Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, but as far as I know, this is a plot I've never seen before. So I guess I can claim it as mine.
Summary: In the final battle with Voldemort, things took for the worst. In a last act of desperation, Remus Lupin, Minerva Mcgonagall, and Nymphadora Tonks sent the Boy-who-lived to the Dimension witch, hoping for more time for Harry to train. A team is formed and a journey is beginning. Sakura/Syaoran. No other pairings.
Warnings: Mild language, as well as a hint of Harry/Ginny. Very small hint, just a crush that never developed.
Chapter 2- The start of a journey
The swirling darkness pushed against him mercilessly, squeezing him to the point where it was a much worser experience than apparition. Harry Potter resisted the urge to screw his eyes shut despite the pressure on his eyes, causing them to water. As soon as it had come, however, it was gone as he felt his feet touch hard ground.
"...You may go," He heard a woman's voice pronounce. Turning around sharply, he noticed a strange group of 4 standing in a magic circle, a strange creature and a woman next to them. They seemed to be preparing to leave, he noted. The woman, seeming to sense his presence, turned to face him, along with 2 of the adults in the group. He noticed the younger member of the group turn around slower, and deduced he wasn't a trained fighter yet.
"Are you the Dimension Witch?"
"Yes, I am," was the woman's reply. Harry took the hint and introduced himself. "I am Harry J. Potter, from the country of Britain. I would like to ask for a wish."
"Do you know where you are?" She asked, face expressionless all the while.
Harry faltered. Albus had not shared with them the intricate details of the plan before his untimely demise. All he knew was that wishes would be granted here for a price. He replied negatively and told her of what he knew.
The Dimension Witch nodded. "And so, you are here because you have a wish."
"I wish for more time," Harry began. "More time so I can fulfill what I was meant to do."
A fleeting look of hesitation passed over her face, but it was gone quickly. "You have the same wish as the three of them," she motioned towards the group. "Even if you offer me your most precious things, it would not be enough. But if your price was shared with them, meaning if you travelled together with them, you might be able to afford it. All four of your wishes are the same. As I told them earlier, you have different reasons, but the method is the same. Travelling to different dimensions, that is what you need. But you alone cannot make the wish happen. You have to combine the payment."
It wasn't a hard choice to make. If he returned back to his world, their sacrifice would be in vain and the Wizarding world would perish soon after. As long as he had one more hope to save his world, nothing else really mattered anymore. He would hold on to the shred of hope and do his best.
"What is the price then?" His voice came out cool and confident.
"Your price... is your identity. Your friends will not remember who you are, only taking you for what you seem to be," She hinted at his celebrity status, which had became more of a hated status as he failed to end the war. "Even if you manage to fulfill your destiny, they will never remember the times they had with you."
Harry hid a flinch as he heard the words. To others, it may seem almost insignificant compared to his wish, but to him, his friends were the only ones who saw him as who he was, after the harsh treatment at the Dursleys and the Daily Prophet, the worship by the Wizarding world, the hatred by the children of Death Eaters or those affected by the war. He knew if he managed to end the war, his friends would be unable to see him as more than just a hero, having forgotten him and seeing him just as the Boy-who-lived. To someone who had never experienced much acceptance and love in his life, the price was taking away all these that he had.
But he knew what to do. Even if he had to suffer a little, he would much rather his friends and other innocents survive and forget him than condemning them to die. He already knew what to do, the choice was rather simple to choose, but hard to make.
"Alright," he whispered, trying not to betray the turmoil that was swirling inside him. "I accept."
The Dimension witch nodded and did a complex piece of magic before pointing him towards the group. He made his way over to them, and as he got closer, he could feel the pure magic power from the blonde, a magic so different from his that he was unable to gauge how strong he was. The aura of danger came visibly from the blonde guy and the black-haired guy. The brown-haired kid held a girl in his hands protectively, and Harry could tell that he was willing to do anything to protect her.
"Mokona," the Dimension Witch called out to a white bun-like creature. "You may go."
