Chapter Text
Kurapika and Bill froze. It was a humongous black moth-like beast with blue roses around its wings. They were in a confrontation with a bodyguard who attempted to assassinate Woble, when the creature appeared before them.
Is that a Nen beast? Woble’s Nen beast?
It was the first time they saw it. It then started flapping its wings, releasing a sweet scent towards the enemy. “Get out of its range!” Kurapika shouted and he pushed Bill so that they could start moving. Bill shifted away, but the bodyguard tackled Kurapika while Kurapika was distracted.
“You’re going down with me,” the enemy said. Kurapika struggled. He started to lose consciousness as he inhaled the sweet scent...
“Kurapika! Kurapika! Are you okay?” A voice called out. It sounded familiar, but he couldn’t pin its identity. He slowly opened his eyes. His head was heavy. Groggily, he stood up.
“You hit your head pretty hard. Are you alright?” The voice said. Kurapika almost jumped in shock - it was Pairo.
"P…Pairo…" he muttered, looking in disbelief, "you're… alive…"
"Of course I am! What are you talking about?" Pairo replied, puzzled.
"And… your eyes… your legs… they are all-"
Kurapika didn't finish his sentence. He took a good look at his best friend. He was all healed. He was also grown up, like a man in his late teens or early 20s. Kurapika immediately glanced at his hands and clothes - he seemed to be 19 years old. He was wearing the tabard that was meant for adult men.
He held Pairo's head. He seemed real.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Pairo repeated, getting worried at Kurapika's behaviour.
"Nothing… it seemed like… I just woke up from an endless nightmare," Kurapika said.
"You're awake now," he said with a smile, "glad nothing happened to you. Wouldn't want anything bad to happen on your wedding day."
What? - Kurapika froze. I'm supposed to marry someone?! This was something he did not remember. If all of it was just a dream… then why did 7 years seem to fly past? He has no memory of this.
He tried to materialize his chains. Nothing. His scars and injuries that he had gotten during the fight with Uvogin and his time when he was in the mafia community were gone.
"Pairo! Goodness! What happened?"
"Kurapika was getting the loose kite from the tree. He wanted to get it back for her, she was crying. Then he fell because the wood was slippery. Probably the rain," he explained.
"That's sweet of you, Kurapika," his father complimented.
"Get your head checked though, will you?" His mother said, inspecting his head. Kurapika immediately embraced his mother. It stunned her.
"What's gotten into you?" His mother said, but returned the hug.
He shook his head. "Nothing… I just missed all of you," he answered. His father came up and patted his back.
"We missed you too Kurapika. I'm so glad you're visiting us… even if it's because of a wedding," his father said.
"I'm sorry if I was away…" Kurapika blurted out - if he could he'd never wanted to leave them again.
His father shook his head. "It's fine my boy. You do visit us yearly," he said.
Someone cleared his throat. "Except… this time round you managed to give your parents and I heart attacks," the village chief interrupted. He looked stern. He was carrying a baby girl in his arms.
"Chief?"
He was bewildered. The baby was happy to see Kurapika and reached out to him. The village chief noticed and said with affection, "always happy to see your father, don't you, Aurora? He even went to get the kite for you."
Huh. Her father..?
"Here you go," the chief held Aurora out to Kurapika. The latter was too dazed to even know what's going on.
"Me?"
So I went to retrieve the kite for her? My... daughter?
"Of course it's you! Who else?" the village chief scolded. Kurapika rolled his eyes. Stern as always. "Ah… I think he's still dazed from the fall," Pairo said.
Kurapika held the baby girl. She seemed like a little less than a year old. The baby held onto him tightly. Blonde hair like his, eyes turning scarlet due to extreme happiness upon being held by someone she knew.
"Don't be too hard on him," his mother reminded the Kurta elder, "it may go against the usual way of marrying first then having a baby, but at least Kurapika is willing to take the responsibility." His mother caressed Aurora's head.
"But still…"
The village chief seemed dismayed. Traditional, as always. Of course, he would be dismayed at the act of having a child out of wedlock.
"Ah! Rora, don't eat your whole hand!" Pairo exclaimed and attempted to remove Aurora's fist in her mouth. Kurapika stared at the baby who continued to suck down her fist.
"She's stubborn alright. I think she's hungry," the village chief observed with a laugh, "her mother hasn't attended to her because they're busy preparing for the wedding. You should get ready too."
"I can take care of her for a while. I know where the baby bottles are," Pairo volunteered and held his hand out to hold Aurora. But Kurapika turned away.
"It's alright Pairo… just… get the bottled milk. I'll take care of her," Kurapika said with a smile. He needed alone time with the baby to inspect his supposed child.
"You sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. I just have to change my attire. It won't take too long," Kurapika said.
"Right… okay!"
Kurapika sat on a chair, with the baby in his arms. He was feeding her the bottled milk. He observed Aurora, his supposed daughter.
