A World to belong to

A/N; Please read the message in bold at the top of my profile regarding updates. Please enjoy.

Chapter 5; Retrieval

Galbadia Garden

Harry's eyes snapped open and he tried to gasp in air but failed against the agony coursing through every inch of his body. He'd been dragged out of his cell and carried to a large room and as his eyes shot around the room he could see Death Eaters, about a dozen of them throughout the room, laughing and mocking him as he writhed on the floor. Voldemort, standing over him, lifted his wand and broke the spell.

Harry choked on blood but couldn't summon the strength to roll over to cough it up and even as he tried to breath in air he choked on the blood. Voldemort laughed and it was then that Harry realised that there were only Death Eaters in the room. There were no Galbadian soldiers, no Seifer and no Sorceress. Voldemort had burns up the side of his already monstrous face and it was those burns that told Harry what was happening. Voldemort was taking revenge on Harry for all the trouble he had caused.

Voldemort eyed him for a moment before flicking his wand at Harry sending him flying across the floor and into the wall. He felt pain in his chest but Voldemort had done it so that Harry didn't drown and he could breath past the blood even as he weakly spat it out. Voldemort wasn't interested in ending this quickly even though Harry could already feel darkness creeping up on him.

Whatever Voldemort had planned though was interrupted as the door shot open and in seconds a dozen Galbadian Soldiers were flooding into the room holding guns and swords aimed at the Death Eaters who rounded on them with their wands. Seifer walked inside and paused as he looked around before spotting Harry. "Get him out of here." Seifer snapped at two red armoured soldiers who crossed to where Harry was struggling to stay conscious. Harry gasped in pain as he was lifted up by his arms and he lost consciousness as they started hauling him out.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry woke to find himself back in his room or really a cell. He was lying on his side with bedding rolled up behind him to keep him from rolling onto his back and he could taste blood in his mouth and coughed as he came awake. He rolled forwards and spat the blood out before groaning in pain. Somebody had mended his chest pain with a cure but other than that he was even weaker than before.

A movement from by the door made him look up and see Seifer crossing towards him. He crouched down and put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Voldemort's men took you from the cell and tried to kill you." Seifer told him.

"Was that what he was doing?" Harry asked sarcastically. "Thanks Seifer, I didn't know that."

Seifer sighed and hung his head. "I'm sorry, Harry."

"I'm going to die here, Seifer." Harry groaned. "Get me out."

"I can't do that. If you agree to help us then the Sorceress with heal you and you'll be protected." Seifer pleaded with him.

"Since when do you plead for somebody else's life?" Harry asked him. "I've watched you from Squall's mind for years and you've been nothing like the boy I loved."

"I'm trying to talk sense into you." Seifer told him.

"You're not the boy I loved." Harry groaned. "I loved him. I can't love you."

Harry knew he'd hit a nerve when Seifer flinched and the hand on Harry's shoulder tightened. "I don't need your love."

"Yes you do, Seifer." Harry told him. "That's why you're even here. You want me to forgive you for all of this and for the way you've acted over the years but you can't have it, Seifer. I'm not going to forgive you. Not ever. Not if you're like this. I can't love this version of you."

That wasn't true but Seifer didn't know that. Harry would always love Seifer because of the memories they shared together. Seifer straightened up but Harry saw the pained look in his face as he rolled back onto his side and fell asleep.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Squall's mind

Harry slipped into Squall's head seconds after he woke up to feeling Galbadia Garden violently changing course and direction. His body was in so much pain he could feel it as that odd sensation when using the mind-scape. Squall was standing in the front entrance of Balamb Garden and somewhere in the transition through the mind-scape Balamb Garden had crashed into the side of Galbadia Garden and the SeeDs were attacking the soldiers on the lawn outside the Sorceress' base.

Before Harry could speak Squall launched himself over the ten foot drop down onto the lawn. "Squall, you're attacking Galbadia Garden." Harry pointed out as Squall checked the others with him. Zell, Quistis, Selphie, Irvine and Rinoa.

"Harry?" Squall looked at the others as he spoke.

"Where?" Zell asked.

"In my head." Squall frowned. "Where have you been, Harry?"

"Voldemort got a little carried away with his idea of revenge." Harry told him. "Be careful, Voldemort's in the Garden somewhere and he's not going to shoot to injure."

"We know." Squall said but repeated the message to the others.

"Where are you, Harry?" Irvine asked.

