Dude I haven't watched this series in forever. I barely remember who half these characters are. But this story was just sitting around in one of my folders and there was nothing else to do with it so
Gon and Ging stand atop the nest of the World Tree that is Actually Just a Really Big Sapling.
"…and then, when we took the snake out of the vase, there was a larger snake underneath!" Ging is saying.
As Ging speaks on about all the adventures he's had as a Pro Hunter, Gon sits on his belly, looking up at the man he is proud to call his father—the man he has finally caught after one-and-a-half-to-two-years of hide-and-seek.
He peers down over the edge of the bird's nest that they are sitting on, thousands of feet up in the air. The view is gorgeous. He has never seen another sight like it. All these experiences Gon never would have had without Ging's absence motivating him to. He never would have met all his friends like Killua, Kurapika, Leorio, Kite, and all the rest. He never would have become a Pro Hunter, or gotten past the Zoldyckian testing gates, or learned Nen, or punched Hisoka in the face, or played dodgeball with Hisoka half a year later, or killed a Chimera Ant. He never would have done any of that if it wasn't for Ging. Even with Ging's absence, he indirectly raised Gon to become the boy he was today.
Suddenly, Gon has an epiphany. Ging didn't do that. In fact, Ging didn't do anything.
Ging did nothing at all.
Gon thinks back again to all his friends he's met on his adventures. So many of them care for him. Even people like Nobunaga, Hanzo, and Hisoka—even Hisoka—they care for him more than Ging does.
Ging just wants me to become a strong kid in his eyes, one that he's proud to call his son, just as I'm proud to call him my father, a part of Gon wants to think.
But another part of him says, Ging visited Kite in the hospital, but not you, his own son. Not you, who were in critical condition.
He's seen a lot of awful families in this past one-and-a-half-to-two-years, Killua's namely—and so Gon thought he was pretty good now at realizing who was a good family member and who was a bad one. He's never wanted something so badly as he's wanted to find Ging. But now that he's found him, all the answers come rushing back to him, leaving his eyes wide open.
What kind of father tests his son to find out whether he's worthy of even meeting him? No good father, that's what.
Gon is becoming angry at Ging, all for personal reasons. The journey was not all for nothing, however. Gon knows that through his adventures, he did become stronger, and he did become better. But has he become emotionally strong? He thinks back to Pitou. Welp.
Gon stands up. Ging looks surprised, cuts his story short, and he stands up, too.
"…Gon?" he says. "Gon? What's the matter?"
Gon does not make eye contact with the man. Instead he looks to the ground. The ground is 1784 meters or so away from reaching distance.
Gon knows he is strong… just not perhaps by Ging's standard. He reaches out and gives Ging a good push.
Ging falls.