FIC: Fayth -- HP/FFX -- Chapter 8 -- Harry/Tidus -- R/M

[batsutousai]

Title: Fayth
Fandoms: Harry Potter & Final Fantasy X
Author: batsutousai
Beta: tsuki_no_suzu
Rating: 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: Du druca Fyggy vyhc, E's cunno E syga res uid du pa cilr y pekudat eteud, pid E'ja ymfyoc rydat res eh dra kysa, yht rec lrynyldan zicd rybbahat du dinh ehdu cilr eh drec vel. E ruhacdmo teth'd ehdaht vun res du pa cilr y zang uh Sd. Kykywad.

A/N: I had a lot of trouble with this chapter, because there's a lot of area in the game to cover, but not much plot, and I wanted a chapter between Macalania Woods and Zanarkand for various reasons. But I didn't want to give you guys a five page chapter after that seventeen page monstrosity last chapter. So this chapter is largely filler. Sorry.

-0-
Calm Lands & Mt. Gagazet
-0-

Harry woke to the sounds of the camp moving around and Rikku teasing Tidus nearby: "Those are curious scratches, Tidus. Did something happen last night in that pool?"

"Yes, Harry slipped, I caught him," Tidus answered drily.

"But they go up under your shirt!"

"Rikku, we were in the water," Tidus said with a sigh.

"And where's your necklace, eh? You never go anywhere without it!"

"Rikku..."

Harry snickered and glanced over at his two guardians. From the look on Tidus' face, the questioning had been going on for a while. Rikku waggled her eyebrows at Harry and Tidus smacked her, making the girl laugh.

"Oh, you're awake," Yuna said, walking over to where Harry was still laying.

Harry sat up, covering a wince with a well-timed yawn. "Ah, yes. Sorry..." He smiled.

"Don't worry about it," Yuna assured him. "Wakka's still asleep."

Harry glanced over at where the blitzball player was still sleeping away and snickered. "Ah... Lulu's going to kill him, isn't she?" he inquired at the doll the red-head was cuddling.

"Considering he was originally sleeping with her hand," Rikku said gleefully, "I think she might prefer this. But, yeah, she's going to hit him when he gets up."

"If he stays asleep much longer," Yuna commented with mischief twinkling in her eyes, "she might just hit him to wake him up."

"Oh dear," Harry said, shaking his head. He started to stand and almost fell, but three sets of hands reached out to catch him. "I'm fine," he insisted, even as Yuna, Tidus and Rikku helped him stand properly.

Rikku reached, lightning quick, and found the flash of silver she'd seen in Harry's robes. "Hey, Tidus, I found your necklace!"

Tidus groaned and reached over to smack the necklace out of her hands. "Just... Argh!"

Harry snickered and shook his head at the two guardians. When he moved to walk away from the three sets of hands, they moved to go with him and he rolled his eyes. "I want to pee," he told them, making Yuna blush and let go. When neither Rikku nor Tidus moved, he flailed his arms at them, making them let go. "Away! Yeesh!"

"Remember to shout if you feel a fainting spell coming on!" Rikku called after him jokingly.

Harry rubbed at his face and shook his head at the two guardians as he searched out a spot that was relatively secluded to relieve himself. When he got back to the camp, Tidus and Rikku were waiting with some rolls for breakfast and he took them with an amused look.

Harry was just finishing his last roll when Wakka finally woke up, and was berated by Lulu for stealing her moogle. Harry noticed that no one mentioned what Wakka had really been sleeping with and rolled his eyes in amusement.

Wakka was given a few rolls and the whole party sat around the dead campfire.

"Where do we go from here?" Yuna asked softly. "There's no Final Aeon in Zanarkand, so we don't really need to go there. Do we?"

Harry sighed. "Yunalesca is there," he said. "She's the one who shows the summoners and their 'chosen' guardians how to create a fayth. I know Kinoc said there's always a chance that summoners after us can continue with the way you've got now, but I don't really want to leave that option open to them."

"You want to destroy Yunalesca," Auron said.

Harry nodded. "Perhaps it's just because I'm too attached to my own guardians, but I don't want to see any more guardians sacrificed that way. Especially not if it means they'll have to become the very thing they've spent their lives fighting against."

"But, what if we fail?" Yuna whispered. "What if we can't find a way to defeat Sin for good?"

"Then those who come after us will have to find another way," Harry snapped. "Consider, if we take too long to find a way to defeat Sin, someone else may bring about the Calm, and we'll have to wait another ten years to try our theory."