"I'm here." Harry told Squall.

"He says he's here." Squall repeated. "But he sounds really weak."

"And in pain." Harry told him truthfully.

"We'll split up then." Selphie announced. "Harry can talk to Irvine right, he can lead a team to get him out."

"That won't work. If you've any chance to get to the Sorceress then Irvine needs to be the guide and you have to go with them." Harry told Squall. "And I can't talk to anyone else."

"Harry says that won't work." Squall sighed. "And he's right. We need Irvine to show us the way and he can't talk to anyone else but him and I need to be there to take out Seifer."

"Just go do what has to be done and come for me afterwards." Harry told him.

"We'll get you out." Zell promised even though he couldn't hear Harry's words.

Irvine led them to a side entrance that wasn't guarded and the group slipped into the corridors. They met quite a few soldiers on the inside but most of them were distracted by the war going on outside and the group was able to easily overcome them. Harry began to recognise the particular curve of the hallways almost ten minutes into their attack and began to wonder whether he should divert them in order to pick him up.

It was Voldemort that would be the problem. If the group met him on their way up to the Sorceress they had no experience with him or his Death Eaters and any one of them could be killed. With Harry they'd be slower because of his injuries but Harry knew the Death Eaters tricks and maybe he'd be able to turn Seifer enough to help them.

The entered the central hall and killed two soldiers patrolling it and were about to turn towards the main stairs up when there was a loud cracking sound and a figure dressed in black appeared in front of them with a white bone mask over his face. Squall ducked as the man shot a Killing Curse at him and leapt forwards slashing his sword but a silently cast shield deflected the attack. Squall was sent flying by another wave of the Death Eater's wand but as he rolled to recover he levelled his sword just as the enemy was aiming a spell at an attacking Zell and fired. The Death Eater had just cast a spell to shield himself from Irvine's gun but hadn't been aware of Squall's Gunblade and the bullet hit him in the neck. The snap of Quistis' whip stung his arm and sent his wand clattering to the ground and Squall jumped forward and stabbed his sword through the Death Eater's chest, killing him.

"That was too close." Harry told Squall worriedly.

"It's not like we know much about them." Squall pointed out.

"Squall, I can't stay in your mind. I'm too weak." Harry sighed. He wanted to protect them from the Death Eaters but that one had proved something to Harry. If they picked him up now then he'd slow them down and they couldn't risk that. "Tell Irvine I'm in room A17. Don't come for me until you've dealt with the Sorceress. And Squall just do that and get out. Don't go hunting for Voldemort. You'll need me able to fight for that."

"Harry says he's in room A17 but he's too tired to help us anymore." Squall sighed.

Irvine frowned. "Selphie and Zell. 'A' means he's through that door on the right somewhere. I can't remember which way the numbers go. You two go find him and get him back to Balamb Garden while the rest of us go deal with the Sorceress."

"Be careful love." Harry said as he faded from his mind but instead of returning to his pained body he struck out for Ellone.

He found her looking out at the sea at a fleet of ships that Harry had never seen before. They were quite close and the closest had its stern to the White SeeD ship. They were being escorted.

"Elly. I'd ask what's happening but that'll have to wait. Can you take me to Zell's mind? They're in Galbadia Garden." Harry said in a rush even as Ellone jumped at his voice in her head.

"You sound so weak!" Ellone asked in concern.

"Zell and Selphie are coming to get me out but I need to help them." Harry pleaded. Ellone said nothing more and Harry was evicted back into the Mind-scape and the blue orbs of minds streaked past him as Ellone sought out Zell in her own way. Harry decided to thank her later and probed at Zell's mind and saw a flash. It was one of his favourite memories. Of Harry tackling Zell into the sea water on their beach but this time it was from Zell's prospective and not his own. Then of Zell crawling into Harry's bed at night because Seifer had hidden a dead rat in his own bed and cuddling up to Harry's chest.

Harry slipped into the mind even as Zell stumbled and choked at the memory. "Zell, what's wrong?" He heard Selphie asked.

"I just..." Zell frowned and looked around as if he was about to see Harry.

"Sorry, Zell. It was me probing for a memory." Harry said quietly. "Ellone led me here and I just needed to check it was you."

"Did you have to bring up that one?" Zell asked.

"What?" Selphie asked before her eyes went wide. "Harry?" His view jogged as Zell nodded.

"I'd have given anything over the years to have been able to curl up in bed with any of you again." Harry sighed. "Turn right here."

