A World to belong to

A/N; It's been a long time but this story is finally finished the way I want. I'm sorry for the long delay but hopefully it was worth the wait. There won't be a sequel to this story in case anyone is wondering. It's one of those happy, mushy endings for everyone… except the bad guys obviously.

Warnings: This chapter contains a SLASH scene which is well marked and skippable. And obviously lots of fluff between two male characters.

Chapter 10; Epilogue

Lunatic Pandora

Harry wasn't all that surprised that he wasn't being left to walk on his own and honestly he couldn't really complain since he really did ache. Actually ache was a bit of an understatement. Most of his muscles were screaming at him like when he'd overdone training himself while on Earth and if it wasn't for his new Ultimas junctioned to his body's vitality he'd be in a lot more pain. He'd overdone it pure and simple and he felt bad for Squall carrying him knowing that his boyfriend was most likely exhausted too. They all were.

But after the Galbadian Soldiers had found them all hot food and something to drink they'd decided it was time to get out of Lunatic Pandora and left it all to Laguna and the Galbadian Soldiers to let the Esthar military take over the massive device. So Squall had simply lifted Harry up into his arms despite his shocked complaints and the laughter of his brothers and sisters and started carrying him to the elevator and now they were boarding the ramp up into Ragnarok.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Selphie asked him softly as Squall sat himself down in one of the cockpit seats and arranged Harry into his lap.

"I'm fine." Harry told her before getting serious at her stern look. "Voldemort's torture was bad and it's going to take time for all my muscles to relax but I'm stronger magically than I was when he did it."

"Stronger?" Irvine asked in fascination.

"I took as many of those Ultimas from Adel and Ultimecia as I could and now I've got Griever too and I've junctioned them both to help heal me. Sabre and Griever are like two sides of a coin. They're very ancient brothers." Harry shut his eyes for a moment as he felt Sabre rise and talk to him. "They were separated a long time ago when our worlds touched briefly according to Sabre. But they're brothers and better together."

"Griever is in you? After fighting us like that?" Zell asked.

"He's…" Harry frowned. "Kind of reset. Ultimecia drove him mad over the years she had him but when we beat him we broke through to him a little but then she used his essence and bound it to her. Killing them broke that but it returned him to what he was at the very start. Not just free of her but free of all his memories. If Guardian Forces could be babies that's what he is right now."

"Let's just get down from here and somewhere we can rest." Squall announced as his right hand came up to stroke at Harry's hair. Harry turned and buried his face in Squall's neck as the rest settled down and started working to get Ragnarok clear of the tower. They came away with a jerk and a stomach-lurching drop before the engines caught them and they were flying smoothly away. "Don't sleep just yet, babe." Squall kissed him on the forehead. "You need to tell Seifer that we're all safe and we won."

"Oh…" Harry nodded and hugged Squall to him as he reached for his powers and pressed his mind away into the mental scape. He reached for Seifer and found him easily and slipped into his mind. He was sitting in a half-destroyed room but one that seemed to have been cleared and Harry quickly realised he was eating and just lingered in silence for a few minutes savouring being involved in such a natural thing. In the process he soon got a chance to take in his surroundings. Seifer was in the Garden itself and clearly in a dormitory room since there was a bed against one of the walls but the wall had a massive hole in it where there might have been a window once upon a time. There was a tarp rolled up at the top of the hole which could clearly come down to cut out the weather.

Seifer was wearing just boxers and there was a towel hanging next to a side door and clearly he'd showered before getting an evening meal. Harry also noted how dark it was getting this far north and realised just how late it must be where he was. He hadn't really taken note of that when they'd left Lunatic Pandora.

"Hey, big brother." Harry told him softly as Seifer cleared his bowl and finished his bread. It was simple fair but well made. Seifer jerked a little before going extremely still. "Yes, it's really me."

"Are you alright!?" Seifer demanded sharply.

"I'm fine, Seifer." Harry told him softly. "We're all fine. The only ones that aren't are Voldemort, Adel and Ultimecia. They're all dead. We won."

"You won…." Seifer breathed out in relief.

"Is that a mirror?" Harry asked. "Could you move and sit in front of it? So I can see you?"

Seifer put down his spoon and in seconds he was sitting on the foot of the bed and looking at a mirror that was cracked across the corner and spider-webbed a little. Harry sighed in relief. "You look better." Harry told him softly.

"I do?" Seifer asked into his own reflection. "I haven't really noticed."

"It's not anything really obvious." Harry told him. "There's just more to you that feels alive. I'm glad."

"Are you really all okay?" Seifer demanded.

"We're all a little battered. I'm probably worst off because Voldemort tortured me a little too much." Harry told him honestly.

"That pain curse of his? I saw him drive someone mad with it." Seifer frowned.

"He tried." Harry admitted. "But it's just physical pain. I used my powers to escape into Squall's mind. That kept me safe. It's just my muscles that hurt now. The others are just a little battered and bruised. We're leaving now and we'll find somewhere to rest up."

