A/N: Hi, name is Katie, and I'm obsessed with Eddie. It's fine. I just rly love dogs. Anyway, yah, here's some straight fluff for y'all. This made me cry a little, not gonna lie.
9x10 Pio ke kukui, po'ele ka hale (right before 9x11)
"Dad?" she answered the call. She hadn't talked to her father in a couple of weeks. She felt horrible, but she had been so busy with work. She was standing in her hotel room in Omaha after a long day. It was only 6 o'clock in Hawaii, but it was 11 PM where she was.
"Kono, it's your mother," her Dad said. His voice was broken up. He had obviously been crying.
"What's wrong, Dad?" she asked, almost afraid to ask.
"She passed away, koʻu kaikamahine," he said. The tears sprang to her eyes unbidden. They had always known this would come one day. "She was sleeping, and she didn't wake up this afternoon," he told her.
"I'll be on the first flight that I can," she assured him. "Aloha au ia 'oe, dad."
"I love you too," he said. She hung up and immediately collapsed onto the bed, unable to support herself any more. She let herself mourn before she picked up the laptop to find a flight home.
She sat on the plane at LAX. She tried not to be nervous, not to imagine what things might happen when she got home.
"Kono?" a familiar voice asked. She looked up to see the grinning face of Danny Williams. Grace stood next to him, also smiling, the spitting image of her father.
"Danny! Grace!" she said, excited to see them after more than a year away from Hawaii. She stood up and awkwardly hugged them in the small plane. Danny put their stuff in the overhead bin as she hugged Grace.
"What are you guys doing here?" she asked, as Danny sat down next to her. Danny gave her a very solemn look.
"We're touring colleges," he said. Grace was grinning again. Kono could hardly believe the girl was old enough to go to college.
"Wow. That's great. Did you see any you like?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm thinking about going to Northwestern in Chicago," Grace informed her. Danny shook his head and leaned in.
"That's where Will Grover's going," he whispered. Grace rolled her eyes.
"Danno, I can hear you," she said.
"I know, monkey," he said, raising his eyebrows at her. Grace just pulled out her earbuds. "You're going home?" Danny asked Kono, once Grace was occupied by her cell phone. Kono's heart sunk, remembering why.
"It's my mom. She passed away," she said. Danny put his hand over hers, a familiar presence that she had missed.
"Oh, babe. I'm so sorry," he told her. She just smiled sadly.
When they landed, Danny and Kono were equally surprised to see Grover waiting for them. Grace was thrilled that Will was with him. The two immediately separated from the adults, whispering in excitement to each other.
"Kono," Grover smiled warmly, wrapping her in a hug. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"My mother passed away. I'm home for a couple days for the funeral," she explained. It was becoming easier to say, she noticed. She didn't even start crying this time.
"I'm sorry. That's hard. But I am glad you're both here. We think McGarrett's in trouble," he said. Danny threw his hands up.
"Of course he is. I go away for a couple of weeks, and the man's in trouble," he exclaimed.
"Greer leaked the names of him and his SEAL team. Someone was going after them. McGarrett and Joe White were in Montana, luring the assassins out to ambush them. But something went wrong. We've had radio silence from Steve for the past week. He called us to say that Joe White was dead, and he needed some time. But we think something else is going on. Something bigger than just Steve mourning," Grover added.
"Of course it is. Steve doesn't mourn like the rest of us. If Joe's really gone, then Steve's out for revenge," Danny told him.
"I wish I would've known. I was just passing through Montana three days ago. We were chasing one of the transporters that ran," Kono said.
"I'm going," Danny decided. No one argued with him.
Kono mourned her mother. She went to her funeral. She spent time with Chin and her family. It was a great time for everyone. But she was lonely in her hotel room. She had too many cousins staying in her parents' house. She couldn't bring herself to be there right now. She would fly to San Antonio in the morning to pick up where she'd left off. It was 7 o'clock at night, and she just wished she knew what home was any more. She made up her mind, all at once, and she was already on her way before she could consider whether it was a smart idea.