Mokona bounced excitedly, wings sprouting from its back and enveloping them. It opened its mouth and the group was sucked in, off to a new dimension.
Yuuko stood there for a long while after they departed. "How is this unknown factor going to change everything?" she murmured to herself. "Either way, I wish you four the best of luck in your journey."
Harry woke up with a start, getting into a defensive position as he groped for his wand. He looked around the room, noticing that the blonde and black-haired guys were awake, staring at him. He dropped his defensive position but moved comfortably against a wall first, his hand dropping as he remembered that his wand was taken from him.
"You are awake," the blonde guy greeted him cheerfully, though Harry felt there was something off to his cheerfulness. "I'm Fai D. Flourite, but just call me Fai. That black guy over there," Fai said, pointing towards the dark-haired guy who exuded a sense of danger. He was interrupted by a growl, however. "Its Kurogane to you."
"I'm Harry."
Fai gave him a smile while Kurogane replied with a grunt. Harry didn't know what to think about them. Fye seemed dangerous magically, but he felt that Fai would not use it intentionally to hurt them. Harry's own magic, however, was telling him to be wary around Fai because of the vibe off him. He gave off a vibe of someone who was hiding something big. Harry reasoned that he had done that several times in his life, even now, hiding his past. Anyway, Fai seemed friendly enough, so that was enough reason to be nice back for the time being at least.
Kurogane was easier to consider. From what he could deduce, Kurogane was a gruff man with a ultimately kind heart. Harry had enough experiences with Severus Snape to identify someone like Kurogane. He supposed as long as he was not regarded an enemy, Kurogane would be an alright guy to get along with. That didn't mean he would lower his guard around him though.
Harry leaned against the wall, hiding a wince as he accidentally jostled some of his more delicate injuries. With a start, he looked down at his robes, realising he was stained with blood. Injuries of different magnitude littered his body. Guess this was why they were staring at me then, he thought wryly. Frowning, he tried to poke at his injuries to see how serious they really were, since he didn't have a wand and wandless magic was especially draining, even to the most powerful of wizards and witches.
"Here, let me help you with that," Fai offered, moving towards him. Before Harry could say anything, the brown-haired kid woke up with a start, still holding on to the girl. "It's okay, they can wait till later," Harry told Fai, watching the kid carefully.
A strange expression passed through Fai's face for a brief moment before it was quickly covered with a smile as he turned to the kid, who was staring at the girl in his arms rather worriedly.
"Even while you slept, you wouldn't let the girl go," Fai commented casually. "We tried to dry her off though, she got pretty wet in the rain."
At his words, Harry vaguely remembered it was raining at the Dimension Witch's place. No wonder his clothes were rather damp. Well, he had too many things on his mind at that time, like how Minerva, Remus and Tonks sacrificed themselves for him.. No, this was not the time to grieve for them, he reminded himself forcibly and pulled out of his depressing thoughts. He had a mission now and he couldn't let their sacrifice be in vain.
"Call me Syaoran," the brown-haired kid, who looked to be about his age, told Fai at his probing.
"My name is pretty long, so just call me Fai," Fai smiled, before motioning towards Kurogane and him. "And we have Kuro-tan over there and Harry." Harry could not resist a small grin at the playful banter between Fai and Kurogane. His grin faded as he remembered how similar Ron and Hermione was to them, before they were killed...
A startled shout from Syaoran brought him out of his melancholy thoughts and he pushed all the depressing thoughts behind a wall in his mind
"Is this a piece of her memory?" Fai asked, holding up a shining feather. Harry looked at the feather curiously. That was a memory of the girl's? Was this what Syaoran was searching for?
Syaoran looked to be rather surprised by the revelation, prompting Fai to explain. "It was stuck to you. Only one though."
Syaoran seemed far off in thought for a moment before Fai released the feather. The feather floated towards the girl and sunk in her chest. Harry was rather confused, but managed to piece together what was happening to give a satisfactory answer. Kurogane had a small frown on his face but kept quiet, simply observing.
