I'd been listening to Gon cry for almost an hour, and only a few tears were trickling down my face. I only looked down in utter dejection. I absolutely regretted not using my second ability on Knuckle when I was fighting him last night. It could have been an easy win. Now I was stuck with this damn creature that wouldn't let me use my Nen for 30 days.

Without warning, Gon stood up and screamed loudly, interrupting my thoughts. I turned my head to him, my green eyes looking like sad puppy eyes.

"Okay. I'm over it now. I'm very sure Knuckle and the others will save Kite and bring him back. I have to get a lot stronger, because he's coming back, and I won't disappoint him!" He proclaimed.

I wiped my eyes and stared at him with eyes filled with hope.

"You sure are simple-minded." Spin spoke up, and we turned our attention to her. "You have met Kite way before we did, but we spent more time with him than you have. I would have beaten all of you up if you hadn't stopped moping. Kite wouldn't want to see you like this. I'm certain he's still alive, and I'm absolutely sure he wouldn't want you to have any regrets. The question is what to do now. My answer is that you should choose wisely and find the will to follow through. If you're too weak, then train more. There's enough space in the back of this truck to work out and get moving."

"Yeah. You're right." Gon smiled and began working out. I didn't feel like doing anything at all, so I just watched him do his handstand exercises.

"Hey, Spin. Why do you want to become a Hunter?" He suddenly asked.

"Because I need the money for an enormous debt I owe." She replied, chewing her gum.

"Debt?" I repeated, wondering how much she owed.

"Have any of you heard of the Small-billed Swan?" She asked, and I shook my head.

"No." Gon replied.

"It's a bird species that only live around certain mining areas. It's unknown why they do so, as their food, water, and weather preferences are unknown. No one is able to figure out why that is. I bought the location of the mine, what's left of it specifically. Kite gave me a loan, and he was the only adult who ever listened to me. Stick and I came from that location. We were born there. Every morning, we would witness the beautiful sight of thousands of Small-billed Swans flying into the sunrise. It was the oldest, most vivid memory we have."

I listened carefully to her story with great interest. I wished I was there to see the Small-billed Swans flying at dawn. It would have been amazing if my friends were there with me, as well as Grandma Millie and Miri.

"When we found out the location was planned to become an industrial waste site, we realized how important all of it was to us. Kite told us he didn't have a place to call home, because he didn't know where he was born. He envied Stick and I. Once this mission is over, I promise I'll take the four of you to my hometown. The land which I call my treasure."

I beamed at her offer, which lightened up my mood. I would totally love to go there.

The four of us had arrived back at the hotel. I could feel Palm's ominous aura coming from the inside. I quivered and held onto Gon's arm, whimpering in fear. Oh, God, please let me live another day...

We slowly walked inside the hotel, following the aura coming from the eerie woman. I kept praying in my mind that she wouldn't try to kill us after we lost to Knuckle and Shoot.

When Killua opened the door to the room, there she was, stabbing some doll that looked like Gon. There were a lot of Gon dolls all shredded and stabbed open everywhere. I gasped in horror at the thick atmosphere around us. She turned her head to us, her blood red eyes peering at us in such a creepy and threatening manner. I cowered, tightening my hold on Gon's arm.

"You'll pay for this." She growled, standing up on her two feet. A knife was in her hand, frightening me even more. "You promised me. You swore that you would take me to the NGL. You said if you break your promise, you would stick a thousand needles in your eye."

"I know. I'm sorry." Gon apologized.

"I don't want an apology. There's no point in having you stick needles in your eye."

"What can I do to make it up to you?" He asked.

"Let's see. You must do one thing I say." She replied, holding up a finger.

"Hold on. Can't you think about how Gon is feeling?" Killua retorted.

"What if he doesn't want to do whatever you say? You would be forcing him to do it!" I added.

"Okay. Fine." Gon nodded, surprising the rest of us.

"Go out with me." She demanded.

Her words caused my world to crumble. I couldn't believe what she just told him to do. How...how could she, a grown woman, go out with a 12-year old? That was totally absurd! I felt a pang in my chest, and my breath shook.

"Go out...with me." She pointed the knife at Gon.

"Okay. I'll do it." He agreed, which turned on my crybaby side.