"I'm glad you're all alright." Seifer told him before looking down at his lap. "Will you…" He paused and looked back up with tears in his eyes. "Will you tell them all that I'm glad they're all okay?"

"Of course." Harry's smile was probably obvious.

"I have to get dressed and meet up with my partner for tonight's guard duty." Seifer told him as he stood and moved over to the desk under the mirror so they were 'closer'. "Stay safe?"

"Squall and the others won't let anything happen to me." Harry assured him. "And I'll tell them I want Irvine to bring me up here soon. But I don't know how soon that will be."

"I won't go anywhere." Seifer told him. "Just you and Irvine, alright? I need to take things slow. If I see them all at once I'll… I don't know what I'll do."

"I understand." Harry agreed. "I'll tell you the plan as soon as I know. Our part is done but I don't know how involved we'll get in everything in the near future."

"What are you going to do in the future?" Seifer asked.

"Balamb Garden is our home." Harry told him simply. "We all belong there. We're going to go back to it at Fisherman's Horizon and live there together. Continue SeeD and use the Garden as an orphanage. Matron and Cid will help."

"You would be awesome doing that." Seifer smiled sadly.

"With my big brother too." Harry told him. "Soon, Seifer."

"Soon." Seifer nodded and Harry slipped back to Squall and lifted his head to look around. The Ragnarok was sitting on a landing pad in the city and they were alone in the cockpit.

"Babe?" Squall asked softly.

"He's alright." Harry assured his boyfriend. "And he'll wait at Trabia for Irvine and I to visit him."

"We're going to sleep and then in the morning we'll meet up and work out what we're going to do." Squall told him. "Laguna will handle the clean up."

"We're not needed anymore." Harry turned to straddle Squall's lap and kissed him gently. "It's time we got to be a family again."

"But first we need sleep." Squall announced and with a flex of muscles he was standing with Harry's legs around his hips. Squall shifted Harry into his arms properly and carried him out and through into the same room they'd been in just that morning even though that felt so long ago. Harry really was tired and barely complained as Squall took over and undressed them both as they moved into the ensuite bathroom and into the shower. It wasn't luxury but the hot water was a miracle on Harry's hurting body and Squall's warmth against him made him moan happily but he could feel his eyes fluttering shut even as Squall washed them both, dried them off and then helped Harry under the blankets. Squall laid out on his back and Harry curled up on top of him and they kissed lovingly before Harry drifted off to sleep knowing his boyfriend would soon follow him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

(M-rated scene. Skip if you don't like it.)

Harry woke with a loud groan that he might have been embarrassed about except he was soon lost in the sensation of Squall's hands digging into the sore muscles on his back. He was on his front and his erection wasn't the least bit problematic when compared to the pleasure he was getting from having Squall's body pinning him down and his hands kneading the muscles on his back. Squall was straddling his upper legs and Squall's cock was rubbing between Harry's cheeks without any sign that Squall was conscious of it.

Harry wriggled under Squall who leant down and kissed the back of his neck. "You were cringing when I made to get up." Squall explained himself. "And you didn't wake up. When you went to putty when I rubbed your back I decided you needed a massage."

"I think I need physiotherapy." Harry groaned as he turned his head the other way and felt the muscles in his neck tense.

"Well how about a therapeutic massage?" Squall offered as he went back to kneading Harry's muscles from his neck and all the way down his back and then his shoulders and down his sides. Harry groaned and sighed at every motion and whined shamelessly when Squall scooted back off of him. Squall chuckled before going to work on Harry's legs before manhandling Harry over onto his back.

Harry moaned as the pressure on his cock was relieved and then moaned louder when Squall started working his way up his legs except this time his lips followed across his skin, leaving licks and kisses along the way until Harry was trying to spread his legs to invite Squall into something more sexual. Harry knew that they'd end up there eventually but he was impatient. Squall laughed against his hip before shifting up to straddle his legs again, their cocks laying together as Squall worked on his shoulders and then down over his chest before following with his lips once more.

"Squall!" Harry complained as Squall mouthed on his hips. Squall complied and lifted Harry's left leg out of the way and ducked down to lick his cock. Harry quivered and bucked up and Squall complied by sliding his lips around his heavy cock and swallowing him down to the root. Harry whined as Squall sucked at his hard flesh before gasping as Squall's fingers pressed into his body while a hand kept him on the bed by massaging his balls.

Squall eventually pulled Harry's legs up as he pulled off of Harry's cock and straightened up. He tucked his legs over his shoulders and Squall's cock settled against Harry's balls. "I know you like closer but I think bending you took much will just hurt you later." Squall told him and Harry knew Squall was right. Harry might have preferred to have Squall press his legs back to his chest and kiss him but he'd pay for that later on.

