Author's Notes: Knowledge of Hunter x Hunter is necessary. Spoilers. This fic is part of a series of short fics and is not related to my " x x " series or to Hunt for the Intangible.
Sketch Three –Love and Fear
Boys will always leave.
It was a fact she learned early, when the cousin she loved and idolized left the island for the unknown world. For what, he wouldn't say beyond the fact that there was something he wanted. Something that he wouldn't be able to get on the tiny island.
And so he left.
And time passed. A decade passed. And he finally returned. To her complete surprise, he carried in his arms an infant. A boy with dark hair as wild as her cousin's, and with large, intelligent eyes.
And he left yet again, this time leaving behind a piece of himself in the form of a son.
She loved his son, and despite her youth, she raised him as her own. She fed him, clothed him, nurtured him, educated him. And she feared the future. She feared the moment when he would follow in his footsteps. For he was so much like his father. More than he could know.
And that moment did come. All too soon.
Once again, she watched as a boy she loved left the island for parts unknown. To face dangers she didn't want to imagine. To become a man.
So much like his father.
And yet, not entirely.
The boy called her several weeks after his departure, sounding confident and happy. He had achieved his first goal, and he had a new friend. He had wanted to share his excitement with her. He had wanted to let her know that he was alive.
And several months later, he surprised her again by returning. With a friend in tow. For several blissful weeks, he was her little boy again. She cooked for him. Prepared the bath for him. Did his laundry.
She was happy.
But he was his father's son. She knew it could not last.
She watched him leave again, determined to find that father he resembled so much. Determined to achieve the goal he had set for himself.
Too much like his father. He simply could not stay put. The island was too small for him.
But she had hope. For his father, the goal was most important. More important than the loved ones he left behind. But this boy, he would return.
Because for this boy, her little boy, love was the most important thing of all.
And so she didn't stop him, secure in the knowledge that though the stays might be short and few, her boy would always call this place home. As long as he was alive and able, he would return to her.
Boys always leave, but as long as a cold, silent box never appeared at her door, she would wait.
And so she waited.
