Me: You know, I've always wanted to write a FFX fanfic. I dunno, maybe it's just because I like Tidus's personality, and his love for Yuna.

Friend: As long as you like it.

Me: YUP!

Let me take this minute to say that I have been through a lot of crazy things. First I had to find a stone that granted immortality so that a lunatic didn't get his hands on it first. Then I had to fight a giant snake that could kill me if I looked it in the eye. Don't forget the year of living in fear thinking that a murderer was after me, in which, it turns out was my Godfather. Then comes the tournament I wanted no part in, but ended up having to fight a dragon only to watch a friend die and an evil lord come back. But no, when I try to warn everybody, I'm shoved off as a child with delusions and a prejudice teacher who adored pink was sent to 'watch over me'.

Yes, I had seen a lot of crazy things, but then again when you live in a world of magic, you can only hope that you make it through alive. It wasn't like I didn't have fun at times. There was always Quidditch, Ron and Hermione, but sometimes I just wasn't in the mood for fun. This was one of those times.

I walked by the lake as the sun was starting to set in the horizon. I would be lying if I said I was fine. I thought of Sirius. I replayed the scene of which he died over and over again. To fall into the veil meant certain death, which I knew. I had no hope of seeing him again, but that didn't mean I couldn't be alone with my memories for awhile. The lake was surprisingly calming, despite what I knew was in its depths. I walked around on the sandy shore, just watching the light ripples pierce through the watery surface.

I sighed as I leaned over to pick up a rock. I checked to see how flat it was before I tried skipping it. I had seen Hagrid do this many times before when he was depressed. It took a lot of concentration to try and balance the rock on the right angle so that it would skip. I suppose I just could've used magic, but it felt good to keep my mind off something.

It was only the first week back at Hogwarts and I could already feel the changes in the school. First there was Snape, who had won his position as Defense against the Dark Arts teacher while Slughorn took on the Potions position. He was a decent teacher, even if he did play favorites. It wasn't like he was terrible to the other students, just indifferent.

I sighed as I ran my fingers through my hair and tried to skip another stone. Another failure. "What's the matter Harry?" I jumped slightly at the misty voice behind me. Turning around, I saw my Ravenclaw friend Luna tilting her head at me in curiosity.

"Hey, Luna." I said as I reached down to pick up another rock. I really wasn't in the mood for talking, but it wasn't going to object to her being here. "I'm fine, just a bit tired." I threw the rock to the lake, successfully making it jump twice before falling into the water.

"You should be careful when you think, Harry. Nargles tend to flock near you," I gave her a look that said, 'Are you serious?' before picking another stone. "Although, you should also be careful where you throw those rocks. You might hit that yellow flower over there." I looked to see where she was pointing in the middle of the lake. There was indeed something light colored and peculiar there, but it did not look like a flower.

"Luna, go get Professor Dumbledore." I said as I reached into my robe to grab my wand. Luna looked at me before walking off back to the school. I knew she would listen to me, she also seemed to understand how close we were to war, even if it was only a vague understanding.

I walked cautiously around the lake to get a look at whatever was floating in the lake. If only the water were clearer, then it would be easier to see exactly what it was. Oddly enough, it was slowly flowing by the shore. I pointed my wand at it, a little unsure of what I should really be doing.

As it got closer, I could see that whatever features it contained was most likely human. There were shoulders connected to the yellowish-gold hair that I could now identify. Whoever it was, they were lying in the water face-down so they were sure to be dead. I could hear footsteps behind me and I turned to see Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape hurrying to see what it was that I have found.

"Mr. Potter, what is it that you would eagerly need us?" asked McGonagall. I shrugged and pointed to the body floating in the lake. Everyone stilled at whoever was being pushed onto shore by the waves. "

Minerva, I would kindly ask if you would bring Miss Lovegood back inside with whatever remaining students," said Professor Dumbledore as he watched the body curiously. My Head of House nodded and scurried all the curious students along while the Headmaster and Snape stayed where they were.

"Now, Harry. I would very much like to hear your tale of how you came across this, but for now I think we should move it. Severus, if you please-?" He gesture toward the body as Snape pulled out his wand and started lifting the body up from the water. Whoever it was, he was male with unusually tan skin and blonde hair that shimmered gold in the light. His outfit consisted of a shirt that revealed his chest and a pant leg that was longer than the other one. As I looked closer, there was a jagged 'J' on the clothing and a sliver chain on his side.

"Poor boy." I heard Dumbledore whisper as he overlooked the floating body. Snape carefully laid him on the sand with his wand before waiting for Dumbledore's orders. "We should give this lad a proper burial. A headstone should be in order-" He was cut short by a sound that made me jump. I looked down at the stranger in fright as he groaned. I looked at my Professor's, a little unsure of what to say. It could be that he ate come Gillyweed, or performed a spell to make him breath underwater, but who knows how long he was in there for.

