Disclaimer- Dissidia and all its characters belong to Square Enix


As we journeyed along, each gathering their own crystals, bonds had formed between the warriors, and some bonds were closer than others. He grew to be one of my most trusted companions, and he even gave me a nickname.

"Hey Rosebud, wait up!"

As much as I am glad that we have developed a strong friendship, his name for me was a little bit embarrassing at times.

He slowed his run when he caught up to me, and we walked without speaking with each other, he was humming a song, most likely from his home world.

"So, why do you call me Rosebud?"

He stopped humming. "Well, you always have that rose with you, so I thought it fit. And you never really answered my question before."

"Which question?"

"Everyone knows that rose is important to you, but what makes it so special? Aren't there more flowers back in your world?"

Thinking back on it, I never really did tell anyone why roses were so special to me. "Back in my world, before I came to join with all of you, I was fighting in a war with my friends against the Empire. The Empire destroyed my home and split my family, and the name of the rebel group I joined was called 'Wild Rose.' So I guess roses became a symbol of hope for me."

He gave a low whistle. "Wow, that sounds intense."

"Ha, well it's not so bad, thinking back on it now. But now that the war is over, I don't really know what I have left to do, and yet I still cling onto this rose."

He furrowed his brows, seeming to be in deep thought about something. We walked in more silence, before he snapped his fingers. "That's right! Didn't you tell Cloud before that you had a dream though? That you wanted to make a world full of roses, or where roses can bloom, or something like that? There you go, that's your new goal!"

I laughed, he had such a victorious look on his face when he said that. "That may be, but it's nothing too serious. It's still only a dream after all, and most dreams don't come true. It's still a nice thought to have though."

He stopped walking, and it was a couple more steps before I realized he wasn't next to me anymore. I turned around to look at him.

"Tidus?"

"Don't say things like that."

I was shocked, I never saw him with such a serious face on him before, even when he was talking about fighting his father. "Wha-"

"Don't just give up. Dreams are more real than you think. If you always think about it and work for it, it'll come true one day. It'll become real!"

Well, this reaction was stunning. "Do you really think so?"

He pumped his fist. "Yeah! Believe me, anything someone dreams up can be real. And if anyone's stopping you, you just knock 'em down and keep going!"

"What if it's not a person that's hindering me, but something we can't see or feel, or maybe even my own thoughts?"

He paced back and forth to think about this, then he turned to look at me. "If it's your thoughts, then you just need someone to give you a pep talk to cheer you up. If it's something else, well, I don't know how to deal with it now, but when you get to that point, you'll figure something out then!"

I have no idea what this 'pep talk' he mentioned is, but his answer was so direct and clear, I laughed aloud again. "Since you said it, even I believe I can make my dreams possible."

He came up to me and clapped me on my back. "I know you can do it, Rosebud."

"What about you? Do you have any dreams?"

He seemed surprised. "No one's asked me about my dreams before. Hmm, well, I can't say I have any dreams for myself. But I'd like someone else's dream to be real. Well, I guess part of it came true."

"What of the other part?"

He scratched his head. "That part I'm still working on. It's a lot tougher than I thought it was. But it's alright, I've been in hopeless situations before, but I came out alright."

"If it's you, then I know you'll be alright."

He gave a sheepish grin, then continued to walk again. And for a brief moment, it seemed like his body was fading away. Maybe I was imagining things. And I learned something new about him.

He believes in dreams.