"Harry, I can barely hear you." Zell said. "He says to turn right."

"I'm losing consciousness." Harry said and knew that if he returned to his own body he'd do just that.

"Hold on, Harry. We're coming."Zell told him before bursting into a sprint and Harry became dizzy as his view kept shifting to the numbers on the doors until Zell skidded to a halt by a door. He tried the handle before giving it a solid kick which didn't help.

"Move, Zell." Selphie ordered and Zell took cover, placing his arm in front of his face for a second. Harry heard a loud explosion and when Zell looked up the door was blown inwards. Zell jumped the wreckage and for the first time Harry looked upon himself through somebody else's eyes.

"Zell..." Harry gasped before sinking out of his mind and returning to his body.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry's eyes opened tiredly as shadows blocked his light and he coughed and rolled onto his front to get the blood clear of his air pipe but it didn't do him all that much good until somebody tipped up his head and helped him tip his head off of the side and throw up all the blood in his throat. Hands cradled him almost too tightly and when they laid him back down he could see Zell and Selphie's blurred faces above him.

"Zell..." Harry whispered painfully. "Selphie..."

"Harry." Zell whispered almost as quietly and put his head next to Harry's before kissing his forehead. "Don't worry about a thing. We've got you now and we won't let anyone hurt you."

Harry closed his eyes and slipped into unconsciousness yet again but this time he knew he was safe and that he could finally heal.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

When he woke up he instantly knew that something was different. He didn't feel so empty and as he came to he could feel a weight on his chest and as his eyes opened he found himself looking up at the face of a smaller version of Sabre. Sabre could take any size he wanted and clearly in the small room they were in he had taken the form of little more than a large house cat. His paws were sitting on Harry's chest.

Harry stared into his eyes. "Hey boy."

"Don't 'hey boy' me." Sabre told him before pausing and Harry knew that now that he was conscious Sabre could read his memories to catch up on what was happening.

"You didn't hurt any of them did you?" Harry asked.

"I do have some common sense." Sabre told him before lying down and resting his head on the paws on Harry's chest. Harry couldn't imagine what Sabre had done when he'd regained life to find Harry in a completely different place, lying in a hospital bed with strangers all around him. Now though he had Harry's memories of everything that had happened and would probably let Squall and the others near him.

"Sabre?" Harry asked. "Where are they?"

"The one called Squall has been sitting on the other side of that glass since you came in. They left half an hour ago." Sabre told him without lifting his head.

"Help me up, we'll go find them." Harry told Sabre. Sabre lifted his head and studied Harry for a moment but they both knew that Harry hated being trapped like this even if they were trying to help. Eventually Sabre jumped off of Harry who pulled himself out of bed and with a quick glance around the room found clothes on a chair beside the bed. He changed out of the gown he was wearing and into the clothes. They definitely weren't his but his clothing had been through so much he doubted they'd been worth trying to clean and mend. The baggy black jeans and red t-shirt definitely weren't his, not even the boxers, socks and trainers and he doubted they were Squall's either since he was a lot taller than Harry. The only person he could imagine that was Harry's size and would lend him clothes was Zell and he found himself liking the idea that Zell had wanted to lend him clothes.

Harry didn't want to put his weight on Sabre and Sabre didn't mind being free to attack anyone that tried to hurt Harry. Instead Harry put his hands in his pockets and moved towards the door and pushed it open with his foot and ventured out into the main area of the hospital. There were a number of doors like his own one off of it and he spotted a woman sorting through files lined up on a number of shelves. Sabre brushed past his leg and slinked around the room and Harry followed him out until he found a mirror.

He studied himself. He hadn't seen his own image in over a week. Somebody had clean shaven his face, not that he'd had much on there in the first place. His hair was clean now and as he remembered it but he had a dark bruise under his left eye which luckily didn't seem to have caused him to get an actual black eye. His lower lip was split but apart from that he just looked pale and underfed which was true, he'd hardly had anything to eat over the last week but although he was hungry it wasn't long enough to cause him real damage. He'd gone for almost as long with less and he knew he just had to pace himself when he did get some food.

Harry heard a squeak of surprise and turned to find the woman he knew was Doctor Kadawaki trying to keep Sabre away from her by putting a table between them. Sabre had obviously decided to get her attention the hard way. She hadn't noticed Harry yet and Harry sighed. "Stop playing with her, Sabre."