"I don't mind getting to watch you." Harry grinned before his grin turned to a groan as Squall lined himself up and slowly pushed his long length all the way into his body before settling all the way inside him and waiting for Harry to get used to the intrusion. Harry reached up and mapped out Squall's hard contours across his chest and stomach before reaching up for his shoulders and nodding his head. Squall started up a slow, gentle rhythm before his hands came down onto Harry's hips to hold him still as he started speeding up. Harry watched Squall's movements and was getting closer a few minutes later when Squall moved his hands across Harry's stomach and chest until he was stroking Harry's cock with one hand and his chest with the other.

Harry felt his own orgasm as Squall started to lose his own fine control and his cum erupted onto his stomach and chest. The sight clearly was enough to set off his older boyfriend who groaned as he spilled himself inside of Harry.

Squall stilled deep inside as he hung his head to catch his breath before carefully leaning forwards and wrapping Harry's legs around his waist so he could pin Harry down and kiss him.

(End Scene)

"Harry? Are you alright?" Zell's voice announced the door swinging open wide on the right side of the bed and Harry and Squall both went utterly still with their lips together. "Oh!" Zell gasped and Harry and Squall both twisted their heads to see Zell standing in the open doorway. Luckily he was alone.

"Zell!" Squall growled and Zell turned his back on them with his hands up in the air. "Door!" Squall complained from his position naked on top of Harry with his boyfriend's legs around his waist. Zell shut the door in front of his face but that still left them with Zell. "You could have done that from the outside." Squall complained.

"It's fine." Harry sighed and relaxed. He didn't care what Zell saw at this point. Squall sighed and sat back with his legs under Harry's thighs as his half hard cock slipped out of Harry. He rubbed Harry's legs as they settled properly and Squall looked over at Zell who was still staring at the door. He looked back at Harry who shrugged.

"Whatever, Zell." Squall huffed. "We don't care. You've seen it all already by this point."

Zell nervously turned back around and took a look over them casually before grinning at Harry. "You look like you had fun."

"Zell…" Squall warned dangerously despite being naked and smeared in the evidence of what they'd just been caught finishing up.

"Sorry." Zell shrugged. "I heard Harry moaning. I think I was a little naïve."

"Really?" Harry laughed before shifting to sit up. Squall helped him up and then stood from the bed himself and helped Harry to his feet. Unembarrassed now that Zell had seen all there was to see.

"What did you want, Zell? Except to check I wasn't breaking Harry." Squall asked.

"Quistis is cooking breakfast so we can plan." Zell told them.

"We'll shower and be right there." Harry told him. Zell grinned but waited for them to reach the ensuite before he opened the door and left them to it.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Twenty minutes later

The recreational area in the Ragnarok wasn't that luxurious but it served its purpose and when Squall and Harry walked in there were already plates of food waiting for them and the rest were eating with a low chatter of small talk. Zell looked up at the two of them from across the table and grinned. Harry slipped into the empty seat next to Irvine and across from Zell and Squall sat on his other side.

"How are you feeling this morning, Harry?" Quistis asked.

"A night with Ultimas junctioned to my vitality has done wonders." Harry assured them. "They are incredibly strong spells."

"I've read about them." Quistis nodded. "I'm not sure I've ever met someone with them though."

"Not many people could hold them." Harry explained before looking down the table towards Ellone. "Elly and me. And Matron too. I'm not sure anyone without sorcery could ever hold them. Maybe someone with really strong magical talents."

"What about Rinoa? She's a sorceress right?" Zell asked.

"Rinoa is not what I would call a true sorceress." Ellone shook her head. "Perhaps she is descended from one? Enough so that she could be a host for Ultimecia but not strong enough to have an active power."

"She has a bit of a knack for paramagic but nothing close to what we've seen Harry do." Irvine chimed in which just made Harry blush a bit.

"So what's our plan?" Selphie asked.

"We stick together. Whatever we decide." Harry announced. "It's taken me a long time to get all of you back so don't even think about running away."

"Except you want to go up and find Seifer by yourself." Zell pointed out.

"With Irvine." Harry shrugged. "But that's for Seifer's sake mostly. As long as it's just the two of us for a while then he can get comfortable around just us. He wants to see the rest of you. He told me last night. He's glad you are all okay after yesterday."

"Then we all go to Trabia?" Selphie asked hopefully. "Just let Harry and Irvine go ahead or something."

"We could take Ragnarok to Fisherman's Horizon." Irvine suggested. "Then Harry and I take it north to Trabia with some supplies for Trabia and you all come up with the Garden."

"They're still doing clean up." Harry muttered gently as he met Selphie's eyes. "The extra hands of Balamb Garden would be welcome. And the survivors can decide whether to try to rebuild or just call Balamb Garden home."

"We'll have to talk to Xu before we make long term plans with Balamb Garden." Quistis pointed out. "And there are the other SeeDs to consider. Maybe in time we'll settle it back on Balamb Island."

"A mobile base might be better." Zell pointed out. "Can we even keep Ragnarok though? Doesn't it belong to Esthar?"

