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PG.

Because it was a switch, except a switch that wasn't really there at all. Takes place during the night after Gon and Killua's reunion, using a plot device featured in the "Nightmare of Zaoldyeck" musical. Christmas-ficbit for Misty/postingwhore.

Always
by Mina Lightstar


When wispy clouds hid the moon and the cool night wind rustled the trees outside, Killua and Gon were still awake.

"Maybe we should go to bed," Gon suggested around a yawn. Behind them, Leorio snorted in his sleep.

Killua made some noncommittal noise that Gon figured was agreement, but the former assassin didn't move a muscle. His gaze never left the window, though Gon didn't know what he was looking at -- if anything at all.

"Killua?" he prodded, poking his friend in the arm. When there was no response, Gon made a face and huffed, "Killua, why are you ignoring me?" More silence. The frown deepened, and he sat back, about to give up and head to bed.

"Gon." The name tumbled softly from Killua's lips.

Forgetting why he'd been irritated, Gon leaned closer, concerned. "Ah? What?"

A few seconds passed before Killua finally continued. "Is it true?"

Gon blinked. "Is what true?"

"That we will be together forever. That I'm not an assassin anymore. That we're friends."

Gon had to blink again. He wasn't used to hearing such uncertainty come from his friend. "Why wouldn't it be true? Killua?"

Killua turned away from the window, rolling over on the large bed they were sharing so that he was looking up at the ceiling. "When the Switch--"

"That wasn't you!" Gon snapped, glaring hotly at the former -- former -- assassin. Realizing he'd raised his voice, he covered his mouth, feeling guilty, and looked over at Leorio and Kurapika. Thankfully, he hadn't disturbed their slumber. "It wasn't you," he repeated more quietly.

Killua shrugged, a frown on his lips. "Illumi said--"

"It wasn't you."

( And Killua stood, a heart in his clawed hand, something akin to wicked delight in his eyes. )

Gon glared -- not at Killua, but in his direction all the same. "Wasn't you," he repeated.

Killua raised his head, stared at Gon for several moments. Eventually, he returned his gaze to the ceiling. "Gon, if I...."

"Killua," Gon began urgently, scrambling across the mattress to look down at his friend, "we said we'd always be together, right? And so we will. Right?" He didn't know why he was seeking confirmation from the other; Killua had already expressed his own uncertainty. All the same, Gon couldn't help but feel that this was some pivotal moment. After all they had just been through, they couldn't separate. Killua wouldn't want it, Gon wouldn't allow it.

Killua's gaze locked with Gon's, and suddenly he wore an expression that was less uncertain, more determined. "I want to."

"Then we will!" Gon said in a decisive tone, and then flopped down onto his back next to his friend, as though the action ended the conversation. He noticed how close they were, how warm Killua was where their sides were pressed together.

Across the room, Kurapika shifted beneath the covers.

"The switch didn't exist anyway," Gon mumbled after a considerable amount of time had passed. "It was something Illumi made."

"Illumi," Killua muttered. Gon thought he detected a trace of fury in his friend's voice, but Killua didn't seem angry when he sat up, glanced down at Gon and looked almost excited.

"What is it?" Gon asked.

Killua reached down and tugged Gon to a sitting position. "I don't want to go to sleep yet." He held Gon's gaze for a moment longer, and then let go of his arm and settled on his stomach by the window.

Gon wasn't tired anymore, either. "Okay, we'll stay up." Because they did almost everything together, and would do almost everything together.

So he lay down next to Killua, rested his chin on his hands, and watched the stars.



+end+