It is with a heavy heart that I hit the "complete" button on this one. It was such great fun to write. I'm sorry this chapter took me so long to get up - school and FF site malfunctions have a funny way of getting in the way of things. Sorry if this one is a little hack - I wrote it at two a.m. . Thanks to all those who reviewed this thing.

- Amelia

Kono woke up before Steve, which surprised her. She'd have figured him to be an early riser, with all that time in the military. But when she opened her eyes to the sunrise, he was still lying beside her, snoring softly.

Well, it was only 6:30. And she wasn't sure why she wasn't exhausted after last night. Her whole body was aching, especially her shoulder. The doctor had said to take it easy and stay away from any kind of strenuous exercise (which included surfing, much to her dismay), so last night probably wouldn't have received his stamp of approval.

It was, however, just what she'd needed. (And wanted.) All that romantic tension between them had burst in rather spectacular fashion. There was something intensely gratifying about the fact that he was calling out her name in the throes of pleasure, that she was the one that he'd decided to hold in his arms. She could feel a few tender spots on her that would eventually blossom in to bruises, and she wouldn't be able to hide all of them. Oh well. They weren't anything she could blame on getting shot (although there might be some curiosity as to why they were so fresh after a week in the hospital, and she'd probably get a raised eyebrow from Chin, but he wouldn't say anything unless he wanted to get punched), and she supposed it was fair, because she'd dug her nails in to Steve's back a few times. She blushed a bit when she thought of that.

Kono considered waking up and getting some coffee, and maybe make a bit of breakfast, but she still felt like she was a bit too much of a guest around the McGarrett house to do that. So she snuggled closer to Steve and joined him in sleep. She figured if he wasn't awake yet, they didn't have anything crime-related to handle for the day, so it was okay to sleep in a little bit.

When Kono woke up again, it was closer to nine, and Steve was no longer beside her. She could hear movement below her, so she gathered up her clothes (it wasn't optimal to wear the same thing for two days in a row, but she didn't want to fulfill any bad morning after stereotypes and grab one of his shirts), got dressed, and went downstairs. He was cooking omelets in the kitchen.

"You cook too?" Kona said. "How did someone else not snap you up by now?"

"Things involving eggs are about the limit of my skills," Steve said, sidling closer to her. He leaned in, and they shared a gentle kiss.

"How are you?" Steve said, a note of concern in his voice. "Is your shoulder okay?"

"It aches a bit," Kono said. "Well, so does the rest of me. Perhaps last night wasn't exactly what the doctor had in mind when he said that I had to take it easy for a little while."

Steve smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Yeah, things got a little athletic last night. My apologies."

"Not needed," Kono said. She leaned in to him and kissed him again. When things got intense again, she pulled back, feeling the flush on her face as the cool air rushed between the space between their bodies.

"Oh, come on," Steve said, groaning a little.

"We need to sit down and talk about this," Kono said. "That, and our breakfast is burning."

Steve reluctantly acquiesced to Kono's demands. He served their breakfast and they sat down across from each other.

"This could get complicated," Kono said.

"I don't see what's so complicated about this," Steve said. "We clearly want each other. I don't see an issue."

"I don't just want to want you, Steve," Kono said, sharper than she'd intended. "Although last night was... epic, to say the least, this needs to be about more than that."

"Who says it isn't?"

"We didn't really say much last night, Steve. I'm left to guess a bit here."

Steve paused, carefully considering his words. "I do love you, Kono. Mind, body, and soul. I would never want or wish you to think otherwise."

Kono smiled. "I love you too, Steve."

There was an awkward pause at that moment, which was reserved for a deep gaze in to the others eyes.

"Made you blink," Steve said, after a moment, and grinned.

"You did not... wait, can you ever just have a quiet romantic moment?" Kono said, shaking her head.

He shrugged.

