Intro!-WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS!

This is the fanfic for Tidus! Yay! I'm excited! Alrighty, the main character is Dylan Samuels. She's a seventeen year old senior at an average high school with average friends. She's a huge Final Fantasy geek, and loves Tidus from FFX. She has one older brother, Addison, who is a freshman in college. He's not too important at first, but he is later on...like, later on as in the sequel...XD.

Dylan is of medium proportions (height and weight) with "boring" brown eyes and "boring" curly brown hair. She has an obsession with thunderstorms; she likes to sit out and watch them. Whee! ^_^ Anyway, she has a blackbelt in karate, so she's a pretty skilled fighter. She's also a good musician, not necessarily singing. Okay, so...that's pretty much it for now.

Oh, wait, one more thing...except for the first one, each chapter will begin with a flashback from Dylan's childhood/teen years, etc., just so I don't have to spend 4 chapters on all background stuff. And it will relate to the topic of the chapter at times. :D

THIS STORY IS FULL OF SPOILERS. READ WITH CAUTION.

THAT MEANS YOU, SWELLS!

WOO!

Chapter 1: Purple Street Signs (Song: at youtube - watch?v=dkJiOTQYe8w)

Memo: That they are... I love that town! some of this is based on my childhood. Heh. Btw, pay attention to verb tenses throughout the story. I am planning on using stream-of-consciousness in this work a lot, so stay sharp!

Well.

Before I start telling you my whole, long, intricately detailed story, let me give you background.

Hi, first of all. Dylan Avery Samuels is the name. Yes, I do have a boy's name, the whole schmeer. Just like my brother has a girl's name.

All in all, I consider myself kind of boring. I have features the color of chocolate, except I'm not that dark. Shoot it! I'm from Indiana, alright? Nothing ever happens there!

Seriously, I grew up in the most boring place ever: Brownsburg. Only two things are neat about this town: the street signs are all purple with the school bulldog on them, and the marching band.

Which is my life.

I grew up watching bands. I used to watch the southern bands from Georgia and Louisiana and such, and I wanted to do that!

...You know, I need to explain someone else, too, before I go any farther.

I grew up on this quiet little street, and there was only one girl my age.

Her name was Emilia Stephens, and she was not a stereotypical female.

Emilia had about four different names: Emilia, Emily, Emi, and Em. I prefered the two latter. Only her parents called her Emily, and other adults and friends called her Emilia.

She was my best friend. Everyone else judged her right away.

She was black. But she wasn't like, completely ghetto at all. In fact, I'm probably more ghetto than her.

We were best friends from the beginning, really. We hardly really ever FOUGHT, not like, full-out, I'm-not-speaking-to-you sort of stuff. I had that feeling that we'd always be best friends, and nothing could ever come between us.

Being best friends, we were also bandmates. She played flute, a perfect instrument for her, and I was the only decent female trombonist the school had seen in ages. My big brother Addison-or Addy-was in drumline.

I love band. There were things about it that I hated, but the good things overweighed the bad. And some bad things became good things with slight change over time.

So, to give you the background on me, let me start with where the story really begins: my senior year of band camp.

Brownsburg High School wasn't one of those schools that traveled for band camp. We weren't an Avon school; we weren't that wealthy. But we weren't a Plainfield school, who didn't even get turf until the fall of 2008. And even then, it was overstuffed. Well, we never had turf, actually...but we had a pavement field in addition to the nice, grass football field.

Yep, we were pretty hardcore. Mr. Vrabec and Mr. Runyon liked it that way. Ahh, yes, Papa Vrebec and Uncle Runyon. They were good guys.

And then there was Joey.

Joey was not your typical flaming visual instructor.

I remember my freshman year...he told us he was an intern at Lilly in the cancer department.

"Oohhh, so that's why we can't find the cure to cancer!" I whispered, and everyone who heard me tried to contain laughter.

Whoa, wait, getting off track.

Back to the story.