"Her body... is a little warmer now," Syaoran muttered with no small amount of relief.
"If you hadn't had that feather, it might have been a problem," Fai observed, grinning.
"By coincidence, one stuck to my clothes..."
"There is no coincidence in the world," Fai announced, looking rather solemn all of a sudden. "That's what the witch said, isn't it? My guess is that you grabbed it subconsciously, out of your desire to save the girl," He continued, giving Syaoran a gentle smile.
A meaningful silence dragged out for a while before Fai broke it, slumping against the wall casually. "Of course, I don't even know what I'm talking about," He gave a silly grin and stretched. Harry felt the urge to laugh at the blonde's antics, as well as Kurogane's expression at that. Syaoran had a bewildered expression on his face, and Harry snickered, unable to hold it in. Fai shrugged and continued, "But I wonder how we can find them now, I doubt any more will turn up in our clothes."
The white creature, whom Harry remembered was addressed by the Dimension Witch as Mokona, jumped up in the air triumphantly. "Mokona knows!" It shouted cheerfully. "The feather gives out these really huge waves. So, when the feathers are close, Mokona was feel those really huge waves and will be like," Mokona thumped his cheeks enthusiastically and came out with an expression of really huge eyes and a grin. "this!"
Kurogane gave a flabbergasted expression, letting out a startled exclamation before holding a hand to his heart rather comically. Fai smiled. "Well, it looks like we have a way now. If we get close, Mokona will let us know."
"Will you please let us know when you feel Sakura's feather then?" Syaoran asked Mokona with a serious expression on his face. Harry mentally took note of the girl's name.
Mokona thumped his chest and nodded.
"Search or not, it's up to you. It has nothing to do with me. I'm here to get back to my own world, that's the only reason. Don't expect me to risk my life for you, because I won't," Kurogane suddenly interrupted, his voice rather cold.
"Yes, this is my mission here. I'll do my best not to create trouble for you, sir." Syaoran said respectfully, startling both Kurogane and Harry. Fai seemed unaffected by the words. Harry scrutinised the teenager in front of him, wondering if Syaoran had gone through a similar experience to him. Syaoran was uncharacteristically serious for his young age.
Kurogane recovered his bearings quickly. "Well, what about you two? Are you going to help the brat out?" He growled.
Harry thought carefully. He understood where Kurogane was coming from. He had his own mission to fulfill, his own world to save. He would be busy enough without helping someone else. Besides, he couldn't really afford to die in this mission. If he did, the Wizarding World and the Muggle World would be gone, because of his foolish actions. But as his eyes drifted towards Syaoran and Sakura, he could see the concern Syaoran had for her. The love. Harry remembered how Ron and Hermione had loved each other, how he had a crush on Ginny at first, how his parents and Sirius and everyone loved him, and how the remaining Order members had sacrificed themselves for him. Could he really play a part in dennying that love? He could see that Syaoran needed help. He wasn't fully trained yet, that much was obvious. He supposed he could train by helping Syaoran as well, as he himself was not the best of fighters. And now, without his wand, he himself was also rather helpless. He needed allies as well.
Jolting himself back to the present, he realised everyone was staring at him, waiting for his answer. "If it doesn't threaten my life, then yes, I will help you to the best of my ability," Harry replied. "It'll be good for me too."
Syaoran gave him a grateful smile and thanked him while Fai laughed as Kurogane went into a sulk.
"YO!" A man greeted loudly as he entered in through the door with a woman. Harry didn't react, having already sensed his presence. He noticed that his three companions were similarly unsurprised. Kurogane and Fai was to be expected, but Syaoran... Harry suspected that perhaps Syaoran was more well-trained than he seemed to be.
"So you're all awake now," the man bustled about cheerfully. "Hey! No need to get all tensed up. You came from Yuuko right?"
Harry surmised that this 'Yuuko' the man was talking about must be the Dimension Witch. He nodded affirmatively.
"I'm Sorata Arisugawa, and this is my honey, my love..." Sorata drifted off.
