Title: Twin Blades
Fandoms: Harry Potter & Final Fantasy X
Author: Batsutousai
Beta: Shara Lunison
Rating: M/R
Pairings: Harry/Tidus (with a side of practically everybody/Harry)
Warnings: OoC, AU, playboy!Harry, NON-SPARKLY-vampire!Harry
Summary: Harry was shunned by his own people because of a bitter vampire and continued living long after England was just a pile of rubble. He watches his world become Spira and finally sets out again to save the world.

Disclaim Her: This story uses characters and settings owned by J.K. Rowling, her publishers and Square Enix. No money is being made from the creation of this fanfic, and no copywrite infringement is intended.

A/N: So, I kind of want to write this without going through everything again, like I did with Fayth – once was enough, thanks – so I'm going to try having a bit of fun with the pilgrimage. ^.^"
Alternately, the version of Spira in this fic is a bit different from Fayth, because I spent a lot of extra time figuring it out, unlike how I sort of made it up as I went for Fayth. (Then I went to the Final Fantasy Wiki and beat my head against the wall because they had the real history there, though I don't intend to change my original conception to match it. I like my idea better. ^.~ Just want you to keep in mind that this Spira doesn't have the same history of the Spira in Fayth. Though, considering Harry and co aren't fayth in this one, that should be obvious.)

Also, if slash isn't your cup of tea, find another fic. Harry hits on practically everyone in the story, but he also has a couple of moments with Tidus, and I'm not going to mark them.
This is your only warning. If I get people complaining, I'll block them.

-0-
Washed Up
-0-

Harry woke from his long sleep in a bubble of water, which seemed a bit odd, as he was sure that when he'd decided to sleep in the basement of an abandoned temple, the place had still been well above sea level. 'Fucking Machina Wars,' he grumbled in his head, then made for where he hoped the surface was. Of course, being a vampire, Harry didn't really need to breath, but there was still something slightly disturbing about being trapped underwater.

Once Harry made it to dry land again – in the form of a small, enclosed beach – he bemoaned the state of his clothing. His white shirt was slightly green and slimy, and his leather pants and boots were just gross. Even his long braid had taken quite the beating, though it, at least, was still in mostly one piece, if a bit longer than he'd remembered it being. He wandlessly cast a couple of spells to fix the ruined outfit and clean and rebraid his hair, then turned to check over his four weapons.

The two magically enhanced guns were a little water-logged and would need a new magazine if he intended to use either of them. He could conjure a new magazine, of course, but there was something about the mix of gas in the magazines that went a little sour when conjured, so he would much rather wait and see if he could find some new magazines. Of course, if there weren't any that fit his guns, he'd have to conjure them anyway...

Putting his guns back in their holsters at the small of his back, he reached up over his shoulders to draw the twin katanas he'd won off the only other Japanese swords master he'd ever met who used two full-sized katanas. As the man had promised, the swords were still in perfect condition, despite one thousand years or so underwater. The sheaths needed some magical repair, but it was easy enough that Harry didn't even really have to think about it. Four thousand years was a long time for some light leather sheaths and he'd gotten rather used to repairing them.

Putting his swords away, Harry looked around the tiny beach. "Okay," he mumbled to himself, "two options, Potter. You can go back out into the water again to maybe find a more accessible beach and then have to fix your clothing again, or you can climb that hill behind you and get a little dirty."

Considering that Harry had just fixed his favourite clothing after a brush with the deep sea, he opted for climbing the sandy hill and jumped to it.

It took him a few minutes to manage the hill, but once he had he realised he had a lovely view of the beach and the mounds of sand around it. It took him a moment before he recognised the island he'd decided to sleep on. "Besaid?" he muttered. "But..." He shook his head. The island had once been a lot bigger.

Finally, he shook the surprise from his mind. "If there's people living on this island – and that dock over there says there are – they've probably settled near one of the temples. This one, clearly, is kaput," he decided, looking down into the ocean where the temple he'd fallen asleep in lay. "That leaves the Holy Order of Bevelle's temple, and that fayth temple they were just building before I left." He glanced to either side of the large mountain that rose up in the centre of the island, to where the other two temples had been. Finally, he decided to just see if there was a path and follow it.