Kadawaki jumped around to face him. "You shouldn't be out of bed!"

"I am though." Harry shrugged. "I want to see Squall."

"He'll be back soon. If you get back into bed I'll call the Headmaster's office and get hold of him." Kadawaki told him but Sabre growled.

"I'll find him." Harry announced and began heading towards the door out into the corridor, he knew this place almost as well as Squall did and he knew the way to the Headmaster's office even if he'd only ever seen it from the new platform above it.

"Now look here." Kadawaki tried to waylay him but Harry already had the door open. "You can't just wander around the Garden on your own."

"Why not?" Harry asked. "I know my way around."

"You've been a captive for over a week and you're still healing." She told him. "You need looking after and watching."

"Well why don't you escort me up to Squall then?" Harry suggested.

"I have other patients to look after." She told him sternly.

"Then I'll just find Squall and he can look after me." Harry pointed out logically and was out of the room before she could argue. Sabre snaked back and forwards ahead of him as he walked out into the breeze of the walkways between the outer buildings and the main structure and as they walked Sabre grew until he was about the size of a fully grown tiger, looking like the Sabre Toothed tigers of old Earth.

They didn't come across anyone until they were inside the main building and a SeeD that Harry recognised pulled a child behind him as he eyed Sabre. It was odd for Harry, except for the Orphanage this Garden was the only place he could consider home yet he'd never been here in person before and all of the familiar faces surrounded him though he was a stranger in this place. A man that had been rescued from the enemy garden and couldn't be trusted. Harry sensed all of this as did Sabre who growled as he walked and Harry kept his hands in his pockets realising that he was completely unarmed in a place where ninety percent of people over the age of twelve carried a weapon and were training with them. That and Harry's pitifully depleted stock of magic didn't help his nerves.

He walked up the steps through the fountains until he boarded the lift and pressed the button for the third floor which was home to nothing but the Headmaster's Office. The lift accelerated upwards and Harry leaned back against the wall and Sabre pressed his head into his stomach to comfort him. "You are protected, little one." Sabre told him. "If not by me then by those you knew when you were in this world."

Harry stroked him behind the ears but pushed off of the wall as the lift came to a stop and the doors slid open. Sabre walked out first and Harry heard a startled gasp from the office before he stepped out into the open air. His eyes quickly flickered over the people in the room even as they all turned to look at whoever had used the lift. Squall was the most obvious person in the room as far as Harry was concerned. He sat on the single step that led up to the chair that Headmaster Cid was sitting in. He was looking up at Harry in shock and seemed rather lost as to what to say.

Harry looked around at the others. Zell was fidgeting, Quistis was biting her lip, Selphie was going between staring at Sabre and looking at Harry and Irvine was playing with his hands. Then there was the Headmaster smiling at him in relief. One of the SeeD trainers, Zu, that Harry knew through Squall and finally Nida who had passed the test with Zell, Selphie and Squall.

"Well if I'd known that disappearing for twelve years and then reappearing again would silence you all in one go I'd have tried it way before I was five." Harry grinned though it hurt his split lip but he didn't let that show.

"Harry." Squall groaned at Harry's humour even as Irvine, Zell, Selphie and Quistis uttered rather pained laughs.

"Hey." Harry decided on instead of bad humour and had barely finished speaking when a body struck him and hugged him. Harry laughed and hugged Selphie back. "Hey sis."

Harry barely had a chance to get his breath back after Selphie pulled back before Quistis was hugging him a little more gently. "It's good to have you back."

Zell hugged him a little more enthusiastically almost lifting Harry off of the floor in his happiness at having his brother back. "Don't you dare do that again." Zell told him as he pulled away and let Irvine wrap him in a slightly more tender embrace but it was short lived but Harry knew that was because it was Irvine and a more heartfelt hug would be left until there wasn't an audience. Harry smiled at him to show he understood why Irvine was being standoffish. Harry finally turned to Squall who slowly stood up and walked towards him and Harry put his hands back into his pockets.

The last week had been a test for them both and the final evaluation was at this moment. Harry couldn't help but worry that Squall wouldn't accept him. Harry had accepted everything there was to know about Squall, had lived in his mind for longer than he could count and before that they'd been young children together but Squall only knew this older Harry through stories that Harry had told. He'd never met this version of him. Squall took hold of Harry's shoulders and then pulled Harry towards him and wrapped his arms around him. Harry pressed his face into Squall's chest and started to cry silently even as Squall rested his head on Harry's hair.

