I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Notes: I'll post as the muse approves each chapter; there's some persnickety complaining going on ... but as soon as that's put to bed on a chapter, it will go up. Again, this may not be daily. But so far, so good!

Ko`u Aloha = My Love; Aloha Au Ia 'Oe = I love you; ku`uipo = sweetheart

H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*

"I want her to melt into me, like butter on toast.

I want to absorb her and walk around for the rest of my days with her encased in my skin."

Sara Gruen

Chapter Three: No Kau a Kau ~ For Eternity

On another day and in any other place, she would need to admit that it was beautifully decorated even without having a window. Yet there was a coolness in the room and she shivered involuntarily, entirely confused by her predicament. In order to get warm, she curled back down partially on her side, one hand tucked just under the soft pillow to elevate her left cheek. He held her other hand, soothingly rubbing his thumb over her knuckles and chuffed a short amused sound at her confusion.

"You should go back to sleep now," he quietly urged and at first she wanted to listen to him. "You're safe here. You need your rest." She was desperately tired and wanted to close her eyes until she realized something felt wrong. So instead of listening to the gentle voice, Kono frowned more deeply when her vision refused to focus.

"Who?" Her tongue was thick around her whisper and her voice hardly projected. Though the dark silhouette sitting by her side could have been Steve's, the man's voice wasn't even remotely familiar. The bed she'd now woken to find herself in was made up with luxurious linens and from what she could make out, equally ornate. Heavy wrought iron framework with the filigree of blurry angels woven into its thick design were even delicate and whimsical.

"Perhaps you're thirsty though? Would you like some water? You must be parched after all this time." His voice was pleasantly sonorous and Kono swallowed hard, disturbed that her lips and mouth were indeed achingly dry. Without needing to express her agreement, Kono accepted his helpful hand, sipping the cool water from an ornately designed crystal glass. He pressed more on her, ignoring her brief murmur of refusal and so she carefully drank even more until the glass was nearly emptied.

"Thank you," Kono whispered, her eyes still bleary despite her resolute demands to gain a better awareness. Her right hand shook badly as she rubbed her face and tried to focus.

The fact that when she moved her left wrist from behind the pillow to find that she was restrained, deeply crinkled her brow even more deeply. The cuff was wide and comfortably encircled with a chocolate-brown fluff. A small golden lock swayed oddly in her vision and she followed its latch slowly to find a link of gold chain. Her brain was working slowly but there was no doubt that she was chained at shoulder length height to the impossible strength of the black wrought iron headboard. Anchored in fact to the delicate looking ankle of a filigree angel poised in flight, she had only a few inches of the same fine golden links which entirely marred the beauty of where she lay.

"What's ... going on?" A tentative movement of her hand resulted in a slight but strong tug around her wrist and Kono feebly pulled harder. "What?" Her ragged query became more that of a real word as she vainly struggled to a half-seated position. The light satin sheet tucked sweetly around her waist shifted and fell away as she awkwardly fumbled with her right hand to investigate and weakly yank on the thick cuff.

"What … what is … this?" Her stunned gasp was loud, yet the continued ache in her head countermanded any more of her objections. A sudden wave of lethargy shook her muscles and she slouched back down weakly against the pillows.

"Who … where am I? What ... what ... do you want?" Kono blinked wildly as her chin bobbed forward and her vision dimmed to a sideways blurred stream of light. The man leaned forward, smiling to helpfully lift her chin so she could more easily meet and gaze directly into the black pool that were his eyes. He watched as she swallowed hard, working with difficulty to study his face as she tried to make sense of her situation.

"I told you that you were safe," he repeated, her chin firmly pinched between thumb and forefinger. "You're fine my love and need to rest now." Grinning happily, his hand easily followed her sloppy head movement as she failed to disengage his fingers and her mist-filled eyes continually refused to cooperate.

