FIC: Fayth -- HP/FFX -- Chapter 3 -- Harry/Tidus -- eventual R/M

[batsutousai]

Title: Fayth
Fandoms: Harry Potter & Final Fantasy X
Author: batsutousai
Beta: tsuki_no_suzu
Rating: eventual M/R
Pairings: Harry/Tidus
Warnings: OoC, AU (etc, etc, etc....)
Summary: Harry Potter defeated Voldemort, but at a price. When a new evil comes that he cannot defeat alone, he and his friends lock themselves in stone to fight it. One day, thousands of years later, Harry is freed and starts a journey with another young man who is equally lost to finish the job Harry once started.

Disclaim Her: Clearly I should demand reviews more often; I got more than double what I asked for. As a treat, this chapter's out a day earlier than I originally promised. ^.~

A/N: So, as a warning for anyone who hasn't finished the game: This fic will contain some SERIOUS SPOILERS. Not this chapter, but within the next few, especially about Yevon and Sin. Harry's a bit free with the truth.

Oh! And I had a couple of inquiries about Harry's aeon form. *smug grin* You'll find out when you find out. And, no, I'm not giving any hints. But it WILL be a while before it shows up. *mad cackle*

-0-
Besaid & Kilika
-0-

"Harry!" Tidus jerked out of the water and desperately looked around for the boat he'd been on. Instead, there was an island, and something coming at his head.

Tidus grabbed the ball, recognising what it was in relief. "Blitzball."

"Hey! You okay!" a man on the beach shouted.

Tidus grinned and eyed the ball in his hands. Feeling a bit mischievous, he ducked down under the water, then kicked the ball back to the beach, nearly cackling when it went right over the players' heads and disappeared further inland.

He swam into shore, looking pleased with the wide-eyed stares he was receiving. "Hiya!"

The man who'd called out to him shook his head, awed. "You're no amateur! Who you play for?"

Tidus opened his mouth to respond with the name of his team when Harry's voice came back to him: "Tidus, Zanarkand has been destroyed for almost one thousand years now – there's nothing for you to go back to." The name died on his tongue and he snapped his mouth shut.

The man blinked at him. "You okay?"

Tidus nodded, not feeling okay. "Yeah, sorry. I can't remember the name of my team." He tried to smile, but it felt more like a grimace.

The man nodded and set a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm Wakka, coach and captain of the Besaid Aurochs, brudda." He motioned behind him at the other guys standing around. Then he seemed to realise that they weren't doing anything but standing around and turned to snap them back to practise.

Tidus closed his eyes, feeling tired. He realised, with a start, that he was also worried for Harry and Rikku. He opened his eyes again to find Wakka watching him with concern, so he asked, "No one else has washed up here, right? 'Cause, I was with a couple of people and Sin attacked our boat and..." he trailed off, seeing the pitying look on Wakka's face.

"I'm sorry," he said again.

Tidus looked away, feeling sick. He was just getting to know Harry and Rikku, and learn things about this world, and suddenly he was without anyone. Talk about culture shock.

"Hey, you don't look too good. Let's get you to the village, ya?" Wakka suggested.

Tidus nodded numbly and followed the red-head to his village. There, the other man let him borrow his bed, and Tidus fell into dreams about Zanarkand.

-0-0-0-

When Tidus woke back up, the sun was setting, and Wakka was nowhere in sight. He decided to get up and take a look around the village. He ended up in the Crusaders' tent and asked about what they did, as well as got to know a bit more about the general population of Spira. He also found out more about Sin, like the toxin it supposedly spouted which made people lose their minds a bit. That explained why people were willing to answer questions that he probably should have known, had he grown up in Spira.

Of course, thinking about Sin meant thinking about Harry and Rikku, which made Tidus feel sick again. He left the Crusaders and took to walking around the village a bit more, thinking about his lost companions.

He liked Rikku, he decided. She'd been a lot of fun, after they got past the whole language barrier. And she'd brought food, which, admittedly, hadn't been as important after Harry had created some, but... It was the thought that counted. And she'd been just as disturbed as he had been by the whole guardian-as-Sin thing, thought she'd seemed almost more horrified, perhaps because she'd lived with Sin longer?