When Squall finally pulled away Harry wiped his face with his arm to wipe away the tears but beyond that didn't try to hide them. "How do you feel, my boy?" Cid asked as he approached.

Harry looked over at the short man that had been a constant figure in his early life and sighed. "Like I'm home again." Harry told him. "Though only after being hit by a train." Zell laughed even as Selphie, Quistis and Irvine told him off for joking about it. Squall grinned slightly and Harry knew all that that meant and couldn't take his eyes off of him.

Sabre growled again and butted his head into Harry's waist nearly sending him over and Harry looked down at him. "Sorry. Everyone, this is Sabre. My GF." Harry introduced and Sabre settled down onto his haunches and licked at a paw, showing off his long teeth in the process. "I found him when I was ten. He was knocked out when Voldemort captured me and he's only just been allowed to regain consciousness so he's a little bit nervous." Sabre's growl told him exactly what he could do with that suggestion.

"You are hungry." Sabre told him. "And I don't like the feeling so tell them to take you to get some food. Tell Squall that I'll eat him if he doesn't see to your food straight away."

"I can't say that, Sabre." Harry complained.

"What?" Squall asked. Speaking for the first time since uttering Harry's name when he'd first arrived.

"Sabre's complaining because he can feel how hungry I am." Harry told them.

"Why can't you say that?" Zell asked.

"Because he told me to tell Squall that he'd eat him if he didn't sort it out straight away." Harry sighed and shrugged at Squall.

"Well it will make a change to watch you eat for a change." Squall shrugged and his eyes brightened up as he looked at Harry.

"I'll have something sent up." Cid announced. "Zu, Nida, let's leave them alone to talk."

With that the three others in the room boarded the lift and it disappeared. Squall sat back down on the step and Harry looked around at the others before deciding that he'd waited five long years to be close to Squall and the presence of his other brothers and sisters wasn't going to stop him and he hit Squall on the legs and sat between them when Squall frowned at him. Harry leaned back and as Squall tentatively reached around him Harry grabbed his hands and crossed Squall's arms over him and rested his head back onto Squall's chest and sighed as he relaxed.

Zell laughed but when Harry looked at him he raised his hands in surrender. "Harry." Squall groaned. "You're killing my reputation."

"I don't care." Harry told him simply, snuggling back into him. "It's hurt a little bit more every year I was gone so I'm not wasting time now because you don't want the others to see you being caring."

"Someone get a camera." Zell suggested in a fake sage whisper and Harry felt it as Squall looked up at him and could imagine the glare on his face.

"Zell, don't make me kick your arse." Harry told him with a raised eyebrow.

Zell laughed before sitting himself down in front of Harry so they were only a metre a part. "You haven't changed a bit."

"You want me to?" Harry asked.

"No!" Zell looked shocked at the very idea. "God, I've missed having you around."

"You only just remembered he existed." Squall pointed out but then winced as he realised how horrible that had sounded.

Irvine was the one to really be pained by that though and Harry looked at him sadly. "Me and Irvine didn't forget. I suppose with Irvine though he knew that one day he could find you all. I was trapped in another world and until I was twelve I didn't even have Squall to talk to. It's the same with us both though, you can't imagine how painful it was to find out that you'd all forgotten about us, even without a choice as it was. For Irvine that was recently but for me, that happened when I was twelve and I first found Squall and then maybe I still hoped that maybe Squall was the only one to have forgotten but then I saw Seifer, Quistis and Zell and they clearly didn't even recognise each other." Harry sighed. "That left me with only Elly, Selphie and Irvine."

"You reacted badly when Selphie appeared in Dollet." Squall whispered though they all heard.

"And I managed to track down Elly's mind when she took Squall, Zell and Selphie into the past on the train after you were first made SeeDs." Harry finished. "I didn't see Irvine from Squall's mind until I was already Voldemort's captive but that gave me hope that eventually I could make you all remember."

"So what now?" Selphie asked.

"Well, I'm going to help you for starters." Harry told them. "But first the last thing I remember is being in Zell's head so what happened?"

"Well we brought you back to the Garden." Zell shrugged.

"Voldemort was attacking the Galbadian Soldiers." Quistis told him. "It was horrible."

"Voldemort went against the Sorceress and tried to torture me to insanity like he wanted." Harry told them and Squall's arms tightened around him and he rested his chin on the top of his head. "Seifer rescued me but I don't think that would have been the end of it. What about Seifer?"