Irritatingly enough, there were two paths. He took the one to the right, only to come up on a sharp drop into a body of water. One glance down at his poor pants made him turn around and take the other path, which was, luckily enough, much better travelled, if the bridges were anything to go by.

He ran into a few fiends on the way and seriously wished for his guns after realising he really wasn't in any shape to use his swords, but he managed well enough. It helped that there wasn't anything on the island that seemed able to kill him. (Though, considering what he was, that wasn't really much of a stretch.)

He came upon the village just as a young woman summoned a great bird, and Harry rose an eyebrow at that. Before he'd died, summoners were rarely found south of the Gagazet mountains, since Bevelle abhorred them. The people of Zanarkand had managed to talk the people of Besaid into creating a temple for a fayth on the island, but that was mostly because Bevelle didn't care about the little temples all the way to the south, especially since Zanarkand's summoners would have never made it down that far.

Harry, of course, had gleefully told the people of Zanarkand that the world was round, and they had been able to send a few ships the long way to the islands and live among their people for a few years, teaching them about the Zanarkand ways. (Harry had always disliked Bevelle; the righteous bastards were far too much like the Ministry of England that had banned him from the place of his birth for being a creature, despite his status as their saviour.)

Now, however, if the state of the village was anything to go by, the Machina Wars were not only over, but so, too, was the use of machina.

'Guess I'll have to conjure those magazines after all,' Harry decided, then walked into town, seeing the summon leaving.

It had not been the first time Harry had slept for an extended period of history, and he knew what sort of questions to ask, assuming he could find someone knowledgeable. A hut with a dual warrior and rest insignia above the door caught his eye and he grinned; he always had liked the warrior classes of Earth. Or Spira. Whatever.

"Greetings, stranger," the man behind the counter called, waving at him.

"Greetings," Harry replied easily, taking a seat at the counter. "Anything for a parched man to drink around here?"

The man chuckled and pulled out a glass, which he filled with water. "First one's on the house," he declared, eyeing Harry's twin swords with appreciation.

Harry acknowledged the kindness with a raise of his glass, then drank the water down. Not that Harry needed the drink, but it really sucked to have a dry, slightly salty mouth.

"You look a bit peaked," the barman commented, refilling Harry's glass without a word.

Harry rubbed at the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah?" He shrugged. "Came a long way, I suppose. Got a bit turned around, too." He grimaced. "My boat got tipped and I lost my footing. Woke up on your beach." He nodded behind him, from whence he'd come.

The barman nodded in understanding. "Probably Sin, then. Couple of the boys said they might have seen a fin early this mornin'. Another lad came ashore, too. Blond, by the name of Tidus. Swears he played blitzball in Zanarkand, but we all know that city was destroyed a thousand years ago." The barman laughed while Harry offered a sad smile. So Zanarkand had lost the conflict, then. "Don't suppose you know him?"

Harry shook his head. "Probably not. I've been travelling by myself for a while, since my brother and sister died with their kids," he said, remembering all too well the pain of learning about the bombs that had decimated England when his god daughter, Rose, was only ten. The only kindness was that they'd likely all died quickly.

Pain reflected in the barman's eyes. "Aye, we've all lost someone to Sin. For what it's worth, I'm sorry for your loss."

"And I for yours," Harry replied grimly.

The barman sighed. "Well, there's a boat bound for Kilika tomorrow, and the boat from there to Luca will be the next mornin'. You can probably catch a ride to the mainland and find a way home from there. For tonight, there's to be a celebration for Lady Yuna's becoming a summoner, and a bed here is ten gil a night."

Harry poked through his small hip pouch a bit for the currency he'd picked up on the road and counted out ten coins, which he handed over to the man. "I'll see you after the party," he said with a grin, then set an extra coin on the counter for the water and wandered back outside the inn.

The party was just getting into swing as he reached the centre of the village, where they were working on building up a bonfire. When someone asked if he'd help, he readily agreed and set to it; there had been little enough to celebrate in the centuries before he'd rested, and it was good to enjoy a pleasant moment after his long nap.