"Salvage rights." Ellone chuckled. "I heard them talking about it. They won't try to keep it."

"I think we should start here though." Selphie pointed out. "We don't want to run straight…" They paused as they heard a loud noise from through the decks themselves.

"I think that's someone knocking on the hull." Irvine pointed out.

"Hold on… there's a camera somewhere." Selphie muttered as she jumped up and moved to a wall screen and went to work. Soon they were looking at Doctor Odine and a reasonably sized force of soldiers.

"What does he want?" Harry crossed his arms. He really didn't like the man.

"Let's go see." Squall declared. They all headed down with a side trip to their rooms to arm themselves up just out of habit. Harry grabbed Ellone's hand as Squall opened the ramp and Quistis and Irvine hung back with them almost automatically. They were taking on the same melee and ranged positions that came as second nature to them all and Harry grinned at that a little before steeling his expression as the soldiers moved towards them with Doctor Odine and a few of his assistants.

Harry's eyes scanned them all before he tensed with gritted teeth. Two of the assistants were carrying familiar wooden boxes. The anti-sorcery amulets. "We're not interested." Harry called out before Squall could demand to know what was going on. His family glanced back at him but weren't daft enough to keep their attention off of Odine and the armed soldiers for more than a second.

"You seem to be confused." Odine announced. "Of course we'd require you to place the amulets back in place. You understand of course. Having a sorcerer and sorceress of your abilities free is just too dangerous."

"We're not requiring you to remain here." The Captain of the soldiers told them but he was looking them over rather nervously. He knew who he was up against. "With the anti-sorcery amulets on you'll be free to go. We can't take any risks."

"Who authorised this?" Zell demanded angrily.

"I did." Odine declared simply. "I would like to ask you to remain here though so your abilities can properly be studied."

"It's not going to happen." Squall declared and reached for the hilt of his gunblade and drew it down over his head into a loose defensive position. The others all copied but Harry simply pushed Ellone back behind him and onto the ramp.

"Irvine… get the ship running." Harry whispered knowing Irvine knew better than he, Quistis or Ellone how to go about that. Irvine paused before ducking back around them and up into the ship. The soldiers jerked at the move but the rest of them were too dangerous to worry about Irvine for long.

"What is going on here!?" Laguna's voice yelled as he came out of the airbase building's door with several assistants, soldiers and even a few of the Galbadian soldiers following him. Harry spotted Jake and Michael from the day before and they drew their weapons at the sight of the scene they were walking into.

"They think they're putting those collars back on us." Harry told Laguna simply knowing Squall was still a little anxious around the man that was supposed to be his father but he also knew that as Squall's boyfriend Laguna was rather supportive of Harry's needs.

"I didn't authorise that." Laguna told the Doctor.

"You need to put a leash on him." Zell told Laguna. "He's a mad man."

"It has to be done. We've all learnt the dangers of letting those with sorcery go free." Doctor Odine pointed out.

"If it wasn't for those with sorcery you'd be stuffed." Zell growled.

"Stand down." Laguna ordered the soldiers who looked at each other and then at the SeeDs they were facing and finally at the Doctor. Harry felt it inside him seconds before Sabre exploded into form and grew to his full size towering over them all as his wings unfurled. He roared loudly and that was enough of a reminder that all of the SeeDs had Guardian Forces at their disposal. The soldiers backed off quickly and Sabre shrunk down and turned to rub against Harry's hip as his wings folded against his back.

"We're leaving." Squall told Laguna bluntly. "Balamb Garden and the SeeDs will protect Ellone and Harry from any attempt to capture or harm them. Esthar does not want to risk a war with us."

"It won't come to that." Laguna assured them just as Ragnarok's engines kicked on with a thud of displaced air. Harry stepped back onto the ramp knowing better than to turn his back on the Doctor or his assistants who still might try something. The others slowly backed up into the ship.

"What about the Galbadian Soldiers?" Harry asked as Laguna approached the bottom of the ramp with the soldiers he'd brought with him.

"What about them?" Squall asked his father bluntly.

"They're helping us with Lunatic Pandora." Laguna stated simply. "Eventually we'll send them home to Deling City."

"Garden is just off the coast of Dollet." Jake told them. "Most of us are here though."

"We'll make contact later." Quistis told him. "The Gardens have always been allies."

"Thanks." Jake nodded before Squall hit the ramp controls and it shut as Irvine lifted them off. Selphie took off through the ship to the cockpit since she was very much the better pilot and soon they were heading off over the city towards the west.

Harry sighed and turned to hug Ellone. "I don't think I could live without my powers again." Harry admitted.

"We know." Squall assured him as he rubbed Harry's back soothingly. "And we won't let them get to you."

They all headed up to the cockpit to see the coastline approaching over the horizon. "We'll be landing at Fisherman's Horizon in a few hours." Selphie told them.