So, last day of my senior year of band camp. Go class of 2010!

Gosh, it was hot. Typical Indiana weather. It was a time like that I felt really sorry for Emi.

"Now I know how my ancestors felt," she said, fanning herself with her hand.

"Bandana?" I offered, holding out a green, sopping-wet bandana.

"Por favor," she responded with a super-fake Spanish accent. She was planning on majoring in foreign languages, her specialty. Glancing over her shoulder, she pointed. "Heh heh, looks like one of your freshman is getting into trouble again with Joey."

"Again?"

This year in particular God gifted this school with the dumbest set of freshmen trombonies ever. Jason, Grant, Joe...all three of them put together had the IQ of a rock. They couldn't even do push-ups...and they're BOYS!

"Alright, it's biff time. I'll handle this."

So, once again, I had to drag Jason's ss out of the shark tank.

Stomping over to Joey and said "wonder boy," I politely tapped Joey on the shoulder.

"WHAaa...hey Dylan," he said.

"Is there a problem I need to know about?" I asked kindly.

"Girl, you are on top of it!" he shouted, slapping me on the back. I jumped slightly, then grinned. What a fruit.

"He says I can't keep my feet in time!" Jason whined, pointing at Joey.

"You probably can't," I admitted, smiling. At that point Emi's curiousity got the best of her, and she trotted over to me.

Emi was a whopping 5'4'', 120 pounds, and compared to my 5'7'', 145 pounds, she was tiny, so she trotted, trust me.

"Can't what?" she asked.

"Can't march in time," I answered.

"Haha, nope!"

"Hey, you dumb-"

"HEY!" I swatted Jason on the arm. "What was the first rule I gave you guys?"

He sighed, obviously caught in the act.

"Never insult Emilia Stephens, or you'll make my day miserable each time it happens," he quoted.

"Good. Now go."

He blinked.

"Go! Go run the hill. Now!"

Ahhh, yes. The hill.

Few people enjoyed running the giant hill that sat next to our practice field. There was this nice little trail through the surrounding wooded area, and that led out to the sidewalk across the other practice field, but when you're running through there, trying not to break something-in your body, not on the ground...well, nobody liked that.

The three of us watched in amusement as Jason clomped up the hill, stopping at the large tree at the top to catch his breath.

"Keep going!" Joey shouted, and Emi and I laughed.

The rule that I had given my freshmen was also the same rule Emi had given her freshmen. We didn't bother telling the juniors and sophomores; they already knew we were best friends. We weren't going to let anything come between us.

"Alright, back to work, c'mon," I said, dragging the panting Jason behind me.

I can honestly say that we all worked quite hard in band. The days were longer than I would've liked to have had, but it was worth it in the end. I wanted so badly to be the first class to have all 4 years at State under my belt. Most other classes had 3.

And trust me, I didn't want my class's slogan to be "three outta four ain't bad!" either.

"Dyl, five more minutes!" Trisha called out.

"SHUT UP!" I shouted. That was my ultimate pet peeve. There were four hours left, not five minutes, and shouting "five more minutes!" every five minutes was irritating as hell.

Trisha was our other close friend. Unfortunately, she was too close for my liking.

Trisha had a tumor in her brain, and though she was fine now, it would eventually kill her in the next few years. Her senior year was expected to be her last normal year alive.

It was the amazing trio: Emi, Trisha, and myself. The flute, clarinet, and trombonist. These three best friends who couldn't be separated.

At least, that's what I thought.

Coming home that night, I realized that there was no more band camp left for me. Nothing left at all. I had a competition season left, and then it was over. That was the last time I'd sweat and swear for over eleven hours on our practice band field...

Emi and Trisha were different. Emi was in our show choir, and Trisha had swimming and track, where her other, closer friends remained. I was done after this...well, except winter drumline, but that so doesn't count. This was my time of reign, and I need to make it worth every last drop of energy I had!

Of course, all these thoughts were coming around as I listened to TAKE BACK by Koda Kumi.

