AN: Final Fantasy VIII and X belong to Square-Enix and the character designs described all belong to Tetsuya Namura. People may not like the idea of an X/VIII crossover, but I always thought it would be nice for Tidus to come and shake things up.



"Don't cry!"

The words of a small voice echoed in his ears as the waves rushed across his cheeks. "We'll dream another sea for you to swim in." The waters looked the same, crystal blue and clear, warm and welcoming. But something was different, he couldn't breath this water. He thought of a new sea and a new life as the clear blue blinked into black.


Squall Leonheart stepped out onto Balamb beach. It had been weeks since Ultimecia was defeated and after the victory party things had slowly gone back to normal, Quistis took over as headmaster to balance Squall as commander, Irvine passed his seed exams and was currently lending aid to Galbadia garden, helping set up Xu as the new headmaster after Martine's untimely death. Laguna had just proposed a new plan to present Balamb with a companion garden in Esthar and the joint efforts between Balamb and Esthar were already underway. Selphie had left a few days after Irvine to oversee the rebuilding project and in Timber. Rinoa had enjoyed Squall's smiles and all of the luxury that Balamb could manage, but the power of sorceress' Ultimecia, Adel and Edea were too powerful for her to take. It took only a week for her to start feeling the effects, small flashes of uncontrollable emotions that created uncontrollable spells. Quistis had tried to absorb some of her power but the powers inside Rinoa surged as she began to siphon them off. Squall searched for anything that could help contain her and after she turned to for help she was quickly convinced to go off to his secret lunar research facility to find a way to bind her powers. Squall had suspected that Odine was more concerned with finding a way to draw and junction that much power than saving Rinoa and after their parting fight Squall assumed that he wasn't supposed to be waiting for her.

Squall was sad, almost as gloomy as ever. Without the warmth that Rinoa had coaxed out of him, and now the companionship of Irvine, the one other person that he had opened up to he had crawled back into his old shell. Leading missions had been the only haven he found from his loneliness, so the fact that his friends were making peace around the globe was a bittersweet feeling. Quistis had insisted that he dug his head out of the files and here he stood, his boots almost touching the surf, the calm waves lapping up closer and closer as if they wanted to comfort him but never got near enough. Squall stood in contemplation, stiff as a statue until something washed up along the shore to draw his attention.

Squall clenched his jaw and ran out 20 meters to where the thing had washed up in full reconnaissance mode until he realized what it was. It was a man, a blonde handsome man, his build was somewhere between Squall and Seifer's, he was taller and bulkier than Squall but not quite as massive or intimidating as Seifer. He had sun-bleached sandy blonde hair, and a striking tan similar to Irvine's, he was wearing odd clothing a yellow jacket that left his muscular chest bare, a long glove across his left arm and a small glove on his right hand. He was wearing something like a black jumper with uneven shorts, and the loudest yellow shoes that Squall had ever seen. A light blue aura flushed across him as Squall noticed the symbol repeated across all of his clothing, in red on his leg and jacked, on his silver earring and his necklace. Squall grabbed for the necklace, the rings he had warn for years connecting him to his past when he realized that they were gone. Rinoa had ripped the chain right off his neck in their last spiteful argument on the balcony where they had found their love, the aura of other sorceress' pulsing out of Rinoa with her rage and the rings that were so precious to him had flown over the edge and tumbled into the ocean. Squall turned his attention back to the man in front of him, he was young, only a few years older than Squall; two tops. He had a rounder face than Squall was used to seeing with perfect clear sun kissed skin, his lips were plump, his nose smallish and round and his eyes were a crystal blue, clear and entrancing.

"!" Squall jumped back, realizing that he was awake.

"Uh, hi… My name Tidus, what's yours?" He said with a big smile, running one of his gloved hands through his thick hair.

"…how are you conscious?"

"I cast Regen on myself before I blacked out, I was just lucky really I only had a second when I realized that I couldn't breath."

"… Why didn't you just cast Aero, then you would have had a bubble of air…" Squall said with a scolding tone, uncertain of who could have a Regen spell when they didn't even have Aero. "You could have died you know? You shouldn't fool around."

"I don't know Aero…" Tidus said looking a little ashamed "I actually only know a few healing and attack spells, they pack punch but I was never really into the status modifications."

"What do you mean 'know'? How did you get close enough to a monster with a spell like Regen when you don't have any support magic?"