"What … what, do you think …," Kono tried to speak, her tongue even heavier now against her lips which still felt dry and gummy despite the water she'd had. The water. She inhaled sharply, realizing that her muscles were pathetically sluggish. Her mind might be acting slowly but she immediately sensed her mistake and her pulse quickened.

"You ... the water?" Kono protested her mistake and the stranger's deceit. Instead of answering her, he smiled at her complaint, watching in approval as realization slowly dawned across her pretty face. He cocked is head curiously as she weakly attempted to free her left wrist from its thick cuff. She would fail, but he was intrigued by her growing persistence. "Why? What do you think ... you're doing?" Kono whispered.

"I don't think anything," he breathed warningly. "I know." She blinked wildy, searching what she know could see was a handsome face looming next to her. However, his appeal ended there because she only could find a frightening coolness lurking in the depths of his black eyes. A very real feeling of terror welled up inside her chest as his thumb traced her lips. The action was wrong in its possessive nature and she jolted away. An unlikely prickle of tears threatened her eyes when her right hand was suddenly too impossibly heavy to move off her lap. She demanded her fingers to form a fist and for that fist to find his chin with a stunning blow, and yet nothing happened. "I only said that you were safe here. And you are."

"Safe … from what?" Kono forced her stubborn mouth to work as his finger continued its journey around her lips in a gentle, circular motion to eventually drop down to grasp her chin. The feeling of tears were replaced by a rush of anger which grew when she again failed to dislodge his hold and her legs remained woodenly listless. Another trickle of unwelcome fear worked its way back to diligently to replace that anger as he drew closer and she was helpless to prevent it.

"Just safe," he soothed, resting much too comfortably on the side of the bed. Hip to hip, he finally removed his hand from her face but only to brace himself in the mattress across her body. He gazed at her for an impossibly long period of time, pleased at his ability to drink her presence in ... to finally possess her. "I tried to forget you, but it was a lost cause. You …. my dear… are my lost cause. Did you like my gifts?"

Bleary-eyed, Kono felt another flood of unbidden tears welling inside her throat which was closing off like a solid fist. She was trained better than this and yet, completely at this stranger's very whim. As her breathing faltered, her muddled thoughts struggled to remember where she had been and how she could possibly have wound up in such a terrible place.

"Gifts? Let me go," she whimpered, each breath coming fast and much too rapidly to almost hyperventilate. Her eyes briefly closed against a weary feeling of vertigo as he shifted on the bed, helpfully tucked her long hair gently behind an ear, and then shushed her quietly.

"We were such kids back then. You and me," he continued in a calm conversational tone. He sat back, delicately picking now with his fingers at the silky bedding. He paused for a moment, a smile perking one side of his mouth as he virtually spoke to himself. "That kid who I was … that scared, demeaned, loser of a kid … he's gone for good."

"What do you want from me?" Her whisper was much too soft and got lost in a deep swallow as his weight fidgeted again. At first, a spark of fear thrummed though her until she realized that he was merely standing over her now. With an effort, Kono forced her eyes to follow him as he strolled over to a door. The room swirled and bent obtusely, yet she managed to squint in his direction to understand the door led to a deep closet.

"These are all for you." He had opened the closet wide which seemed to hold a myriad of new beautiful dresses. Every color of the rainbow blurred together as he proudly swung each out for her to see what he'd done. "Of course I know your size. You'll look beautiful in any one of these dresses," he oozed triumphantly as he gently pulled out a sexy black dress delicately emblazoned with sparkling crystals.

"This is my favorite and I'd like you to wear it for our first dinner together. And heels? You have enough now to match anything; I do have the perfect pair in mind for this particular dress though." He left his favorite dress hanging on the tall hook on the outside of the closet door. With a quiet glee, he then opened each dresser drawer to show her the casual wear he'd readied, including bikinis, bathing suits and a number of intimate lingerie pieces.