"And ten years is a long time to wait," Auron agreed darkly.

They all sat in silence for a long moment, only broken by the wind singing through the fossilised trees.

Eventually, Tidus said, "I don't know, yet, how we'll destroy Sin, but I know we need to try. This cycle, as it currently is, cannot continue. It's not..."

"It's not right," Harry offered when the guardian couldn't find the words he wanted. "And it will never end if we don't do something. If someone doesn't do something, and we're going to have to be that someone. Because we're the only ones who know."

"Why can't we just tell everyone else, anyway?" Tidus asked. "Just tell all the summoners and their guardians that it means two of them dying, and the guardian spending time as Sin?"

"Do you honestly think they wouldn't go?" Auron demanded. "It's still ten years of peace."

"And that's the crux of the matter," Harry whispered. "When your people know so little peace, and have so little joy, you'll do anything to bring them that peace, even at the cost of your own life or, worse, your own heart."

Tidus reached over and grasped Harry's shoulder, knowing his friend was speaking from personal experience. Hadn't he and his friends put everything on the line twice to free his home from evil? And, here he was, doing it again.

Yuna swallowed and sat up a little straighter. "We'll continue to Zanarkand," she decided. "I would like to see Lady Yunalesca myself. And there we can make the final decision. One night isn't long enough to think on our options," she said, looking at Harry.

The male summoner inclined his head. "That is acceptable," he agreed.

"Then we should head out," Lulu said, standing. "Before we have to camp in the middle of the Calm Lands."

"Rather," Harry agreed, and they all got up to pack their things.

Half an hour later, the party was heading off towards the Calm Lands. At the ridge overlooking the scarred land, they all stopped to stare, and Lulu murmured, "Long ago, the high summoners fought Sin here. The road ends here. Beyond, there're no towns, no villages. Only endless plains."

"Ah," Harry replied, "but before the summoners used this as a battleground, another battle occurred here, a little over one thousand years ago, a clash between Bevelle and Zanarkand. There used to be a city here, before that battle, named Arcadia. A beautiful city, with gardens and man-made waterfalls." He closed his eyes. "The machina wars ruined a lot of beautiful things, as did the creation of Sin." He glanced at the surprised party. "You saw Seymour's recreation of Zanarkand; it was only one beautiful city destroyed, one of many."

Yuna cleared her throat. "We should keep going."

The party set out again, starting the long trek down the ridge into the plains. On the way, Lulu fell back to walk with Harry and Tidus and commented, "Sometimes, I wonder how you know these things."

Harry smiled and said, "Sometimes, I do too."

Tidus rolled his eyes. "Sometimes," he said to both of them, "I find it easier to just nod and keep walking."

Harry chuckled and Lulu shook her head before joining back up with the rest of Yuna's guardians, who were laughing with the summoner at one of Rikku's jokes.

"There were fayth in Arcadia?" Tidus inquired of his summoner.

Harry's smile turned sad. "Two, but their crystals were destroyed in the battle." He glanced at Tidus. "Well, actually, there is one still intact, mostly because his crystal was stolen by some people from another city early on in the wars. Yojimbo, he was called. His crystal was never taken far from the city, because it was, of course, very heavy. I believe the thieves were from Zanarkand, so we'll probably find the crystal somewhere on Mt. Gagazet."

"Mt. Gagazet?" Tidus asked.

Harry pointed to the towering peaks that cut across the skyline on the far side of the Calm Lands. "Mt Gagazet. It was Zanarkand's greatest defence, and the reason most of the battles between them and Bevelle happened on this side of the mountain. I believe there may also have been a battle in Macalania Woods at one point, but I don't know for sure." He shrugged. "The Ronso, Kimahri's people, live on Mt. Gagazet, now, and they have been known to turn away summoners who they deemed too weak to manage their mountain."

"Do you think they'll turn us away?" Tidus asked.

Harry shook his head with a grin. "Merlin, no. We've proven more than enough times that we can handle anything thrown at us. And, as Auron mentioned that day in Luca, it's rare to see two summoners travelling together, though I believe we're stronger for it."

Tidus nodded. "We cover each others' weaknesses," he agreed. "I mean, Auron is a lot stronger than Kimahri or I, so he hits harder, and Wakka has that stupid ball, which he can use to attack from a distance. And even though we've got two summoners, you study different magic. I mean, we've got Lulu, who studies black magic like you, but you also study a completely different magic from anything in this time. And Rikku..."