It didn't take long for him to spot the blond who'd said he was from Zanarkand. The boy stood out with his machina-made clothing in this island village, just as Harry did. Moreover, the boy seemed almost uncomfortable surrounded by a party .

Harry sidled up to him. "Tidus, right?" he asked, grinning when the blond jumped.

"Y-yeah. How do you..." His question trailed off as he seemed to realise exactly why Harry had known his name. "You seem to have me at a disadvantage," he said instead.

Harry's grin widened. "Oh, I like you," he declared, dropping an arm over the boy's shoulders. "I'm Harry, by the way. You played for the Abes?"

Tidus blinked. "Yeah. Or, well..."

Harry waved him off. "Brilliant team," he said instead. "Stadium was state-of-the-art, you know? Not even Luca could compete after Bevelle finally granted money for them to upgrade their facility." He waggled his eyebrows at the boy.

Tidus stared at him for a long moment before asking, "Are you from Zanarkand too, then?"

Harry snorted. "Oh, Merlin no! I'm from... Oh, that way, somewhere," he decided, pointing in the general direction of the sunken island of his birth. "Sunken city, by now, but still a lovely place when I was a kid. Or, well, it was if you ignored my relatives." He grinned again at the staring boy. "Never met anyone who'd time travelled before, though. Well, not forward, at least. Didn't think it was possible..." He frowned to consider the thought.

Tidus sighed. "It was Sin," he said. "At least, I think so."

"Mmmm..." was Harry's only reply. The vampire hadn't yet learned enough about Sin to truly have an answer to that. Anyway, he knew it was impossible to travel forward in time, there had been studies done on it.

"Friend of yours?" a curious voice asked, and both Harry and Tidus looked up to see a red-haired man.

"Not quite sure," Tidus replied, trying to get Harry to let him go without being too obvious.

Harry just grinned. "Yup! We've known each other for about...oh, five minutes now, I'd guess. That's enough time to become friends, yeah?"

The red-head just sort of blinked at him and Tidus sighed, giving up on getting out from under Harry's arm.

"Harry, by the way," Harry happily continued, oblivious to their confusion. "Sword for hire. Or well, swords, I'd suppose..." He glanced over his shoulders to check and make sure both blades were still attached to his back and Tidus took his chance to escape. Harry gave him a wounded look.

Tidus rubbed at his neck. "This is Wakka," he told Harry tiredly.

"Well met!" Harry declared, hopping forward to shake the startled man's hand. "Oh, nice grip! Blitzball, then? And... Mm, bit of travel on the road. Fighter?"

Wakka blinked. "Uh, yeah."

"But not a sword?" Harry asked curiously. The red-head didn't have the calluses of a swordsman, but of just a blitzball player. Yet he had the feeling of a somewhat seasoned fighter. And by 'somewhat', Harry meant the man had gone beyond the fiends of Besaid, but wasn't particularly strong, all things considered.

Wakka shook his head. "Fight with a blitzball."

Harry's eyes widened. "Crazy," he declared. "Utterly mad! Does it work? You can't use a regulation ball, they're not quite weighted enough..."

"Nah, have one from my dad," Wakka explained. "He blitzed too, but he wasn't as good at it." He smiled sheepishly. "So he took up being a guardian, like I'm gonna do after this last game. He had his own ball made since blitz was all he really knew."

"Brilliant!" Harry said. "I love looking at weapons." His eyes twinkled slightly.

Wakka nodded, his bearing cautious. "Yah. I saw you got some forbidden machina, ya?"

Harry blinked, then pulled out one of his guns from the small of his back. "Oh, these? Suppose so. But they're out of ammo," he pulled the trigger to prove his point, "so they're not really forbidden, yeah? I just think they look cool." He grinned.

Wakka nodded again. "I suppose. But the teachings say you shouldn't have them at all."

Harry shrugged and put the gun back in its holder. "I seriously doubt anyone's going to come down and smite me because I've got a bit of useless metal on my back."

"But what about Sin, yah? It'll never be gone until we all repent. So maybe you shouldn't be wearing that so much, you know?"

Harry frowned at the red-head. "Wakka, my new friend, I seriously doubt Sin's existence has anything to do with repenting for the sins of our forefathers."