Really, she should've known better than to walk into Steve's house. She was surprised by the man that attacked her when she walked in. The gun he had put into her back didn't stop her though. She fought back. She had him pinned to the ground in less than a minute.
"Who are you, and why are you breaking into my house?" the man asked. Kono sat on top of him, confused. She had never seen the guy before.
"Your house? This is Steve McGarrett's house," she said. She raised a hand up to knock him out.
"Whoa! Wait! Yeah, Steve and I live here together. He's my boss and my friend. Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm Kono Kalakaua. Who are you?" she asked.
"I'm Junior Reigns," he said. She let the kid up. Danny had mentioned they had brought two new kids on to the team. He had failed to mention that one of them lived with Steve.
"Kono, huh? You used to work at Five-0," he said. He had heard of her then.
"Yeah, I did. I'm back for a couple of days," she said. They were standing in the living room, eyeing each other suspiciously still. Junior was gingerly feeling his face where she had landed an elbow.
"Steve's not here," Junior told her. She nodded.
"I know. I just needed somewhere to go that felt familiar. Like home. This was the only place I could think of," she said. He nodded.
"I know the feeling," he said. "Come on. I'll get you a beer," he told her. She turned around to find a dog looking at her with a suspicious look. She wasn't aware dogs could even look suspicious. Junior saw her looking at the dog in surprise.
"That's Eddie, McGarrett's dog," Junior told her. Steve had gotten a dog. She could've sworn he was a cat person.
"Hi, Eddie," she said, kneeling down with her hands outstretched palms up. The dog came to her instantly, sensing that she was a friend. He put his face into her hand, and when she scratched his head, his tail began to wag. He nearly knocked her over when he moved forward, getting a good lick in on her face before she pushed him away. Junior came out of the kitchen and laughed.
"He likes you," he said. Kono stood up. Eddie followed her as she took the beer from Junior, and they went into the backyard. It was exactly as she remembered it. The weather-worn chairs were sitting in the same spot they had been last time she was here. She smiled, remembering that first night she and Steve had kissed. She hadn't realized she had stopped moving until Junior said her name.
"Kono?" he asked. She snapped out of her reverie, looking at him in surprise.
"Yeah, sorry. Good memories," she said. And they were good memories, despite the fact that things between her and Steve had been so complicated. She hadn't expected the sudden swell of love that overtook her as she sat in the chair next to Junior.
"You were the one that broke his heart," Junior said quietly. Kono looked over at him, surprised.
"He told you about me?" she asked. Junior was studying her.
"No, but I can tell. I was a SEAL too. I was trained to read people. Steve had pretty obviously had his heart broken. He didn't ever talk about it, but it was the little things that gave it away. Once, Grover mentioned your name at work, and Steve looked like someone had just punched him," Junior explained. Kono could see why Steve liked the kid. He was a lot like Steve.
"Yeah. He was my boss. Things were complicated. We tried the secret dating. Didn't work out. We still loved each other, when I left. But we both knew that we couldn't be together," she said. She looked out at the ocean, her heart yearning for the days when they were happy. Eddie rested his face in her lap, as if sensing her sadness. She smiled down at the dog sadly.
"Hey, can you do me a favor?" Junior asked.
"Depends. What's the favor?" she asked. Junior looked at her sheepishly.
"Don't tell anyone you took me down. I can't believe someone got the drop on me like that even when I had a gun pointed at them," he said. Kono laughed.
"Trust me, no one that knows me would be surprised. But yeah, I'll keep your secret," she agreed. Junior nodded.
"Thanks," he said. Kono smiled again, feeling at home for the first time in a long time. Even with Steve not here, she knew she belonged here. Every fiber in her being was screaming at her to stay, to be here when Steve got home. But the next morning, she went to the airport, and she got on a plane. She flew away, knowing it was probably the wrong decision.
koʻu kaikamahine - my daughter
Aloha au ia 'oe - I love you
Disclaimer: these were found through Google, so they definitely could be wrong. I'm from Missouri, okay?