(A/N) Hello all! Thank you for clicking on the second part of this fic! I know it's been a while - but right after I posted the first part, I got swept up into finals week and end-of-sem stuff so.. ugh. But I'm finished, so I'm home and was able to update! I also was stuck on (to my extremeee frustration, haha) literally the LAST paragraph or two of this fic. I was super antsy to post this because I was so close, but at the same time, I didn't want to post until the perfect ending hit me. needless to say - that never happened (lol), but I decided to just go with my second choice ending and upload. if something better hits me, I may revise. haha but anyway, excuses aside:

Thank yous go out to: SugarMuffin08, TvFanatic97, jennyD, benito, cheerleaderE, CinderH, Koobalt, LinNicole, Anna, tdolphins27, ackeberlynn, bushy4, NaoHikuru (ah, that's amazing for a writer to hear :,]) blublubb, sphekie, Melissa, sammie28 (HAHA standardized test scores, DYING. and... RIP OUR MUSES. I've since taken your advice about fast forwarding episodes LOL :[ ), lynnrxgal, Fi, the punchline, kiwimeggles, Merl Laurence, sb4ever, CaffeineKiddo, Camille, Froggie 2, Ghostrider, francis2, Island Gem, BandBFan, bembelicious, Lotus Tears, and Terapsina!

Seriously, thank you ALL so much for the reviews. Every single one made me smile or laugh or go "aw!" or "hell yes, I agree", haha. what a great fandom you all are and I really appreciate your time and comments. :)

As for my one "critical" review by ocean - I think you probably don't watch the show enough or the plot of the last season just went over your head, lol. The idea was that Chin was pretending to be reinstated so he could help Steve from inside HPD. because he believed (even before he saw Steve and heard him insist that it was Wo Fat) that Steve was innocent. because Chin is a baller. And as for Kono keeping her UC work "a secret"? It was because IA threatened that if she messed anything up, they would start investigating Steve and 5-0. So she kept quiet in order to protect her team. C'mon man, get with the program before you write reviews. lol!

Anyway, omg so sorry for the essay! I always do this. -_- On to the chapter!

It could've been déjà vu.

"Oh." Kono swung open the door and greeted her visitor on her doorstep with a surprised smirk. "Hi. Are we doing some kind of daily visit thing that I forgot about?"

"Very funny." Steve registered that Kono no longer had that tense air upon greeting him the way she had a couple days ago – but she still didn't exactly look happy to see him. It was more along the lines of a deflated resignation, he decided. He held up his hands jokingly. "Can we talk? No food today."

"No reason to let you in then," Kono joked back, but opened the door all the same.

They walked over to the couch.

After they sat, they were silent for a while; Steve leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and hands clasped in front of him, Kono sat with her arms and legs crossed; both staring back at the other in almost bemused reservation.

Finally, Steve sat back in his seat and asked, "Have I ever told you I've known Chin Ho since I was a teenager?"

Kono nodded.

"Yeah." Steve smiled nostalgically and went on, "He helped me through a lot of stuff after my mom. And, ah, right before I moved to the mainland. I really didn't want to go."

"Mm."

"I didn't really have anyone to talk to back then. I couldn't bring myself to complain in front of my dad or be weak in front of Mary-Ann. It was rough. But Chin could see how unhappy I was, and every time he came to visit my dad, he would stop by and take me out to eat or for a game of football, or just to talk. I don't know how I would've survived without his friendship."

Kono's face sank into a comforting smile. "Yeah, that sounds like Chin."

"Yeah." Steve exhaled sharply. "And I remember thinking that I wanted to be just like him when I grew up. There was – is – no greater hero to me than someone who cares about someone they aren't required to."

Kono nodded again in agreement, but didn't respond.

Steve's voice was gravelly, low, as he mentally grappled for the right words. "It kills me to think I let him and myself down, but most of all – that I let you down." You are and will always be my teammate, friend, and family, Kono. Okay? I was wrong to let what happened to you get that far. And I would never intentionally hurt you – you have to know this."

Across the couch, Kono met his eye with a brief, one-sided smile.

"And, uh – I know I said I didn't bring any food, but I brought this." Steve reached into the pocket of his pants and pulled out a small, felt box.

Even in the gravity of the moment, Kono burst out in a short, loud laugh. "Okay, uh, Boss," she laughed, holding up a hand to her mouth. "I know you're sorry, but I wasn't asking for a proposal."

"Very funny," Steve narrowed his eyes sarcastically, then chuckled. He tossed the box over the coffee table at her, and she caught it with an easy hand.

Kono's laughing ceased when she cracked open the box and saw what was inside. "Wow." She shook her head slightly. "Steve. This is gorgeous." She held up the thin metal anklet so it caught the sunlight. "What do these tiny numbers mean?"