And then there was Harry. The young man had seemed so much older than he'd looked, and so tired. Tidus had wondered how one person could carry so much pain in their eyes and still be able to smile and joke about their clothing. And even though he'd said that pile of rubble had been his home, he'd been so much more knowledgeable about Spira. And yet...

"Hey! There you are!" Wakka called, breaking Tidus from his musings.

Tidus glanced over at where the other blitzball player's voice had come from. Wakka stood with a few other people, including a young woman who had a staff almost exactly like Harry's, and Tidus felt almost like he might cry, but forced the tears down and walked over to the group, trying a smile. "Hey, Wakka."

Wakka grinned at him. "This here's Tidus," the red-head said to his fellows, leaving Tidus wondering when the other had learned his name, "he washed up on the beach today. He's a real good blitzball player, ya?"

Tidus shrugged, uncomfortable.

"This is Lulu, Kimahri and Yuna. Yuna's just made Summoner. She's gonna to summon her first aeon," Wakka told Tidus, looking like a proud father.

For his part, Tidus tried to keep the sick feeling in his stomach from showing on his face. Yuna was a summoner? Was she planning to go sacrifice herself to destroy Sin?

Wakka dragged him forward to watch Yuna summon. He had to admit that it was beautiful, but the knowledge of what her pilgrimage meant made the beautiful sight into a horrible nightmare.

While everyone was congratulating Yuna on her summon, Wakka dragged Tidus to one side and asked about playing for his team in Luca, "A major blitz tournament's coming up. All the teams in Spira'll be there! It's so huge, I'm sure someone there will recognize you! Then you can go back to your old team, right? It'll be fun! What do you say, huh? Come on, come on!"

"Sure," Tidus agreed. Maybe playing blitzball was his best choice for life in Spira. If he couldn't go home to Zanarkand, at least he could continue playing the sport he loved.

"Dude! Our team is gonna rock!" Wakka enthused.

Tidus smiled and let himself be dragged over to the Aurochs. Talking with them, he realised that they needed a new motto, and happily got them fired up with a new one.

By the time the team was cheering their need for victory without his help, the summoner had walked closer and was watching him. Shrugging, he walked over to her. "Yuna, right?" he asked.

The girl smiled. "Yes. And you're Tidus?"

Tidus nodded.

"It looks like you're going to play with them in Luca," she commented, nodding to the Aurochs.

Tidus nodded again. "Wakka asked, and..." He looked away. "Well, my blitzball team is gone. So are my only real friends." He looked back at her and frowned at the pity on her face. "At least, I think they're gone," he said, hope blossoming in his chest, "but Harry's a summoner, so they might be okay..."

Yuna smiled again. "That's wonderful! I hope you can find them again."

Tidus smiled. "Yeah. Maybe we'll meet up in Luca. I mean, I never told them about my liking blitzball, but if there's going to be a tournament, they might be there. Rikku especially – she seemed the type to like the game."

Yuna chewed on her lip briefly, then asked, "This Summoner Harry, is he any good?"

Tidus shrugged. "Don't know. He'd lost his...focus? Yeah, he'd lost it when we first met. The Al Bhed gave him another one, but I didn't see him do any summonings. He was good with his magic, though. I know that much." He smiled at her, and got a nervous smile in response. "Why?"

Yuna shrugged. "Just wondering."

He nodded, not really caring all that much about why she'd been asking about Harry. He was feeling far too good about the knowledge that Harry might very well still be alive.

Yuna got pulled away by a small child, and Tidus found himself face-to-face with Wakka. The older man was looking at him suspiciously, so Tidus asked, "Something on my face?"

Wakka walked over to him and slung an arm around his shoulders, turning so they were looking at Yuna again. "She's cute, ya?"

Tidus considered the summoner. He supposed she was cute, in a naive, not well-travelled sort of way. Tidus had to admit that he'd probably been much the same as her only yesterday, but after everything Harry had told him, he felt so much older, so much more mature. And, in that way, the girl just wasn't attractive. "I suppose she is," he finally told Wakka. "Why?"

Wakka narrowed his eyes. "Don't get no ideas."

Tidus quirked a smile. "I sincerely doubt that would happen, Wakka."

