Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter X Hunter

Aala was sleeping peacefully before a pair of hands was shaking her awake. Groaning slightly, she opened her eyes and came face to face with a concerned looking boy. A very familiar looking boy. He had brown eyes and his hair seemed to have no regard for the laws of gravity and was sticking straight up in the air. Not to mention, it was spiky and was green near the top.

Aala would know that face anywhere. It was Gon from her favorite anime "Hunter X Hunter". She waited a few moments for the image of Gon's face to fade into another image altogether. Her dreams were always this way, showing her images of what was on her mind before she fell asleep and slowly blending all the images into a weird mashup. Aala assumed this was no different. Until Gon spoke.

"Are you okay?" Aala blinked a couple of times. She couldn't remember the last time anyone spoke to her in her dreams. But when Gon repeated his question, she bolted upright and nearly head butted Gon. Aala scurried backwards a bit in surprise. This was the first time she dreamed like this. "Sorry" Gon said as he stood up. "I didn't mean to scare you." He reached out a hand to help her up. Aala took the hand and stood up. Looking past Gon, she could see two people who could only be Leorio and Kurapika standing a few feet away on a path.

"Oi, can we get going now? We still have to make it to that tree." Leorio called and gestured upwards. Aala followed the gesture and saw a lone tree on top of a hill. She remembered they needed to get to that tree to get to the Hunter exam.

Gon turned to answer his friend, "Soon. I just want to see if she's okay." Before turning back to her. "Are you all right?" Aala started and realized she had yet to answer his question.

"I'm all right." she said carefully. This was the first time she'd spoken in a dream before.

"That's good" Gon said and smiled. She took the opportunity to look around herself. About a foot away lay a backpack. Her backpack that she had used for school. Beyond that she could see they were on a grassy hill that she remembered the trio traveling through in the newer version of the anime. "Are you on your way to the Hunter exam?" Gon's question startled her out of the daze she didn't even know she fell into.

"The Hunter exam." Aala repeated and Gon nodded. She thought about it for a moment before saying, "Yes, I'm on my way to the Hunter exam."

Gon smiled again before asking, "Do you want to travel with us? We're taking the exam too."

Aala fainted surprise, it seemed like the best reaction to the statement. Of course she already knew that, but anyone who didn't would be surprised at such a young boy taking the infamous exam. "Oh really? And what business does a 12 year old have in taking such a deadly test?"

Crap! She realized her mistake as soon as she finished speaking. Gon didn't tell her how old he was. "Eh, how did you know I was 12!?" he practically yelled. Hearing Gon, Leorio and Kurapika walked over to them.

Aala hastily scrambled to cover her slip. "W-well, the minimum age to take the Hunter exam is 12. You don't look any older than that, so I made the assumption that you were in fact 12 years old". Gon and Leorio both accepted her excuse, but Kurapika looked at her strangely. Trying to change the subject, Aala added, "To be taking the exam so young, you must be confident in your abilities. I'm sure also takes no small amount of courage." Gon blushed slightly and accepted the praise, but Kurapika still had that look on his face.

"Well, do you want to travel with us?" Gon asked again.

But before she could accept, Leorio objected, "Gon, you can't just invite people who you just met to travel with you! For all you know she could be planning to sabotage us so we never get to the exam site."

Gon took a half step backwards, but before he could answer, Kurapika pressed on, "I agree with Leorio. You can't be so trusting of others. One day, someone will take advantage of that. Do you even know her name?"

"But didn't we all just meet yesterday?" Gon asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Leorio was the first to answer, "But that's different. You know us and that we won't do anything to harm you." The argument continued for a minute, and before she knew it, Aala was chuckling at the sight of the three friends bickering.

They all stopped arguing and looked at her before she could silence her giggles. "S-Sorry. It just seems like despite the fact that you three met only yesterday, you seem close. Also, everything Leorio and Kurapika said is right, but trust me, the last thing I want is to harm you." Gon turned to his friend and smiled as if the matter was settled. Aala couldn't help but smile along with him. That smile really was contagious.

