When all is said and done, the future of Chin Ho Kelly's Hawaii Five-0 niece might be out of the detective's hands.

Gabriel is dead and gone, but, unbeknownst to many, his finale demise made an orphan of young Sara (Londyn Silzer). Chin (Daniel Dae Kim), wary of jumping into the world of parenthood, opted to place his niece in the care of family services. As season 7 begins, however, Chin will learn that Sara's future is more complicated than he knew.

"She's got family in Mexico also," showrunner Peter M. Lenkov told Entertainment Weekly. "It's going to look like she's going to end up going back there, and I think Chin is going to understand that it's probably better for her to go with a mother and a father and kids, and it's probably a better environment for her. But there's going to be a little hiccup in that. We're going to see a nice little arc between Gabriel's family and Chin for the sort of soul of this little girl."

In the meantime, Sara will get to spend a little quality time with her Uncle Chin. Check out a season 8 sneak below (during which the Hawaii Five-0 writers tip their hats to Kim's Broadway turn in The King and I).

Awww, Chin would make such a good guardian.

Find out what the future holds for Sara and Chin when Hawaii Five-0 returns to CBS on Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. ET.