Carolyn's Comments:

Mood: Calm

Rant: Sorry I took so long. Enjoy the chappie.

The pit of Harry's stomach was filled with a weightless sensation. It was like there wasn't any air, yet he could still breathe. He kept his eyes squeezed shut. He was only partially aware that he was falling. He was filled with dizziness. Right when he was sure he couldn't take it anymore, he felt himself being dropped onto something solid. The feelings of motion sickness went away almost instantly. He felt the ground with his hands and slowly opened his eyes.

The sunlight that poured into his eyes was so strong it was almost blinding. He sat up shakily. He sat up and glanced around. He was sitting on a soft sandy ground. He could see huge rock structures all around him. There was an ocean about ten feet in front of him. Growing on top of the rock structures were large palm trees. There was a path leading into a dense forest behind him. A large pier with odd-looking ships docked to it was visible to his right.

"This is it…" He thought. "This is Besaid Island."

He stood up shakily. He heard a sound behind him. He turned around. Tidus and Wakka were standing up shakily.

"I don't think I'm ever gonna get used to that." Tidus groaned.

"Harry!" A voice rang out.

He looked over to his left. Ron and Hermione were running towards him. They were both dressed in summer clothing.

"You got through!" Hermione said brightly.

"Bet you feel a little nauseous," Ron commented. Harry nodded. "Don't worry. It'll fade soon."

"Harry," Hermione went on, "It's amazing here! It's so much different than Earth!"

"A whole world for you to learn about," Ron groaned, "I bet you're loving this."

"Oh shut up Ron."

"Who else is here?" Harry asked brushing the sand off his jeans. If he'd known it was going to be so tropical, he wouldn't have worn jeans.

"Let's see," Ron said thinking, "From our world? Or in general?"

"Both."

"Well, from our world, we've got us, Ginny, Fred and George. And from here, we've got Tidus, Yuna, Wakka, and Lulu."

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed, "That's not all! You're not the only newcomer today! Yuna's cousin Rikku is coming today! She's been working with her dad to rebuild their home that got destroyed a few years back. From what I hear, she's very nice."

"From what I hear, she's very hyper." Ron said rolling his eyes.

"Ron!" Hermione yelled.

"Actually he's right." Wakka said smiling.

As the group of friends walked up the path towards the village, they talked.

"So how was your summer, Harry?" Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged. "Same as usual. Getting treated like scum by my own flesh-and-blood; nothing new."

"How about you guys?" Ron asked Tidus and Wakka.

Wakka smiled. "Other than reforming the 'Besaid Aurochs', it was pretty boring."

"I can't wait to get back to Hogwarts," Tidus sighed. "I'm gonna see if that little shit Malfoy is really reformed. If not, I'm going to enjoy tormenting him."

"And if he is reformed?" Hermione asked. She sounded skeptical.

"Then I'll find another little asshole to pick on. There's bound to be more. I just have to check the Slytherin table." He shook his head. "Honestly; it's like they grouped all the bastards in one house for better management purposes."

"By the way, I didn't know the Ginny, Fred, and George were all coming," Harry commented. "How are they doing?"

"Let's see; Fred and George have a whole new world to sell their products and wreak havoc in; they're acting like Christmas came early. And Ginny's having a lot of fun too. I haven't seen her this happy in a long time." Ron rolled his eyes. "Mum wasn't too thrilled with the idea of her kids going into a completely world. She almost made us stay home."

Wakka sighed. "Mrs. Weasley wouldn't let us leave without answer loads of questions about Spira, ya? We were there almost an hour."

They reached the village. It was small, but it had a calm air to it, and Harry liked it instinctively. The houses were small and medium-sized huts. At the far edge of the village, harry could see a large white temple made out of stone. It seemed like a holy place, even from such a distance.

"That's Besaid Temple." Hermione pointed out.

"What's the temple for?" Harry asked.

Ron sighed. "Oh great. Here we go..."

Hermione ignored him. "The temple used to house the fayth, one of the statues that summoners had to pray at to receive Aeons. According to Yuna, the religion of Yevon ran these temples."

"Yevon?"

"Yeah. Summoners would go to all the different temples in Spira and obtain the Aeons there. Once they had them all, they would go to Zanarkand, and receive the final Aeon. The summoner would use the final Aeon to defeat the monster called Sin, that, until recently, ravaged Spira. The summoner would die from this, but Spira would go through a period known at 'The Calm'. But eventually 'The Calm' ran out, Sin would return, and another summoner would have to die for Spira to bring 'The Calm' again. This went on and on, until our friends put an end to it."

Harry frowned. Yevon? Temples? Calm? Sin? He remembered that Yuna had briefly mentioned Sin after the dementor attack, but he hadn't pressed the matter. It was amazing to think that one monster had caused so much pain that people had been willing to die to stop it.

"Harry!"

Harry looked up. Yuna was running towards them; she was closely followed by Ginny and Lulu. Yuna and Ginny both looked overjoyed to see him. And even though Lulu had her usual stern expression on, Harry could see a glimmer of a smile forming on her lips.

"It's so good to see you again!" Yuna cried catching him in a quick hug.

Harry smiled. "It's good to see you again too, Yuna. How is everything?"

"Everything's just fine," Yuna said brightly. "I'm glad you decided to come."

"From what I hear," Lulu commented, "It was good for him to come. The less time he has to spend with his aunt and uncle, the better."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I bet Dudley's still freaking out."

Yuna frowned. "You mean your cousin? Did something happen?" She shot Tidus and Wakka questioning looks.

"Don't look at me like that, Yuna," Tidus said, "We said 'Hi' to him, and the whale ran off."

"So, Yuna," Harry asked, "Do you have any idea for the summoning class this year?"

Yuna grinned. "Well, since this time I was actually given time to prepare, yes I have. I've got a few new treats for you. Maybe I could try teaching some White Magic while I'm at it."

Hermione's eyes lit up. "White Magic? You mean like healing magic? That would be amazing! Imagine, being able to heal broken bones in a matter of seconds…"

"With Voldemort breathing down our necks constantly, it would probably come in handy." Harry said flatly.

Before Ron and Hermione could ask Harry not to say the dark lord's name, a huge wind swept up. A huge shadow darted overhead, enshrouding the village in darkness.

"What's going on?" Harry cried. He reached instinctively for his wand.

"Oh no! She's early!" Yuna sighed. "We'd better get over there!"

The group of friends hurried over. As they ran, Harry darted past numerous shops and homes. Normally he would've stopped to see what they had for sale in other worlds, but he keep going. There were people around too, but they didn't seem too alarmed by the shadow.

They finally came up to empty grass field next to the temple. A large machine was hovering over it, slowly lowering itself down. It looked like an odd cross between a plane and a ship. Harry was shocked that something that large was capable of flight.

"What is that thing?" He heard Ron yell.

"An airship!" Wakka responded. They had to yell over the loud wind sweeping around. "We use it to travel long distances!"

The airship lowered until it was about ten feet from the ground. Then a hatch opened up in the bottom, and someone dropped out. Harry blinked; it was a girl.

"Thanks for the lift, Pops!" She called up to the ship. She grinned and straightened up.

Rikku had arrived.