Everything's gonna be alright

A Long Overdue Explanation

"Is papa okay? And Alluka?" Killua asked. He'd only been gone a couple of hours, but never like this before.

"Yes, They're safe." Kurapika pet both Killua and Gon's heads. "I can't believe you two are still alive."

"It's all thanks to Gon." Killua admitted. "I wouldn't have made it without him."

"What?" Kurapika's eyes were fading, but still slithgtly scarlet as he turned to Gon.

Gon gulped. He'd never seen Killua's dad's eyes do that. It was scary.

Kurapika could sense the small boy's hesitation, and looked down at the snow for a moment. "Sorry about my eyes, I know it's scary. But thank you," he smiled and hugged Gon close. "Thank you for saving Killua."

Kurapika led both of them to the campfire, and they all sat down with the blankets. While his eyes returned to their normal color, he asked the boys to tell him everything that happened.

It was hard for Killua to admit why he ran away. He started crying when he told his dad that he felt like they were evil for keeping him away from Gon.

"I understand." Kurapika said wisely. "From your perspective, it does seem like what we are doing is evil. But the most evil thing we've done is keep the truth from you."

Gon, who had previously stayed silent, suddenly interjected. "Hey, you don't have to unload all of that while I'm here, I can just... uh, go find some squirrels to play with."

Kurapika smiled. "Thank you, Gon, that's very considerate. But since you're his friend, I think you deserve the truth as well."

Kurapika took a deep breath. This is gonna take a while. "I'll start at the beginning, with Killua's birth parents."

Killua took a sharp breath. They'd never spoken about them before.

"The Zoldyck family. They are a very powerful mafia family from the republic of padokea. I work for a special branch of the Nostrade Mafia, and I was sent on a mission to gather incriminating evidence about the Zoldyck's. I infiltrated the estate, mostly just to take photos and recordings.

"That's when I found you." Kurapika said, putting a hand on Killua's knee. "You and your sister were hidden in a basement area, and were presumably left there so you would die."

Killua's eyes widened. He remembered the basement. Nobody ever came to visit except one of the butlers... what was their name... "it was Canary."

Kurapika nodded. "With her help, I visited you several times to build trust and get you familiar with seeing me. I knew that being locked in a basement and then suddenly getting ripped out would cause a great deal of shock." Kurapika said. "With my connections in the FBI, I was able to open an investigation, and lead them to rescuing you."

Killua nodded. He did remember that. A lot of signing papers, and a lot of holding Alluka's hand. They had both been scared.

"The agency wanted us to put you into foster care, or maybe an orphanage, but I couldn't do that to you. Especially after everything they did to you." Kurapika smiled a little. "So Papa and I adopted you. We weren't married at the time, but we knew it was right. We tied the knot, then welcomed two kids into our family.

"The first time you met Papa was when he was doing a doctor's check up with you, and you almost bit him." Kurapika laughed.

Killua remembered that too. He had clung to Kurapika like a koala bear to a tree. Papa was checking his throat to see if he was sick, and killua had lunged to bite. It had been strong enough to draw blood.

Papa had listened to his heart beat, and tickled him a little to make him laugh. It took a while for Killua to warm up to the doctor, but by the time his check up was done, he trusted him enough to check up on his sister as well.

"Um, I'm sorry I never told you the truth." Kurapika said, eyes glued to the ground. "I didn't want you to remember everything that your old family did to you. I didn't tell you about me being a special agent, or about the Nostrade mafia because they keep our family safe. Mr. and Mrs. Zoldyck have been in prison for some time, but two of your brother's are still roaming the world, searching for you. They are trying to take you back, and recently they found pictures of you and Alluka here, so it's important that we moved away to keep you safe."

"Hey, Killua's dad?" Gon spoke up for the first time. He looked like he might be sick. "The mafia... is there a phantom troupe mafia?"

Kurapika's smile vanished. "How do you know that name?"

"I've heard Aunt Mito say it before." Gon admitted, horror on his face.

Killua turned to him with a quizzical look. "Aunt Mito?"

"What's her first name?" Kurapika asked.

"Her full name is Mitoo Freecss. With two O's, two E's, and two S's." Gon said, worry overwhelming him. "Why? Is it important?"

Kurapika blinked. It was, in fact, very important. And very bad. He took a stick from the fire and wrote in the snow with the soot. "Mitoo Freecss. Rearrange the letters..."

"Omito?" Killua asked. "Who is that?"

"Omito Crefess is the ninth leg of the phantom troupe's spider." Kurpaika realized. "Gon, I think your aunt is working with Killua's old family to kidnap him."

"Oh, that is bad." Gon's stomach was twisting. "Because aunt Mito is my best friend, and I tell her everything. I've told her all about you, Killua."

"How much have you told her?"

"I told her you were going on vacation far away. I told her you were adopted by two dads. I even told her your phone number, and your favorite kind of chocolate."

Oh no. "Okay. Hey, it's okay." Kurapika reached out toward Gon. "Don't worry, everything's gonna be alright."

Everything was not, in fact, going to be alright. If Mito had Killua's phone number, then she was tracking his phone. The phone that is currently in the hotel room with Leorio and Alluka.

"Um, Where is she now?"

Gon's eyes welled up with tears. "She said she was at work. She said she might be gone for a while."

Oh shit