"I'm Arashi," the woman sent a briefly exasperated look at Sorata.
Syaoran and Fai began to introduce themselves, and Harry hid a laugh as Sorata place his hands on Kurogane's shoulders and warned him about touching his wife, in a joking manner. "Why do you only say that to me?" Kurogane roared. Sorata gave him a silly face. "Relax, relax. But I wasn't joking.." "I won't, dammit!"
Arashi approached Harry with some ointments, offering to help treat his wounds. Harry thanked her but took the ointments from her instead, saying that he would treat them himself later.
"Anyway," Sorata began, walking towards the window. "You guys are real lucky. Mokona has brought you to..." He pulled open the window. "The Republic of Hanshin!"
Harry, between applying ointment to and bandaging his wounds, listened attentively as Sorata and Arashi began to give them a history lesson on the country using a puppet show, with witty comments inserted every now and then. He found out that Syaoran used to work on archaeological digs, which Harry remembered from his primary school that it was sort of digging a piece of land to find some historical items, to study the past. Or something like that.
Noticing that Kurogane was sleeping, he made to wake the man up, but before he could, Sorata shouted at Kurogane and an unseen force hit the back of Kurogane's head despite the fact that he was leaning his head against the wall.
Kurogane shot up like an arrow, as did Fai and Harry, while Syaoran crawled protectively towards Sakura. "I didn't feel a presence. Who did that?" Narrowing his eyes at Sorata, he scowled accusingly at him. "You bastard! You threw something at me, didn't you?"
"You were in a corner. If he threw something at you, it wouldn't have hit you where it hit," Fai analysed logically, looking around for any enemies.
"Unless he threw it from above, then," Harry continued, peering at the ceiling suspiciously before directing his gaze towards Sorata and Arashi.
Arashi looked as calm as always while Sorata looked bewildered. "Er... what?" He asked. "That was just my kudan, that's all."
"Kudan?" The four of them echoed, confused. Harry tried to remember if there were any obscure form of magic that was called kudan, but came up short.
"Oh right!" Sorata smacked himself on the head. "Of course you wouldn't know. You are all from different worlds, after all."
Sorata delved into an explanation about the kudan, with Arashi adding in useful comments every now and then.
"Both of you have lost your method of fighting," Arashi suddenly stated, glancing at Kurogane and Fai. "And you, partly as well. You have lost most of your method of fighting, though not at the hands of Yuuko, though." She stared at Harry, making him fidget a little.
"I handed my magic to the witch," Fai offered.
"That bitch took my sword!" Kurogane muttered bitterly.
"My means of fighting was taken from me, but I can still fight, though I am weakened considerably without it," Harry divulged generously.
"I didn't give her any weapons or magic. I never had it from the start," Syaoran shared as Arashi glanced at him.
"There is kudan in this world. It can be used to aid you to fighting. What you use it for... is up to you."
Harry was startled by the situation. "You mean that such a dangerous choice is put in the hands of every citizen in this country?" Harry could only imagine the chaos if that choice was given to the people of his world, without any laws. "Are there no laws enforced to keep them in line?"
"There are people who help to stop others who go out of line, but mostly the citizens of the country just keep the peace."
Harry kept himself from questioning the 'mostly' and merely nodded. He supposed that there were bound to be some wayward citizens every now and then.
"You can use these rooms until you leave this world," Sorata started. "This is an apartment building, so there will be plenty of space. You three wouldn't mind sharing a room, would you?" He motioned towards Kurogane, Fai and Harry.
"Not at all!" Fai chirped as they were led to their room. Kurogane protested rather loudly, asking why he had to share a room with an idiot like Fai. Harry kept quiet, worrying about his nightmares, whether they will wake them up. He longed to cast a silencing ward around himself, but he didn't have his wand and his magic was still too depleted from the battle to even attempt wandless magic.