"Let's just relax until we get there. We've got lots to plan on the way north." Quistis suggested and Harry relaxed back against Squall's chest and let Squall wrap him up in his arms.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

That evening

The conference room they were sitting in was high up on the second floor of the garden overlooking the front of the Garden and the gardens spread out around the rim where the main entrance had once linked to the road into Balamb. It was still strange to see all the features that had once merged with normal land but Harry's favourite part of the Garden was still intact. The ring of gardens between the main structure and the ring of outer buildings like the hospital, cafeteria, dorms and library with the training centre and garage underneath them.

They'd joined the celebrations that had been triggered by the announcement of their victory but eventually they'd all met up in the conference room with Matron, Cid, Xu and a few of the other SeeD members like Niko, the Garden's pilot, to discuss the future.

"This Garden was created with the idea of one day fighting against the evil of sorcery and against Ultimecia." Cid told them all from the head of the table. "Even with Ultimecia gone in this time the legacy should live on. SeeD has evolved beyond my original intentions."

"There is still a market for well-trained soldiers." Xu agreed. "But that has never been Garden's entire purpose. They have always served as a home for those that need it."

"And Galbadia Garden will always be the training ground for the Galbadian military." Irvine pointed out. "But with both so mobile we could bring the Gardens together to operate together."

"That's a decent idea." Quistis nodded.

"What about Trabia?" Selphie asked. "It's mostly surface damage from Voldemort. Is it built to be mobile?"

"It was built as a bomb shelter by the same people as built Balamb and Galbadia Gardens so I imagine so." Cid nodded. "Perhaps that should be our first stop then?"

"Harry and Irvine are going to take the Ragnarok north to Trabia to meet up with Seifer and smooth things out." Squall declared and everyone deferred to whatever decision he was going to make. "We'll stock up on supplies here and send a message to Galbadia Garden and ask them to do the same and then travel to Trabia Garden. What we do after that can be decided once we're all together."

"Then it's decided." Matron agreed.

"Are you going to rebuild the orphanage?" Harry asked her softly. "It's not like we'd be away long at any time and we have the Ragnarok to bring you supplies and we could all pitch in on repairs."

"I think Balamb Garden will best suit the role of an Orphanage." Matron told Harry with a soft smile. "The Gardens open up a nice option for the future."

"But it's a future in your hands." Cid announced. "Matron and I have done our parts. I think we need a bit of a quiet life from here on out."

"Yes, because the rest of us have had such a quiet life." Zell chuckled.

"You'd have gotten bored a decade ago in a quiet life." Harry laughed at Zell who pouted before shrugging in agreement.

"Harry and I will leave in the morning." Irvine announced. "I think we should fill the Ragnarok with supplies to take ahead of the Gardens. It might be a week before you reach us."

"I'll arrange it." Xu announced. "I think you should all get a good night's sleep. We'll spread the word of our plans around to everyone and see what they think about it but we're all behind Squall on this."

"Me again." Squall grumbled but only Harry heard him. Harry leaned into his side and put his head on his shoulder.

"They like having you as someone to turn to." Harry told his boyfriend quietly as he watched Matron and Cid leave before Quistis, Xu and Niko headed out together chatting about logistics. Irvine, Selphie, Ellone and Zell quickly followed and Harry was left with Squall just to relax.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

That night

It was already dark by the time the Ragnarok approached the snow-covered valley around Trabia Garden and Harry hadn't really taken that into account as they travelled further north but he'd realised when he'd reached ahead about an hour ago to find Seifer's mind just as he was eating food with all the others there inside the main hall where most of the people there hung out since it was one of the few places no longer with any reminders of what had happened there.

Seifer had rallied people to head out with him when he'd gone on sentry duty and Harry spotted him with the landing lights and search lights of Ragnarok as Irvine put them into a hover just above the perimeter wall of the Garden. The vertical landing lights illuminated the area and Harry manipulated the search lights to find Seifer and the group with him. Seifer held up his sword and the light reflected off of it as he waved it to the right. Harry moved the search lights across to a parking area just inside the wall. It was mostly covered in needles from the trees in the area that were evergreens and nobody had cleared it in a while because there hadn't been a need to use the damaged cars and trucks.

They'd placed a circle of lanterns as a landing guide for them and Irvine quickly lined the Ragnarok up and brought it down onto it's landing gear before shutting it down. Irvine opened the ramps up front and rear before standing up with Harry.

"You alright?" Harry asked an anxious Irvine.

"Yeah. Why?" Irvine frowned.

"You've been rather quiet." Harry pointed out.

"You've talked to him since everything that happened." Irvine shrugged. "The others grew up with him."

"And the only time you've seen him since we were children you were trying to maim each other." Harry realised before hugging Irvine tightly. "I promise you he's more scared of you than you are of him."

"I doubt that." Irvine pouted but let Harry take his hand and lead the way out of the forward ramp under the 'head' of the Ragnarok. Seifer was standing just inside the ring of lanterns as a couple of guys walked around the circle switching them off. Harry had left the landing lights on and they lit up the area more than anything else in the Garden which was without power right now.