Wakka just frowned a bit more, then shrugged and said, "If you get tired, let me know. I had a bed made for you."

Tidus considered the circle around the fire, then nodded and had Wakka show him to where the bed was for him. He wasn't really all that tired, but it had seemed a bit awkward standing near so many people that knew each other, and yet no one knew him.

-0-0-0-

Tidus was walking up the dock to where Yuna was waiting. "Where's the boat?"

"Everyone will find us if it doesn't come soon," Yuna replied, turning to look at him.

"You really sure this is okay?"

"Would you take me to Zanarkand?"

Tidus jerked. What did she know about Zanarkand?

"Hey!" Rikku called, hurrying up near them.

"Rikku!" Tidus called, happy to see her.

"You said you'd go with me!" the Al Bhed said.

"What? I didn't..."

"I thought Wakka told you not to get any ideas."

"He did?" Yuna asked.

"Yeah! So you're coming with me!"

"But I don't–"

"Hey! Stop dreaming!" an all too familiar voice called from the beach. Tidus turned to see his father and glared. "You? With a woman? You can't even catch a ball! Oh, what's the matter? Gonna cry again? Cry, cry. That's the only thing you're good for!"

Suddenly, Tidus realised he was a kid again, and his hands were covering his eyes. Was he really crying? Here? Now?

Arms wrapped around him and he buried his face in a surprisingly young chest. "Sometimes," Harry whispered, and Tidus looked up to see tears in the others' eyes, "it's okay to cry. Sometimes, it's the only way to make it through a hard day."

Tidus looked back at where his father had stood and realised the man was gone. When he looked back at Harry, he realised he was the right age again and they were standing. "Thank you," he said.

Harry smiled at him with those painfully old eyes and said, "That's what I'm here for."

-0-0-0-

Tidus sat up in the bed and reached up to touch his cheeks. He scowled, realising he'd been crying for real and brushed the tears away. No matter what dream Harry said, Tidus was not going to cry. Not about anything.

Voices filtered in through the opening of the tent and he got up to see what was going on. Outside was the woman, Lulu, and Wakka. They seemed to be arguing about someone named Chappu, and maybe about him, Tidus?

Tidus realised he didn't really care what they were talking about and went back to bed, hoping he wouldn't have any more strange dreams with dead men, girls, and himself as a kid.

Strangely, Tidus realised, he didn't mind if he had another dream with Harry in it.

-0-0-0-

The next morning, Tidus was up before anyone else in the village. At least, he was as far as he could tell. He considered waiting around the campfire for Wakka or one of the others, but decided it wasn't worth it. He knew the way to the docks, so he could just go on ahead, alone.

"No more asking if Yuna's cute or the girl asking me about Harry... Or Zanarkand..." Tidus shook the dream from last night from his head. "Yeesh." He rolled his eyes at himself and started out on the road to the docks. He ran into a few fiends on the way there, but there was nothing he couldn't handle – or at least run from – much to his relief, and he got to the docks tired, but relatively unharmed.

When Yuna, Wakka and the other two showed up, Tidus was already relaxing down in the room the team had been shunted off to, considering taking a nap. He might have been worried about how much he'd been sleeping, but it had been an exhausting couple of days, and fighting fiends was no mean feat.

When the boat finally got moving, one of the Aurochs started getting seasick, so Tidus decided he would be better off trying to take a nap up on deck.

Of course, once he got up on deck, Wakka cornered him and he ended up talking about their itinerary. Tidus honestly didn't care if they were making a side-stop so Yuna could go pray. Nor did he really think praying for the Aurochs' victory was going to do them any good. As far as Tidus was concerned, you won blitzball because your team was good, not because of some holy order.

He did manage to get away before Wakka could rope him into anything else, luckily enough, and found himself a reasonably comfortable position on the top deck, under an umbrella.

He was pulled from pleasant dreams about winning a blitzball tournament in Zanarkand by a jerk that reminded him far too much of the last time he'd been on a boat.

When he looked over the edge of the upper deck, he saw Sin and almost groaned. "If this keeps up," he complained to himself, "I'm going to have to start avoiding boats."

He jumped down the stairs onto the main deck as the two men at the front fired their harpoons, having a feeling that this wasn't going to end well.