Fai leaned against the wall, stretching his legs out as he prepared to go to sleep. Kurogane, still grumbling a little, took up another corner of the room. Harry did the same, drawing his legs up to his chest and pretending to go to sleep as the lights went out. It was only when he heard the pair's steady breathing that he dared to look up and sigh softly. His wounds still stung a little but it was nothing he could not endure. His eyes struggled to open from the exhaustion of the day's events catching up to him. The battle, the imprisionment, the wish, the introductions, it was almost surreal to him. He knew that he should go to sleep so that his magical reserves could be restored faster, but he feared the nightmares that would come.
Suddenly, his eyes struggled even more to open as he felt a deep exhaustion and sleepiness overtake him, almost unaturally in its suddeness. As his eyes fluttered close, he noticed a couple of very tiny runes near Fai, with the magician tracing them in a minute motion.
"Thank you for yesterday," Harry said softly to Fai as the three of them prepared to go out and meet Syaoran and Mokona. Fai replied with a politely confused look and his trademark smile. Harry decided to let him be. If Fai didn't want him to probe too much, he wouldn't. It was similar to the fact that he himself would be unwilling to share too much with a couple of people he had just met yesterday.
Kurogane frowned at them but said nothing. The three traisped down to the living room in silence, where they found Syaoran, Mokona, Arashi and Sorata. After exchanging goodbyes with Sorata and Arashi, the gang left to explore the town.
"Good morning, gentlemen! Would you like to buy an apple?" An elderly vendor asked as they passed by the grocery.
Harry noticed the bewildered looks over the apple that the man was holding. "Er, why are you staring at the apple so strangely?"
"That...is an apple?" Syaoran asked, confusion visible on his face.
The man grinned at him, obviously thinking that Syaoran was joking with him. "Of course it is an apple, laddie. What else could it be?" Harry nodded in agreement, wondering what in the world was going on.
"In my world it looks pale yellow instead, but similar in shape to that," Syaoran explained softly to them.
"That is a pear!" Kurogane said, thinking of the fruit in his world.
"No, a pear is redder and has leaves on the top," Syaoran frowned.
"Isn't that a tomato?" Harry asked, completely bewildered with the conversation.
"Nope, that is a strawberry, isn't it?" Fai piped in.
The elderly vendor looked to be fed up with their confusing conversation. "OI! Are you going to buy or not?" Mokona made the decision for them and a while later they stood at a bridge, enjoying the fruit.
"Looks like we really have different cultures," Syaoran noted, biting into his apple. Harry nodded in agreement.
"Now that I think about it, I never asked, how did you get to the shop of the Dimension Witch?" Fai directed the question to the three of them.
"There is a High Priest where I came from. He sent me there," Syaoran replied. "Impressive," Fai commented. "It's hard to send just one person, but he sent two!" Syaoran nodded in agreement. "He was a great Priest."
"The princess of my country sent me away- by force," Kurogane gritted his teeth. Harry noticed the flash of anger and betrayal in his eyes.
"Ah ha! Kuro-rin must have done something wrong and was punished!" Fai teased, laughing at him along with Mokona.
"Shut up, you idiot! What about you yourself then? Who sent you?"
"No one. I sent myself," Fai replied casually. "When I muster all my magical abilities, getting myself from one dimension to the other is all I can do."
"Why did you ever go to that witch then? Just do everything yourself!" Kurogane exclaimed. Fai shook his head. "It takes a lot of magical power. It takes out all that a person has. Most people only have the ability to send someone or themselves to another dimension once. Only the Dimension Witch has the power to do this many times. How did you get to the shop then, Harry?"
Harry winced at the question. He had been hoping to be excluded from the conversation. "It took three people to send me there. In my world however, it was supposed to be accomplished by four people instead."
"What happened to them then, since it was only three people?" Mokona asked, rather insensitively.
"They died," Harry stated simply. "It took too much out of them."
A scream broke the tense silence that had fallen over them. Turning to face the source of the commotion, they noticed a fight brewing between two sides over territorial issues.
"He may have a strong kudan, but don't let that faze you, guys!" One of the sides shouted before both sides raised their hands and started firing at each other. The scene reminded Harry of the war he had just came from, and he had to remind himself over and over again so that he would not join in the fight and kill them.