"But Yevon says–"

Harry huffed. "You let some dead guy tell you how to live?" he demanded. "If Yevon said blitzball was suddenly forbidden, would you listen?"

Wakka blinked. "If it got rid of Sin," he agreed, though he didn't seem quite so sure of himself.

Harry just cocked an eyebrow at the other man and shook his head. "Tell you what, think on it and tell me when we get to Luca, okay? Maybe play a couple of games, remember why you like the sport so much. Then consider whether you'd really be willing to give blitzball up," he said firmly, then turned and walked back towards the couple of tables that had food laid out on them. What he really needed was blood, but the food would tide him over until he reached a bigger town, where he could get away with it better. It was so much easier in the old world, with people dying left and right from the war.

"That was an interesting argument," a quiet female voice said.

Harry turned, then grinned madly. "Hey! Finally, a woman with curves. I'm Harry, by the way!" he said cheerfully, holding out a hand to shake.

The woman just sort of looked at him like he was some kind of insect and said, "Lulu."

Harry sighed and smiled a little sheepishly. "Hm. Not the best thing to say for a greeting, right?"

Lulu just continued to eye him.

Harry rolled his eyes and looked her over a bit. "Guardian?" he asked, using Wakka's term from earlier. When Lulu looked slightly surprised, he grinned again and said, "Not a fighter, at least, not a physical fighter. Magic, then? And... a small focus."

Lulu actually looked a little impressed. "Not bad. I'm a black mage."

"Brilliant!" Harry declared.

Lulu shook her head. "You're quite the curiosity."

"Mmm... Thanks, I think? Was that a compliment?"

"It wasn't meant as an insult," Lulu said.

Harry cocked an amused eyebrow at her. "Clever. I like you." He chuckled. "I seem to be making a lot of friends here."

"I don't consider us friends," Lulu informed him.

Harry just shrugged. "As far as my count is concerned, you don't have to." He winked. "I'm sure I'll see you around, lovely Lulu. Ooh! That sounds kinda cool..."

Lulu shook her head and walked off.

Harry had a great time getting to know the rest of the village, occasionally hitting on people of either sex; he wasn't picky. He managed to meet the summoner, who he'd learned was named Yuna, but they weren't able to talk long, as a few suspicious villagers and a frowning Ronso managed to separate him. Harry did wonder if he maybe shouldn't have told her she looked cute enough to eat, but ended up shrugging it off.

Eventually, the party died down and Harry walked back to the Crusader's hut – as he'd learned the fighting group was called – and to the bed he'd paid for.

-0-0-0-

Harry woke with a groan not long after he'd gone to bed. The food hadn't been enough, it seemed, and he'd have to find someone to feed from before he hit the bloodlust and ended up killing a few people. Even just a few sips should be able to tide him over until they got to Luca, assuming the trip didn't take more than a couple days. And it would have to be human; last time he had fiend blood, it had left him on his back for almost two weeks.

A soft snoring met his ears and Harry glanced around the hut. The bar man and two Crusaders were sleeping a few beds over, but across from him was the blond from Zanarkand and Harry licked his lips. Oh, the boy's blood was sure to be delicious.

Harry cast a quick sleeping spell on the occupants of the hut before creeping over to the blond's bed. The boy was laid out on his back, an untroubled expression on his face and with his mouth half open. Harry chuckled and climbed up onto the bed to straddle the boy. "Mmmm..." he murmured against Tidus' neck. "You should be perfect." Then he slid his fangs into the boy's neck and started drinking the blood with a moan.

While Harry was drinking, he ground his hips against Tidus. Like all vampires, drinking blood was almost like having sex for him – it was, in fact, usually accompanied by having sex – and he couldn't quite hold himself back. Much to his amusement, the sleeping body beneath him started grinding back.

Harry carefully stopped drinking before taking anymore would endanger the boy and cast a spell to heal the wound. Then he happily continued grinding against the boy until they'd both come, grinning madly.

"You, darling, are wonderful," he decided, kissing the boy's slightly open mouth. Then he cast a cleaning spell on both of them and returned to his own bed so he could get some more sleep.