As soon as one of the harpoons connected, the ship jerked and got pulled along even faster than before, and a few people had to grab for support.

Then the Sinscales hit the deck, and everything went to hell as they started attacking everyone on board. Tidus jumped forward, blocking a hit from one that was aiming at one of the Aurochs that were standing on deck. "Get below!" he snapped at them, taking a swipe at the fiend.

Wakka and Lulu took on the fin sticking out of the water while Kimahri and Tidus kept the deck from getting too crowded, and Yuna kept mumbling the Cure spell to keep them on their feet.

It seemed like forever before Sin finally put enough strain on the harpoon to pull the whole thing loose and it shot towards Kilika.

From afar, they watched as Sin completely devastated Kilika.

Tidus thought he might finally understand why summoners and their guardians would sacrifice their lives to knock Sin back for ten years.

-0-0-0-

When they got into Kilika, it was to tears and a ruined village. Yuna hurried off the ship and stopped next to a gentleman who appeared to be a town elder. "Greetings," she said, "I'm Summoner Yuna from Besaid. If there's no other Summoner here, I would like to do the sending."

"Sending?" Tidus asked of no one in particular.

The old man shook his head with a sad smile. "A Summoner was here visiting during the tragedy, Lady Summoner, and he is already preparing. But we thank you for your kindness."

"He?" Tidus whispered, then hurried down the dock, hoping...

When Tidus came upon the spot they were doing the sending, he had to stop and take a deep breath. There danced Harry, atop a pillar of water and surrounded by pyreflies. Tidus couldn't do much more than stare at the dance; somehow, Harry danced it with all the sorrow of the people who were watching, and yet, he radiated a strange sort of calm, which soothed the crowd, even as they sobbed.

When Harry finished his dance, Tidus shook himself and quickly moved forward, through the crowd, to where a familiar blonde stood with Harry's shoes. "Rikku..."

Rikku turned, then let out a cry of delight and ran forward to hug Tidus. "You're okay! We thought for sure..." She trailed off and pulled away so she could look at him, tears in her eyes. "We were so worried..."

Tidus smiled at her, then looked over her shoulder at where Harry stood, watching them with the saddest smile. "Hey."

Harry slowly moved forward and took his boots from Rikku. "I'm glad you're okay."

Tidus nodded. "Me too. After I washed up on Besaid, I realised that you might not survive. Either of you," he added, looking at Rikku to include her in his statement. "But then I remembered that Harry's a summoner, and I figured if anyone could survive Sin, it would be a summoner..." He trailed off and shrugged.

Harry smiled then, and shook his head. "Well, we managed, somehow."

"Tidus!" Wakka's voice called over the dwindling crowd.

Tidus looked back over his shoulder and waved Wakka and Yuna and their group over, smiling. When they got close enough, he said, "Wakka, these are the friends I was telling you about. They managed to survive Sin, after all."

"That's wonderful," Yuna softly interrupted. "I'm Summoner Yuna."

Harry inclined his head. "Summoner Harry," he replied, then motioned to Rikku. "And this is Rikku. Don't know that I'd call her a guardian, per say, but she's been very difficult to shake." Rikku smiled rather smugly, at that.

"This is Wakka, Lulu and Kimahri," Yuna replied in kind. "They're my guardians. My family."

Harry's smile was sad, even as he said, "Well met."

Lulu cleared her throat. "It's getting late," she said. "If we're going to the temple, Yuna, we should wait until tomorrow."

Harry cocked and eyebrow. "You as well, then?" he asked, somewhat rhetorically. "I had intended to go earlier this afternoon, as soon as we docked, but then Sin attacked..." He shrugged, eyes darkening at the mention of the beast.

"Perhaps we could go together?" Yuna suggested, looking at everyone hopefully.

Harry shrugged. "I don't see why not," he agreed. "It's far too late to go tonight, especially if we don't intend to sleep in the temple. If we both have to go tomorrow, we might as well go together." He eyed the girl's guardians, waiting for their judgement. Shortly, they nodded, so the two groups headed for the inn together.