"What the hell is wrong with kids these days?" He heard himself saying, and found Kurogane agreeing with him.
As Harry continued to watch the battle dispassionately, showing none of the conflict in him, the leader of one of the sides stood up, a creature that seemed to be made of water beside him. Harry identified the creature as something like a stingray, confirming that it was indeed a kudan as he knew that stingrays cound not float in midair or live above water for long periods of time.
The stingray-like kudan sprung up before unleashing a powerful wave of water towards the ground where the other side was at.
"Watch out!" Syaoran suddenly shouted before running towards where the water would hit. He wrapped his arms around a boy and covered him with his body.
Before Harry, Fai and Kurogane could reach him, the water has already impacted. But a blazing fire fended off the water, seemingly coming from Syaoran.
His kudan, Harry realised with a jolt, It is protecting him from the water. A kudan of fire.
As the last of the water was evaporated by the fire, Harry looked up at the leader.
"So, it seems you have a special kudan as well," the leader said, gazing at the crouched form of Syaoran. "A kudan that can wield fire, as mine wields water. This will be an interesting fight." Without further warning, he sent a great blast of water towards Syaoran, a dangerous attack if not for Syaoran's kudan, which formed a shield to protect Syaoran and the innocent. The fire materialised into a dangerous looking fire-maned wolf, growling threateningly at the leader.
"I am Shougo Asagi. You?"
"...Syaoran"
Shougo seemed to be about to say something before one of his men yelled out a warning; the cops were on their way. With a sigh, Shougo and his men exited the scene swiftly, the only sign of their previous presence the destruction of the entire street. The wolf threw itself at Syaoran with a great leap, sinking into him. Syaoran frowned and held a hand to his chest, but decided that the safety of the innocent was more important.
"Are you alright?" Syaoran asked the boy, before noticing another similar-looking boy beside him. The other boy disappeared in a puff of smoke, startling him. "He...He disappeared!" Syaoran exclaimed, looking around frantically. The boy explained that it was his kudan.
After everyone had calmed down and found Mokona, Mokona told them indignantly, "Just now, at the battle, Mokona went," Mokona thumped his cheeks again and drew out his expression, "like this! But nobody paid any attention!"
"Sakura's feather is nearby?" Syaoran shouted, reaching out to hold Mokona in his hands.
"It was...but Mokona can't feel it anymore.."
"Did you figure out who had it?" Harry cut in.
Mokona shook its head forlornly, and a look of disappointment crossed Syaoran's face, before assuring Mokona of his good work.
Mokona recovered almost instantly back to his cheerful demeanor.
"Um... I am sorry, this is all my fault," the boy started hesitantly. "My name is Masayoshi Saito. Thanks for helping me just now. Why not I treat you guys to lunch? I know a really good okonomiyaki restaurant nearby."
Syaoran started to protest politely before Mokona exclaimed that he wanted lunch, and they were treated to a meal, at the same time getting information of the gangs from Masayoshi, and Syaoran meeting the High Priest and King look-a-likes working as the waiters of the restaurant. All in all, it was a rather eventful day.
Sorry if it seems rather rushed at the end. I think it might get boring if I keep elaborating on every event that occurs, so I skip some scenes. I'm following rather closely to the manga's events now, but i will slowly(Note this word) move away from the manga as each chapter goes. I'm not going to follow every chapter of the manga like this, so I'll jump a little, I'll just get snippets and put it in, not like this whole chunk of a book in this chapter. I just had to do some intoduction first, and the stuff that i put in are important in some way. This is my longest chapter ever in my history of fanfiction, so I hope its not too draggy for you (I felt it was..) I cut it short because of that.
Any suggestions would be greatly welcomed. I am not really a great writer and this is my first time writing a cross-over, so..I need help sometimes. What do you think of this? Too much of copying the manga? Too boring? (Sorry, I know the 'battle' scene sucked, it was my first time writing one..) Constructive criticism is greatly welcome.
Icylone