Oh, I forgot about this...

I am a die-hard Koda Kumi fan. Ever since she did the themes for Final Fantasy X-2, I have loved every song of hers-even though I hate Final Fantasy X-2...I'll explain that later. I happen to own physical copies of all her albums, even the "best of" ones. My cell phone's ring tone is "Get It On," which was an exclusive download. I'm proud to say that I am one of the people who keeps her at the number one spot in album sales when they are released.

Emi and Trisha and I all had this fetish with performing her songs. I can't sing well, but they can, and they would, and whenever they needed anything dance/rap related, I was there.

I am the blackest white girl I know.

Heh, anyway, I mentioned that I hate Final Fantasy X-2.

I loved-and I do mean LOVED-Final Fantasy X. I loved Rikku and Auron, and all the other characters.

I despised Yuna. I mean, she was always getting captured at extremely unopportune times, and it was annoying and she was annoying and I was SO stoked to find out that at the end of a summoner's pilgrimage, they die.

And also because she got the most ADORABLE guy ever, and she DOES NOT deserve him.

I am talking about Tidus.

You cannot deny that he is downright CUTE. And his serious voice? Ah, to die for.

But...in the end...he dies.

So you know what Final Fantasy X-2 is based around?

YUNA.

I love Rikku. She's so cool, and I'd heard from Emi that Paine is amazing. But a whole game based around YUNA?

No, not going there.

I'd played all the Final Fantasy games, and I owned all of them...except that one.

Anyway, I've gotten off track.

I was driving home, and I could see the storm brewing out west. A soft, fuzzy feeling filled up within me, and I missed my brother.

Addison is about two years my senior, and is the best brother I could ever ask for. We both have the curly hair, but he wears his in a white boy fro. And that's just one of the thing we did together. Our interests are incredibly similar. In fact, he's the one who got me into Final Fantasy in the first place.

Addison is still the only one I could really talk to about my parents. We both agreed that we must be secretly adopted, because there was no way two dumb people could spawn two talented, smart kids.

He was at college when this whole thing started.

It started with this brewing, growing storm. I knew that Addy could see it from where he was, and that he was probably enjoying it as much I would when it came to my house. It looked ominous enough for a good lightning show. I prayed for a power outage as I pulled my truck into the garage. That always drove my parents crazy, because I had an iPod, cellphone, Nintendo DS, PSP, and other handhelds, and my parents had each other's company at most. I could obtain a happiness that they could not.

Ironically, Kumi's "Can't Lose" was playing when I pulled in. Closing the garage door behind me, I inhaled the smell of roast beef as I walked inside.

"Hello, Dylan!" my mom practically shouted from the kitchen.

"Hey," I mumbled.

"How was school?"

"Mom, it was band camp, remember?"

"Oh yeah, duh!" She slapped her hand to her forehead, grinning. "Sorry, I knew that. Well, either way, how was it?"

"The usual," I responded. It's not just "either way" with band and school. Band was my happy place. School was not.

"Well, it's supposed to rain tonight," my mother continued. The roast beef was only a leftover scent of a relaxing evening I had missed. "Good thing your practice is over, huh?"

"Yeah, sure."

To a band kid, rain is a superior blessing from God Himself, who lets up on the merciless heat for a bit and just lets it pour. Too bad that storm wasn't there just then, because we all would've held up our instruments and shouted, "LIGHTNING RODS!"

That meant either leaving practice early, or going inside to greet the nice A/C.

"Your father will be home any minute. Oh, by the way, how was karate yesterday?"

"Fine," I responded.

Okay, okay. I know it's not exactly responsible for a person to just not show up to stuff without calling in sick or whatever.

Let's get this straight: I was a black belt in karate, and I had already had band camp that day until such and such a time. Did my parents really expect me to go to karate after an eleven hour practice at band? Nope. I skipped. Karate from 9-10:30 pm? Nope. I skipped.