"Those are all our badge numbers," Steve replied with a smile. "You, me, Danny, and Chin. If you wear it – I just wanted it to be a constant reminder that we'll always be with you."

There was a brief silence. Kono's smile stretched to her ears, and her heart spilled over with warmth. For some reason, she couldn't formulate the right words. "That's really cool, Boss," she settled on insisting, genuinely. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Plus, you know, I noticed that anklet you always wear is getting worn out."

At this, Kono's hand subconsciously dropped to her side, and she fingered the thin, worn leather around her left ankle. She fiddled with it for a moment before responding, "I actually got this the day I first surfed Pipe." A pause. "Guess who gave it to me?"

"I want to say… Brian Kurishige?"

A surprised grin. "I'm impressed."

"I listen." Steve shrugged jokingly and smirked. "Once in a while."

Kono bit her bottom lip as she pulled open the knot and slid the old anklet off.

"Hey," Steve protested, sitting up in concern. "You don't have to do that."

"Hey." Kono's gaze flickered up at him, and she smiled. "I want to." She set the leather piece on the table and hooked on the one Steve got her. The metal chain was loose enough to fall to rest along the delicate curve of her foot. "5-0 means more to me than Pipeline ever could."

Steve ignored the swell of pride that filled his heart that indicated excess emotion, and inhaled sharply. He got to his feet and brushed down his cargo pants. "Well, I'm glad to hear that."

Kono followed suit, then nimbly dodged the coffee table and surprised Steve by holding out an arm and enveloping it around his shoulders in a friendly hug. Her eyes crinkled into half-moons. "Thanks, Boss. I forgive you."

Steve stiffened at first, then relaxed. He smiled and hugged her back, belatedly realizing that this was the first time he had ever hugged Kono in the entire time they'd been working together.

It was nice.

"So I'll see you at work on Monday?" Kono asked when they separated, pushing her bangs out of her face.

"Oh, wait." Steve held up a finger, as if remembering something. "Come here." In all his excitement, he grabbed Kono by the shoulder to lead her to the door.

"Agh, shit, Steve." Kono instantly recoiled in pain as Steve's fingers accidentally dug into her healing gunshot wound.

He relented, letting go immediately. "Oh crap, sorry. Sorry, my bad. Are you okay?"

Kono laughed weakly, clutching her shoulder. "No worries." She gave him a curious side glance. "It's actually kind of cute to see you excited about something. What's up with you?"

His blue eyes lit up. "There's something else. Follow me."

Kono was standing in her backyard with her arms folded, the trace of a huge grin still plastered on her face. Her heart warmed as she replayed the last 15 minutes in her mind, after Steve had led her outside into her backyard. She found everyone she could possibly think of standing there – her family, her relatives, her police academy classmates, her friends she'd grown up with, and, of course, the friends she had now – waiting to surprise her with smiles, trays of homemade food, and huge hugs.

Shocked, Kono had whirled around with open jaw, practically giddy. "Steve!" she'd cried in happy surprise, but she hadn't been able to finish her sentence before she was tackled to the ground by two of her bigger cousins (their standard greeting).

Now, dozens more greetings, hugs, and conversations later, Kono finally had a little time to herself.

She took a deep breath, beaming in contentment.

"Hey."

Kono started slightly at the sudden interruption, but when she turned to see who it was, she grinned.

"Well, hello," she teased Steve in greeting, eyes glinting. "You must be incredibly pleased with yourself right now."

Steve took a swig of his beer. "Yeah," he shrugged jokingly. "Pretty pleased."

"Modest." Kono laughed and elbowed him in the side, and he laughed too. She smiled. "But really, Steve. Thanks for doing all this. It really means a lot; more than you know."

"I just wanted you to realize just how many people care about you. So I don't want you to ever feel like you're alone again. You understand me?"

Kono held back a laugh. Even when Steve was being genuine, he managed to sound like he was lecturing you. But she humored him. "Yes, sir," she saluted, cracking a tiny grin.

Steve's mouth drew into a straight line briefly, but then he relented and chuckled at the ground. Then, so seamlessly that he took Kono by surprise, Steve extended an arm towards her and gently rolled her into the center of his solid chest.

For a while, Kono only stood there stiffly in shock, eyes widened so that the only thing filling her field of vision was the blue cotton of Steve's shirt. But then he opened his mouth again to murmur into the top of her head, so quietly she wasn't sure if she heard him right – "I'm sorry, Kono."

Kono closed her eyes and smiled. "It's okay," she replied, surprising herself by how much she finally meant it.