"No! Don't do this, Gon! Please! I love you, remember?!" I cried, not realizing what I said made Palm really angry.

"You WHAT?!" She yelled at me, and I jumped in fear. I hid behind the boy, and my sister stepped up to defend me.

"Listen. Gon already has someone he loves, so don't go having a fit when you don't get what you want!" Lynn harshly spoke.

"Shut up! Gon is going out with ME, and that's final! If that little brat is trying to take him away from me, I'm gonna kill her!" Palm threatened, holding the knife up and gripping it tightly.

I whimpered, holding on to Gon's shoulders. Why did he agree to this? He knew I loved him from the very beginning, but why did he decide to go out with her? She didn't look too pretty to go out with someone her age. The thought of her and Gon together weighed heavily on me.

"Don't worry. This is just to make it up for breaking the promise." The dark-haired boy whispered, trying to reassure me.

"You should stay away from her, Gon!" Killua whispered in his ear.

"Yeah, it's dangerous to be around her when she's like this!" Lynn added.

"You guys need to stop interfering. It's none of your business. This is between me and Gon. You hear me? Just between me and Gon! Oh goodness! Mmmmm!" She started giggling uncontrollably, causing Lynn and Killua to shudder.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" My sister muttered.

"There's somewhere I want to go, and I want to go there right now!" She squealed in excitement.

"Oh, sorry. Not today." Gon said, holding up a hand.

"Huh?!"

"I have to train with my friends today but...I know! How about you train with us, Palm?" He offered, and she let in a loud gasp.

"What are you talking about?" She got close to the boy and pointed the knife at his face. "We are going out. You promised me, didn't you?"

"Mmm-hmm." He nodded.

"Then why are they tagging along?! And why would we train?! Are you joking?! We're dating, and this is our first date! You hear me? Our very first date! Our. First. Date."

Date, date, DATE! She wasn't kidding one bit!

"But that's not actually a date." He innocently replied.

"Huh?!"

"We can have a real date later on. Since it'll be our first one, we need to make it right. I'm gonna need more time to get something ready, 'cause I wanna be prepared!"

"Prepared? For what?" She asked.

"It's a secret! You'll see tomorrow!" He gave her a toothy grin, making her drop her knife.

"Oh. In that case, alright. Sorry. If you hadn't explained everything first, then I wouldn't have gotten so angry." She finally calmed down thanks to Gon's positive attitude.

"No, it was my fault. I just wanted to surprise you, that's all. It might be fun!"

"Really? You wanted to surprise me? Oh my gosh..." She giggled and poked his forehead, which made me super jealous at her. "I'm keeping an eye on you."

"All right. Then let's meet in front of the bulletin board at 10 A.M. tomorrow."

"Okay. I'll be there."

We went to the gym to work out and started talking about how Gon could handle Palm's wrath. I lifted weights out of envy, ignoring the stiffness in my arms, legs, and back.

"You're amazing, Gon." Killua complimented him.

"Huh? What do you mean?" He asked, confused.

"It's just that when I listened to you talk to Palm, it seemed like you were used to it." Killua pointed out.

"Yeah. I wonder how you could manage to calm her down without making her angrier to the point where she would kill us all." Lynn replied, lifting her weights.

I didn't bother talking one bit as my jealousy continued to show on my face.

"Hey, Gon. Have you ever been on a date?" The ex-assassin asked.

"Yeah. Many times." He simply replied, and I fell face first to the floor due to the heavy weights.

"Seriously?!" I yelled, quickly getting back up.

"Yeah, but most of them were with my Aunt Mito."

"Oh, I get it now. Say, weren't there any others, too?" Killua asked.

"Many women on fishing boats would land on Whale Island. They would be interested in guys who were younger than them. I would take them around and they would teach me a lot of stuff, too." He explained.

"S-stuff? What kind of stuff?" Lynn asked, flabbergasted by his response.

"Just stuff. They call women like that 'cougars.' Crazy, right?" The dark-haired boy chuckled, and I was sweating bullets. I had no idea he was an expert of women. Even he was an expert in handling Palm and her eccentric and violent behavior.

"Haven't you ever been on a date, Killua?" Gon asked him.

"No. I was too busy training as an assassin to do anything else. All four of us have been together since I quit the business." The boy explained.