"Our home is beach front. I chose it just for us. You've always been about the sun and the beach; the beach defines you. And once I can trust you, we can swim and surf together each hour of every day." He was talking avidly now with an incessant excitement, but Kono couldn't breathe and his voice disappeared in white static rush of sound which she wished she could purge from her ears.

Beach. Danny. A stray memory leaked forward and she shook her head vainly trying to clear her mind to focus. Beach. She had been on a beach with Danny … he had …. no, something had happened. As her head bobbed again on her ungainly neck and she felt herself hazily drifting, Kono didn't know who her captor was but she knew that she was in trouble; possibly more than she could possibly cope with alone.

Danny.

She had been with him and they had been leaving the beach. Her breath came back in a rush when she finally remembered where she had been. Danny had been there too and that thought settled like small cube of ice in the very pit of her stomach.

"Where's my friend ... where's Danny?" Her voice quavered, then cracked on Danny's name but the dark-haired stranger at first completely ignored her. For the first time, a genuine fear shook her to her core and refused to drop her from its vile grip.

"Where is he?" Kono pushed, and when the man finally turned to face her, his face had darkened and his jaw was clenched in absolute outrage. His expression instantly quieted her as he smoldered inside and slammed the closet door shut. She winced at his reaction, sinking deeply into the plush pillows more than startled by his unexpected surge of anger.

Kono had put a name to her stupid haole surfing student ... a man she now dared to call a friend. He struggled to regain his better mood and so remained silent as he replayed the successful steps behind his surprise attack.

Not one to forgo an opportunity, he had changed course upon the haole's bad tumble in the waves knowing its outcome would be bad enough. As Kono plunged back into the ocean to help her so-called student, he had raced to his SUV to block her small car and to retrieve the syringe from his glove compartment. Then, he had simply waited behind the Park's overloaded dumpster. By then, there were very few people now left to bear witness as the waves increased and the skies darkened. He remembered that he had smiled at what fate was doling his way.

He hadn't been entirely ready, so his chosen weapon against the unsuspecting and already injured haole had been one of his best cameras. It now required a new and very expensive lens to replace the one damaged beyond repair.

The sturdy piece of equipment had served the incredulous purpose of felling the blonde man after two soundly delivered blows: one to the temple and the last when the haole had the gall to get up, reeling back from behind the dumpster with his right arm hanging uselessly down to his side. Even injured, the haole had tried to attack. So the second blow had been a satisfying pistol-whipping slashing backhand to the jaw that finally had dropped the stupid mainlander like a stone. While the stainless steel body of the $8,000 camera had withstood the rough abuse, the lens hadn't precisely faired as well.

An instant after the short altercation, he had advanced on Kono who had been readying the passenger seat of her car and alternately complaining about the ill-parked SUV. With syringe in hand, she was unconscious and in his arms even before the small needle had been removed from her skin. Within seconds, he'd bundled her into the rear seat of his truck and gone back to drag the unconscious haole behind the dumpster, where he'd left him partially hidden under half-dead scrub-brush and older trash.

With a coldness which Kono couldn't readily see for her drugged mind, he brought himself back from his musings as she continued her frightened questioning. "Danny?" She asked again, determined to get an answer based on her resolute thin-lipped expression. She was afraid and yet persisted though her chin literally began to tremble. "What did you do to him?"

"He's nothing to be concerned about," he ground out dangerously. For a moment he wondered about Kono's duplicitous nature regarding who he had originally supposed a mere student and he found himself growing angry with her. But he was wrong and he made himself find a general calm. His Kono was only confused and needed his understanding, certainly not his anger. His subsequent sigh was one of forced patience as he folded his arms to watch her as he stood by the foot of the bed. Like a sentry, he stood quietly and simply waited for her questions and tears to end; he needed to take care of her and give her the proper amount of time to adjust.

"I'm sorry," he suddenly expressed with a startling level of tenderness. Since he loved her, he would allow her distraught state run its course and allow her the time to regain her senses. "You're over-wrought and tired from a long day."