I scratched my head and looked down at the stranger opened his eyes. They were glassed over as if he were dreaming. He breathed raggedly and opened his mouth as if he were to say something. I leaned down with the other Professors to hear what he had to say. "Y-Yuna," He whispered in an American accent. I wasn't expecting that.

I looked over at the Headmaster as he furrowed his brow and watched the youth closely. "Professor?" I asked, wondering what he was thinking. "Severus, would you be so kind as to take this young man to the infirmary? I'm sure Poppy wouldn't mind taking care of him." I looked over the Headmaster carefully, seriously doubting his sense of judgment. As far as we knew this person could be a Death Eater. I scratched my head as I thought that over. Yeah, he could be one, but then again if he wasn't we would just be leaving an innocent man to die. I groaned as I shook my head and followed my Professors into the school.

My head hurts, I thought as I groaned and turned around on the bed I was laying on. I stopped and thought about what I just said, "It hurts . . ." I said out loud, more out of amazement then out of pain. Wait, I could feel pain. I was alive. I sat up in quickly in the bed and looked around at the pure whiteness surrounding me. "You're up!" said a stern voice to my right. I looked over to see a plump woman in a nurse's outfit. She looked kind of like the motherly type, only more teacher-like.

She walked over to me and put a potion in my face, telling me to drink. I sniffed, immediately knowing it was no ordinary potion, but drank it anyway. It made me feel much better. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes before taking in my surroundings. It was a simple room, with a lot of beds, but oddly enough, no one was here but me and the stern woman. I blinked as I repeated what I said, "It hurts . . . " it still amazed me.

"What hurts?" asked the woman as she looked over my body. My head didn't hurt anymore thanks to the potion, but the pain meant that I was alive, that I had a body.

"No, no, no! You don't understand!" I said trying to explain to her how I was really feeling, "It hurts! I'm alive!" I laughed and jumped out of bed. I could feel the energy rushing through me as I stretched all the tiredness out of my body. "Thank you! Thank you!" I said while laughing as I twirled the older woman around in a small dance before doing a few back flips. I stumbled and fell on my behind on the last one, but I didn't break anything, so it was OK!

The nurse looked at me in shock as I displayed my childishness, but I didn't care. It felt so good to be alive again. After getting over her mild shock she coughed into her hand to get my attention, "Young man, do you know where you are?"

I looked around the room and blinked. I knew I wasn't in Spira, the Fayth had told me that I was going to another world. "Uh, a hospital?" I asked uncertainly as I looked around.

The woman shook her head as she gestured for me to sit down on the bed. To which I obeyed, not really wanting to her on her bad side. "You are lucky to be alive. I will not have you leave here until I say it is all right, do you understand?" I nodded and scratched the back of my head a little embarrassed. She was only doing her job after all.

"Ah, Poppy, is our young guest awake now?" said a new voice from the doorway. I looked over to see an old man, and when I say old I mean old. He had a long white beard that was almost dragging on the floor while his eyes twinkled with curiosity.

"Um, hello?" I asked as I looked the old man over. He reminded me of Meister Mika. Not a very pleasant memory and one that I would rather avoid remembering. "Hey look, I don't know where I am but I'm grateful that you helped me out." I decided to try and be friendly. I mean, it wasn't like this guy was going to hurt me, yet.

The old man seemed slightly surprised at my words, but he hid it as soon as he had showed it. "It was young Mr. Potter who found you, not I. I think you should direct your thanks toward him."

I grinned; this guy was a lot better than Mika. "Uh, great! So, when can I mean this, um Potter?" I asked a little uncertainly, the old man seemed surprised. "Well, if I'm gonna thank him I'm going to have to meet him right?" wasn't this common knowledge? The two people in front of me exchanged looks before eyeing me carefully. "What?" I asked, a little uncomfortable with their stares.

"Please forgive me," the old man said cautiously, "We are on the brink of war, and I'm afraid a stranger such as yourself, is not yet to be trusted. I will pass on your thanks to Mr. Potter if that is all right with you?" I shrugged as I scratched my head. It wasn't really that big of a deal, I just felt bad that I couldn't thank him in person.

"Sure, thanks. Sorry about the trouble." I said a bit awkwardly.

"It's no trouble at all, young man, although I have yet to ask your name?" I raised an eyebrow. Didn't this guy know that it was rude to ask someone for their name without giving yours first? I stretched and hopped off the bed, startling both of them.