Instead Emi and I went to Starbucks and got lattes. They were delicious.

I just love food.

Anyway, after all this discussion with my mother about the karate practice I "attended," I dismissed myself to my room immediately. The lightning show was about to begin, and I wanted my usual front row seat. Somehow, I managed to get a front row seat for just about everything.

This includes drumline and winterguard shows, choir concerts, plays, talent shows, musicals, and others sorts of things. However, most of them have to do with middle schoolers. They all loved me for some odd, unknown reason. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I gave them gum?

"Join band! I give free gum out!"

That's actually not a bad slogan. What is it about high schoolers that makes them addicted to gum?

Anyway, I basically slumped onto my bed, physically exhausted but mentally alert. I couldn't shower yet, because of the approaching storm, so everything in the air felt icky.

So what does one do at a time like this? Turn down the thermostat in their room!

And guess who didn't have one?

That's right: me.

So I had to rest in the pit of misery. The only option was to open my window. So I did.

That was a decision that I will never forget.

It really didn't mean anything at first. It was just a simple, cool breeze against my face. I didn't have any screen blocking the way of the wind, so it felt so nice.

And then my cell phone rang with the tune of the Final Fantasy victory song. That meant it was an actual call, and that it was from someone I had been thinking about all evening: Addy.

I leaped over an AP exam book and to my cell phone, landing on my bed.

"'Ello?" I said.

"Dyl?"

"Whassup, Addy? Enjoying the storm?"

"No, Dyl, it's not a storm-"

The sudden fuzzing sound of bad reception blared in my left ear.

"Addy, you're breaking up!"

"Dyl-not a storm! -your window!"

"What about my window?"

"Look-!"

Judging by the last two audible phrases, I figured Addy wanted me to look outside, so I did.

At first, I didn't really think too much about it. It was just beginning to drizzle, just enough to leave spots on the pavement. I looked up to see the biggest storm cloud I'd ever seen. But there was nothing too different about this scene, so I put the phone back up to my ear, staying at the window.

"What do you mean it's not a storm, Addy?" I asked.

"It's NOT!" he shouted.

"Why do you say that? What else could it possibly be?"

"-Sin!"

My first instinct was to scream. Sin. Tidus's dad, Jecht. A fantasy creature. How could such a thing occur in our world?

"You're crazy, Addy!" I screamed into my phone.

"Believe-! It's-Sin!"

There was one choice left for me. I had to look outside again.

By this point, the rain was picking up, and the wind was blowing leaves around. I looked up.

That cloud I saw before was not a cloud.

It was really Sin.

"Addy!" I shrieked into the phone, but the call had been dropped from his end. Panic filled up inside of me, like whenever I knew I was about to be caught in a lie. Only this meant life or death, not a grounding or punishment.

"Dylan."

As if enough creepy things couldn't happen to me on this one night, now I was hearing voices. Male voices. Well...a male voice...singular, not plural.

"Turn around and look at me," the familiar voice commanded.

*I have got to be dreaming,* I told myself. *Well, whatever, I'll just play along. Maybe the dream will end more quickly that way.*

But when I whipped my rain-splashed face around, I knew that it wasn't a dream. Not the kind you fall asleep with, at least.

"Auron," I murmured, in awe. I had always wanted to meet him...but not with these circumstances. "Is this...real?"

"Unfortunately for you, yes, it is," he replied, his dark eyes peering over the top of his shaded glasses. "Tell me, are you ready for your story to begin?"

"My...story? Wow, this really is Final Fantasy X!"

"Just answer the question, Dylan..."

"Well, what other choice do I have? Sure," I replied at last, my small smile fading.

"Good. Then we leave this place."

Before I could ask him what that meant, my entire room was lit up with pyreflies. I suddenly got this sick, sad feeling.

*If this is real, then...it will happen.*

I closed my eyes slowly, still a bit defiant, but I let the fayth carry me away.

I knew then that my story was about to become history.