"Danny? Where … what did you … do?" In her shock and fighting loss of consciousness, Kono was suddenly oddly drawn to the fine gold necklace he was wearing. Its pendant was heart-shaped and made the breath stick in her throat like a claw. "Please tell me," she asked fruitlessly. Finally, she did stop asking about Danny when she realized he was refusing to answer her due to a barely suppressed rage. His black eyes had impossibly darkened even more and the look was nothing short of terrifying.

"Please," she whispered one last time. Her left hand now hung limply trapped as it was in the cuff and her hazy eyes dropped to her kidnapper's sparkling ring which was of a fine gold. The expensive metal embraced a small glittering ruby surrounded by a series of diamond chips. Whoever this man was, he was indeed very wealthy. Regardless of what he said he might have been at one time, he carried himself with a tall, arrogant air of self confidence. And worse yet, he had found the means to kidnap her against her will.

"Who … who are… you?" She didn't remember him and had no idea what he was talking about as she searched for anything he might be willing to discuss. "Please. I don't understand. I don't know you … I really don't."

"We grew up together; in a way. At the time, I wasn't good enough for you but that kid is dead, Kono," he gazed deeply into her eyes and she didn't dare look away despite the gray edging into her vision. "I'm here now and I'm going to prove just how much I love you. I'm going to show you that we were meant to be together and that I can make you happy."

"What did you do … with Danny?" She completely couldn't help herself and she risked his anger as her question burst from her lips. Kono's voice gained a tiny modicum of strength as she fought the fear which was bubbling now so treacherously inside. "Did … you hurt him? Is he here? I … want to see him."

He stopped talking instantly as her questions rounded back to the frustrating subject of the stupid haole. He scowled when her voice gained volume to echo within the small dollhouse of a bedroom. Other than a subtle disappointed frown dosed with a flicker of anger, his face became impassive as he watched her briefly rail at him. He didn't care to discuss distasteful subjects such as this haole and her incessant questions infuriated him. But he needed to be patient.

"I know you missed me," he explained, before almost shyly adding a more terrifying comment. "I know you will love me as much as I love you. We missed each other so much over all of these years, Kono."

"I don't … know you. You're … insane," Kono gasped as his overly calm words swirled menacingly in her aching head.

"Not actually. No. But I know you." He sighed as he approached the side of the bed to stand over her with a new expression telling of his love and communicating his ongoing patience. "Aloha Au Ia 'Oe, you're only confused and need to rest." She cringed when he verbalized his love and his hand dropped to her head. With a forced understanding for her bewildering day, he once more ignored her demands to leave her be … not to touch her. But she would eventually admit her love because she was now his … forever.

The golden chain attached to the cuff on her wrist clattered loudly against the bed frame as Kono writhed away and forced leaden muscles to move mere inches to escape his hand which stroked her hair as if she were a child. Knuckles caressed her cheek to linger by her jawbone. His thumb snuck out to wipe her stray tear away and she nearly choked when he blatantly licked the same finger into his own mouth, leaving it then to rock on his bottom lip.

"I love you," he repeated in a rush of soft words to prove his heart. "So, so very much. You have no idea."

His lips fell around his own thumb again, relishing the salty tear. He watched in rapt fascination as another tear traced enticingly down her cheek to settle on her jaw line. Though her head bobbed more now against the drugs he'd given her, the tear wasn't quite full enough to move beyond that soft ridge until another followed rapidly in its wake. Then the two dropped to her collarbone to soak into her silk nightgown.

"You truly … have no … idea," he whispered, as his own voice stammered for a moment. She was beautiful perfection even when upset and he could barely avoid touching her more. But he could wait because he had done just that for twelve excruciatingly long years. She was finally with him and he had all the time in the world now to teach her to love him, and force of any kind would simply not be the answer.

