Chapter 79: Bye

Aliara ranked sixth in the next voting session, kicking her out of the rankings and her possibilities of becoming chairman dropping to zero.

She was thrilled.

Not that she had time to celebrate- she was jumping rooftops in order to get to the hospital as fast as possible. On the streets, she'd be recognized, there'd be traffic, she'd be slowed down. But up on the roof? Nothing but her and the pigeons. Sure, the pigeons were annoying and kind of stupid- but they had the sense to scuttle out of the way as she hurtled by, vaulting over streets to the nearest rooftops as fast as she could.

It didn't take long to get to the hospital; rather, it would've taken longer if she'd gone by the streets. Aliara was surprised to see a large, white tent-like structure set up a bit of a distance from the hospital- maybe a hundred meters or so away- with a black limousine parked outside. Aliara frowned, racing across the hospital roof, before she jumped and skidded to a stop outside the tent, next to a tall lady with a wrinkly face in a dark suit. "What's going on in there?"

The woman frowned, adjusting her monocle. "I'm afraid you have no business being in this area, miss. Please leave."

"Like hell I don't!" Aliara cried out, sidestepping the elderly lady. "My friend is in there!"

She was around the lady in the suit and about to grab the tent flap and push it open when she was blocked. The old lady was fast. "I'm afraid I can't allow you to enter the tent," the lady explained patiently. "Are you, perhaps, Miss Aliara Lorvell?"

"So what if I am?" the black-haired girl demanded, starting to get frantic. "I need to go in there! I need-"

"Master Killua is taking care of it," someone else said, and Aliara twisted her head to see a girl, slightly taller than her, with long dark hair. She was wearing a matching suit to the old lady in front of her. "No one is allowed inside."

"Master Killua?" Aliara repeated, her jaw slipping. "Are you- Are you Killua's butlers?"

"Leave," the girl demanded, her fists clenching, "or-"

"Amane," the elderly lady interrupted, waving her hand. "It's alright. Miss Lorvell is a friend of Master Killua and the boy inside."

Friend? It's way more than that. "We still can't let her in," Amane insisted, narrowing her eyes.

"Like you could stop me," she snarled, tensing up and closing her metal hand into a fist.

"Well-"

The butler was cut off when there was a swell of energy. Aliara blinked as the amount of nen being emitted from the tent threatened to swallow her whole; it was an explosion of white light that forced all three women to stop in their tracks.

The light receded, and Aliara took her chance to dart into the tent.

The tent was huge, and the black-haired girl wasted no time dashing down two separate hallways until she found the source of the nen emission.

Aliara all but launched herself into the main room of the tent. There, laying on the hospital bed, was Gon- completely back to normal. He seemed to be lightly dozing. Killua stood above him, his back turned towards Aliara, holding hands with a younger girl that had long black hair- at least, that was all Aliara could see from her angle.

"Alluka," Killua said, squeezing his younger sister's hand. "Let's go before-"

"Killua!" she called out, her head spinning. "Killua-"

He spun around, so fast that he almost dropped Alluka's hand. Aliara lunged at him, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her head in his shoulder. "You did it," she murmured, feeling his free arm tuck around her waist. "Gon's okay. You did it."

The white-haired boy squeezed her waist once, before he loosened his grip and Aliara brought her hands back down to her side. "Let's get out of here before Gon wakes up," he instructed, turning to glance at his sister. Aliara took a peek at Alluka only to realize that the small girl wasn't looking at Killua at all- she had her pale blue eyes fixated on Aliara.

"Who are you?" she asked, cocking her head.

Aliara wasn't sure if she should answer. She glanced up at Killua. "This is Aliara," Killua said carefully, nodding at her. "My girlfriend." She felt a flare of pride spark in her chest from what he called her, and she beamed at him.

"Oh," Alluka said slowly, frowning. "I'm Alluka."

"I've heard a lot of good things about you," the inventor said, bending down to Alluka's height and trying to smile. "I hope we get along."

Alluka's skepticism faded and the small girl smiled. "Me too."

"Let's go," the white-haired boy urged, tugging Alluka's hand. The trio pushed the curtain that was guarding the entrance aside, moving to the outside hallway, which was currently occupied by the two butlers Aliara had crossed paths with outside. Killua seemed to notice how she tensed up because he asked, "did you run into Tsubone and Amane already?"

"You could say that," Aliara said dryly as the elderly lady raised an eyebrow at her.

Killua didn't even bat an eye as he picked Alluka up in his arms, frowning at the pair of butlers. "Treat Ali with the same respect you'd show to me."