"Then there's also the small matter than I'm your subordinate," Kono said. "I don't want... this to get in the way when we're in the field. And that my older cousin is also on said team, and that he might beat you up if he finds out."

"The only thing we can do is take things one day at a time," Steve said, "and as for Chin, I will be going out of my way to make sure that we don't have to find out who is more ninja."

Kono laughed. "And the biggest question: do we tell them, or keep it a secret?"

"It would be fun to keep it a secret," Steve mused, "but I'm sure Danny and Chin will figure it out eventually."

"I'm sure they will." Kono paused and sighed. This morning was nothing short of idyllic, but the real world had to come rushing in eventually. "I have to call the family. They're probably all freaking out."

"Fair," Steve said. "Chin might have already told them, but I'll leave you in peace to do that."

Kono nodded her appreciation and went off to begin the notifications.

Steve was partially right. Chin had taken the liberty of notifying the part of the family that he was still on speaking terms with, but everyone still wanted to hear about the plan in great detail, and either congratulate her on her willingness to do such a thing or her stupidity for much the same reasons.

The notifications finally finished after a full two and a half hours. Her cell battery was dying, and she'd had enough of her family after calling the last great-auntie. As soon as she'd said her goodbyes to the last person to hear the story, her phone rang. It was Chin.

"Hey, cuz."

"Why are you at McGarrett's house?"

"You tracked my cellphone? That's super creepy."

"You weren't at your apartment. I thought you had perhaps faked your own death once more."

"Low blow, cuz." She rolled her eyes.

"Listen, I'm okay with you and McGarrett, but if he does anything that upsets you in the least..."

"Why are you jumping to conclusions? Is it illegal to go hang out with a friend on your day off?"

"Kono, do you think I'm blind? You have eyes for each other, that much is very clear. Like I said, I have no trouble with it. As long as he's good to you."

"We're going surfing later."

"Hmmm, maybe not. Auntie's having a luau tonight to celebrate your marvelous resurrection."

"Are you kidding me? I just spoke to her twenty minutes ago. She said nothing about a luau."

"See you tonight, Kono. And say hi to Steve for me."

Steve pretty much puttered while Kono was on the phone. He retied the hammock and did other small things that needed to be done around the house, making sure to stay out of the living room to her privacy. He caught snippets of her conversations though, and it sounded like some were happy to see her back and others were mad about her faking being gone in the first place.

He was happy to fall in the former party. His own phone started ringing, and he stepped outside to take the call. It was Danny.

"Please tell me no one died today, because I am really enjoying a break after today..."

"Yeah, yeah, I would hate to interrupt your time with Kono."

"How do you know she's here?"

"I didn't. You just confirmed it. It was simply a guess based on some awesome observational skills."

"Whatever, Danno. You're so dead when I see you next."

"Whatever, SEAL boy. So you two are..."

"Maybe. I'm not saying anything."

"I don't care. Just don't be lovey-dovey at work, okay? I can't take that stuff."

"I'll plant one on her just for you, Danno."

"I so hope you're kidding."

"You don't want to know."

Steve hung up. He sighed. So much for secret. He walked back around to the hammock, climbed in, and fell asleep.

He was awoken by Kono's light touch on his shoulder. He was happy just to take her in for a moment before she broke the silence.

"Chin knows," she said.

"Danno knows," he replied. "So much for our undercover romance."

"Damn," she said, climbing in beside him, "I was so looking forward to the fun that would have been."

Steve shrugged. "I suppose we can be more honest now. Is the family all notified of your reappearance?"

Kono nodded. "There's a luau tonight to specifically celebrate it. I have to go back to my place, but I'll come back later, okay?"

Steve nodded. They both exited the hammock, and he walked her to the front.

"Thanks for understanding, Steve," she said, pressing her body to his. "I love you so much."

"I'm happy to have you back, Kono," he said, kissing her once more. He looked in to her eyes once more, smiling.

For one moment in his deeply fractured world, everything was perfect and whole.