Disclaimer: I don't own HxH!

0:00:00. Prologue: Freefall

"Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real." -Cormac McCarthy

Hot steam seeped out of the bathroom as I stepped out, clad in nothing but plain black lingerie. Without bothering to look up, I continued to towel my hair dry as I called out to the rest of the suite.

"The shower's free for you whenever you want it, Hisok-"

The words died from my mouth as I finally looked up to search for the familiar clown's face. Instead of the Joker's sly expression, however, I caught and held the cool stare of a woman dressed in traditional ninja-esque attire. Her eyes showed a distant and removed expression, and she stood with the poise of a skilled killer.

What caught my attention (or my horror, to be perfectly accurate) however, was not her expression, but who she was. I felt the blood drain from my face as a sheen of sweat started to cling to my skin as I registered the identity of the woman standing before me. That pink hair. That outfit. But most importantly, that distinct taste of nen: like menthol, a cool spicy nen that slightly stung the senses with a cinnamon flavor.

Machi. She hasn't changed at all in the last ten years.

It was only a second, but I was sure my drastic reaction would not pass by unnoticed to her sharp eye. 'I can pass it off as surprise' I thought rapidly as I chewed the inside of my mouth. 'After all, shock would be the normal reaction to a stranger being in your room when you come out of the shower, right? It would also be a convenient way to pass off the cold sweat.'

"Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't know that Hisoka had visitors!" I babbled, looking every bit the embarrassed girl-next-door. I scrambled to cover myself with my towel as I continued to ramble at her. "If you're here to see him though, I have no idea where he is. I'm sure he'll be around in a jiffy, though, so I'll just, uhm, excuse myself while ya wait. Toodles, miss!" I had grabbed a shirt in my haste and barely got both arms into it as I stuttered out my monologue, and was making my way to the door as I bid Machi goodbye. Inwardly, however, I cursed at the damn Joker. Where the fuck was he when you needed him? My eyes narrowed as I considered the possibilities...I knew he had decided to join the Phantom Troupe a while ago, but to sell me out to them? My brain raced to think of the possibilities behind his actions.

I couldn't make it to the door. I hadn't been walking with my nen, after all, and Machi was one of the quicker members of the Spiders. Before I managed to even touch the door, she stood before me, blocking the exit. I scowled, my innocent image dropped. It was clear from her action that she wasn't here for Hisoka as I had partially hoped, but for me.

"Uhm, can I help you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. My nakedness hardly bothered me, what with my shirt unbuttoned and no pants on. I could hardly worry about things like that when someone who could kill me in her sleep stood before me, after all. 'Course, you could always lose the attitude if you were really concerned about your safety,' the reasonable side of me protested. Still, I focused on her next words. I needed to know, after all, just how much she knew.

Her next words made me drop all pretenses and dart for the only exit left: the window.

"So it really is you, Vivi."

Before she even finished her sentence, I started to glance around the room in my panicked fight-or-flight state of mind. I needed to leave, now. The question was, how? There was the door, but Machi was guarding it—did I trust myself enough to be able to fight her in direct combat? The truth was, I probably could take her down in a one-on-one considering the fact that I knew her abilities but she didn't know mine...but I had no plans to kill her, and I couldn't have her tattle-telling everything back at home base.

I bit my lip. Home...it had been a long time since I considered that place home.

Machi shifted slightly into a fighting stance, and her movement jolted me from my nostalgia. No, the important thing now was escape. The door was out of the question because I couldn't take her down without using my nen ability, which left...

The window was on the other side of the room, and I was sure my speed bested hers when I used nen. I had honed my nen in speed rather than strength after all, but the problem was afterwards; we were on the 200th floor, and that height wasn't a joke. Still, if the alternative was being captured by Machi...

As if she sensed my thoughts, Machi took a step forward, and all my inhibitions disappeared. Before a second thought passed by, I had already raced towards the window. I raised my right hand to wave at the glass, and my aura flew out to shatter it as I continued to run at it without losing any speed. As I jumped, however, I glanced back to see Machi's shocked expression.

It's funny how a second from one perspective could seem like an hour in another's. Despite the fact that I could only see her for less than a second, my thoughts ran wild. Was she shocked because she didn't believe I had the guts to jump? Or because she didn't think I would go through such lengths to avoid her? Was she shocked at my recklessness, or my desperation?

My parting words to her rang out as I fell, and echoed in the room: "Tell 'Lo I said hi."

And then all I could see and hear was darkness.

A/N: After a three (or four?) year hiatus, I'm finally back...albeit a little rusty in the writing department. This prologue is merely an excerpt of what will be closer to the climax of this story. I'm still debating as to how I want to structure this, as I know I want to juxtapose present and past dialogues; would you guys prefer a chapter in the past, followed by a chapter in the present (and so on), or for flashbacks to be intercut within chapters? Let me know, and please review! :)

note: "'Lo" is Vivi's nickname for Chrollo.