Once everyone had gotten rooms – the guys got to double, while the three girls agreed to share one room together – they all settled in for the night. In the girls' room, Yuna and Rikku found out they were cousins, while Lulu cautioned the Al Bhed against letting Wakka find out about her lineage. Wakka and Kimahri's room was silent, largely due to the fact that the Ronso was rather likely to throttle his fellow guardian if the human spoke.

In Tidus and Harry's room, the two young men caught up. Tidus told Harry all about his time in Besaid, smiling in memory at his own moments of gloom over the chance that the Al Bhed ship might not have made it. Harry, in return, told him about the, admittedly, rather boring trip to Kilika, which took longer than Harry would have liked because the Al Bhed were so determined to dig up that airship. Tidus had been a bit shocked to find out that he'd been floating in the ocean for almost three days, rather than just the one he'd thought it had been.

"Luckily enough," Harry was saying, "Sin's arrival managed to jar it loose a bit more than it had been, so getting it up, out of the water wasn't as hard as it might have been. Then they had to try and get into the bloody thing, so they could drag it off to wherever they're intending to take it for whatever dirty work they're up to now."

Tidus laughed at the summoner's description, glad to be back in his presence. It was almost strange, how Tidus felt so comfortable around Harry, but he figured it had something to do with the air of does-not-belong that the summoner had. Since Tidus, himself, felt so out of place in this future, he liked knowing he wasn't alone.

"So, I think I've pretty much mastered Al Bhed," Harry commented.

"Eh?! So fast?" Tidus complained, jerking his head around to stare at the other male.

Harry chuckled. "I may have cheated a bit. There's a spell that allows you to more quickly assimilate a new language, so I used it on myself to learn Al Bhed. I figured it was probably a good idea, so Rikku didn't have to translate for me all the time."

Tidus snorted. "I suppose that's a good point." He glanced over at Harry again with a grin. "I don't suppose you could use it on me?"

Harry smiled and asked, "So you can learn Al Bhed while no one around you speaks it? Or so that you might have a better chance to understand this world?"

Tidus groaned. "Oh, hell. Can you really do that?"

Harry chuckled. "I'm afraid not. It would be nice, though."

"Hey! You already understand them!"

Harry fell silent and stared at the ceiling for a long moment, making Tidus wish he could take his words back. Finally, Harry said, "Just because I know of their customs doesn't mean I understand them, Tidus."

"Sorry..."

Harry shook his head and smiled at the other. "It doesn't matter. Come, we have to traverse that bloody forest tomorrow, and I, at least, would like to do it on a full night's sleep."

Tidus nodded and they both wiggled in their beds to get more comfortable.

After about ten minutes, Tidus whispered, "Harry?"

"Mmm?" the summoner sleepily mumbled back.

"I'm glad you're here."

Harry smiled sleepily at the wall. "Glad you're here too. Go to sleep."

Tidus snickered.

-0-0-0-

The next morning, they all met up in the forest. Harry cocked an eyebrow when he saw that Rikku was wearing goggles, and the girl shrugged. As the group started off into the forest, she fell back and said, "Apparently one of Yunie's guardians really hates Al Bhed. So I decided to wear my goggles."

"Yunie?" Tidus repeated, somewhat disbelieving.

Rikku grinned at him. "We're cousins."

"Dear Merlin," Harry muttered, shaking his head.

Rikku turned her grin on him.

They managed to get through the forest with little trouble. When they got to the steps of the temple, Wakka happily told them all about High Summoner Ohalland, and Rikku leaned over to ask Tidus, "Think I should pray for my team?"

"What, you're rooting for someone other than me?" Tidus replied, managing a hurt look.

Rikku blinked at him a few times, then shook her head. "Race you to the top?"

Tidus' eyes danced. "You're on," he replied, and the two dashed up the stairs while Wakka was still going on about the stairs.

At the top, Tidus and Rikku skidded to a halt, staring at the Sinspawn that had crashed down. "Oh, shit," Tidus grumbled, pulling out his sword.

"SINSPAWN!" Rikku shouted down the stairs, then took up a position next to him, bouncing on her feet. "What are the chances of us beating this alone?" she cheerfully asked.

Tidus rolled his eyes. "Next to nothing."

Much to their relief, the rest of their group came up quickly behind them and pulled their own weapons out. With the added help, Rikku fell back next to Yuna to play healer.