"Oh, yeah."

"You get it, right?" He asked, and Gon nodded.

"How about you girls? Have any of you been on a date before?" The dark-haired boy asked me and Lynn.

"I haven't." My sister shook her head.

"I think I have." I answered, still looking pouty.

"Really? With who?" Gon replied, being dense as ever.

"What do you mean 'who?' Don't you remember we had gone out together outside of Heavens Arena? Think, you moron!" I snapped, remembering our first 'date' back at the city near Heavens Arena last year. Even though I didn't exactly ask for it, I still thought of the moment as my first date, and Gon's, too.

"Oh, yeah. I remember." Killua sarcastically replied, crossing his arms. "He didn't know that was a date."

"Shut up! You don't know anything!" I yelled, and he grunted in annoyance.

We heard Gon's phone ringing, and he went to pick it up.

"Hello?" He answered whoever is calling him, and then he gasped. "Really? You think Kite's still alive? You still there?"

I gasped too. Was it true? Did they really find him?

"Don't worry. I'm sure there's a way to bring him back to us!"

I couldn't believe it. Kite was still alive. Oh, thank goodness they found him!

"All right! He's still alive!" The boy happily cheered.

"Yeah!" I jumped up and yelled, catching other people's attention.

We would see him again, I hoped so.

"Found it!" Gon shouted after digging into a bush for a minute.

"What is it?" Killua asked, looking confused.

"It's a present for Palm." He replied, and I felt a pang of jealousy in my chest. God, why couldn't I go out with him again?

"Are you sure? 'Cause she'll go nuts if you're just gonna hand that to her!"

"By itself, yeah. But I'm gonna add something else to it."

"Well, we gotta get going. We need to be on the lookout for any soldier ants in town. Who knows when and where they will build their own colonies?" Lynn told us, and we nodded.

After returning to the hotel, we watched the news while Gon was taking a shower. There was a Chimera Ant that killed seven people and injured mutiple police officers in Pata City, as the newscaster reported. It ran away to the Miera Mountains, and the town had been given an evacuation order. The local government wanted the Hunter Association to get involved, so they submitted a capture request. They accepted.

"Hey, Killua. I'm done." Gon called to him, coming in the room with his hair down.

"Right." He said, turning off the TV.

"I guess we'll be by ourselves tomorrow, huh?"

"Yeah. The girls and I will be training at the gym all day."

"Hope you and Palm have a nice time together." Lynn said, making me scowl at her.

Gon giggled. "Thanks."

Killua, Lynn, and I were sitting on a bench keeping an eye on Gon as he waited for Palm at the bulletin board. The three of us wore simple disguises so that he wouldn't know we were stalking him. Since I couldn't use Nen either, they had to keep an eye on me as well.

I was given a fashion magazine, a red and yellow dress, and a long blonde wig with a red bow on top to hide my identity. Lynn wore a blue cap with her brown ponytail sticking out from the back, a black jacket covering a blue-green t-shirt, and a pair of jeans. Killua only wore a hat and a purple sweater. Lynn was on her phone while Killua was reading a newspaper.

A beautiful woman with long brown hair walked up to the boy, confusing him and us.

"Who are you?!" Killua slightly shouted, and Lynn quickly covered his mouth.

"Keep it down, will ya?" She whispered, giving him a warning look before going back on her phone.

Hold on. That was Palm? She looked completely different!

"Oh, my. Do I look strange?" The woman asked Gon, and he shook his head.

"I think you look very pretty!" He exclaimed out loud.

Pain filled my heart from hearing that, and I tried my best not to show my emotions to anyone.

"K-keep it down! It's so embarrassing!" Palm frantically waved her hands around, blushing madly.

"What? It's the truth." He admitted.

She giggled. "Come on. Let's go."

Killua groaned, and I whimpered, trying to resist the urge to cry my heart out.

The two of them went to the aquarium to see a dolphin show and many other underwater creatures together, us stalking them from a distance.

Then, we went to a café where they enjoyed a refreshing smoothie together. The pain would increase for every minute I spent creeping up on them. Gon looked like he felt happy around Palm, and the latter felt the same around him. I didn't like the feeling building up in my heart as I observed their interaction with each other.