"Yes, Master Killua," Tsubone said immediately, her voice betraying nothing.

"Ali," the white-haired boy said next, turning to her. "I need to have a quick talk with Alluka."

"Okay," Aliara said easily. "Oh- you mean alone. Yeah, sure."

"I'll be out in a second," Killua murmured, his voice tight as he sat down on one of the benches. "Tsubone, Amane, leave. Please."

All three of them left the tent without a word.

Gon left the hospital tent five minutes before Killua did, and Aliara tackled him in a hug that lasted twenty seconds, easily. Happy tears were pricking her eyes because her best friend was okay. He wasn't dying, he wasn't going to die, he wasn't damaged so bad that repair seemed hopefully. He was happy, he was healthy, he was breathing, and he was back.

Morel volunteered to take Gon down to the conference room, where all hunters were supposed to be in order to vote on the next chairman. Aliara could care less, but she knew Leorio was campaigning only because he was trying to support Gon.

When Killua came out of the tent with Alluka, his eyes were rimmed with redness and he seemed stiff as he walked. Alluka seemed to be okay, although her eyes were a bit red too. When she cocked an eyebrow at him, he just shrugged and kind of nodded, bobbing his head up and down until he eventually tucked his chin into his chest. The black-haired girl wrapped her arms around him and felt him sigh as he sank into her hug.

An hour later, they were back in the hotel room Killua had gotten her. Alluka had passed out on the bed, sleeping peacefully.

When Aliara asked Killua about what happened, his reply was only, "I made a promise."

"To do what?"

"Protect Alluka. No matter what." He sighed. "I haven't exactly been a great older brother."

"I'm sure you did what you could," the dark-haired girl insisted, sitting herself down on the armchair.

Killua squeezed next to her and laced their fingers together, sending tingles of warmth up Aliara's arm. "No. I left her there, at home. Illumi wants to take her and harness her powers for himself, so I need to protect her."

Aliara squeezed his hand lightly, leaning her head against his shoulder. "So what next?"

"What'd you mean?"

"Gon reunited with his father, right?" she explained, nestling herself closer to his side. "I saw it on the television. There's no more... Well, no more huge danger issues we have to worry about anymore, I guess. No deadly bugs to kill."

He smiled softly. "No games to complete."

"No auctions to prepare for," she added.

"No exams to crush," he continued.

"No families to escape from," Aliara said happily, sighing quietly.

Killua squeezed her hand. "No more feelings to hide."

They basked in silence for a second, listening to the slow sound of Alluka's breathing, despite Aliara's question going unanswered. "She's adorable," Aliara murmured, glancing at the sleeping child. "I can't believe she's got such a power locked up inside of her."

He nodded. "Yeah. That's why I'm going to protect her from here on out."

"I see," Aliara mused. "Can I help?"

There was a quiet pause until Killua whispered, "you'd do that?"

"Well, of course," Aliara said, surprised that Killua didn't seem to expect she'd want to tag along. "I know how much she means to you. I don't have any set plans right now, so I'd prefer to spend my time with... with you. Obviously."

"Of course," Killua agreed immediately, his grip on her hand tightening. "I'm happy you want to come."

The black-haired girl hummed in agreement, her eyelids fluttering shut for a half second. "Why wouldn't I? No more danger means more time for us."

He laughed softly, a happy musical sound that made Aliara's heart do a little tap dance. Killua's free hand roamed to her neck, gingerly picking up the silver chain from her necklace. "You're wearing it?"

"Why are you surprised?" Aliara asked, rolling her eyes. "I love it."

"Good," he said firmly. "I didn't know if you would-"

"Then you don't know me that well," she said, effectively cutting him off. A smirk grew on her face as she added, "Ghost Boy."

She watched with satisfaction as the smile grew on his face. "I think I know you pretty well by now. Sunshine."

After more snuggling (and maaaaybe a bit of kissing...) Aliara felt her eyes shut, finally able to sleep in peace. Gon was alive, Killua was by her side, and the world couldn't be better.

Gon's father left him a message. He would be waiting at the top of the tallest tree in the city- the tallest structure in the world.

Aliara and Killua immediately agreed to accompany him there, eager to see what Gon would be climbing, with Alluka in tow. The trip into town proved to be exciting- they stopped for ice cream for the last time together (for a while, at least), they got their group photo taken by a photographer, and they watched a few street performers.

It was when it was time to say good bye that things got difficult.

"Well, this is where we part," Killua started.