Harry chuckled. "Rikku is fast," he offered. "She's quick on her feet and has those brilliant concoctions of her's."

Tidus grinned. "We make a good team."

"For eight people from six rather different cultures and backgrounds, we make a brilliant team," Harry corrected. "Well, as long as we're not arguing about Yevon."

Tidus laughed. "Yevon, the only sore spot in our otherwise amazing companionship."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it."

They glanced at each other, then broke out in laughter.

-0-0-0-

They reached the small Al Bhed travel agency near one of the scars just before nightfall. Partway across the plains, they'd realised that they could have made it to the foot of Mt Gagazet, but they would likely be exhausted by the time they got there, and not in a particularly good shape to climb the mountain, even just to the Ronso caves. So they changed their course to the travel agency, which hosted a small guard and spaces for travellers to rest overnight. The Calm Lands were huge, and not many people managed to cross it all in one trip.

They set up camp and shared a supper with a couple who were also travelling the plains. The couple, it turned out, had some family who had been part of a summoner's pilgrimage around the time that High Summoner Braska journeyed to Zanarkand, and one of them had died by a cave between the Calm Lands and Mt. Gagazet. When they mentioned the cave, Lulu had tensed, then asked, "The Cavern of the Stolen Fayth?"

"Yes, that's the one!" the woman said with a bright smile. "Jeffery is buried just outside the entrance, his brother, Jacob, said. Jacob died just last week and his dying wish was for us to go to Jeffery's grave and leave his sword there."

"The Cavern of the Stolen Fayth?" Harry said, frowning. "That wouldn't happen to be where Yojimbo ended up, would it?"

"Oh! Another fayth?" Yuna asked.

Lulu nodded shortly. "Yes."

"We should stop there on our way," Yuna decided.

"I concur," Harry agreed. "Yojimbo isn't the most agreeable fayth, or the most agreeable aeon, for that matter, but he's powerful if he likes you."

Lulu, Wakka, Kimahri and Auron all looked at him a bit oddly, but Yuna nodded and said, "Then we'll stop there tomorrow."

"We could travel with you, if you'd like," Rikku commented to the couple sitting with them.

The man looked the party over, then nodded. "That would be wonderful, I think. We've been riding on chocobos for the journey so far, but those saddles make my behind hurt."

Rikku nodded sagely. "Yeah, I remember that."

"Rikku," Yuna offered, "the only reason you were so sore was because you insisted on running circles around the rest of us like a mad woman."

Rikku laughed nervously. "Oh."

The group laughed and, in ones and twos, started getting up and drifting off to bed.

Finally, only Yuna and Harry were left around the fire, after Harry had firmly shooed his two guardians away.

"Yojimbo..." Yuna murmured. "What's he like?"

Harry cocked his head to one side. "The fayth, or the aeon?"

"Both?"

Harry hummed thoughtfully. "Well, like I said, he is difficult to get along with. He was... ah, a sword for hire, of sorts, in life, if I remember correctly. I believe he was originally from an island that was destroyed early in the Machina Wars and he travelled a lot. He fell in love with a young woman in Arcadia and dedicated his time to trying to get her to love him. Eventually, she told him she would only love a man willing to sacrifice himself to save Spira. So he became a fayth."

Yuna stared at him for a long moment, then giggled.

"Yes?" Harry inquired, cocking an eyebrow.

"I've never heard the story of the fayth, before," the girl offered. "It's not something we're told when we learn to become summoners, and I doubt many people wonder about it, either. We're all too busy trying to finish our pilgrimages."

Harry smiled wryly. "There's not much to do as a fayth, except trade stories of your life." He shrugged. "On the other hand, the fayth are probably the only people in Spira who know the true, unclouded history of this world."

Yuna leaned forward. "What was your world like, then?"

Harry considered her for a long moment, then nodded and told her about Hogwarts, the only home he'd ever known, and the friends he'd made there.

When they were both yawning every five minutes or so, Harry finally shook his head and stood. "We should sleep, if we intend to be of any use tomorrow."

Yuna smiled in agreement and stood as well. "I suppose so."

They banked the fire together and made for the sleeping bags. Just before they parted ways to their separate bags, Yuna said, "Thanks. For telling me."

Harry shrugged. "It's nice to talk about home," he replied. "Not that I can't – Tidus and Rikku know too – but it's always nice to tell someone new. It's the only way those stories will stay alive, and I don't want Hogwarts to die."

Yuna nodded. "Good night."