They managed to work as a team pretty well, Tidus was surprised to realise. Yuna and Rikku managed the healing, while Lulu and Harry shot out spells and Tidus helped Kimahri and Wakka in getting up close and personal with the fiend.

However, even with their teamwork, they ended up getting a little too tired, too fast for their comfort. So Yuna ended up calling her aeon to finish it off, giving everyone a break.

Before Valefor went back to wherever she'd come from, she turned and looked at Harry.

"Luna?" the young man whispered, eyes wide.

Valefor made an odd cooing noise, then disappeared.

Tidus and Rikku both rushed forward as Harry sunk to his knees, looking like someone had just kicked him in the nuts. "Harry!"

Harry gripped at his two friends' shirts while the rest of the party gathered around, looking worried. "I'm fine," he whispered. "Fine."

Tidus and Rikku traded looks – the summoner most certainly was not fine – but Harry was already pulling himself to his feet.

"You don't need to rest?" Yuna asked, head poking over Rikku's shoulder worriedly.

Harry shook his head and let go of Rikku's shirt. He almost let go of Tidus' shirt, but the boy was gripping his wrist almost warningly and he didn't dare. Instead, he nodded towards the stairs and they continued on their way, Tidus subtly providing support Harry was sure he didn't need.

Up in the temple, Wakka knelt in prayer and Tidus just barely refrained from rolling his eyes. Next to him, Harry sighed.

A man and a woman came out of the back room of the temple and stopped in front of Yuna. The woman had a superior look on her face when Yuna introduced herself, while the man looked kind of dull. The woman introduced herself as Dona, then mocked Yuna for her large number of guardians.

"Actually," Rikku piped up, "We're not all Yunie's guardians."

Dona turned to the Al Bhed with a frown. "No? You're her disciples, then?" she inquired rather sarcastically.

Rikku crossed her arms over her chest and said, "No, we're Harry's guardians." Then she nodded to where Harry and Tidus stood in the back of the group.

Harry eyed the woman, then turned away from her, as though she was beneath him. Instead, he looked at Yuna and asked, "Would you like to go first, Lady Yuna?"

Yuna wasn't the only one who blinked at the formal tone, which Harry had never used before, nor was she the only one to smile. She glanced at Wakka, who was still praying, and said, "Why don't you three go first? It looks like Wakka could use a moment to himself."

"Only a moment?" Rikku replied brightly, skipping up the steps.

Tidus' eyes flickered to where Dona still stood, watching them with anger burning in her eyes, and tried not to be too obvious about helping Harry up the stairs.

"I'm fine, Tidus," Harry murmured out of the corner of his mouth.

"I'll believe that when I know why you had that fainting spell."

"I didn't faint!"

Rikku rolled her eyes at the two men as they got onto the lift with her and it jerked into movement. "If you didn't faint," the girl said, "then what did you do?"

Harry huffed and looked between the two as if trying to decide if he could trust them or not.

They'd all stepped off the platform and headed into the Cloister of Trials before Harry spoke again. "Tidus already sort of knows this, I think..." He trailed off and glanced at the young man.

Tidus glanced at him as Rikku turned around to look at them, Kilika Sphere in hand. "You said your home was gone too," he said softly. "That it had been those ruins Rikku found us in."

Rikku's eyes widened marginally. "Wait, according to our records, those ruins are even older than Zanarkand."

Harry smiled sadly and closed his eyes. "Almost five thousand years old," he agreed.

"Wait!" Tidus stopped and demanded, "You can't be five thousand years old."

Harry snorted. "Yes, and no." He ran a hand through his hair, looking harassed. "You remember what I said about the fayth?"

Tidus considered back to his time on the Al Bhed boat and nodded slowly. "You said... Summoners get the aeons from them?"

Harry nodded. "I was a fayth," he said, wincing at how blunt it had sounded.

"How can you have been a fayth?" Rikku demanded. "They're stone and–"

"Fayth become such by sacrificing themselves as part of a magic ritual," Harry interrupted, taking the sphere from her hand and continuing into the Trials with it, leaving them to follow him. "In my home world, there was a man who decided to destroy everything, except for those he considered his 'faithful'. He was what we called a squib, someone born to a magical family, but with no magic themselves.