"Harry." Seifer greeted warily. Harry decided to just throw caution to the wind and let go of Irvine's hand and grabbed Seifer in a tight hug, placing his head down on Seifer's chest and squeezing him until he caved in and hugged him back. It didn't really take more than a couple of seconds. "Harry…" Seifer groaned this time.

Harry stepped back before looking Seifer over properly again with his own eyes. "You look the wrong way around."

Irvine laughed at that one and Seifer eyed him briefly before frowning at Harry. "It's from looking in mirrors from your eyes." Harry told him. "Easier to adjust than with Squall when I saw him properly for the first time. I grew up looking at you through Squall's eyes."

"That wasn't really my best side." Seifer complained.

"But it also wasn't your worst." Irvine pointed out and Seifer flinched and ducked his head to look at Harry's feet.

"Irvine… I…" Seifer started.

"We didn't grow up in each other's faces like you did with the others." Irvine pointed out. "That's why you let Harry bring me as an escort. But there's still a lot between us to deal with. Don't forget that when we fought in Deling City you didn't have a clue who I was. But I knew exactly who I was having to fight."

"Irvine…" Seifer bit his lip. Irvine moved up closer to him and sighed before hugging Seifer gently.

"I don't want to have to fight you like that again, Seifer." Irvine told him. "I've had it hard lately. Not as bad as Harry obviously but I remembered our childhood when we all saw each other again. It took everyone else getting together to remember each other."

"I'm sorry for the way I turned out." Seifer told him softly. "It's not something I can every really make up for."

"You're going to have to work on it with the others." Irvine warned him. "And it's not going to be easy. Especially with Squall and Zell. But as for me… well I forgive you."

"What!?" Seifer jerked back. "That's not… that's not possible. How can you forgive me so fast?"

"Because I know you." Irvine shrugged. "You could be a real arse sometimes when we were kids but you've always had redeeming qualities. You cared when it really mattered."

Harry turned when the two men approached from the side but didn't come within ear shot. "Fisherman's Horizon stocked us up on food and supplies." Harry called them over. "Grab some guys if you want to unload it now or I can lock it up for the night and we can unload tomorrow."

"Thanks." One of the men nodded. "It's still early despite the dark. We'll crack on tonight."

"Balamb Garden is currently heading to Balamb to meet up with Galbadia Garden." Irvine told them. "Then they'll be taking to the land and heading here to help out."

"We're still clearing up some of the bodies." The other man sighed. "But we could all use the extra help."

"Squall and the others want to help clear this all up and then get Trabia Garden up and running again." Harry told them all. "Hopefully in time we can get it's power back up and get it mobile like the other Gardens and we can operate all three Gardens together as orphanages, training centres and mobile bases."

"People will be glad to hear it." One of them told him. "There's been talk of abandoning the Garden after we finish clearing up and burying the dead but nobody really wants to."

"It would be a waste to." Irvine agreed. "And Selphie would be heartbroken."

"We'll get some help to unload your ship. There should still be some hot food in the main hall." One of the men told them. "Seifer can show you the way."

"Then I have patrol." Seifer announced. "Until midnight."

"We'll help you with your patrol." Irvine grinned. "See if you can still fight."

"Should Harry be doing that?" Seifer frowned.

"Now you're both ganging up on me?" Harry complained and Irvine sniggered at him.

"Don't worry. Our little sorcerer might still ache a little but he still has some powerful magic." Irvine teased.

"I'll show you some if you keep going like that." Harry warned.

"You're a Sorcerer?" One of the men asked. The other had just run off to find people to help unload the Ragnarok.

"My power is being able to reach into the minds of other people and witness what they perceive." Harry answered honestly.

"Wow…" The man bit his lip.

"But I can't just decide to target someone." Harry shrugged. "The mental world that I grasp into isn't set up by the physical locations of people in this realm. I can't just look at you in front of me and go find you in that realm. It could take me a life time of randomly searching to find your mind. And I really have no desire for it with people I don't know."

"Yeah… sure." The man nodded before smiling a little more brightly. "Seifer said you killed the people responsible for all of this."

"Voldemort and his Death Eaters are all dead." Irvine announced. "And Ultimecia who was pulling his strings is dead too. The war is over."

"Come on." Seifer half turned. "Let's get you some food."

Harry jumped forwards and grabbed Seifer's hand in his own and ignored any complaining glare the older young man sent his way as Irvine followed with a laugh.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

That night

"You don't have to be out here with me you know." Seifer grumbled as they slowly walked around the outside wall of Garden. There was another team doing patrols on the other side with the few gaps in the outer wall. They had three gaps here to patrol and since the magical traps had faded recently more of the local wildlife attacked each night.

"You embarrassed or something?" Irvine teased as Harry nudged Seifer with his shoulder.