-0-0-0-

Harry woke to the sounds of the others in the hut rising. He glanced across at Tidus and grinned at the faint flush on the boy's face as he sat up and realised he had a hard-on. Harry had taken care of the boy last night, of course, but that didn't mean he hadn't left dreams lingering about sex.

Stretching, Harry got out of bed, feeling much better than he had the day before. He leaned down to his pile of things and grabbed his shirt, which he'd slept without, and tossed it on, gleefully arranging the ties on the front so it hung largely open, showing a toned, though pale, chest. His belt with a pouch of coins and little potions he'd found from his fights the day before went on next, and he attached his gun holsters to the back of it, securing it closed with a well-practised flick of a mechanism, which Wakka would probably call machina, but Harry considered to be dead useful. Last were his swords, attached to small white belts which were almost invisible against his shirt.

When Harry finished getting everything ready, he turned and cocked an eyebrow at Tidus, who was watching him. As soon as the boy realised he'd been caught, he scrambled to his feet and made for the loo.

Harry chuckled and walked over to the bar. "Good morning, Chester," he greeted the man who's name he'd learned the night before from one of the Crusaders.

"Good mornin', Harry," Chester replied. "You'll be wanting a bite to eat before the boat out, I suppose?"

Harry nodded and settled into one of the stools. "I should think so, yes. And you might want to bring something together for the young blitzer, since he's also up."

Chester saluted him with a grin, then set about getting some rolls and eggs ready for his two guests. The Crusaders had both just left, more intent on getting to the boat to Kilika than sitting around and having a quick meal. But Chester knew Crusaders and had gotten a few rolls ready for the trip to the docks, not expecting them to stay.

Chester finished getting the meal ready just as Tidus walked out from the sleeping area, sword strapped to his back, and took the seat next to Harry. Chester slid forward the two plates, saying, "Three gil each, gentlemen."

Both men slid back the requested amount and set to eating. Harry glanced over at Tidus and asked, "Sleep well, my young friend?"

Tidus grunted.

Harry chuckled. "Ah. Not a morning person, then."

"Not a 'this early in the morning' person," Tidus replied grumpily. "Anyway, don't want to miss the boat."

"I seriously doubt they'll be leaving you behind," Harry replied easily. "Not with them all so sure you'll be bringing the blitzball trophy home for them. Am I right, Chester?"

Chester chuckled. "Boat doesn't leave until everyone who's expected to get on board is on board, even if it means waiting an extra hour. Only travels between islands once a day, and they don't really have a set time to leave. Skip doesn't like schedules."

"Small islanders," Harry agreed, "like to take their time."

"That we do," Chester agreed.

Once Harry and Tidus had finished their breakfasts, they walked out to the centre of the village, where Wakka and Lulu were waiting. Wakka greeted the two men cheerfully, but Lulu just glanced at them and looked away.

Harry walked over to Lulu, while Wakka presented Tidus with a sword. "You really don't like me, do you?"

Lulu glanced at him. "It's not that I don't like you," she said after admonishing Wakka about the sword, "it's that I don't care either way about you."

"Hm. Ouch." Harry rubbed at the back of his head. "If I act like a gentleman, will you give me another chance?" he asked.

Lulu frowned at him. "We're only travelling to Luca together."

"But you don't want me bothering you the whole way to like me, do you? You might end up having to fry me to make me leave you alone, and that wouldn't be any fun." He smiled winningly, an expression he'd picked up from his godfather in memory of the man.

Lulu almost smiled. "Perhaps, if you act like a gentleman, I will be willing to speak with you," she allowed. "But if you come on to Yuna again–!"

Harry held up his hands in surrender. "Right! Got it! Summoner's off limits!"

Lulu watched him for a few minutes, then said, "See that you remember that," then turned away to greet said summoner.

Harry let out a breath of relief.

"What did you do?" Tidus whispered.

"I hit on Yuna," Harry whispered back.

Tidus blinked a few times. "Do you hit on everyone?" he demanded, recalling how Harry had first treated him.

Harry smiled mischievously. "Only the cute ones," he promised, then turned with Yuna and her two guardians to join them on the road.