"It's Tidus." I said as I looked around for my pouch. It was no longer connected to my waist, which made me a bit nervous. Those items were really valuable, and I could use them if we were really close to war. "Hey, have you seen my pouch?" I asked finally, seeing as how I was failing in my search. "It's kinda important to me." I finished as an afterthought.

"All in due time, but for now I would think that some questions and answers would be in order." I froze at the words the old man spoke. Now I was getting suspicious. He must have seen my reaction because all he did was smile, "I can assure you, Tidus, that you will not be harmed while under my care. I am simply curious about you." I breathed out the breath I didn't know I was holding and then turned to him.

"So, uh, what's your name again?" I asked trying to get a better understanding of this man. His blue eyes twinkled at the question before he answered, "My name is Albus Dumbledore." I rubbed my temples at the long name. I really didn't want to deal with this right now. "Can I just call you Albus? I mean, what's the point of having two names?"

He nodded before moving a bit and then gesturing for me to follow. "Oh, Albus! I must protest! He only just woke up and I haven't finished making sure that he is well!" Albus shook his head at Poppy and her worried stance. I was right she was the motherly type.

"I believe that young Tidus is fine at the moment. He is very lively and I am sure he would tell you if he was in any pain." I chuckled a bit at the irony. "I am not taking him out of the castle, I am simply showing him where he is at the moment." I sighed in relief as Poppy let us go on. I liked Poppy, just not hospitals. But, wait a minute, castle?

He wasn't lying when he said he was going to show me around. He practically took me everywhere in the damn castle. We passed a lot of kids in these weird cloaks on the way, and I could hear a lot of girls giggling as I walked by. This was really starting to scare me. We finally stopped at this weird statue thing at which the old man said a weird word, "Chocolate Frogs." I couldn't really fathom the idea of frogs being made of chocolate. I mean, who would want to eat that?

It wasn't too surprising that the statue jumped away. Similar things had happened in the Cloister of Trials, so why should I be surprised by a jumping statue? Oh yeah, it was a jumping statue in another world, with magic I was unfamiliar with. I rolled my eyes at my train of thought, just laugh it off Tidus. Hopefully Yuna's advice would help me through this.

We walked up a spiral staircase until we finally reached an office of some sort. I looked around at all the floating devices and strange items. What really caught my attention was the bird sitting at a perch of some sort. "Whoa, cool! A Phoenix!" I said excitedly as the bird chirped at me and ruffled its feathers. The old man chuckled before sitting in the seat behind the desk.

For the first time I noticed that there were other people in the room. There was a woman with purple hair, an old man with a lot of scars that reminded me of Auron, and a greasy-haired teacher with a snobbish look on his face. I grimaced as he glared at me. What did I do wrong? I heard the door behind me open and I turned sharply at the presence. It felt wild, like a fiend. I took a defensive stance as I watched a man walk in. I wasn't expecting that.

"Tidus? Are you acquainted with Remus?" I studied the man carefully. He had thin brown hair and a scar across his face. His presence was like a fiend's, but a bit different. More like a Ronso's. I calmed myself down before saying, "No, I'm not." The three other people in the room were pointing sticks at me for some reason. I shrugged and turned back to Albus.

With a wave of his stick, Albus summoned a chair out of nowhere. So it's like a staff? I reasoned as I slowly sat down. "I apologize but we have some questions for you." I nodded, not really knowing what was going on. The greasy-haired man gave me a vial with some sort of clear potion inside. I raised an eyebrow at him and then at Albus. "That potion will assure us that you are telling the truth, it is not poison I assure you." I shrugged, bottoms up.

The potion may have looked like water, but it didn't taste like it. I gagged as I tasted the foreign liquid before looking at all the people now surrounding my chair. "Who are you?" asked the purple haired woman.

"Tidus." I answered simply.

"Where are you from?" asked the old man with scars.

I thought that one over for a minute. I could either say Zanarkind, Spira or the Fayth and it would have been the truth. Man was this difficult, "Zanarkind." I finally answered.

"Why are you here?" asked Albus

"To help defeat Voldemort." Or at least that was what the Fayth brought me here for.

The others seemed to give each other looks until the brown-haired man cleared his throat, "Why did you react the way you did when I walked in." I blinked, wasn't expecting that.

"I thought you were a fiend." I couldn't lie even if I wanted to.

"What is a 'fiend'?" asked Albus from his desk. Did he really not know what they were?

"When someone dies and they are not sent to the Farplane, they become jealous of the living and gain physical bodies from this jealousy, but the physical body is not human, it's animal." I answered, trying to remember what I was told about them. The crowd seemed to shift uncomfortably.

"What is the Farplane?" asked the purple-haired woman.

"The afterlife," was all I responded with.