"Good night," he agreed, then walked over to his bag. He chuckled when he saw that Tidus had positioned their bags a little closer than usual and shook his head at the teen before climbing in. Once there, he entwined his fingers in the hand that lay outside Tidus' bag and closed his eyes to sleep.

-0-0-0-

The next morning, the party and the couple they'd met with started their way across the plains again. They'd been told by the Al Bhed at the travel agency that a chocobo trainer often camped out over there, so the couple would be able to get a couple of the birds to travel back across the plains. Everyone had been relieved at that – they hadn't looked forward to having to find someone to send back with the couple so they could find a chocobo safely.

At the small path between the rolling plains and the towering peaks of Mt. Gagazet, however, a couple of Guado stood. They stepped forward as soon as they saw the party, intentions unfriendly. The guardians closed ranks around their two summoners and the couple they'd travelled with.

"What do you want?" Tidus demanded, sword held out threateningly.

The lead Guado pasted a false smile on his face and said, "Lord Seymour has summoned the Lady Yuna to Bevelle."

"Ya? What for?" Wakka demanded.

The Guado shrugged. "We were not told his intentions, only that he wishes the Lady Yuna's presence."

"Please tell Maester Seymour that I will come and see him after I've travelled to Zanarkand," Yuna said. "I would like to finish my pilgrimage."

The Guado shook his head. "Afraid I can't let you do that, milady. Lord Seymour requests your presence now."

"Well, tell him he has to wait!" Tidus snapped. "Because she's busy right now!"

The Guado smiled nastily. "If she won't come peacefully, we will bring her by force. Lord Seymour's will must be upheld!" he shouted.

The other Guado with him motioned something forward and the party tensed as a large machina creature ambled forward.

"Machina is against the teachings of Yevon!" Wakka shouted.

"Wakka," Harry said tiredly, "I don't think they care."

"I'm sorry we've gotten you involved in this," Yuna said to the couple who were watching the scene unfold with horror.

The man pulled his wife against him protectively. "We don't blame you," he said. "The Guado have always been no good."

"That's the truth," Rikku muttered grumpily, then pulled a couple of things she'd picked up in the Calm Lands out of her belt pouch and mixed it together before tossing it. The resulting 'bang' just about deafened the party, but it seemed to have done a lot more damage to the Guado and their monster. Yuna quickly shot out a healing spell before Tidus and Auron rushed forward, swords gleaming.

The slaughter was relatively quick, after they took out the two Guado, as Rikku was able to jump in and dismantle the machina while the four fighters kept it distracted.

"Something tells me this isn't the last time Seymour will try and talk you out of your choice not to marry him," Harry commented tiredly to Yuna.

Yuna chewed on her lower lip as she looked over the two dead Guado, which Wakka and Tidus were moving closer so one of the summoners could send them. "I have a bad feeling that you're right," she said, then stepped forward to perform the sending.

"All this, because Lady Yuna doesn't wish to marry Maester Seymour?" the woman asked, her husband shaking his head next to her.

Harry shrugged, watching the girl dance. "There's more to it than that," he admitted, "but that's the basics."

"We should head down to the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth," Auron said, coming to stand next to Harry and the couple. "I do not want to be here when the reinforcements come."

"You think there will be reinforcements?" the man asked.

"There's always reinforcements," Harry replied grimly, then nodded at Auron. "And hopefully Yojimbo decides to play nice."

"One can always hope," the unsent said drily, then turned and started herding the various guardians across the bridge and down into the gorge, while Harry collected Yuna and walked with her and the couple behind the guardians.

At the monument to their family, the couple said their goodbyes and wished the party well, then they parted ways.

The Cavern of the Stolen Fayth was dark and rather creepy, with fiends dashing out at them from nowhere.

Just outside the fayth's inner room, they came across a ghostly form, who Lulu seemed to know. Lulu quietly explained to them that the woman had been a summoner, Lady Ginnem, who Lulu had guarded on her pilgrimage. The woman had died in attempting to get Yojimbo.

They quietly battled Ginnem and she was finally freed to go to the Farplane. Harry waved Yuna ahead of him into the chamber of the fayth. Near the entrance, he'd commented that she'd probably have to pay the fayth to be able to get the aeon, so she also took a bag of gil that the fiends they'd fought in the Calm Lands had dropped.

When she came out, grinning, Harry went in with his two guardians. Yojimbo was standing over his crystal, waiting for them. "The girl told me you are trying to rush," he explained to Harry's surprised look.

Harry smiled. "Ah, yes. So we are."