"How are you with those swords?" Wakka asked him, eyeing the two blades strapped to Harry's back.

Harry shrugged. "I got here from the beach in one piece," he replied.

"Hm."

Harry quickly saw the bonuses of Wakka's blitzball, as the red-head used it to hit the flying enemies that Harry had ended up using spells on or jumping to hit. (Since he could jump higher, he could manage the latter, but a human wouldn't have been able to do it.) Tidus managed to kick some serious arse with his new sword, and Lulu was a master of the black magic she knew, which was good enough for this road, though Harry did wonder how she'd managed to make it as far into Spira as she had with such weak spells.

Yuna proved herself to be a mostly-capable healer, and her summoning, when she called it, did almost as much damage as Harry could do, as out-of-shape as the vampire was.

Harry recognised the Ronso who jumped down at them near the bridges, but Tidus evidently didn't, as he rushed forward to attack him. The two had a short and somewhat bloody fight, which Tidus almost lost, before Wakka called quits. The Ronso looked angrily at Harry while Yuna and Lulu were treating Tidus and the Ronso attacked the vampire before anyone really realised what was happening.

Thousands of years of fighting for his life kicked in and Harry met the lance with his swords without even having to think about it. Neither fighter listened to the others calling for them to stop, instead circling to try and find the opponent's weakness. Both ended up moving at the same time and froze, blades against the other's throat.

"I really don't want to kill you, Ronso," Harry said angrily, "but if that stick comes anywhere near me again, I will break it, then your neck, are we clear?"

The Ronso narrowed his eyes. "You will leave Yuna. Kimahri will protect her."

"I have no intention of hurting your summoner," Harry snapped, then jerked backwards, away from the spear, and sheathed his swords. "And if you'd been here sooner, instead of leaping around like a fiend, you'd already know that I promised Lulu to leave her alone."

Kimahri grunted and backed out of the stance he'd been in, putting his own weapon away.

"That was uncalled for," Wakka told the two combatants, stepping forward once he was sure they weren't going to attack each other again.

Kimahri simply glared at Wakka for a moment, then walked over to check on Yuna.

Harry snorted and started back down the path. Shortly, running feet caught up with him and he turned to see Tidus. "That was amazing!" the boy gushed. "I mean, the way you wielded those swords! You didn't even let him get a single hit in."

Harry chuckled at the boy, letting his anger at the Ronso go. "Yes, well, once you've been fighting as long as I have, you learn a few tricks."

"Will you teach me?" Tidus asked.

Harry considered the hopeful plea and looked over the boy's sword. He still had the one he'd brought with him, though he'd been using the one Wakka gave him on the road. "Sure. Let me see one of your swords."

"Huh?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "You fight with a heavier sword than I do, and since you've got two with you, it makes sense to teach you with one of them, instead of trying to show you with one of mine. They handle differently."

"Oh!" Tidus pulled his older sword off his back and handed it over.

Harry stopped for a moment to get a feel for the sword, then nodded. "Okay, show me your grip," he ordered, motioning for them to continue on the path. When Tidus did so, Harry sighed and quickly corrected him, showing him how to better hold the sword to get a little more strength behind his swings.

Behind them, Wakka said, "He's not so bad, ya?"

"When he's behaving himself he is," Lulu replied drily.

Kimahri grunted angrily and Yuna laughed nervously at how most of her guardians didn't really seem to like the dark-haired man.

-0-0-0-

On the boat, Harry gave Tidus a break and chuckled as the boy jumped around on the crew, stealing binoculars. After a bit, Kimahri seemed to decide Yuna would be okay on her own and walked up to the upper deck where Harry was watching everyone. "Kimahri still doesn't like Harry," the Ronso said.

Harry glanced at the blue being. "Yeah? Don't worry, the feeling's pretty much mutual." He leaned against the railing and looked up at Kimahri. "Come up here to warn me off some more?"

"Wakka likes Harry," the Ronso said. "As does the boy from Zanarkand and Yuna."

"Ah..." Harry looked back at the deck. "You're trying to figure out what's so great about me, right? Trying to figure out why I'm being so nice to everyone."

Kimahri glanced at him. "Harry not stupid," he admitted.