"You just need time to remember that you feel the same way about me. I'll give you anything you've ever wanted and more," he promised as he slowly leaned forward to tuck the satin sheets around her waist. "I'll keep you safe. Always."

"I need … I need … to know what you did to my friend." Kono stubbornly persisted, ignoring the tears which were now freely spilling over her lashes. She took the risk and bit her lip as his thumb vainly tried to stem each one and her eyes closed while her head sank to her chest. She was repulsed by his touch and now truly frightened despite her police training. This was different. This was so very different as the depths of his charade crept more and more into her soul.

"Go to sleep," he crooned. The struggle to remain calm was difficult. Part of him wished to yell at her in anger about her persistent questions regarding the haole ... her friend. His internal struggle was difficult as he chose to give her another chance and blamed her disorientation on her medication. With a deliberate determination, he unclenched his fists and forced his shoulders to relax. Her ongoing complaints were beginning to cross a dangerous emotional line with him. In his head, he forced his mantra to remind him that she wasn't yet entirely aware.

She didn't mean it. She isn't yet herself.

"Just sleep, Kono. Ko`u Aloha," he urged her with a more strident demanding tone of voice. "Close your eyes. We can talk tomorrow."

"No. And I'm not your … anything," she fought sleep, biting her lip to force her eyes opened once more. Her own tone changed and he narrowed his eyes warningly at her outspoken dare. "Tell me … you tell me. Now." His term of loving endearment had sparked her anger as did his refusal to answer her questions. Still dazed, Kono missed the dangerous look lurking in his eyes, only hearing his eventual laughter and his blatant amusement at her obstinacy.

"You're something else, ku`uipo," he whispered in admiration. "So strong …. so beautiful. It's why I have to keep you here until you believe me. Until I can trust that you know I only want to take care of you …. forever."

"No," Kono sobbed softly as her eyes scanned the small space. The room boasted her favorite color palette. The clothes, sizes and the particular construction of the beautiful bed had been perfectly planned out for her well in advance. There was no window and she didn't doubt the strength of her new pretty jail. Her head ached from whatever he'd done to subdue her and that drug she realized, made her quite not able to remember everything. Now, the newest drug would make her sleep and she had no idea for how long.

She fought her murky brain until something teased forward along with her ongoing fear for Danny. She was positive that they'd been together and leaving the beach for … something. Maybe dinner? No, something had happened and she frowned as at a newly remembered pang of anxiety. In her beleagured mind, there was a flash of Danny falling in a wave within yet another wave.

Too big. The wave had been too big and he'd barely gotten to shore with her help skinned, scraped and on his feet but rattled badly enough. They had briefly argued and Kono vaguely recalled making a phone call to Doctor Ramirez because Danny had grudgingly agreed to at least go to the small clinic to be checked out by their kindly friend.

"Fine," Danny had pursed his lips while swiping at roughly scratched skin along his ribcage. Tiny sparkles of red blood had instantly pooled up again from the torn skin. He was mad at himself and disgusted by his mistakes on the waves. Still, he had been looking up and down the sands as he spoke. He'd been hyper-vigilant and angry just before agreeing to her worried demands. "I'll go see Ponch to make you happy. But this is all a bunch of nothing … I got distracted and I'm okay, Kono."

The small white towel was a faint memory which included speckles of blood and then a remembered glimpse of raw, skinned hands which became more solidly defined in her brain. Kono knew now who Danny had been looking for as her eyes widened fearfully. He had known or sensed the danger and she had not been careful enough; she had once again ignored him completely despite his ample experience and gut instincts. Tears pricked painfully as she tried to calm her much too rapid breathing.

"Where is he?" Her voice rose in her plea about Danny as that one memory teased forward and became more defined. She had been planning to help Danny get into the passenger seat of her car and had raced ahead after calling Doctor Ramirez.