Yojimbo nodded. "There was a lady summoner some years ago who came through here. I gave her my aeon, but she was killed in battle on the mountain."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "The woman who looked like Rukio?" he clarified, naming the woman in Arcadia that Yojimbo had fallen in love with.

"Yes. If you see her, will you send her? And, perhaps, leave some gil at her monument?" Yojimbo asked.

Harry inclined his head. "I will do my best, my friend."

"That's all I ask," Yojimbo replied, sending his aeon into Harry. "Safe travels, friend."

Harry nodded, then turned and motioned the other two out with him.

The party left the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth and hurried up into the mountain, looking forward to being on the way again.

-0-0-0-

When they reached the open area around which the Ronso lived in caves, there was a small party awaiting them. In the lead was an older Ronso, who Auron murmured was Maester Kelk Ronso.

"Greetings!" Yuna called cheerfully as they met up with the group.

Kelk looked past her to where Harry stood, flanked by his two guardians, and the man's eyes widened. "Yevon be praised," he whispered.

Harry blinked, then smiled. "Ah, Lord Kelk, I don't believe I've seen you in almost thirty years, now."

"You're not thirty years old," Wakka complained. "Are you?"

Harry ignored the blitzball player in favour of walking forward to greet the Ronso leader. "You haven't changed much," he commented.

"You haven't changed at all," the Ronso said. "How came you to this world?"

Harry's lips twitched with a smile. "A phoenix brought me."

Kelk nodded. "Your words have turned Yevon on its side."

"Yevon has been calm for too long. One thousand years is a long time for any organization to remain unchanged, holy order or not."

"Most especially holy order you dislike."

Harry inclined his head.

"Ronso let you and Summoner Yuna pass. When Fayth walk, mortals should get out of way," Kelk declared.

Harry shrugged. "I'm just as mortal as you are, but I do appreciate the sentiment."

Kelk let out a wheezing laughed and moved out of the way, motioning for his people to do the same. "Luck on your journey, Phoenix Fayth."

Harry inclined his head again, then motioned the party to follow him. Just as they were clearing the watching Ronso, two Ronso jumped down in front of the party and insulted Kimahri into a battle. The party moved back and out of the way to clear a space in which the three Ronso could fight.

Wakka, of course, came up behind Harry and demanded, "What was that, down there? Did Maester Kelk call you a fayth?"

Harry eyed the angry blitzballer, as well as the curious black mage and the unsent behind him, then shrugged. "Yes," he said simply.

Lulu and Auron seemed to accept the comment at that, but Wakka just couldn't let it go, demanding, "You even tell lies about the fayth, now?"

Harry took a deep breath and closed his eyes, mentally talking himself out of punching the red-head.

He needn't have bothered, Tidus did it for him.

"Ow!"

"You–!" Tidus threw his hands in the air. "Dammit, Wakka! When are you going to get it through your head that Harry's been telling the truth about everything the whole time?!"

"He can't be a fayth!" Wakka complained.

"And why not?" Rikku demanded.

"Because... Because the fayth are dead, ya? They sacrifice themselves to become fayth!"

Harry sighed and shook his head. "Wakka, let me tell you a bit about my aeon, okay? Its name is Phoenix, and he was created around the memory of a bird by the same name which was thought to be a myth in my time. Phoenixes are able to die and bring themselves back to life out of the ashes of their bodies." He narrowed his eyes at the silent young man. "Yes, I died. I killed myself almost five thousand years ago, because I had nothing else to live for. And now I'm alive again. Why? Who knows! But I have a feeling it had something to do with getting rid of Sin, since you people can't do it yourselves!" he finished angrily, then turned and stalked past the fighting Ronso.

"You know, Wakka, one of these days he's just going to get so fed up with you, he's going to try killing you," Tidus commented darkly. "And, if he does, I might just help him, because you're really starting to get on my nerves." Then the blond hurried past the three Ronso after his summoner, Rikku following.

Lulu sighed. "You know, Wakka, sometimes you just don't know when to keep your mouth shut."

-0-0-0-

"Harry!" Tidus shouted, running up the mountain. The summoner sure could run!

"Tidus!" Rikku called, catching up to the other blond and grabbing his arm to stop him. She pointed just ahead of them, where the summoner was standing over a pile of rocks, looking like he was praying.