When the sun was setting, they went to a forest and looked at many creatures and plants, all while we kept an eye on the spiky-haired boy. We kept sneaking around them, and my heart really hurt inside my chest from stalking them all day. Why...why did I have to witness everything to protect the one I loved, who wasn't even considerate of my feelings when he agreed to go out with Palm? Was I not good enough for him to still love me? Did it have to be like this at the wrong time?

We followed them to a marsh with a tree in the middle. Gon and Palm sat down and looked at each other with such gleaming eyes, exchanging warm and gentle smiles. Their happiness together caused tears to spill out of my eyes and my breath to shake, raising concern in both Lynn and Killua.

"That's it! I can't take this anymore!" I softly cried and vigorously removed the wig before turning around to run away from the heartbreaking scene, sobbing helplessly.

"Lizzy! Get back here right now! Lizzy!" My sister called me, and I didn't bother turning back.

My legs were using all of their energy to take me through the woods to go somewhere where I could be alone with nobody else by my side. I began sniffling as more tears flowed down my face and onto the ground below me.

After minutes of running, I finally stopped and sat down against a tree, bringing my knees to my chest and burying my head in my arms, sobbing into them.

"Hey. Thanks for standing up for me there. You really are great." The spiky-haired boy complimented me.

"Uh, thank you. I was worried that your feelings would be hurt by what those idiots said." I rubbed the back of my head, a hue of red visible on my cheeks.

"Yeah, I don't really mind them. They won't get in my way of finding my dad. I will prove myself that I can be a great Hunter just like him!"

I giggled. "My name is Lizzy! And you are?"

"My name's Gon! It's really nice to meet you!" He smiled with pure happiness.

I continued sobbing as I remembered the times I spent with the boy I loved all of my life.

"Hey, Lizzy?" He said, and I turned to him. "I really wished to see Hisoka's match, but this made my day."

"Oh, really? After you made me have to spend much money on your dinner instead of paying it yourself? How mean." I pouted.

"But on the bright side, you get to spend some time with me and I got you your bracelet. I'm being nice."

"Yeah, we did spend our money on what each of us wanted. But you definitely spent more than me. I guess I could say that you are happy to do anything for me."

I remembered our first 'date' near Heavens Arena. He was the one who got me the diamond bracelet. And we went to the park and had gone out to dinner together. Finally, the two of us viewed the beautiful sight of Heavens Arena at night, holding each other's hands. I had a lot of fun, and I really wished that he could go out with me again. Unfortunately, Palm ruined all of my plans and got to be the one spending time with him.

"Pinky swear, so if I lie, stick a thousand needles in my eye. And seal it with a kiss!" Gon laughed when he touched my thumb with his, and I blushed madly.

"Uhh, what was that?"

"I did this with my Aunt Mito before I left Whale Island to take the Hunter Exam. It's kind of a habit when making a promise to someone, especially my Aunt Mito."

"Oh..."

Stupid, freakish woman. She just had to fall in love with him so easily, no matter how old she was. I never thought my heart would hurt so much from discovering her feelings for him.

"I love you, Gon!"

I cupped his cheeks and kissed the boy right on the lips, my heart beating fast from the warm feeling inside me. I did it. I finally confessed my true feelings to the one I loved.

He hugged me in return, and we shared a lovely moment with each other before moving on to my next goal: meeting his father together.

I was heartbroken. So heartbroken. I was afraid to take Gon back as I knew Palm would definitely kill me if I did. I didn't have the audacity to interrupt their date and declare that Gon was my boyfriend and that he didn't belong to anyone else.

I wept for a long time, thinking more about the boy and the crazy woman being together. I breathed in much air to keep crying my heart out. My arms were getting wet from all the tears I'd cried. I sniffed repeatedly and sobbed quietly as I lifted my head to gaze at the diamond bracelet on my wrist, reminding me of all the love I had for Gon every single day until today. Now that I lost him to Palm, I had no reason to be around him anymore.

I buried my face back in my arms and cried even more. I heard some footsteps coming in my direction, and I ignored them.

"Hey you." A voice spoke, and I looked up to see whoever was in front of me. I sniffed and wiped my eyes to see him better. He was the Chimera Ant with rabbit ears, feathers, and thick thighs who fought me and my friends when Kite was still with us.