Aliara whacked him lightly across the shoulder. "That sounds so formal. Stop it." She turned to Gon and practically tackled him in a hug. "Stay safe, buddy. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too," Gon replied, squeezing her back. "Thank you both for everything you did for me."

"No problem," the white-haired boy said with a shrug. "Anytime. It's thanks to travelling with you that I can take Alluka with me now. She's the one who healed you, by the way."

"No way!" Gon cried out, glancing at Killua's younger sister. "Thank you!"

"I'm prepared to spend the rest of my life protecting her," he vowed, grabbing Alluka's hand as the small girl beamed at Gon. "No matter what."

"And I'm tagging along," Aliara added, grinning at Alluka. "Sometimes, we might need a little girl time. Right?"

"Yeah," she chimed, and the trio laughed.

Gon tried to smile but his smile wobbled. "I'll miss you guys. Thank you for everything."

"No, thank you," Aliara insisted. "I wouldn't be where I am without either of you two."

"Stay in touch," Killua said, "call us every now and then."

"I will!"

"Bye, Gon!"

"See you later!"

Aliara turned away from the dark-haired boy as he made his way towards the tree. Killua, still hand in hand with Alluka, started walking. "So, what'd you want to do first?"

She pulled something out of the side pocket on her track pants. It was the photo they had taken when exploring town this morning. Killua had his arm around Alluka and was waving at the camera with a cheeky grin; Alluka was flashing a peace sign; Gon was on the other side of Alluka, smiling so hard that his eyes were shut.

And Aliara was on Killua's left, grinning like mad.

These two dorks had flipped her entire life around. Aliara couldn't believe how far they'd come or how she never would've done even half of the things that she did in the last year and a half. Without them, she'd probably still be trapped at home.

"I want to do everything," she said confidently, running to catch up to Killua.

Aliara Lorvell had never felt so free.

WOW. I'm done.

...oh my god.

...I'm actually done?

*sobs* I don't want to be done...

THANK YOU. Without you wonderful readers, this story would not have been as successful as it was. Even if you followed just for kicks and I've never talked to you, I appreciate you to no end. Thank you all so much for all your kind words and the motivation that kept me going through this journey.

Coincidentally, this story was staring a little over a year and a half ago, and Aliara's tale takes place over a year and a half. Funny how that worked out ;)

For the final time, thank you to digilover23, Caraa, KilluaKagura, Awesomeness3013, Eliza211, supboyyyyy93, Guest, guest, Oof, Child-of-Strength, EC, and Yozora531 for your lovely feedback!

Some of you requested an epilogue. This is my take on what would've happened if nothing disastrous came to pass in their near future:

Adrianna Lorvell was brought to court a year later by none other than Kuro, Ano, and Aliara. They spent the previous year digging up all the evidence they could possibly find, and after tracking down their mother and bringing her to court, she was declared guilty of a huge list of crimes. Adrianna Lorvell wouldn't be getting out of jail for a long time.

Aliara's metal hand attracted a lot of media attention- especially from the fact that she built it herself. She was tracked down by an ex police officer, who had lost a leg after the Chimera ant incident. Aliara designed and built a new leg for him (after a hefty sum of money, of course, and maybe a bit of pity for the poor guy), but after that, her talent wasn't something she could keep secret. She started designing complex prosthetic limbs and she managed to take the time to build them on her travels with Killua. She was on the path to being as rich as her mother- the proper way, this time.

Eventually, she made herself a website, where people placed orders and she'd make them something. Some cases she was more eager to start than others- for example, one man lost an eye during a war and she was very excited to try to create him a new one, but she wasn't overly eager to design a new pinky finger for a man who accidentally cut it off with a power saw.

Killua and Aliara's relationship progressed positively throughout the years. Their arguments were minor and were settled in no time at all. It eventually made it into social media- the Zoldyck heir dating the crazy Lorvell girl was quite the interesting headline- but the two were almost impossible to track down. Alluka was pampered like a princess between the two of them.

They would, eventually, go on to have kids- after a lengthy discussion that their kids would be treated differently than they were. They would end up with two- a small boy with silvery hair and startling green eyes, and another girl with blonde hair and Killua's dark blue eyes.

Just in case you wanted something wrapped up. Hope this helped.

I can't emphasize enough- thank you all so much. The support I received for this story was more than I ever could've imagined. Aliara Lorvell is the most complex OC I've created yet and I couldn't have dreamed of how well she developed.

Thank you for joining Aliara through her story.

I love all of you so much.