I was breathing heavy when I stepped out of the water with a huge grin on my face. I was carrying my longboard on my head as my team crowded around me cheering.

"Oh My God, Kai! That was one of the best rides I've ever seen! You have to win after that!" Heather, a younger girl on my team, cried.

Other yells of agreement rang out around me as we made our way up the beach. A tiny body squeezed through the crowd to reveal my publicist and good friend, Bex.

"Give her air, guys. You can talk to her later." Bex commanded, which was impressive given that she was only 5 foot.

I stood a good 10 inches above her and she still scared me sometimes. Everyone scattered leaving Bex and me alone on the beach.

"Great job! Now you have the awards ceremony at 3 and then the interview at 8. We have to get you to the trailer to get your makeup done. We don't have-"

She was cut off as my phone rang from her pocket. "You might want to take this. Steve's called five times already."

She held out my phone to me, it's screen light up to see Steve's name on caller id. I furrowed my eyebrows in concern. Steve wasn't supposed to be able to call me until tomorrow when his mission was done.

I took the phone and answered it, "Hi, ipo. What's up?"

I could Steve's frantic breathing on the other side. "Kai! Are you alright? Where are you?"

I frowned, something was definitely wrong. "I'm fine. Great, actually! I'm in Panama for the International Longboarding Championships. What's wrong, ipo?"

Steve sighed in relief, "How soon can you get to Oahu?"

I was really concerned now. "I can get the soonest flight out. Why, Steve? What's wrong? What happened?"

He took a shaky breath, "My...um...my dad. There was an incident. He was...um...he was shot and he didn't make it… I just need you to me so I know you are okay."

My eyes widened and I start crying a little. I had never heard Steve sound so vulnerable before."Yeah! Yes. I will be on the next flight there. God, Steve, are you okay? I love you."

Steve sighed heavier than before, "I'm something… I'm on my way there, too. I'll see you soon. I love you. Aloha wau iā 'oe, baby."

He hung up and I was left staring at my phone for a second. Bex was typing rapidly on her phone as she spoke, "I already got your tickets. Your flight leaves in 45 minutes. I'll tell everybody there was an emergency and you had to leave. Everything else can be rescheduled for when you're ready. You can leave your boards behind, I'll have them shipped to Hawaii for you."

I dropped my board carefully in the sand and quickly gave Bex a hug. "Thank you so much. I'll call you later. Thank you!" I ran towards my trailer so I could quickly pack and go.

—

10 hours later, my flight touched down at Honolulu International Airport. My eyes quickly scanned the crowd at the baggage claim before resting on a tall figure with his back to me.

"Steve!" I yelled as I ran towards him.

He turned around just in time to catch me as I threw myself into his arms. He spun me around before putting me down and gently kissing me. He rested his forehead on mine, his arms still wrapped around me tightly, as if he was afraid to let me go. It had been months since we last saw each other only to be brought together after terrible events.

"I missed you so much….I love you, sweetheart." Steve murmured against my lips as he gave me another gentle kiss, his lips soft and familiar against mine.

"I missed you, too. I love you, ipo. I know how hard this is for you. " I responded, squeezing him a bit tighter.

We made our way out of the airport and into a taxi so we could get ready for the funeral in a couple hours. Our hands remained intertwined the entire time.

I could tell Steve was hurting despite the hard front he put up. I held his hand tightly throughout the service, offering him silent comfort and reassuring him that I was there for him. I had never met John McGarrett but silent tears ran down my face because he helped Steve become the man I love today.

The service was beautiful and lots of people attended but I could tell Steve wanted to get out of there, away from all the pity. I pulled him away from the crowd and towards the beach, taking off my heels to walk in the sand.

"You looked like you needed to get out of there," I told him as we slowly walked through the golden sand. I didn't realize how badly I missed Oahu until now, with its white beaches and green-blue water. I didn't want to leave again.

We walked in comfortable silence until Steve spoke, "The governor offered me a job this morning."

I looked at him in surprise. "Doing what?"

He reached up to rub the back of his neck with the hand not holding mine. "She wants me to lead a government task force to find people like the man who killed my father. She offered full means and immunity." He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.

I looked up at him and stopped walking. "Do you want to take the job? I know how much the Navy means to you."