"This man managed what no other human at the time had: he created weapons that ran on both electricity and magic." Harry glanced back at the two open-mouthed teens. "The technology in your world, Tidus, was a mix of magic and machine. We'd never seen it before. The muggles, those without magic, couldn't begin to understand the magical aspects, because our society had hidden from them, and the things were rigged to die if someone with magic got close enough to reprogram it."

Harry sighed and popped in the Destruction Sphere, flinching back slightly as the wall exploded. He grabbed the item in the box, then turned to his two fellows and leaned against the wall. "My home was constantly under attack, and we had no way to face him down. It was just me and five of my friends – we were still kids at the time – and we'd just finished another war, which didn't help matters. We were all breaking under the stress of constantly running, when Hermione found a book about summoning. The art had been lost to the ages, and it was by chance we found out about it at all.

"I came across the last of the old fayths, and she told me everything I needed to know about fayths and summoners. Three of my friends sacrificed themselves to become fayth, and Ron, Hermione and I went to face the wanker down. We won, but Ron and Hermione died."

"You sacrificed yourself..." Tidus whispered as the two teens began to understand.

Harry nodded shortly. "There was nothing left to live for. All my friends and family were either dead, or already fayths. So I joined them." He turned and headed for the door to the chamber, absently summoning the last Kilika Sphere.

"I can accept that," Rikku decided, then muttered, "I think."

Harry paused just before putting the sphere in. "But?"

Rikku waved her hands around. "Why are you here?"

Harry sighed. "I don't know. I wish I did, but I don't. There's never been a record of a fayth coming back to this world before – it simply isn't done. Certainly not after thousands of years."

"Maybe there's something you need to do?" Tidus suggested softly.

Harry nodded. "I'm hoping Ifrit will be able to tell me," he said, jerking his thumb towards the door behind him. "Because if not, I don't know what to do. Maybe I'll become a fayth again." He smiled a little bitterly.

"So, wait, Valefor was one of your friends?" Rikku asked.

Harry nodded again. "Valefor is Luna. I almost want to go to Besaid and get her..."

"But, didn't you already have her once?" Rikku said.

Harry shrugged. "Yes. But she's not here," he said, pointing at his head. "I don't know. A part of me didn't expect to see her. Certainly not with Yuna. Not if I couldn't feel her myself."

"So, do you even have an aeon? Or are you a summoner without anything to summon?" Tidus asked.

Harry grinned. "I have my aeon," he informed the two, then turned and finally put the sphere in the door, then took it back out again.

The teens sighed and followed the summoner into the chamber, pausing when he stopped in front of the only other door.

"Neither of you have played guardian before, am I right?" Harry asked, though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer. When both shook their heads, he nodded. "Okay, here's the quick run-through, because the last thing I want to put up with is some uppity priest of Yevon making sure you two know your places." The teens nodded again. "Right! Your main duty is to protect me. From fiends or Sin or friends or, Merlin forbid, myself. Pretty easy. Next, you follow me into the temples, helping with the Trials when it's needed." He shrugged. "I'm okay at puzzles – there wasn't a lot to do some days – but I might need a little extra strength. You may have noticed, I have no muscles." He grinned, holding up his arms like a bodybuilder would have done.

Tidus and Rikku snorted. "Is that it?" the young man asked.

Harry tapped his chin. "Mmmm... Oh! Yeah, you're not allowed in the inner sanctum," he said, waving at the room behind him. "Or, well, according to Yevon you're not. According to the fayth..." He shrugged. "They don't give a damn. So! If you want to come in with me, feel free. Though, I must warn you, it's dead boring. Because all it really is is sitting there, staring at the crystal holding the fayth's body."

Tidus and Rikku traded looks for a moment before both stepping forward. "We'll go in with you," Tidus said.

"The better to protect you," Rikku agreed.

Harry rolled his eyes and waved them in behind him. As soon as he'd kneeled on the opposite side of the crystal from the door, it slid shut, leaving them with only the faint light of the fayth's crystal. Tidus and Rikku traded disquieted looks from either side of the closed door, but didn't say anything.