"No…" Seifer turned and glared at Irvine for a moment. Harry eyed a pack of snow wolfs in the distance eyeing the gap in the wall, probably just looking for a little shelter against the coming storm, or some easy food. "You're showing me up."

"No, we're not." Harry rolled his eyes.

"I haven't killed anything all night!" Seifer complained.

"It's not our fault Irvine has a gun and I'm using my magic." Harry pointed out since that was true. Irvine and Harry were strong enough that anything that tried to get closer soon scampered off and they didn't even have to kill them. "You're not any weaker than us… you're just a short range fighter."

"We could let something get close if you really want." Irvine suggested.

"Don't baby me." Seifer glared at Irvine but there wasn't any real heat behind it. Harry sniggered before pulling a basic fire into his hand. Of course his basic fires were about level with most people's stronger fire attacks. He tossed it towards the wolf pack and it exploded in their faces without really doing any damage to them. They howled but turned tail and ran away.

"He's showing off." Seifer complained to Irvine.

"He's got lots of energy to waste." Irvine told him. "Between recovering still from his physical wounds and not having Squall around for his normal hourly round of sex he needs another outlet."

"Hourly?" Harry eyed Irvine dubiously. "I think that's a bit of an exaggeration."

"Doubt it." Seifer giggled.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Two days later

Harry ducked under Seifer's arm and grabbed the ball off of the floor as Seifer tried to turn and grab him. Harry managed to get the ball before Irvine tackled him. Harry laughed as he hugged the ball to his bare chest as Seifer tried to help Irvine get the ball away from him as Harry's teammates laughed uproariously at the scene. They'd been working all day and as the sun started to sink they'd called it a day and decided to play a game of basketball which had degraded down to simply tackling each other for the ball. Harry was small and fast but Irvine and Seifer weren't easy to get around and they made for quite a sight without their shirts on.

Irvine was tickling him as Seifer held him up off of the floor. "Help!" Harry called to the boys on his team who were just smirking at him. They were interrupted though when someone yelled out from the front entrance nearby. Seifer dropped him as they turned in that direction and spotted what had been seen as the top of Balamb Garden rose over the edge of the nearby mountains as it headed for the entrance to the valley. It grew above the wall quickly as it turned up the valley and Harry grabbed his sleeveless t-shirt and grabbed Seifer's hand to stop him running away to hide.

They all ran, or were dragged, to the front entrance and watched as Balamb Garden and then Galbadia Garden slowed to a halt over the valley floor with their rings spinning under them lazily. Anchor lines came down around Trabia's outer wall and sunk a little into the ground to hold them in place before they sunk down nearly to the ground.

Soon all of the people in Trabia were watching from the wall as figures started climbing down out of the lower access doors and larger ramps and Harry fidgeted happily with Seifer's hand still in his own as he spotted Squall, Zell, Quistis, Selphie and Ellone heading up to them with lots of the children, trainees and SeeDs followed them up as soldiers, children and trainees offloaded from Galbadia Garden.

Squall smirked when he saw Seifer pull Harry in front of him. "You could have given me a chance to put my shirt on." Seifer complained as they all arrived.

"Oops." Harry shrugged as Irvine handed Seifer his shirt.

"Thanks." Seifer grumbled and Harry released him just long enough to pull the shirt on over his head as Squall arrived.

"Don't let him run away." Harry told Irvine who smirked and grabbed Seifer's shoulder before Harry launched himself at Squall who happily lifted him up to hug him.

"You look so happy." Squall told him as he nuzzled his neck and squeezed him hard. "And you're sweaty."

"We were playing ball games." Harry announced as Squall put him down on his own feet again and pulled him back against his chest. Harry looked around at the mixing crowds greeting one another. They'd soon be discussing what everyone could do to help.

"Seifer." Squall announced in a neutral greeting.

"Squall…" Seifer muttered quietly without really meeting his eyes. Squall let go of Harry but caught his hand as they moved up to Seifer until they were barely a foot apart and only Irvine's grip on Seifer's shoulder kept him from bolting.

"You look better." Squall told Seifer softly.

"I'm…" Seifer frowned before looking down at Harry. "He has that effect."

"If he'd never been taken we'd have all been friends." Squall pointed out. "There's no way you and I would have been enemies if Harry had been around."

"As soon as I remembered him we stopped being real enemies." Seifer sighed. "That last fight was just… I was trapped."

"We know." Selphie joined in as they all closed in.

"I've forgiven you for everything." Squall told Seifer. "Hopefully you can forgive me for anything I ever did or said that escalated things."

"Yeah." Seifer nodded. "But it's not going to be that easy with one of you."

"Give me time." Zell crossed his arms across his chest as Seifer turned to look at him.

"I know why I treated you so bad." Seifer hung his head. "And I'm ashamed of it."

Harry frowned because Seifer hadn't mentioned this to him. "Why?" Zell demanded petulantly.