"Monster? What are you talking about…?" Tidus said looking up at him.

"To draw magic from…" Squall said, his patience wearing thin. Pretty boys are always dumb, he thought with a snort, and then he thought of Irvine and wanted to take it back.

"Is drawing magic like summoning? I just learned some magic from a few of my companions a while back…" he trailed off staring at the sand.

"Did your companions teach you how not to drown?" Squall said in an almost blank tone, there was just a hint of sarcasm.

"What's your problem man?" Tidus said climbing to his feet and using the few inches he had over Squall to tower over him.

"My problem is: What kind of stupid person washes up on shore when they're junctioned with powerful magic and why the hell would you just give me your name like that?"

"What is junctioning exactly? The magic is just there, in my head…"

"Does it ever run out?"

"I get tired but the magic never goes away…"

"Like a Sorceress?" Squall asked raising an eyebrow.

"You're taking me back to my whole 'magic police' question…" Tidus said with a smirk.

"I'm the commander of Seed and Balamb garden."

"The what of the what? Look… I'm new here… I must have hit my head," Tidus said falling back on an old and somewhat lame excuse.

"May have?" Squall mumbled with his impassive face.

"What's with the bad attitude, huh? I introduce myself and you practically jump down my throat."

"Why would you introduce yourself to a total stranger? There's no point in getting to know different people, in bringing them into your world…"

"What's that supposed to mean, you came over here to help me, I can tell. You were already coming to 'draw me in' or whatever so what's the big problem with giving me your name?"

"But you didn't need my help," Squall said blandly.

"Disappointed?"

"…." Squall let out a heavy sigh, this was the most he had spoken to anyone since Rinoa had left and as usual it was exhausting.

"Look, I do need your help. I told you, I hit my head so I don't really know anything…"

"But your name and that you know magic and where you learned it?" Squall raised an eyebrow. "You're talking to the Commander of a global mercenary organization that had brought down armies not to mention three sorcoress' so you'll have to come up with something better than feigning amnesia." Squall said crossing his arms and hoping that his tongue would go back to its usual laziness some time soon. Tidus leaned in till his lips were only an inch from Squalls ear and whispered:

"Does it make you hard?" Squall jumped back a deep blush coloring his pale cheeks for a moment before he could subdue his reaction and glare back at him.

"What?"

"Introducing yourself with some big fancy title to a complete stranger. What an arrogant jerk."

"…" Squall had a flashback to the way he felt around Seifer when he tried to lord the disciplinary committee over everyone and frowned.

"It's just my job…" Squall said with a sigh.

"Oh, is that it?" Tidus said crossing his arms defiantly.

"Fine, just come with me…"

"What is that an order commander?" Tidus said with a little smirk, he kind of liked arguing this guy and hadn't minded the way that he had been looking him over before he opened those pretty little lips of his and spewed out arrogance.

"You said you wanted my help. You 'hit your head' so I'll take you to Dr. Kodikawa."

"Okay… you know I used to be an important guy where I came from…" Tidus said before realizing that the more of his history he retold the less and less believable amnesia would be, not that he really needed a cover, he just needed to find a way to fit in and to live.

"Whatever," Squall said leading him across the beach, into town and into his hummer for the long quiet journey back to garden.


Tidus was mildly amazed as he looked at Balamb garden. It was so round, and blue, encrusted with symbols and a halo of yellow light around the center. He definitely wasn't in Spira anymore; the technology was advanced but nothing like the things from Zanarkand either. No one spoke to them as they crossed the gardens halls, many bustling students stopped to check him out, Tidus was surprised that no one checked out his chaperone but thought that maybe his attitude had more to do with it than his looks. Squall hadn't said a word to anyone all the way to the doctor's office and when they found Dr. Kodikawa she was wearing a black suit under her doctor's coat and looked up from a medical file.

"It looks like you have a new friend," she said with a slight smile.

"He washed up on shore. He said he hit his head," Squall said stoically.

"Alright, what's your name son?" she said motioning him to sit on the examination table.

"Tidus, you must be Dr. Kodikawa…"

"Yes, nice to meet you. Now, what were you doing washing up on shore?" she asked as she went to grab some medical equipment and began scanning him. "Oh, you cast Regen, very astute."

"Sorry I'm late," a beautiful blonde woman said as she walked in the room. She was wearing the same refined uniform that many of the students wore along with a slim pair of glasses that made her look like a sexy librarian.

