you to meet my brother, Commander Steve McGarrett."

The guys immediately fell into attention and although Steve appreciated the respect shown by her friends, he quickly responded, "At ease, gentlemen."

The guys resume their normal posture and Steve held out his hand for Frog first, "It's nice to meet the both of you. I've heard quite a lot about you both."

"It's nice to meet you, sir." Answered Frog, as he shook Steve's hand. "Red's talked you up quite a bit as well."

"It's nice to put a face with a voice. Thank you." Said Steve, as he held out his hand to Tommy. He was trying to be subtle without making too big of a deal regarding the assist from this young man. He didn't want to embarrass him.

"Red's really fortunate to have you." Responded Tommy, as he shook Steve's hand. Steve took the compliment that was offered, and Azucena spoke up, observing the fact that they both had backpack's on. "Did you check luggage?"

"Nah, too much of a hassle. We packed light." Answered Frog, gesturing to his overstuffed backpack with a grin on his face.

"Great, let's go." She said, as she laced an arm around each one of their arms. The four of them walked to the parking lot and loaded into the pickup truck.

As Steve drove them towards the house, he watched Frog and Tommy's reactions to the island in the rear-view mirror. It reminded him of the day he drove Azucena to the house for the first time. Her reaction to seeing a coconut tree in real life amused him. As the four of them talked, he would occasionally see one of the guys jab the other guy in the arm and point to something outside the truck. They were taken with his island, just as Azucena had been.

"Azucena says you both are Marines."

"Yeah, I'm more IT and Tommy is in logistics." Offered Frog. Steve understood that Frog was sharing as much as he could. There were aspects of the military that most civilians didn't understand, but other service members understood that sometimes you could only give the bare minimum."

"Camp Lester?" questioned Steve.

"Yeah, it's incredibly beautiful over there." Tommy shared. The rest of the ride to the house was filled with small talk.

As they all piled out of the truck, Frog was the first to speak up. As a kid growing up in the middle of corn and wheat fields, the lush greenery of Hawaii was something to be in awe of, "You grew up here?"

"Yeah, this house has been in my family for generations." Explained Steve, both of the young men had the same expression on their faces that Azucena had when he first brought her home. Wonderment.

"You think this is breathtaking, wait until you see the backyard." Shared Azcuena, as they made their way up to the front door. Once the front door was open, she practically dragged Frog and Tommy to the backyard, when they stepped out on the lanai Tommy's jaw dropped, but Frog was more vocal, "Sweet Jesus, you have the ocean in your backyard?"

"Yeah, wanna swim?" quizzed Azucena, pure joy on her face.

"Oh, hell yeah." Answered Frog, looking over to Azucena.

Tommy who had been quiet up to this point spoke up, "Red, your original text might have been wrong. This is more beautiful than Cripple Creek near the low water bridge."

"They both have their strong attributes." She responded to his observation. He wasn't wrong, but she had so many wonderful memories of the low water bridge that she just couldn't say which was more beautiful. "Come on, let's change so we can swim."

She showed them to the two guest rooms on the ground floor of the house, and then ran upstairs to change. Steve disappeared to take a phone call from Danny and then found ways to make himself busy. He wanted to give her some time with her friends. He had the next three days to get to know these guys.

#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

As Azucena changed into her blue and white checkered swimsuit, she felt a wave of butterflies in her stomach. She had grown up with these two guys and suddenly, she was nervous to be seen in her swimsuit with Tommy. She wasn't certain where this unexpected concern had come from, but she wanted him to think she looked beautiful. Perhaps it was the old memory from earlier in the day that had stirred up the warm feelings; it could have been the sound of his voice in her ear telling her how much he missed her at the airport, or it could have been the way he smelled. His smell always reminded her of prairie sunset and fireflies. She pushed all these thoughts aside and decided it was best to just look forward to the afternoon with her friends.

Frog and Tommy stood at the edge of the water, looking out. As Azucena approached, she couldn't help but to appreciate the view of Tommy's broad shoulders and his tight rear. His swim trunks hung low on his hips and laid nicely against his backside. She knew the view from the front with his abs was even better but decided she should stop checking him out and engage with her buddies.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked, as she placed the towels on the chairs by the beach.