"Well, when we got there Seifer tried to stop us." Irvine told him. "We beat him but he was alive the last time we saw him."

"He disappeared?" Harry asked.

Irvine nodded. "We focused on Voldemort and the Sorceress' fight and when we turned back Seifer had gone. After that the Sorceress beat Voldemort, or at least she ran him off and he disappeared into thin air with the rest of his men and the Sorceress turned on us."

"You didn't..." Harry couldn't finish that sentence.

"When we defeated her the Sorceress left the Matron's body and we're not sure what happened then." Quistis told him. "All we know is that Rinoa collapsed and is in a coma."

"So the Matron's alive?" Harry asked hopefully and felt Squall nod.

"She's down in the Headmaster's rooms." Squall told him. "She asked us to come down to the Orphanage to speak to her once you were awake. I imagine the headmaster just told her you were awake so once your food comes up we'll go see her."

"Are we near the Orphanage?" Harry asked in surprise.

"The Garden's just about a mile away." Quistis told him. "Galbadia Garden was waiting here when we arrived."

"That's what she meant then." Harry frowned. "She knew that Irvine and I would help you remember and that when you did you'd go to the Orphanage."

"It's not your fault we remembered." Squall told him automatically.

"For once I wasn't going to say it was my fault." Harry turned as he spoke to look at him and then kissed him on the cheek with a laugh from everyone else.

Squall burrowed his head into Harry's back. "Don't do that, you're embarrassing me." Squall mumbled so that only Harry could hear and Harry rubbed his arms in apology.

"Oh! I need to tell Elly!" Harry suddenly straightened up. He'd forgotten all about his quick visit to her mind and that he'd left her with little to no explanation.

"Go tell her then." Squall told him still rather miffed by Harry's kiss in front of everyone else. Harry nodded to the others before closing his eyes and resting back against Squall, letting his boyfriend take his weight even if this was their first real contact.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Ellone's mind

Harry found himself on the deck of a ship that definitely wasn't the White SeeD ship. "Don't you think you could stay put for just one day?" Harry asked making Ellone jump in surprise.

"Harry..." She complained.

"Sorry, sis. Just in a good mood." Harry told her.

"Are you alright?" She asked. "Where are you? What happened?"

"Uh..." Harry laughed for a second before answering her. "I'm okay and I'm healed up by Doctor Kadawaki and I'm in the Garden, if you want more precise then I'm in the Headmaster's Officer with Squall, Zell, Selphie, Quistis and Irvine. And as to what happened Zell and Selphie rescued me while Irvine, Squall, Quistis and Rinoa went to try to defeat the Sorceress. They beat Seifer but he ran away and they defeated the Sorceress and now Matron's free but I think the Sorceress jumped to Rinoa because she's in a coma."

"Harry..." Ellone was clearly torn between being happy and concerned.

"I'm good, Elly." Harry assured her. "I'm safe and I'm with my family again."

"Alright." Ellone sighed.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked.

"I'm on my way to the eastern continent. They are going to protect me and if they bind my powers then I won't be at risk from the Sorceress." Ellone told him. "Harry, be careful. You have powers too and the Sorceress knows about them, she might try to use them for herself. You and Matron need to come here and seal them away or you'll be at risk and if Rinoa has been possessed then it's vital to get her here too."

"I'll be seeing you soon then." Harry told her. "Before I go can you do me a favour, you've shown me to Irvine and Zell but can you show me to any of the others?"

"I can." She told him and Harry slipped out of her mind letting the mind-scape fill his consciousness as Ellone bent the scape around them until three minds hung before him. He knew he could find them again and returned to Ellone's mind to thank her before slipping back into the mind-scape and searching out the three minds. They were separate but Harry was drawn towards them again though he'd have to work out who they were before he could think of them and be drawn to them like he was with Squall, Ellone, Irvine and now Zell.

He probed at the first mind and a flash of a memory struck him. He could see fires raging high from one of the wings of the orphanage and as he looked down he saw Zell sitting on the floor at his feet. Harry withdrew from the memory since he didn't know who it could have been. He probed again and got a flash of himself as a younger boy. "Quisty!" The younger version of him called. "Have you seen Elly, Zell's crying!"

Harry pulled back since he remembered that moment. Harry had been playing with Selphie when Zell had come running out of the house crying because Seifer had made fun of him again. Quistis had been the first person he'd found and she'd told him to go and calm Zell down because they'd all known that Harry was the best at it.