"You reminded me of Harry." Seifer suddenly looked close to tears and didn't see the shocked look on Zell's face. "I was just clueless about why I got angry whenever I saw you. I didn't remember Harry but I remembered how he made me feel and that he wasn't there anymore and that made me angry and I took that out on you because you reminded me of that pain every time but you weren't…" Seifer trailed off.

"I wasn't him." Zell frowned down at his feet.

"I'm sorry, Zell." Seifer told him seriously.

"You cared about me when we were kids." Zell told him. "Harry said you went back into that fire to save me. Because you didn't see me outside. You thought it was me missing and not Harry."

"He told you?" Seifer glanced at Harry but Harry wasn't going to join this particular moment.

"He told me." Zell nodded. "Is that true?"

"Yeah." Seifer sighed and looked rather embarrassed. "But that doesn't excuse how I treated you."

"No. It doesn't." Zell agreed. "But I need to understand you. I need to get to know you again before we can move on."

Harry grinned with the hope that bubbled up through him. He watched from Squall's arms as everyone else greeted Seifer and chatted with him for a little while each before things turned into discussions of work that they needed to do. Some of the men and women from Fisherman's Horizon had joined the trip north and with their experience with Balamb Garden they'd be focused on getting it's rings up and running and getting Trabia Garden up into the air again. Hopefully in a few weeks all the repairs would be done and Trabia could join them when they left.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Three weeks later

Harry was up on the balcony along the corridor that connected the instructor's apartments on the third floor of Balamb Garden. The apartments were nice and it was good to have all his family so close together. All except Selphie who had moved back onto Trabia Garden to help coordinate it. Balamb Garden was floating in the ocean south of Balamb and by the early morning sunlight he could easily make out Galbadia Garden floating in the water off to the right and Trabia Garden on the left. Floating in the water would be their normal state since it took less concentration for the pilots than floating over land but they could easily move over land when they wanted to.

"Hey, Harry." Zell announced himself rather less energetically than normal. Harry turned to look at him and frowned at his brother's appearance. He looked tired in just his shorts as he slumped up to Harry and hugged him tightly.

"Zell? What's wrong?" Harry asked as he pulled Zell against him and held him up.

"Just been up all night." Zell admitted. "Seifer and I had a few drinks last night and then spent the night chatting in his room. It was… good."

"You look ready to cry." Harry told him softly.

"Just emotional." Zell shrugged against Harry. "We've got a lot of bad history but there's good there too and the good outweighs the bad. It's more important. We just had to air out all the bad stuff. But he's a good guy deep down, Harry. He really is."

"So are you." Harry told Zell. "You're forgiving him despite everything that's happened between the two of you. Squall says you and him would make good partners on missions."

"Yeah." Zell nodded. "We sparred the other day. I never did that before."

Harry reached up and patted down Zell's unruly hair before turning to look out at the rising sun again. "Come on. Let's go get you a few hours of sleep."

"Where?" Zell frowned at him as Harry grabbed his hand and led him towards his and Squall's room. "Your room?"

"Squall won't care." Harry laughed as he opened the door and pulled Zell to the bed as he pulled off his jeans and shirt and slid in with a naked Squall under the covers. Squall woke and pulled Harry to him tightly and Harry let Squall spoon with him before spotting Zell standing next to the bed.

"Cuddle with Harry." Squall grumbled and put his face into Harry's hair. Zell was clearly surprised by the easy acceptance but didn't push his luck by lingering around and quickly took off his trainers and shorts until he was slipping in with Harry in his boxers. He twitched when Squall lifted the arm around Harry until it was on Zell's back.

"He's getting soft when it comes to you." Harry chuckled and Zell tensed waiting for retribution from Squall for that comment but it didn't happen.

Squall didn't say a word as Harry and Zell chatted easily in whispers until Zell dozed off with his head against Harry's on the pillow.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Two months later

"Alright, calm down!" Harry called as he sat himself on the instructor's desk at the front of the paramagic classroom with it's soft floors and armoured walls. The children, some of them new to the Gardens, slid down to sit on the floor around him. "Joshua…" Harry warned when one of the boys playfully pushed his best friend. "We're playing with fire today so I hope you all remembered to stock up from the draw point in Fisherman's Horizon yesterday when Instructor Quistis took you ashore. Does everyone have enough?"

"It ran dry before I could get any." Joshua mumbled softly as if he'd failed to do his homework or something.

"That's okay, Joshua. You can draw some of mine in a little bit." Harry nodded before launching off on his normal safety warnings about throwing magic around without his direct supervision. Some of the children in his class had done magic before but he got them all once a week now for magical training. Even if the children didn't want to become SeeDs later on they all needed to know how to harness basic paramagic because it was so common on this world and the three Gardens had made it their mission to be a neutral peace keeping force but also a place for vulnerable children to grow up in safety and good health. In just a few weeks the Gardens had been given open access to every country and motions of support from most of the cities. It was a good life for the children and it was a good life for Harry and his family and Harry doubted he'd ever get over the sheer joy he felt whenever he saw all his brothers and sisters together.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The End