She had reached the car first as he trailed behind across the sand. She had the passenger door open and was bent almost in half to push the seat all the way back. She could see herself doing all of that and she knew that Danny had been hobbling slowly in her wake. "Damn it, Kono, I'm fine." His voice echoed in her mind as he huffed a series of disgusted, breathless curses.

He was slow because of what though? He had been … limping? He had hurt his side …. his knee? And Doctor Ramirez … he had definitely agreed to go see Ramirez at the clinic.

She jolted in the memory of an old sound - likely the last thing she had heard - and she stared hard at the stranger in front of her. There had been a sound from behind her. A dull stunned exhale of air and then … nothing. Kono was now sure of that as she argued with herself to stare at her kidnapper. Her mind recalled a vision of Danny's dark silhouette falling to earth and then …. nothing since her brain refused to go farther.

"Oh god," she muttered brokenly as she studied the man's profile, dark tousled hair and confident carriage. She could see it now and she trembled at the truth. "No, no, no."

Danny had been so terribly correct in his leery feelings of foreboding. This stranger was the photographer she and Danny had spied on the beach. The photographer whom she had chosen to downplay, but Danny had grown so increasingly wary of day by day. She cursed herself for her too slow mind because he had attacked them in the parking lot after Danny had been tossed about during his last wave of the day.

"Where's Danny? What did you do to him?" Kono's was crying in earnest now. She completely missed her captor's resurgence of anger. She missed the flare of jealous fury, only hearing the richly intoned shushing noises which served to smother the rage. But as she continued to plead and prod, he was unable to control himself.

"Enough!" He shouted his warning to her this time, stopping barely in time from striking her as his fists furled so hard that his own fingernails scored his palms. His shoulders shook and he fought the anger that momentarily flared in his soul. "He's gone. You're here … enough!"

He barely managed to restrain himself and growled as one nail finally drew blood across his own palm. He watched dispassionately as tears coursed down her cheeks. He only managed to regain some semblance of control when she began to truly fail at keeping her eyes opened.

She doesn't mean it. She isn't quite herself … not just yet. It's the drugs and she's only out of sorts.

"Sleep," he bit the order out. Barely in a calmer tone, he just managed to regain control of his emotions. "Tomorrow, ku`uipo. We can talk then."

His parting chaste kiss laid gently on the top of her head left her faintly squirming as the overhead light was thumbed off on his way out of the room. But instead of being plunged into an excruciating darkness, a small nightlight automatically flickered on near the tall dresser to keep her prison bathed in a warm yellowish glow which negated the formerly pretty color palette of the room. The colors became muddied, grayish and nondescript by the poor quality of the tiny bulb barely hidden behind a faux seashell cover.

The thick door closed with a solid snick accompanied by at least one bolt finding its way home on the outside. The last thing she heard was an odd sliding sound which sealed the door more solidly to suck air from the room upon its own tight closure. High in the wall, a small vent burred into life to waft cool, fresh air down to flow over her face and bare arms. Kono shivered, glancing down at the sheets and her own body. Only then did she realize that he'd changed her before she'd woken. The dark red, pure silk one-piece hand-embroidered babydoll was sweetly set off with white lace and a gold necklace which matched his own.

Teary-eyed and feeling sick to her stomach, Kono stared at the new necklace hung so rudely around her own neck. It matched what the photographer wore with its heart-shaped pendant. It was the other half to his whole. And though her eyes were unable to focus on the small engraved print, she could guess what it said and bile rose to scour her throat.

What was happening was all entirely wrong.

"Help me," she choked hoarsely. In her panic, she struggled blindly but her body was rejecting her commands as the drug gained ground and her eyes burned with a need to close. "Please … help," Kono whispered nearly mute. A breath shuttered in her throat and took root in her chest. The flare of its terrified warmth shook her body and the resulting scream lingered in her own ears after dying breathlessly since it only confirmed one additional terrifying fact: her new prison was entirely sound-proofed.

~ to be continued ~