Harry sat in complete silence for a few minutes, trying to find that same bond he'd shared with the other fayth for thousands of years. Eventually, he reminded himself that he wasn't a fayth anymore, he was human, which meant he needed to search out the link the fayth shared with a summoner.

Almost as soon as Harry changed his tactic, a ghostly form appeared above the crystal, leaving the two teens wide-eyed and staring. The man on top of the stone cleared his throat and Harry's eyes snapped open. When he recognised the fayth, he smiled sheepishly and said, "Alexander."

The man rose an eyebrow at Harry. "We'd wondered what had happened to you." He glanced back at the two teens standing inside the chamber and turned back to Harry with a knowing smile. "Breaking the rules of Yevon, now?"

"Yevon can go bugger his mum," Harry swore darkly, making the teens gasp and the ghost let out a rasping laugh. Then his eyes softened and he asked, "You have no clue why I here? Any of you?"

Alexander shook his head. "I'm sorry, Harry. All we know is that, one minute you were there, the next you had vanished. We were beginning to think your crystal had shattered."

Harry shuddered at the thought. "No. I'm just playing a summoner for some un-godly reason."

Alexander chuckled and shook his head. "Well, for as long as you 'play summoner', you know we will help you."

Harry nodded and closed his eyes as he felt Alexander join with him as the aeon Ifrit. After a moment, he opened his eyes again. "Is Luna...?"

Alexander seemed to anticipate his question, for as soon as Harry said the girl's name, a ghostly form of a small girl appeared next to the fire fayth. "Hello, Harry."

Harry smiled at the girl. "Luna."

"You gave Valefor quite the scare," Luna admonished him.

Harry grimaced. "She gave me quite the scare."

Luna huffed and crossed her arms in front of her childishly.

Harry laughed, thousands of years seeming to fade away from his eyes and brightening them. "Luna, my sweet almost-sister, would you let me borrow Valefor?"

Luna considered him for a long moment, then nodded. "Yes, I suppose. But you must promise not to scare her again!"

"You have my word," Harry promised.

Luna eyed him for a long moment then, apparently satisfied, nodded.

Harry closed his eyes as he felt Valefor enter him and settle in the part of his mind reserved for the aeons.

And then, as the two ghostly forms disappeared, Harry fell forward, completely exhausted. Tidus and Rikku dashed forward to catch the summoner before he hit his head, and they mostly managed it.

"Harry?" Rikku whispered, voice shaking, as Tidus carefully lifted the older man into his arms.

Ifrit's fayth reappeared when Harry didn't stir. "Humans aren't meant to take on two aeons within twenty-four hours. He'll be fine, he just needs to sleep it off. I would suggest letting him rest in one of the side rooms the monks keep until he's well enough. You won't make it back to Kilika if you have to carry him."

"We're travelling with a larger group, with another summoner," Rikku said. "We'll probably be fine with them, but Yunie has to come visit you first."

"The room's a good idea," Tidus mumbled, then nodded to the fayth. "Thank you."

Alexander smiled at the two teens. "Take care of him," he told them before disappearing again and opening the door behind them so they could leave.

-0-0-0-0-0-

A/N: Harry's fine. Stop worrying. XP

A couple of people asked about the bad guy running around after Voldemort? Above is about as much of his story as I ever made up. Shara jokingly suggested he was Filch, but I, honestly, never gave him a name. Sorry?

~Bats ^.^x

Chapters:
1 - The Beginning ||| 2 - Ruins ||| 3 - Besaid & Kilika
4 - Luca ||| 5 - Operation Mi'ihen ||| 6 - Guadosalam
7 - Macalania & Bevelle ||| 8 - Calm Lands & Mt. Gagazet ||| 9 - Zanarkand & Sin
10 - Epilogue

..

Comments

[hekelachan.livejournal.com]

call him "the Man" or as Ron and Harry probably would call him "the (bloody) Bastard." That's enough of a name for him, don't you think?

and here I was thinking you would make Nev Ifrit. Is he going to be the lightning pony now?

[noagirl.livejournal.com]

XD And probably both been beat by Hermione for their language.

What?! Nev, as Ixion?! Maybe I made him Bahamut! XP
Of course he's Ixion. Just couldn't see him being Ifrit... ^.^"