Harry chuckled without humour. "Kimahri, let me be honest with you, okay?" The Ronso nodded, so Harry continued with, "My family is dead, has been for a long time, and I've been pretty much on my own since. I don't have any friends really, and those people accepted me despite not knowing me before this. I like having friends. So it's not that I'm plotting something nefarious against the Lady Summoner or anything, I'm just trying to get along with the first people I've seen in a long, long time."

Kimahri grunted. "Not easy to not see people."

Harry shrugged. "You might be surprised."

Kimahri glanced at him again. "Kimahri still does not trust."

Harry chuckled, eyes sparkling. "Okay." He glanced back down at the deck to where Tidus and Yuna were talking at the bow. "Mmmm... Suppose it's time I went back to whipping that boy into shape."

"Tidus needs it," Kimahri agreed.

Harry turned to grab the sword he'd left on the deck next to him when the boat rolled angrily. Harry jerked around to look over the boat again as Kimahri jumped down to run to Yuna.

"SIN!" someone on the deck shouted.

Harry grabbed the sword next to his feet as the people on the deck shot some harpoons at it, then jumped off the upper deck straight into a fight with some fiends. He fought between Tidus and Kimahri on the deck while Wakka and Lulu hit the giant thing ahead of them. Eventually, the cable broke free and they watched as Kilika was decimated.

Harry finally understood the fear he'd detected in the people's voices when they spoke of Sin.

-0-0-0-

When they arrived at the dock, Yuna offered to do the sending and they all stood to watch silently. Tidus was, of course, awed, but for Harry it was too much like living in Zanarkand during the wars, and he turned away before Yuna was done to go find something to help with.

He found some people who were working on repairing some destroyed bridges and easily set about helping them. By the time Tidus and Wakka found him after setting up rooms in the small inn, Harry had taken his shirt and swords off to help, refusing to take a break.

"Hey, we got rooms, ya," Wakka said. "You can probably bunk with Tidus and Kimahri and I, okay?"

Harry glanced up from placing another board. "Yeah, okay."

"Are you going to stop for dinner?" Tidus asked.

Harry blinked, then glanced over at where the sun had mostly set. "Huh. Guess it's about that time."

"Go get something to eat," one of the men he'd been working with told him. "You need a break or you'll collapse."

Harry sighed. He'd forgotten what it was like to work with humans who didn't know about his own endurance, but he still got up without complaint and grabbed his shirt and swords, following Tidus and Wakka back to the inn.

There, he joined Yuna's party with Tidus for a quiet meal and got shown to the room the guys were using. He put his swords and shirt there, then went back out to help with the bridge some more.

Kimahri ended up being the one who came to get him later that night, after the other workers had gone to bed. "You will strain yourself," he commented.

Harry glanced up at the Ronso. "Tidus and Wakka sent you drag me back in?" he inquired drily.

Kimahri nodded. "Harry needs sleep. Tomorrow, come with Yuna to temple."

Harry rubbed at his neck. "Yeah? Who decided that one?"

"Yuna," Kimahri admitted.

Harry sighed and shook his head. "I suppose. But I really don't need the sleep."

"Harry needs sleep," Kimahri repeated firmly.

Harry eyed the Ronso. "Are you going to drag me back to the inn if I don't come quietly?"

Kimahri almost seemed to smile. "No. Kimahri gets Lulu. Lulu zaps Harry until he sleeps."

Harry grimaced. "Damn, you're brutal, aren't you? Okay, I'll come back to the inn."

Harry managed about two hours of sleep before he couldn't sleep anymore. Seeing that his roommates were all dead to the world, he grabbed his things and went back out to work on the dock. If he didn't do something, he'd scream.

-0-0-0-

Lulu was the one who found him. "Did you sleep at all last night?" she demanded. The men who'd rejoined him in the morning had said much the same, but Harry had shrugged them off. When he tried the same thing with Lulu, she hit him with a Fire spell.

"Fuck, woman!" Harry snapped, sending a healing spell at his back, where the magic had hit him. "Yes, I slept, okay? And don't shoot Fire spells at me! I'm flammable!"