They were whispering in bunches now. A few of them thought that the potion failed while another asked if Albus could tell if I was lying or not. I was really starting to get annoyed at how they talked about me like I wasn't even here. The chatter continued until Albus stood from his chair. "I apologize, but we find it very hard to believe you." I scratched my head in thought.

"Is there any other way, to um, you know, convince you that I mean no harm?" I sighed and leaned back in my chair. Sitting here was getting me nowhere. The small group of people seemed to whisper even more hurriedly as I just stared at them.

"Tidus, would you be willing to share your memories with us?" I gave him a weird look, "What I mean is, I can replicate your memories and show them as an illusion to everyone here, but I would need your permission to do so." I thought this over for a minute. Yeah, sure I would be trusted, but my memories were a private thing. Then again, if the Fayth knew about my memories, they probably weren't private anymore.

"Sure." I said after a few minutes of thinking it over. Hopefully it wouldn't hurt.

"Alright then, this will feel a bit odd, but don't worry," said the purple-haired woman with a grin. It oddly made me feel better. Or at least it made me feel better until her hair changed from purple to pink. A stick was pointed at my head and it felt oddly similar to a gun. I thought of all my best memories. When I met Wakka, Lulu and Yuna and how I started out as Yuna's Guardian. I was teaching her how to whistle, and laughing with her on the journey. These great memories also brought ones that I didn't want to remember. When I found out what would happen if I Summoner were to summon the Final Aeon. How we had to rescue Yuna from the bogus wedding, and how I had to disappear.

I looked to the side to see a silver light being drawn from my head. The light reminded me of the Pyraflies and the strange power they contained. Albus placed what could only be my memories in a vial before walking over to a bowl of some sort. I was getting tired of sitting so I followed them and watched as the old man poured the silvery contents into the bowl. He looked up at me and smiled a kind smile addressed me, "Tidus, would you watch with us?" I looked down at the bowl that now contained my memories.

"Sure." I said as I copied the other's movement and looked into the bowl. The next second I was dragged into my own memories or more specifically, the memory where I first met Wakka.

Tidus was floating in the middle of a pure blue sea before waking up. "Rikku? Rikku!" He called, not really knowing where he was. A familiar ball was thrown at his head and as he studied it he knew what it was.

"Blitzball!" He said in an excited tone.

"Hey! You OK?" he heard an accented yell from behind him. Swimming around he saw a man a few years older than him with curled up orange hair.

"HEY!" he yelled back, swimming to shore, but not before hitting the Blitzball back. "Yo! Hiya?"

"You wanna try that move one more time?" asked the orange-haired man.

Tidus grinned as he showed off his Blitzball skills.

"Who you play for?"

"The Zanarkind Abes!"

"Haha, that's a good one."

". . . ."

"Hey don't worry, Sin's toxin don't last forever, ja? You'll be fine soon, Bruder!"

"But wait, what if something happens? What if the Summoner dies?"

"Only Guardians and their Summoners can go in there."

"Who cares!"

"Is the Summoner alright?

"Uh, who . . . are you?"

"Sorry Lu, he just kinda ran in here."

"Wakka . . ."

"Told ya she was scary!"

The next moment the door to the Fayth opened up, and out stepped a young woman with shoulder-length brown hair and two different colored eyes. "I've done it! I've become a Summoner!"

I watched as my memories replayed themselves. It went from the disaster in Kilika to the betrayal of Yevon and finally to the Zanarkind ruins, where we cast away our false hope. I found myself gridding my teeth at the sight of Yuna's wedding.

When it came to facing my father in the final battle, I pulled myself from my memories. The others hadn't even noticed as I was the first one to get out. By now, they were probably watching what I saw. Watching the Aeons vanish, along with Sin, until finally I had to disappear too, like a dream. That was all the memory I gave them. I didn't want them to see me wallowing in my memories that would be a bit embarrassing.

I sat in the chair and waited as one by one they came out of whatever trance they were in. I sighed as most of them gave me pitying glances. I really didn't want to deal with this right now. "Uh, hey do you think I could go rest now? I'm really tired and uh-" I was cut short by the hand that Albus raised. I looked up at his face only to see watered eyes that were accompanied by a frown.

"I will arrange for a room. Severus, would you show him to his quarters? Also, I would like to arrange a meeting with Mr. Potter. I believe you wished to thank him?" My eyes lit up at his words. Finally, they didn't doubt me. I grinned and followed the greasy-haired man out of the office. Today wasn't so hot, but hopefully tomorrow would be better. Hopefully.

Me: YAY! 4,364 words. I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written.

Friend: 0.0 I think you're right. I congratulate you.

Me: YAY!