And there they stood in comfortable silence – at least until:

"Well, isn't this just a pretty little picture?" came Danny's teasing drawl.

"Daniel," Steve nodded in faux-formal greeting at him over the top of Kono's head. He didn't release Kono, but only shifted her body in his arm so that they both were facing Danny. "How are you?"

Danny didn't answer, but only cocked his head and waved a pointer finger from person to person. "So, what, uh," he squinted and grinned, "you two dating now or something?"

"Aw." Kono smirked mockingly and rested her head on Steve's shoulder. "Funny. One day, Danny, I'm going to say yes just to freak you out." Steve responded in silent agreement by squeezing Kono's shoulder tighter and smirking back at his blond teammate.

Danny pulled his mouth into a thin line of disapproval. "Okay," he said, throwing up his hands. "You know I'm not exactly a fan of the strange conspiratorial relationship you two seem to have going on. All right? So if you guys like keeping your little inside jokes from me, that's fine. Exclude the guy who can't eat pineapple or fight with ninja stars or climb trees. Go right ahead."

Steve shrugged. "Alright. Works for me." He turned his head to glance at Kono. "How about you, Kono?"

She nodded in mock seriousness. "Yeah, sounds good." They exchanged matching grins and laughed.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Hilarious. You two are adorable. Now, Steve, if you don't mind; can I talk to the guest of honor for a second?"

There was a brief silence in which Steve and Kono exchanged dubious glances. "Sure." Steve half-slid, half-rolled Kono out of his arms towards Danny.

When Steve stepped out of earshot, Danny stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels before opening his mouth to speak. "Kono, ah.. I don't know where to begin." He started hesitantly, before Kono's breathy chuckle cut him off.

"It's okay, Danny," she interrupted, shaking her head softly. "You don't have to say anything."

"Are you –"

"Yes."

"But I –"

"Don't." She gave him a reassuring one-sided smile and shrugged. "Really. I've had enough talking about this to last me a lifetime."

His shoulders sagged with relief. His voice dropped. "I'm sorry. For everything."

"I know."

There was a long silence.

It dawned on Kono that she, who had been so hurt and filled with so much fire just a few days ago, was so completely and genuinely detached from the issue now; when she thought of that stretch of angry time spent alone with her surfboard, she only felt peace; when she thought of her resolutely silent phone over the last month, she only felt the vestiges of wistfulness. She, who had been out for Steve's and Danny's blood only a few days ago, now wanted nothing but to bury the last few months in her past.

Danny didn't seem wholly convinced, so Kono took the initiative and tried a tentative punch on the shoulder. "Come on, brah," she smiled. "Let's grind."

And it worked. Intuitively, Danny let out a loud, good-natured groan. "Agh! Eating," he smirked, throwing up his hands as he allowed Kono to lead him back over to Steve. "We've been over this, Kono. We call it eating."

Kono pretended to shoot him an offended glare.

"What are you yelling about now, Jersey?" Steve walked towards them, one-sided smirk on his face. His arm instinctively wrapped comfortably around Kono's neck, as naturally as if it were something he did all the time.

This meant-to-be innocuous act was not lost on Danny, but luckily he only raised a brow and continued without missing a beat, "Oh, you know, the usual. Purposely using pidgin on the mainlander. It's mean-spirited, Kono, it really is."

As the three laughed and were then greeted by Chin and his overwhelming platter of spam musubis, Kono smiled, feeling her heart well with warmth and pride. This was her ohana: and though they were flawed in their own ways and sometimes would even do things that pissed her off – she knew that, when it came down to it, they wanted the best for her.

"Hey."

Kono felt Steve's sudden breath in her ear. She turned in surprise.

"There's one more thing."

"No way." Her half laugh, half disbelieving scoff. "Really? What more could I possibly ask for?"

Smirking, Steve pulled a small, white bag from the table behind him. The bottom was dripping with oil and the front had a picture of Kamekona's face on it.

Kono couldn't fight the loud laugh that bubbled out of her chest as she recognized what it was. "Oh yeah? What'd you bring me?" she played along.

"Coconut shrimp."

"Hm." She grinned up at Steve, narrowing her eyes playfully. "My favorite."

"Is it? I had no idea."

"Right." Kono, still smiling, grabbed the bag from Steve with one hand – and with her other, gently squeezed his right hand. This made Steve start slightly. He recomposed his face and squeezed back.

Then Kono grinned, holding up the bag. "Come on. Let's eat."

(A/N) How was it? I hope it was alright and that you liked it. :) Thank you so much for reading! Feel free to let me know what you thought in a review, or even if you just want to chat/rant about the show/Steve+Kono... I'm all ears. :) Hope you enjoyed!