He stopped walking too and took my other hand in his, squeezing them both gently. "I mean, I could join the Naval Reserves… We could finally settle down a little bit, give you somewhere to stay in-between competitions. We could finally find our third. Maybe start a family?"

I gave him a huge smile and cupped his face with my hands. "You do whatever you feel is right. I will support you no matter what. And besides, I was thinking of retiring from the pro-circuit anyway. Maybe I'll start a surf school." I gave him a kiss, passionate and slow, pouring my emotions into it. "I love you, ipo. Mau loa."

—-

I had a busy week after the funeral. Bex had rescheduled all of my interviews so I could do them from Honolulu while Steve went off to catch up with some of his Navy buddies stationed at Pearl Harbor. I had a feeling he was going to stick his nose into his father's case because he was not subtle when he left the hotel this morning. I was proved correct when I got a call from Steve around noon.

"Hey, ipo, what's up? I wasn't expecting to hear from you until later." I was a little worried, Steve had a habit of getting into trouble.

"I know you have all those interviews today but are you free this afternoon? There's someone I want you to meet." There was a strange tone to his voice that didn't make me any less worried.

"I'm going surfing around 2, you can meet me on the beach if you want. I can bring a board for you and your friend, join me in the waves?"

I heard Steve laugh through the phone,"I don't think my friend can surf, he's wearing a tie."

I scrunched up my nose in disgust, "In Hawaii? What is he, a butler?"

Steve had to go meet with someone but he left me with promise of his presence at the beach. I grabbed a taxi to meet up with a friend that I knew would never turn down the opportunity to surf. The taxi pulled up to a tiny blue cottage with a surfboard leaned up against the side. I quickly paid the taxi fare and bounded up the walk to the front door, excitedly. I gave a quick knock before opening the door.

"Sista, you home?" I called out after the living room appeared empty. I heard a gasp and quick footsteps coming from down the hallway.

Kono appeared with a huge grin on her face. "Kai, you bitch, you didn't tell me you were going to be in town!" She wrapped me in a bear hug before pulling me over to the couch. "Tell me everything."

Kono Kalakaua was my platonic soulmate. We met when we were 5 years old on the first day of kindergarten. Her teal words of "This sucks. I'd rather be surfing" were inscribed down my left calf.

My response, "Hey! That's written on my leg!" was written on her right shoulder blade in green lettering. That was the start of a beautiful friendship. Even after my parents died and I was shipped off to California, we kept in contact through letters and phone calls. Both of us strived to be great surfers so we could see each other at competitions until Kono blew out her knee. It had been 8 months since I had last seen her and I had really missed my best friend.

I gave her a sad smile on the couch. "Steve's dad died, that's why we're here. His funeral was this yesterday. I had some interviews this morning and Steve is off doing god knows what so I figured what better to do than go see my best friend."

Her arms quickly wrapped around me. "Oh no! Well, I know just the thing to make you feel better. Are you wearing a suit?"

I scoffed, "Of course I'm wearing a suit. What kinda surfer do you take me as?"

She grinned at me and stood up, pulling me with her off the couch. "Great! You can borrow one of my boards since I doubt you brought one with you."

We surfed for a couple of hours until some tourist dropped in on Kono's wave. She followed the guy in and gave him a hard right hook to the face. Not wanting her to escalate it into anything more I followed her in only to see her talking to three men, one of whom looked suspiciously like my husband.

I stuck my board in the sand near Kono's and threw myself into Steve's arms. "Is it 2 o'clock already?"

He gave me a grin, "You looked great out there, I haven't seen you surf in forever." He let his hand drift down my back before resting on my butt, his other hand tracing his words on my shoulder. I gave him a gentle kiss until I heard Kono wolf whistle behind me.

I turned threw myself into Chin's arms. "Cousin! Howsit? I haven't seen you in forever? How's Malia?"

Chin gave a laugh, "Kai! You were amazing out there! Malia's good, I'll tell her you said hi."

I turned to the unknown man wearing a tie. "You gonna throw yourself in my arms too?" At the man's words, I glanced at Steve and seeing the huge grin on his face I knew he had planned this.

I threw myself into my soulmate's arms, dramatically. "I clearly saved the best for last, soulmate." I grabbed him by his stupid tie and kissed him. He didn't move at first, clearly shocked, but then he gently kissed me back before pulling away.

"Maybe the beach isn't so bad after all." My soulmate said, a little out of breath.