He flowed to another of the minds and probed at it and got a dark flash of emotion that half scared him. He could see an older version of himself lying on the bed in his cell and for a moment he thought it was Selphie when she'd rescued him but Harry recognised it as when he'd woken up after Voldemort's torture. This was Seifer's mind that Ellone had led him to. Harry slipped inside and found himself sitting in a room in Galbadia Garden staring at the wall.

Seifer shook his head, blurring Harry's vision for a moment and then the view went fuzzy before an arm blocked the view. Seifer had been crying. "I didn't think you were still capable of crying, Seifer."

"Fuck off." Seifer growled and it took Harry a moment to realise that Seifer thought the words were himself imagining self recrimination.

"That's not a nice thing to say to your little brother, Seifer." Harry pointed out and knew exactly when Seifer realised what was happening because he jumped up off of whatever he'd been sitting on and turned full circle searching for Harry. "I'm in your head, big brother."

"Why?" Seifer asked. "Why are you here? Why can't you leave me alone? I deserve to be alone."

"You really believe that, Seifer?" Harry asked. "Because I've been alone for twelve years as I watched you all through Squall's eyes. Being alone isn't nice but it's your choice."

"Damn it, Harry, don't mock me!" Seifer gasped out.

"Look in the mirror, Seifer." Harry ordered.

"Why?"

"Just do it." Harry told him and Seifer turned and leaned on the counter in front of a mirror set into the wall. "What do you see?"

"A failure." Seifer told him. Harry paused and didn't respond for a moment and eventually Seifer kept speaking. "I wanted to matter, Harry. I couldn't just be a nobody. I had to prove I wasn't weak."

"You were only ever weak in my eyes when you made fun of Zell. Those times were your lowest moments and you knew it all along but you couldn't admit that that was your failing." Harry told him. "If you'd remembered me you'd have known that it was that nasty streak that was what wounded you just like it did when you were younger. When I used to call you on it you used to hide from everyone else while you felt horrible about it and to prove that you weren't weak you'd do it again and again."

"Stop it, Harry." Seifer begged.

"You know what I see in that mirror, Seifer." Harry continued ignoring the tears running down Seifer's face. Seifer shook his head because he didn't want to hear it. "I see a brother that I'll always love, no matter what he's done because part of him will always hate himself for the pain he's caused and now you'll know who it is you have to prove yourself to."

"What?" Seifer gasped. "You said you couldn't love me."

"I lied, Seifer." Harry told him. "You'll always have my love and that's what's going to hurt you the more until you finally accept that you don't have to make people hurt to be strong. You'll know that every time you do it there's one person on this world that loves you and that'll sting because you'll betray it every time."

"Harry, you can't love me." Seifer gasped.

"But I do, Seifer." Harry told him. "Just like I love Zell, Selphie, Quistis, Irvine and Squall and one day you'll see me again and I hope that on that day you can hug me and not be ashamed about yourself and you'll be able to tell me on that day that you really are someone that you think I can love."

Seifer shut his eyes and with a single farewell Harry pulled out of his mind and reached for the last one and probed it getting a flash of Zell's back and Harry laid out on the bunk in his cell. He didn't need any more than that and pulled back to his own body.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry walked behind Squall as they entered the overgrown ruins of the Orphanage. His hands were in his pockets and only Zell's presence close to his side kept him from running back to the Garden. This place had been the best home he'd ever had and he'd loved every moment he could remember here. He'd spent a lifetime with each of his brothers and sisters here and gone through the best and worst with them all. But it was this place also where it all started to come apart.

With the fire that they could already see in their minds eye over the burnt out remains of their rooms. It had started in Squall's room where Harry had been sleeping beside him and then spread through Harry's room and into Zell's and then Irvine's before the Matron had managed to put it out and as they walked through the hall outside their room they could see into the rooms through the crumbled and charred walls and woodwork.

Harry didn't say a word even as the others shared memories about their childhood about the things they'd done, the jokes they'd played on one another and even about the night they'd seen the fire and gathered all together in the courtyard while the Matron had protected them. Harry could imagine the moment when they'd realised why Squall was crying and trembling. Ellone had told him about how Squall had broken apart and the others had discovered that Harry hadn't followed them out of the fire.