"Hello, I am Headmaster Quistis Trepe, welcome to Balamb garden." She said with a brief smile.

"Hi, I'm Tidus, so you're in charge here?" he asked looking her over for a moment before looking back at Squall.

"I am in charge of the student body at this garden, yes but it military circumstances the headmasters all defer to the commander." She said nodding toward Squall.

"You really are a commander? Well, there's a surprise." Tidus said with a smirk. "I was sure you were like 16," he chuckled.

"Squall turns 18 in about a week," Quistis said with a little smile.

"Squall, eh? So that's your name..."

"You brought him here without introducing yourself? What have I told you about being more diplomatic Squall? You have to learn to represent Balamb properly." Quistis said putting her hands on her hips.

"He was a vagrant." He said crossing his arms with a glower.

"Vagrant or not you are still the representative of Balamb and especially after the end of the war you are more iconic than ever."

"Whatever," Squall scowled.

"Vagrant? Who's a vagrant? I just didn't know what I was getting in to, that's all. I didn't know that I couldn't breathe in the water, that's all." Tidus said dumbly.

"Where are you from? You certainly are dressed flamboyantly, is it Esthar maybe?" Quistis said putting her hand on his shoulder and trying to read him.

"I'm from… a place called Zanarkand." He said unsure of what else to say.

"Zanarkand, I've never heard of it… is it on the Centra continent?" she said leaning in and looking in his eyes.

"Zanarkand is in Spira… that's where I come from."

"Feh, first you pretend to have amnesia, and then you make up places? I'd say he was a Deiling spy but he's too dumb," Squall pouted.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with your head Tidus, but there's something unusual about your cells," Dr. Kodikawa said writing something down in the charts, and taking her scanner readings into another room.

"It's Magic, you're completely coated in magic," Quistis said with amazement. "It's like touching a sorceress except this power seems completely natural, unlike the gift of Hyne it seems that its integrated, it takes you no energy to maintain?"

"Maintain what?" Tidus asked raising an eyebrow.

"I would like to invite you to stay here at garden for a while, maybe take a few classes and see how you fit in? You are a bit old compared to the beginning students but if you would like I could arrange for some more advanced classes."

"You're inviting me to go to school?"

"Well, to be honest with you, I would like the opportunity to study you and observe your magic, and weather you come from some make believe country or not it seems like either you have no place to go, or at least no place that you want to go, so why not stay here?"

"Will that make him my commander?" Tidus asked raising an eyebrow.

"I can't think of a better person to run through the training center with you and get you caught up with our basic tactics, Squall was a straight A student." Quistis said barley hiding her amusement, Squall had been so distraught lately and since peace seemed to be settling in she thought that babysitting might take his mind off of Rinoa absence, she also thought it would be prudent to keep a potential sorcerer guarded by a sorceress knight and the savior of the planet.

"Quistis…."

"No arguments, I am in charge of acceptance and the class scheduling so until Tidus is settled in and has learned the way things are done around here he'll be in your care," Quistis said in a stern tone.

"How will I get all my paperwork done?" Squall glowered.

"You're more than on top of your paper work and if you get behind Nida and Zell should be available to help you shoulder the burden.

"I guess I could stick around for awhile…" Tidus said scratching his head awkwardly. "Sorry you got stuck with me though, Squall." He said with a soft smile.

"Whatever."

Dr. Kodikawa poked her head out of her office for a moment. "In the next day or two I would like to do a full bio-scan of you Mr. Tidus."

"Just Tidus and I guess that's okay, as long you're not going to dissect me."

"Well, now that that's settled, Squall as you know there are currently no openings in the dorms so Tidus will be staying with you."

"No," Squall said simply.

"Your room is more than big enough for two people and it would be prudent for you to look after our guest."

"No…" Squall repeated.

"Look, its okay… I can crash outside or something…" Tidus said awkwardly.

"You are ultimately in charge here Squall, but you brought him in, how would it look to the students if their commander was unwilling to deal with the consequences of his actions?"

"…"

"Besides you don't want to encourage students to bring in vagrants," Quistis said more softly.

"Not a vagrant," Tidus grumbled. "I'm a guardian, a protector of the summoner." He said proudly.

"That sounds a bit like a sorceress knight, so you two already have something in common.

"…" Was all Squall said for hours.