When Killua looked up, ridden with shock, it was Gon who was staring back at him.
His honey-colored irises were set with a familiar determination as he reached out to take Killua's hand. Gon was a prince in a sea of red, rooting Killua where he stood.
The obvious questions to ask would have been, What's going on? or Why are you here?
But there wasn't time for questions.
Which was why Killua, trained in the art of keeping calm in the face of death, didn't protest when Gon led him to the side of the room, past the corpse on the floor.
When he opened the window, there was nothing left to do but jump out, Gon's protective gaze on him as he did so.
…
Sneaking around corners, slipping past guards, slowing his heartbeat down as a siren activated - those were the easy parts. Even if he was aware the entire time of Gon's heartbeat, forever in sync with his, catching up to him while they escaped the palace grounds.
No time for past grudges to creep up. No time to dare to speak, to alert anyone to their presence.
Until they reached the forest.
And Killua finally met the gaze of the boy before him.
What was there to say again?
"Kurapika said he needed my help. He should be safe now - no one will suspect him." One half of Gon's face was swallowed by shadows, the other swathed in the incandescent glow peeking through the branches. "I had to do it."
I had to do it.
He looked like a fairytale image, but spoke with an eerie calmness that didn't add up. His eyes were taking Killua in, and he looked ready to burst into tears, as though he thought the entire world was about to swallow him up and bury him where he stood.
"Yeah? In what world would Kurapika ask you to do something like that, Gon?"
Gon was shaking, tears paving their way down olive cheekbones as maroon lips trembled. "He said to slip the poison into Tserriednich's tea."
Killua strode closer, until he could see every detail on his face - each shimmering teardrop, each freckle, each dark eyelash. It didn't surprise him when Gon didn't take a single step back.
"You killed her for me." Killua nearly whispered the words. "So that she couldn't be with me."
"Alluka's safe. She's with Leorio."
He'd figured as much. Killua traced Gon's lips with a stare alone. "You like changing the subject."
Maybe Gon was crying because he thought he was still too twisted, too selfish, to be around Killua, even after all these years. Maybe he wasn't wrong.
He blinked, and found himself being enveloped in a hug. Gon smelled like nature, like childhood and friendship wrapped into one. He was the wind whipping past them as they raced through the streets of Yorknew, the fresh grass they lied on during Greed Island, and the sunset lowering in the sky the first time they parted ways.
And then, Gon pulled away, as though afraid Killua would be angry. He didn't seem to know what to say. Killua didn't know either.
Killua brushed Gon's hand with his own, before deciding against what he had been about to do.
When Killua turned away, turned his back on Gon once more, he knew that it was for the best.