The two teens finished the trek up to where Harry had stopped much slower. When they got there, he looked up with a sad smile. "Just helping her pass on," he explained, motioning to the rocks. In the crack, they could see the glint of gil, and both added a few coins from their own purses, recalling Yojimbo's request to their summoner. Harry nodded his thanks, then cast a spell over the coins to keep people from taking them.

The three friends turned and started back up the mountain, Rikku asking, "You don't want to wait for the others?"

Harry shrugged. "We can handle ourselves fine, and I'd rather avoid Wakka for a bit, if you know what I mean?"

Tidus and Rikku nodded in understanding. "Sure," Tidus agreed. "They've got Auron and Kimahri and Lulu, in case they run across something difficult, or Yuna could always summon."

Harry chuckled. "Ah, yes. I do hope, however, that Kimahri doesn't get too beat up fighting those two Ronso..."

"He learned Doom while we were in the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth, didn't he?" Rikku asked.

"Yeah, he should be fine," Tidus agreed. "I doubt those two Ronso could survive Doom."

Harry nodded. "No, I don't suppose they could. I just hope he remembers to use it."

"Kimahri will be fine," Rikku assured him. "He's no novice fighter."

"No," Harry agreed, "I don't suppose he is."

-0-0-0-

About an hour later, the three companions reached a glowing wall, with bodies in various positions against it. "Wh–what is it?!" Rikku cried.

Harry stepped forward, a pained look on his face, and touched the wall. "These are the fayth of Zanarkand," he murmured. "They sleep here, dreaming the eternal dream, so their world will never be forgotten." He closed his eyes, feeling the ghostly hands reaching out to him. "They're tired," he whispered. "So very, very tired. Tired of their dream, tired of watching Sin bring pain to what is left of Spira..." He stepped away, shaking his head. "We should continue," he told his two guardians.

Tidus gently touched Harry's shoulder, then glanced back at Rikku and jerked his head up the path, silently requesting a moment with the summoner. Rikku watched them for a long moment, then nodded. "I'll go on ahead," she told Harry in an almost-cheerful voice. "Make sure there aren't any booby traps!"

Harry watched her go, then looked at Tidus. The teen was just watching him with a sad smile. Harry tried to smile back, then said, "They're so tired..."

"We'll get rid of Sin," Tidus said firmly. "And then they can rest. And you can dream up a place just for the two of us, where your friends and Rikku can come and visit when they want."

Harry nodded, touching the wall of bodies again. "Soon, my friends," he whispered. "Soon, your dreams will come true, and then you can sleep."

Tidus tightened his grip on Harry's shoulder. "We should keep going. Before the others catch up to us."

Harry grimaced. "Ugh. Yeah, I really don't want to deal with Wakka right now, thanks."

Tidus chuckled and led his summoner away from the wall that reminded them both of exactly what they were, and why they didn't belong.

-0-0-0-

The caves quickly gave the friends a headache. "Just like a Cloister of Trials," Rikku had semi-jokingly said as they took turns throwing rocks at a spinning contraption with a light they were supposed to hit in the centre.

"Oh, brilliant," Harry groused, then got a rock through.

They grabbed the item that appeared, then headed on to the second one, where they all had to simultaneously hit three panels. Once they managed that one, they made for the exit, only to find the rest of the party waiting for them. Wakka looked like he'd been rather severely berated and looked apologetically at Harry, but the dark-haired summoner merely scowled at him before motioning that they should head on to Yuna, who nodded and took the lead once more.

Just outside the caves, a large monster jumped them, but they easily took it down and continued on their way up to the summit. There, they saw Zanarkand.

Tidus gripped Harry's shoulder and stared over the city that spawned the dream world he'd grown up in, feeling sick. He only just registered Harry resting a hand over his and Rikku taking his other hand, hoping she could be of some comfort to her friend.

"Come on," Auron ordered as the rest of the party continued down into the ruins.

"Doesn't look like it's a thousand years old," Tidus commented tightly as they started down after the unsent.

"Zanarkand was very well built," Harry commented carefully. "Not even Sin was able to completely destroy it. The people didn't want him to."

Tidus smiled bitterly, recalling his own Zanarkand. "No, I don't suppose they would have."

Harry and Rikku squeezed his hands, and it helped.

-0-0-0-0-0-

A/N: Mmmm.... Lemon next chapter? XD
Coming up: Zanarkand, Yunalesca... and I really need to figure out how they're going to destroy Sin. *nervous laugh* Because they never fell under the lake, never saw Sin listening peacefully to the Song of the Fayth, never went to Home, never rode the airship...
You know, I skipped a lot of important plot. Bugger.

~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

..