A/N: When I watched this episode the first time, I suddenly had this overwhelming thought that it should have been Kono when he opened that door. No offense to Danny or anything. So here we are.

Also, side note, I'm a big fan of Alex directing episodes because he gave himself the beard… and it's nice.

10x07 Ka 'i'o

He heard a knock on the door. He got up with a heavy sigh and opened it. She stood there, watching him and waiting. He stood there and stared for a minute, not sure what to do or say.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hey," he said back, knowing that that was inadequate. He let her inside, and she sat on the couch. She refused the beer he tried to offer her.

"I've got to drive back," she said as explanation.

"Kono, what are you doing here?" Steve asked, sitting down in the chair he had been in for the past three hours.

"I've been at Quantico for the past week or so planning my team's next move. I was at base when a friend reached out to me and said she had heard from a friend that you had gone to Mexico. She knew I knew you, and she wanted to let me know. When I heard what happened in Mexico with your mother, it took me all of 30 seconds to locate you and after that, I got in my car," she explained. He didn't know what to say, just stared out the window again.

"Steve, look at me," she said gently. He looked over at her. Her warm brown eyes were kind and sympathetic. "My boss told me 6 years ago when I was really in a tough place that you have to let yourself feel it. It'll be worse if you don't," she said. He felt the tears spring to his eyes, both at the memory of them talking in that hallway while they waited for Chin and at the truth of her words.

"Smart guy," he commented before opening up, "Danny called and said she was trying to get me and Mary and Joannie set up financially. She was trying to do something good. I just wish she knew that all she had to do was get on an airplane and come home, you know?" he said, looking at her. Kono tried to control her breathing, remembering when Steve said that to her too, not too long ago. She wondered if he remembered that phone call, where he had begged her to come back.

"Yeah," she said quietly, almost quiet enough that he couldn't hear her. He was still holding eye contact as he continued, the tears slipping silently down his cheeks and into his dark beard.

"From the minute that woman walked out of my life, the only thing I've wanted is to have her back in it," he told her. "All I know is that none of this is on our terms," he continued.

"None of what?" she asked.

"Life. We never really get to choose how it's gonna look. Only what we do with the information when we get it. This whole Five-O thing started with me burying my father. Then Joe White last year. Now my mother," he paused, overwhelmed for a moment from talking about it. "So I don't know how I feel, but I do know that we don't get life on our terms, Kono. It's life on life's terms or not at all." He closed his eyes, the tears still coming. She stood up and moved to the arm of his chair and wrapped her arms around his head. He held on to her, his face buried in her arm, crying like he hadn't cried since he was a kid and he thought his mom had died the first time. She may have changed, had done horrible things, had abandoned him time and again, but she was still his mother. And there was nothing quite like losing your mother, which Kono knew all too well. She held him for a long time. Finally, he sat up, looking exhausted.

"I'm gonna get ready for bed now," he said, his voice hoarse. He stood up and looked down at her. She saw the pleading look in his blue eyes, those beautiful eyes that had made her weak in the knees all too often. He needed her.

"I'm not going anywhere," she told him, sure that she was making the right choice. They had been here before, her comforting him in his bed. She yearned to let this be more than just two people who used to be in love bringing comfort, but she knew that that was all it could be. Tomorrow, she'd wake up and drive back to Quantico. He'd catch a flight back to Honolulu. She'd go back to shutting down sex trafficking all over the country, and he'd go back to his ohana at Five-0.

It only took him a couple minutes to get ready for bed. She took off her boots and her jacket, leaving only the jeans and tank top. He climbed into bed, and she climbed in next to him. They lay there on their backs, not touching each other in the dark for a long time. She heard a long and pained sigh escape him. She intertwined their fingers and leaned her head on his shoulder. He relaxed at her touch and soon after, they were asleep. As she drifted off, he pressed a kiss to her forehead, and she could have sworn she heard him whisper, "I've missed you."

When he woke up in the morning, she was gone. It was still early, even for him. A note was sitting on the table, next to his recognition letter. Her scrawling handwriting brought him back to his kitchen long ago, when she'd left a note promising to talk later. This note just said, I'm always a phone call away. Always. I've missed you too. -K

He folded the note sadly. It was time to go back to Hawaii and back to reality where not only was his mother dead, but the woman he still loved had slipped through his fingers again.

Bonus points if you recognize the Delena scene I took inspiration from. Two more chapters, folks.