Now, Kurapika was unsure what is real and what is not anymore. If this was real, he definitely did not remember anything beyond when he was 11 years old. The "nightmare" on the other hand… he remembered it all vividly. He remembered arriving at the scene, his clan murdered with their eyes gouged out. Pairo was beheaded. He cried for days, empty and lost with his home gone. He recalled being in total denial of reality, then deep anger seeping into his veins upon finding out that it was the Phantom Troupe that murdered them.
Those were clear. Those were real. He had long accepted what had happened.
So where was he? Was this a prolonged dream? What happened then?
Woble's Nen beast! That's it! Whatever that thing did… transported me to this state. The state of reality where the massacre never took place. What were the conditions so that my clan was saved? Still, even if I go back… they can't be saved.
He stared at the baby girl in his arms. Not only did his family, clan and best friend lived, in this reality, but he also has his own child. Never had he expected to start his own family, or even have a romantic relationship with a woman. Yet here he was, nurturing his daughter.
She has my hair, my scarlet eyes… She resembles me a lot. The only difference is the little hairs that jut out on her head. Probably that came from the mother. It's hard to tell what her mother looks like from inspecting her. Still… I do wonder who her mother is… my supposed wife-to-be… maybe I haven't met her yet in my reality.
The bottled milk became empty. Aurora's eyelids began to drop. He placed a finger on her palm and she automatically wrapped his finger around. He kissed her forehead lightly.
"Sleep, my child," he said in Kurta. She looked so serene, with no care in how horrid the world is.
He held her with a heavy heart. He could have had all this in his own life. It was all taken away from him.
The wedding ceremony came. The bride stood next to him. The ceremony was being held by the village elder.
In Kurta weddings, the bride had to be donned in magenta garb with a heavy gold lining. She also had to wear a black veil to ward off evil spirits and demons.
Kurapika stared at the woman hard but was unable to see her face properly behind the opaque dark veil. Knowing Kurta traditions, he would have to wait until they get to the bedroom for him to uncover the veil.
She was petite, her head just at his neck level. That's cute - he thought. He sincerely wished she had an adorable face. Her body seemed delicate. He licked his lips slightly. They already had a kid, indicating that in this reality, he had already claimed her.
He scanned the audience - all the female Kurtas around his age were present to witness the ceremony. And he must have travelled around - the high likelihood that the bride in question was an outsider. Where did he meet her? How? Who is she?
The Kurta clan elder talked in Kurta verses. It must be confusing for her to hear a foreign language she couldn't understand. Or did she know certain phrases? He wanted to hear her voice. Talk to her. Lift the veil. But they weren't allowed to do all these in the ceremony. Touching before or during the ceremony was an absolute no.
"Bow to our ancestors," he said, and they did.
"And bow to one another-"
She then walked off, escorted by a bunch of maidens.
What happens next after this part again? Kurapika thought hard. Oh right, I have to give a bag of coins to her parents. Where are they?
Pairo tapped him on his shoulder. "I think you should wait for her in your old room," Pairo said.
"Where's the bag of coins to-"
Pairo tilted his head. "Didn't we talk about this? Her parents are buried all the way in York New City. You'll present it to them once you two visit them after this honeymoon," he explained.
So her parents are dead? Is that why they aren't here? Does that mean she's orphaned? He felt upset for her. Being orphaned himself, it was tough to get by. It seemed that he and their daughter were all she had now.
"Where's Aurora?" He asked.
"With your mom," Pairo answered. "You can't possibly bring Aurora with you when you wait for your wife in that room!"
"Why not?"
Pairo grinned.
"Ohh-"
"Don't worry about it, we'll take good care of Aurora. You two should spend time together alone," Pairo said in a cheeky tone.
Kurapika paced around his old room nervously. The nostalgia hit him. He fumbled around. Everything seemed to be the way it was before the massacre. His old books, toys… the room was also clean.
If he can recall the tradition, his bride was supposed to make sweet delicacies for them in the morning and give it to him after the ceremony. Only then he could remove the veil and get to know his mystery bride.
God, he wanted to know who was the mother of his child…
There was a knock on the door. He immediately sat on the bed, attempting to appear calm. "Come in," he announced. She entered the room and kneeled in front of him, handing out a basket that contained sweet goods - food that she might have needed to learn how to make when she got here.
He accepted it with a smile and set it aside on the bed. "Stand up," he said, holding her hand. She sat beside him.
"You should eat it," she suggested. His ears became alerted. That voice… sounded so awfully familiar.
"Okay-"
She unwrapped one of them and fed him. It tasted good. She then caressed his face lovingly and then his chest. Something burned within him.
"It must have been… so confusing for you… to do all these," he mumbled. What was he saying?
"It's okay!" She giggled, "I had fun. I know it's important to you and your family. I wouldn't have had it any other way."
Cheerful and lively. Now he knew why he picked her. With hands slightly shaking, he carefully removed the black veil.
His world stopped. Oh, life was so cruel on him.
"Ne… Neon…" he muttered.