Lulu just smirked at him. "We're leaving for the temple shortly."

Harry muttered some words under his breath in long dead languages, then got up from the bridge and grabbed his things, which he tossed on before following the black mage back to where the rest of the group was waiting for them.

"What?" the vampire asked his two human roommates once they started off into the forest. The two had been watching him like hawks.

"How much sleep did you get, brudda?" Wakka asked.

"Enough," Harry replied sharply. "Now would you lot let me alone about it already?"

"We're just worried about you," Tidus said softly. "You had to be dragged in for food and to sleep, and you're not being chipper this morning."

Harry sighed and ran a hand down his face. "It bothers me, okay? What happened to Kilika. Something a lot like it happened to my home, but I wasn't there at the time and everyone died. I couldn't do anything. I can do something here, even if it's just helping them rebuild."

"Oh," Wakka said, understanding in his eyes. "Sorry, man. But, still, that's no reason to not sleep or eat, ya?"

Harry huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. When they came across another fiend, he took it down grumpily, then pulled out Tidus' extra sword and showed him a few more things.

On the steps to the temple, they came across a present that Sin left, and all set about bringing it down. Tidus was the one that delivered the finishing blow, and Harry commented, "Much better."

In the temple, they ran into another summoner, who calmly mocked Yuna, then left. Harry didn't much care about going into the temple, so he stayed downstairs while everyone else went up.

"You're not going to protect your summoner?" the summoner from before asked.

Harry rose an eyebrow at her. "I'm not a guardian, I'm just travelling with them until Luca."

"How interesting," the woman said, then swept past him back up to the entrance to the Cloister.

Frowning, Harry followed her and her guardian.

There, the woman had her guardian drop Tidus onto the platform down to the Trials. When they turned, laughing, they found Harry watching them with sharp eyes and his swords drawn, but held loosely. "Well now," the vampire said, "that wasn't very nice, was it?"

The woman sneered. "Summoners like Yuna who ride the tails of others' fame don't deserve to be summoners."

"Ah, but bullies who think themselves better do?" Harry replied.

"You dare–?"

"Ah, ah, ah," Harry warned as the lug next to the summoner stepped forward. Harry raised his swords warningly at the man, then looked at the summoner. "I dare little, Lady Summoner, but I don't like bullies, and I think I've seen enough of them to recognise one. I will warn you now, if I see you bullying Yuna or her guardians again, Sin will be the least of your worries." Then he sheathed his swords and stepped to the side.

"Pound him, Barthello," the woman ordered.

Harry caught the hand that swung at his face with no apparent effort, making the guardian's eyes widen. Then he squeezed the fist until he heard something snap, and the guardian cried out in pain, pulling his hand back to cradle it against his chest.

"That would be your cue to leave," Harry said drily to the woman who was watching him with wide eyes.

The two hurried away and Harry leaned back against the wall of the passage, content to wait until the party came back up.

-0-0-0-

"You seem to have made an enemy, Lady Yuna," Harry said as the lift finally arrived with the party.

"I– what?" Yuna replied.

"The summoner from earlier," Harry replied, pushing away from the wall, "Dona, I think her name was? She seems rather determined to see you fail."

"So she really did push Tidus down?" Wakka asked.

Harry rose an eyebrow at them. "She had her man do it, yes."

"Oh, please tell me you got them back," Tidus said tiredly. He'd gotten yelled at for going into the chamber again.

Harry smiled nastily. "I broke his hand," he said, then turned and led the way out of the temple.

"That wasn't really necessary, was it?" Yuna pleaded, running to catch up with Harry.

Harry glanced at her. "Considering it was his hand or my nose, I rather thought it was."

"You stopped a punch from him?" Tidus exclaimed, bouncing next to him.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm stronger than I look, Tidus."

Tidus looked at Harry's skinny form and nodded slowly. "If you say so."

Harry chuckled and pulled out the sword he was teaching Tidus with. "Okay, smartarse, show me what you've learned."

-0-0-0-0-0-

A/N: There's not a lot to change this early in the game. *grumble* Well, things should start changing in Luca. Like, really changing.

~Bats ^.^x

Next Chapter: Forgotten Fayth