"We were waiting for you." Tommy responded, as Frog picked her up by the waist, threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and started walking into the water. Azucena had forgotten about this part of her childhood, she also assumed that she was too big to be picked up, but Frog made it all look simple. "Frog, you weasel! Put me down! You throw me in the water and I swear to God I'll drown you!"

He knew they were empty threats, as did she, but it didn't stop them from reverting back to being kids. In between various sentences being shouted at him, Frog tossed Azucena into the deeper water of the ocean and waited for her to resurface. When she did, she was a ball of red fury. She came at him with everything she had, and in between climbing up his back and pushing down on his shoulders as much as she could, there wasn't a chance she was going to drown him. He had grown stronger over the last eight months and she was like a fly to a horse. Nothing she did phased him, she was a minor nuisance.

The moment Tommy teamed up with her, they had the advantage. Tommy attacked him at his knees and Azucena climbed up his back and worked to push him under water. They were successful in dunking him a time or two before he surfaced and came after the both of them.

Steve had observed this entire scene from the kitchen window and was laughing to himself. The three of them together provided quality entertainment and he could see the bond of friendship that connected them. He watched them goof around for a little while longer before he found something else to do.

#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

They spent the afternoon soaking in the ocean, enjoying being back together. Azucena recounted the entire WoFat experience from the night they grab her all they way up until Steve drove her here after the hospital. She explained how it was they had the same mother and she told them about Deb and Mary. Tommy had heard most of this as it occurred, but Frog hadn't been as informed as Tommy.

Tommy and Frog shared as much as they could about their lives and how they spent their days, where they lived, and their coworkers. After living with Steve, she understood that there was a lot they couldn't share with her and that was fine by her. She didn't really want to hear how dangerous their jobs could be.

Eventually Frog decided he needed a little a break from the ocean and ambled out of the water. He sat in one of the chairs on the beach and just took in the sun. Tommy and Azucena continued to goof around in the water.

Steve ambled down to the beach and sat in the chair next to Frog, "You guys hungry yet?"

"A bit peckish, but I'm content to wait for those two yayhoos to determine they are pruny enough to get out of the water." Frog shared, as he gestured to the two still in the water. "Tommy and I are more than happy to help with preparing dinner."

"Maybe tomorrow night you guys can help cook, take tonight and enjoy your R&R." said Steve, as he watched Azcuena climb onto Tommy's shoulders. He was a little concerned as he watched his sister place her hands into Tommy's and then lift her body like a gymnast on the rings. "What are they doing?"

"Stupid stuff we've done since we were eight." Replied Frog, watching as she began to extend her legs up over her head. "She will hold herself in a handstand position on his hands and lower herself back down; sometimes they try the lift from Dirty Dancing and other times he flips her into the air and she does a backflip into the water. For two people who can't figure each other out, they trust the hell out of each other."

Steve paid attention to the words Frog used, "What do you mean, they can't figure each other out?"

"Tommy's been in love with Red since we were ten years old." Frog explained, as he used his hands to elaborate. Steve felt like he was talking to a younger, Mid-West version of Danny. "He debated off and on over the years to say something to her, but he never wanted the friendship to get messed up. He had worked up the courage and was going to tell her, but then the incident happened, and he didn't really think it was right to tell her he was in love with her."

"Hmm." Responded Steve, taking in this new knowledge. It shed a whole new light on why Tommy had called Steve about Azucena. He truly cared for her, more than a friend.

Frog continued with his train of thought, "She finally realized she had feelings for Tommy our senior year. Between knowing we were leaving for the Marines and trying to figure out how to have a relationship after the incident, she decided not to say anything to him. I'm certain before the end of the weekend those two will finally figure out how to tell each other how they feel."

Steve wasn't prepared to hear this last sentence. He was certain Tommy would treat her with the respect she deserved, but he was surprisingly protective of her. He didn't want to see her get hurt and he knew a thing or two about relationships with people in the military.

"How do you know all this?" asked Steve, curious to understand Frog's role in all of this.

"I've watched them over the years and they have confided in me. I'm the secret keeper and a pretty damn good one. I'm only telling you because you're her brother and you don't know the history. He will treat her like a queen and she will be with someone who understands everything about her. Dean and I used to say they were peas and carrots. You know, from that old movie, Forest Gump."

Steve was preparing to tell Frog that Forest Gump was not an old movie, it had come out when he was young. Then he realized, he was sixteen years older than these kids. He was old. His mind then switched back to the important topic, was he okay with Tommy and Azucena?