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As I step up the stairs to the door to the slightly run-down house I have to collect myself again. Alluka is here. She's really here and she had to live for years by herself. 

I look up at the house again, flowers and vines is growing around it. The house itself isn't secluded, but rather in a line of similar houses. Alluka's is a baby pink with white accents, I see she didn't change in that regard. 

The porch has two brown wicker chairs sitting on it with a wicker table of the same color in between them. It makes me wonder if she got the second chair because of aesthetics or because she made friends in this world. 

Of course, that's not exactly impossible, but Alluka grew up without interaction with anyone but people who were scared of her. It makes me wonder if she ever got over her general fear of talking to people outside of the estate. 

I clear my throat and walk up to the door, knocking three times and then standing back.

When she opens the door, it's like the world stopped. 

Everything around me faded away, the leaves that were making small noises in the wind seemed to settle, the birds chirping quiets as if to give us a moment. 

Her eyes meet mine and widen with recognition. 

"Alluka...." 

My voice is quiet, whether it be with awe or shame I'm not sure. 

"Killua.." 

Her voice is old, but it's her. As if she was still my little sister, yet in an older body. She moves forward and I feel her slightly wrinkled hands caress my face, as if to check whether or not I was real. 

"Is that really you?" 

Her voice is filled with both hope and weariness as if she had been disappointed countless times before. 

I nod, grabbing her wrist with tears filling my eyes.

"Yeah, Alluka, it's me." 

Her eyes well up with tears, some fall down her face as she wraps her arms around me in a hug. She's definitely taller than she was before, yet still shorter than me. My arms wrap themselves around her too, my brain deciding that it never wants to let go as we cry into each other's shoulders with renewed happiness. 

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After a couple of minutes, she invites me in, rushing into a living space that just screams 'Alluka'. Pink walls and stuffed animals, as well as a warm brown couch with the fluffiest pillows I've ever seen. It's as if her mind didn't really age as her body did. 

"Take a seat brother!" 

I hear her say, and then watch as she slowly lowers herself into an armchair of the same color as the couch. 

I smile at her and sit down, it's strange to be the young one in this situation and still be endeared like an older brother. 

We talk for a couple of minutes before I ask about the elephant in the room. "Where's Nanika?" 

After I ask that, it's like a switch flipped. Her eyes grow sad and her face falls. 

"She left to save me." 

My stomach drops. "What do you mean?" 

She sighs, "After the teleportation thing... she said that she got sick, something about breaking the boundaries of the universe. She said that she would still be here but she couldn't do anything without hurting me. She said it was a fair trade"

My heart sinks, "Im sorry..." 

"No brother it's not your fault! I probably would have done the same thing anyway." 

I can't get over the fact that I had a role in hurting Alluka and Nanika, after I promised I wouldn't ever do anything to hurt them again.

Alluka seems to notice my sadness and quickly comforts me, however, nothing really clears my head of it for the rest of the visit, which lasts around 3 hours. It gets dark eventually and Alluka gets tired, so I leave with a promise to visit regularly. We share one more tearful hug before I start walking down the street towards the bus. 

As I make my way there, I process all of the information. Alluka can't help us because if she does, she'll get hurt. Nanika is gone, or at least suppressed, because of something I asked for. 

Well, time to pay a visit to Nezu I guess. 

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