After formal introductions were made, the new foursome continued down the path the the lone cedar tree. Gon took the opportunity to get to know his newest friend, "So why do you want to be a Hunter? My dad is a Hunter, so I want to be one so I can go find him."

Aala was finding it extremely difficult not to smile while conversing with the cheerful boy. In all truthfulness, her face was beginning to hurt, but she didn't mind. "Well where I live, there isn't any real excitement. The closest I have to that is reading books. I've read so many adventure books I've lost count. I guess now I want an adventure of my own."

The two continued to chat happily while Kurapika looked at them from behind. He couldn't help but feel that their newest traveling companion know a lot more than she let on. He'd caught how she'd stumbled to make up an excuse as to how she knew Gon's age. Furthermore, he'd been analyzing the argument they were having, and concluded that not once was his name brought up. Yet she knew his name beforehand. It was more than a little suspicious.

Leorio had now become involved in the conversation ahead of him, but Kurapika was still thinking. The familiarity Aala used to speak with Gon and Leorio was far greater than it should have been. By the sound of her voice, she was speaking with close friends, not almost total strangers she'd just met. The warmth in her eyes else far exceeded what should have been there, especially when she looked at Gon. Kurapika had only seen such warmth in the eyes of someone looking at something they treasured deeply or someone they loved dearly. It was as if she already knew and cared for Gon before they'd even met.

"So why do you want to be a Hunter, Kurapika?" Aala's question startled him out of his thoughts. All three of them were now looking at him, waiting for his answer. Kurapika hesitated. He didn't want to tell Aala his reasons. It was far too personal to share with someone he'd barely met.

"Kurapika wants-" Gon started to answer for him, but Aala held up a hand to silence him.

"If he doesn't want to answer, that's up to him. You shouldn't answer a question like that for someone, Gon." Gon looked confused so Aala explained further "A question like that could have an extremely personal answer for someone. Judging by the look on Kurapika's face, that seems to be the case here." Kurapika nodded and Gon smiled apologetically at him. Though it wasn't Gon's smile that caught his attention. Aala's soft, knowing smile was filled with too much warmth for it to be aimed at someone she barely knew.

"So" Aala surveyed her group, "we have a boy looking for his father, a man after money, and someone with an unknown goal. This should be fun." The way she said 'unknown' coupled with that smile, gave Kurapika the district impression that she already knew his goal. But, looking back on the warmth Aala had shown to them, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

As Aala continued her conversation with Gon and Leorio she was truly, wonderfully happy. She'd been (day)dreaming about meeting these people ever since she'd first discovered them, years ago. She'd laughed, cried, and cheered for them, now she finally gets to meet them! This was hands down the best great she'd ever had, and the longest too. Aala was determined to stretch it out for as long as possible, preferably until she met Killua. She also hoped that she dispelled some of Kurapika's suspension of her. Things would go so much more smoothly if he trusted her.

Now she and Leorio had entered a lighthearted argument over the true value of money. It was so much fun to push his buttons, and eventually gave the argument over to him to comply with Gon's attempts to change the subject. Gon and Leorio took over the conversation and Aala was suddenly reminded of the live action version of 'Alice in Wonderland'. Only instead of stumbling around the room at the bottom of the rabbit hole, she knew exactly what to do to get out and how to interact with the creators on the other side of the miniature door. Aala turned her head up and felt the sun on her face. She marveled at what she thought was her first lucid dream. She never considered she may have more in common with Alice than she thought.

Well, this is my first fanfiction ever, so… how was it? I hope I did ok, but pretty please someone review.

Also my oc's name has a meaning. It means 'She who hunts and heals'. I didn't want to use any name, but one with a purpose, so it didn't just come out of no where.

And a warning: I intend for this to be a long running story, one that I hope I'll finish.

So... Hope to see you next time. :)