They entered the courtyard to find the Matron and the Headmaster watching them approach and Harry stumbled backwards and might have run if it wasn't for Irvine who caught him against his chest as he tried to turn. Zell put an arm around his waist and Irvine looped an arm around from the other side and led him forwards and that was the only way that Harry could stand within a few metres of his Matron, the woman who through the Sorceress had tortured him and held him captive.

"Oh, Harry." She gasped and moved forwards making Harry cringe away and bury his head into Irvine's chest. Squall was quick to move and he touched Harry on the back and slowly coached him away from Irvine and let Harry bury himself into his side instead.

"She's not going to hurt you, Harry." Squall told him quietly so nobody else could hear. Harry looked up at the Matron and didn't move when she reached out a hand in offering. Harry slowly reached out with a trembling hand and took it and then relaxed. This was his Matron and there was no resemblance in their expressions and movements. Harry let go of Squall and hugged her tightly as he cried.

"I had to watch what she did, Harry." She told him. "For twelve years I thought you were dead and then Voldemort arrived and you followed him. I tried to fight her to save you but..."

"I know." Harry sighed. "It's over now."

"You know it is not." Matron sighed and Harry pulled back and nodded. "You know where we must go?"

"We have to protect Elly from the Sorceress." Harry said as he nodded. "And we have to make sure she can't use you again."

"Or you." She pointed out.

"What's going on?" Zell asked.

"The Sorceress wants to use Ellone's power to compress time into something that she controls from the future." The Matron told them all. Harry hadn't known the details, only the plan. "You must find Ellone and protect her."

"The White SeeD ship?" Irvine asked.

"She's not there anymore." Harry told them. "She was picked up and taken to the eastern continent."

"Picked up by who?" Zell asked but Harry merely shrugged.

"I could ask." Harry suggested. "If you really want me to, or we could just go there and find out."

"I too will go with you." Matron announced. "Esther may be able to help seal my powers to prevent the sorceress from using it against you again. I won't allow that."

"We go now then." Squall announced and turned to leave.

Harry paused and turned to the Matron as the others went to follow Squall. "Yes, Harry?"

"I missed you when I was on Earth." Harry told her. "I was always running and I never knew what had happened to everyone." She smiled at him with love and Harry relaxed a little more. "You know I can visit any mind in Centra?"

"I am aware of what the Sorceress has said about it." She nodded.

"I found Squall and then Elly found Squall and I could talk to her. She's showed me to all the others. Seifer too." Harry winced. "I talked to him before we came down here. He's..."

"Nobody can understand Seifer like you can, Harry." She told him quietly. "Not even himself."

"He's still my brother. No matter what he's done I still love him." Harry told her. "I know he's going to run away from me because I cause him pain and that's the way he is but when this is over I want to go and find him."

"You were always the only one that could bring out his true side." She nodded. "Good luck and if you ever need anything you have only to ask. We have years to make up for."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Balamb Garden

Harry sat up in the darkness of Squall's room in the dormitories. Squall had had things to deal with for the evening and Harry had spent much of it playing card games and just chatting with Zell and Irvine in Zell's room but then, feeling tired after everything that had happened recently he'd walked back to Squall's room and stripped down to his boxers and curled up in Squall's bed.

He hadn't been able to sleep though and when Squall walked in he saw Harry and didn't turn on the light and instead put his Gunblade on the desk, pulled of his jacket and t-shirt and then sat on the edge of the bed and began unlacing his boots to pull them and his socks off. Harry kissed the back of his shoulder but didn't say anything until after Squall had stood up and pulled off his trousers and then slid under the cover with Harry in only his boxers.

Squall lay on his back and Harry laid on his side before putting a hand over his stomach and nestling his head onto Squall's shoulder and chest. Squall's arm came up over his back to sit on his left hand side and Harry snuggled into the warmth of Squall's skin, putting a leg over Squall's own to bring them closer.

"Does this feel strange for you?" Harry asked when Squall didn't speak.

"I thought it might." Squall sighed. "You've seen me do everything at any time since we were twelve yet I've never even seen your face before. But it's not really that strange now. I've known the most important part of you, your mind, for all of those years and that hasn't changed now."

"Only now I'm physical." Harry laughed.

"And you're here. With me." Squall told him. "I love you."

Harry moved and lied on Squall's front with his arms on either side of his head and their bodies lined up under the covers. "I love you to." Squall ran his hands down Harry's back and pulled him closer to share their first real kiss and their first night together. Neither planned on getting much sleep until well into the night.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter