FicWad

Chapter Twelve: A Tale of Master Yoshi

Harry looked around, having arrived in Japan. The circumstances that brought him here were through a series of strange and quite fragmented visions gathered through meditation. They contradicted what Harry had planned for his life, that he would never go back to face Voldemort, but now, Harry was filled with doubts about that. Haunting voices about being condemned to a horrible life, but Harry just wished to clear this up. Something in the vision hinted that Master Splinter even might not be able to help him sort out what they meant, so Harry had to go to someone who had more experience in such matters. The Sensei of Master Splinter’s Master Yoshi, the mysterious wise and somewhat eccentric old man, known simply as the Ancient One. Harry had met this man once before when he was eight years old and needless to say, the meeting stuck out quite vividly.

Harry had been traveling for several days now, it would have been much easier to do so by magic, but due to security reasons, the American Wizarding Government had banned all magical travel in and out of the country for the foreseeable future. Still, Harry did not as mind as much most in his position was, it gave him some time to reflect on what he saw and perhaps be ready to understand what wisdom the Ancient One would throw at his way. Harry threw his Slytherin scarf over his face, shielding it from the effects of the blistering winds. As he moved his way down the snowy paths and putting a warming charm on his cloak to further shield himself from the weather, but stopped suddenly, to the sounds of thunderous foot steps. Throwing himself out of the way, Harry looked up to see a large snow creature, commonly referred to as a yeti, approaching him, bellowing madly, causing snow to drop down. Harry stepped back, thinking quickly, because the beast may start an avalanche

“Who dares pass?” bellowed the yeti in a growl and Harry stepped back, ready to battle should things get dangerous, but not wanting to take that particular path against a magical creature that the only thing larger than it was a giant.

“I, Harry Potter,” commented Harry in a calm voice but the yeti considered Harry through its ice cold eyes.

“Why do you wish to pass young one?” demanded the yeti in its rumbling voice and Harry stole an anxious look at the large mounds of snow on the mountain to his side.

“I need to see the Ancient One,” said Harry as patiently as he could manage, but even with the heating charms he had put on his clothing, the cold weather was still particularly blistering.

“And what makes you worthy to see the Ancient One?” challenged the yeti.

“Look, I don’t have time for these games, just let me through, this is an emergency,” said Harry as he removed his double-edged sword but the yeti just stared at him, with a mixture of amusement and disbelief.

“So, you think you can fight your way past me, little man,” said the yeti, before it gave a thunderous laugh. “Especially with that little blade, I’ve used bigger toothpicks than that, you’re a failure it appears.”

Harry charged forward, but the yeti extend his hand forward, smacking Harry in the forehead, dropping him to the ground in a swift movement. Pulling himself up, Harry gritted his teeth and blasted a stunning spell at his opponent, but it had no effect. Harry pulled himself up and attempted to attack the yeti but the yeti just shoved Harry to the ground lightly, before laughing.

“Think young one, you need to find a way to pass, but to win, you must learn from your failures and turn them into successes,” commented the yeti and Harry pulled himself up to his feet, before he bowed towards the yeti.

“Please allow me to pass,” said Harry graciously, feeling stupid, but this was the only thing he could think of that did not involve an attack, all of which had failed spectacularly and amazingly, the Yeti stepped aside. Harry took a few steps forward, knowing fully well that this could be a trick. He continued to walk down the path and over his shoulder, Harry watched the magical creature return to his cave. Shrugging, Harry continued walking, situations like this, it was important not to ask questions, because the more Harry learned, the less he understood in cases like this.

Harry walked down a winding path, he knew the Ancient One’s home was not that far from here and sure enough the long winding path lead to the very familiar home. It was a bit more run down then Harry remembered, but there was no mistaken where it was. Walking towards the door, Harry raised his hand to knock, but the door blew itself open. Raising an eyebrow, Harry entered, walking cautiously down the hallway. He sensed that someone was here but whether or not it was the Ancient One remained to be seen.

“Do come in, Harry-san,” commented the very familiar voice of the Ancient One, as Harry approached the door leading to the next room and opened it, walking towards the Ancient One, a rotund old man who was at least ninety years old. “It’s been a long time since we have last met, but I can see it in your eyes that you have a pressing concern that might need my expertise. Do sit down, make yourself at home, and we shall chat.”

Harry did as he was told as the Ancient One regarded him, surveying him.

“I can see much turmoil, the need to be the best, to never fail, has manifested itself again, but it’s much stronger than it was last time, an almost obsession compulsion to do so,” commented the Ancient One. “Now, ambition can be good, but it can be a bigger weakness, you’ve nearly isolated yourself from everything and that can only lead to you being stuck in a situation that no one can bail your butt out of when you get in over your head. No one to pull you back, so far you’ve managed to get by with luck but continue on like this, you would get in a situation that even you can’t force your way out of. You think you have to bear the weight of the world on your shoulders, but many have before and they were crushed.”

“So you think that I should just accept that the fact I kept failing,” said Harry.

“Failure is a part of life, a big part in many instances, but your failures should not be the end of everything,” said the Ancient One. “Surviving can be a success in itself, but since you have a glass half empty world view of like, let me put this another way. Your failures should be analyzed and learned from, but at the same time, never failing is counterproductive to any success. A warrior who never fails, never learns and in the end, after all the successes, the fall is bigger than any small failure that can be learned from.”

Harry just sighed, it made sense, he guessed.

“I suppose you’re right, but I’ve been having these visions, some take sort of make sense, but others that make little sense at all,” said Harry.

“Visions never truly mean what you think they mean,” remarked the Ancient One wisely. “Describe them as best you can, and in time, there might be something productive that can be gathered through the misdirection.”

“Well one slightly recurring vision involves the Shredder,” said Harry and the Ancient One’s eyes snapped up towards Harry. “He attacks my family and my friends, but not with the normal ninjitsu attacks, but with magic, really powerful dark magic. I’ve fought Voldemort far too often and the magic the Shredder cast in that dream may have been slightly more powerful than what Voldemort gave off. Yet, I killed the Shredder and he’s never given the slightest indication that he has the ability to perform magic. So I just wonder if my subconscious is combining elements from my past into one being, to attempt to guilt trip me into giving up on fighting Voldemort?”

“Possible, but I suspect more sinister forces may be at work,” muttered the Ancient One under his breath, more to himself, than to Harry. “If it’s begun, then they are mobilizing…”

The Ancient One trailed off, when he realized that Harry was sitting there, a curious expression on his face.

“Forgive me Harry-san, I tend to trail off the subject on occasion,” said the Ancient One. “I’m certain that sooner or later, the pieces of the vision you detailed will be clearer, but right now, I am not at liberty to give speculation. Now, anything else that you could describe that may clear up the confusion.”

“The recurring dreams about Voldemort and the whispers of me failing, but I think we’ve more than adequately discussed what that means,” commented Harry.

“Yes, this could be a battle between your distaste of defeat but a need to prove yourself by beating Voldemort, combined with several factors,” said the Ancient One. “Now, Harry, I’m certain you’re going to ask me what you should do, but in this case, no one can accurately answer that question other than yourself. If you rely on the influence of others, you will crash at all times and would be doing a disservice to yourself. However, that’s not to say that there is not much to learn when you are here. I suspect that I have knowledge that you may find useful and will allow you to decide what path your life will take when you return home.”

“No, there is no need for you to do that, no doubt you have other more pressing things to do then you waste time with me,” said Harry, but the Ancient One shook his head.

“You’d be surprised how little there is to do here, so perhaps now’s the time to impart knowledge to another, knowledge that not even your Master Splinter knows,” replied the Ancient One. “Not his fault, Yoshi chose a different path in life, and that, coupled with his premature death, prevented me from completing his training to a satisfactory level. Of course one may argue that the training in life is never completed, as there is much to learn, to see, and to do.”

Harry nodded, he would have to agree with that statement.

“In fact, the story of my prized pupil and adopted son, Hamato Yoshi is one that I trust that you would gather much from, Harry,” said the Ancient One. “It illustrates mistakes can be made, even with the wisest of us, not everyone is meant to be trusted. Much with all stories, it would be a prudent idea to start at the beginning. It was in the early 1950s, this country was just recovering from the second world war and that’s when I came across two boys orphaned after the war.”

It was Japan, circa the 1950s. Two young boys, about ten or eleven in age, walked down the street, dressed in ragged clothing. One was dressed in blue, his name was Hamato Yoshi. The other was dressed in red, with a salad bowl hair cut, with a bit of a scowl on his face, named Yukio Mashimi. They walked down the street, seeing a younger version of the Ancient One, with slightly graying hair, walking down the street. In his haste, the Ancient One accidentally dropped a coin, as he walked off. Quickly, Mashimi walked forward, a greedy expression in his eyes, as Yoshi followed him, looking at the coin, but Yoshi grabbed his arm.

“Wait, that man accidentally dropped the coin, we should return it to be,” said Yoshi and Mashimi looked absolutely irritated.

“C’mon Yoshi, how much is he going to miss one coin?” asked Mashimi but Yoshi walked forward, ignoring his friend’s protests.

“Hey, sir, excuse me, you dropped your coin!” called Yoshi in an boisterous voice and the Ancient One turned, before acknowledging Yoshi.

“Ah thanks young one, I had thought I was missing something,” replied The Ancient One graciously, as he retrieved the coin with a nod of his head. “Tell me what is your name?”

“Hamato Yoshi, sir,” answered Yoshi as Mashimi stood by his side. “And this is my friend, Yukio Mashimi.”

The Ancient One surveyed the two boys with interesting, before nodding with a smile.

“Tell you what, if you can manage to get the coin from my grasp somehow, you can keep it,” said the Ancient One as he held his hand out forward, the coin in it.

“No problem, I’ll get it for us, Yoshi,” muttered Mashimi as he reached forward, but Ancient One clasped his hand shut, causing Mashimi to become frustrated. Ancient One extended his hand forward, with the coin and Mashimi made one more desperate grab, but Ancient One clasped his hand shut again. Once more, he put his hand out but much to his surprise, the coin was not there.

The Ancient One turned and Yoshi revealed that he had managed to snatch the coin from the Ancient One’s grasp.

“Very good then, Yoshi,” commented the Ancient One with a smile. “How would you like to come to my home and get something to eat?”

“Can my friend come too?” asked Yoshi, with a sideways hopeful glance at Mashimi and the Ancient One gave Mashimi a searching look, before giving a nod, before motioning for the two boys to follow him.

“On that day, I took the two young boys to my house, training them in the art of ninjitsu,” narrated the Ancient One. “Now, I must admit, I had my reservations about Mashimi, but I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, for Yoshi’s sake at least.”

The Ancient One’s eyes narrowed and Harry suspected that he would find out why all too soon.

“I trained them for several years, I watched them grow from young boys into men and into great fighters, Yoshi more so, but Mashimi was talented in his own right,” continued the Ancient One. “Their abilities were not the only thing blossomed, but love also blossomed as well. That would have been good, if not for the reason that they fell in love with the same girl.”

“Oh boy,” commented Harry.

“Indeed, as I had brought in a third orphan, who was a help in maintain the house, named Tang Shen, whose father had been a friend of mind, but Tang Shen’s family were murdered in their own home,” said the Ancient One. “I never solicited her help, but I appreciated it all the same, as it allowed me to focus on the training of my two pupils as well.”

In the kitchen, a small grey rat poked its nose curiously from behind the counter, sniffing around for food. The rat weakly scurried from the behind the counter, as Tang Shen, Yoshi, and Mashimi, now in their early twenties, were in the kitchen. Mashimi looked at the rat with a notable distaste and picked up a butcher knife, before he advanced on it.

“Out of here, you filthy vermin,” said Mashimi in a forceful voice and Tang Shen looked up fearfully, as she spotted Mashimi stalk the poor rodent, who looked rather fearful.

“Mashimi, no!” shouted Tang Shen and Mashimi turned around. “The poor thing’s done nothing to you, it’s obvious that it just wants food.”

“Yes, Mashimi, I think you’ve overacted a little bit,” added Yoshi as he looked at the rodent, who sniffed the air hopefully. “It looks like it’s just like us, with nowhere to go, looking for a place, like we were so long ago.”

“Maybe,” replied Mashimi doubtfully, as he watched Tang Shen feed the rat. “But, it looked like a filthy vermin to me?”

“Mashimi, remember what the Master has told us, we cannot rely solely on what we see,” said Yoshi in a patient voice and Mashimi just nodded in agreement, acknowledging that Yoshi was correct on this point.

“Time went on, but one night, everything went wrong, it was the beginning of the end,” narrated the Ancient One with a slightly bitter tone. “When walking through the town, Yoshi and Mashimi ran across a man that was being attacked by the sinister forces of the Foot.”

In the village during that time, Yoshi and Mashimi came across, seeing the man, who was in reality the Utrom known as Mr. Mortu, in disguise, being stalked by the Foot. Mortu backed off.

“Mashimi, that man is defenseless, we must help him!” yelled Yoshi and Mashimi nodded in agreement, as he watched the man get knocked down with a sword stab. Quickly Mashimi recklessly rushed forward and knock the Foot Ninja down to the ground. Yoshi blocked the sword swipe of another ninja and busted his weapon, allowing Mashimi to take the assassin down to the ground.

A pair of ninjas rushed forward, but the teamwork of Yoshi and Mashimi managed to fight them off, as Mortu pulled himself up, to watch the two young warriors fight off the Foot. Several ninjas were dropped, before the two young men walked forward, to help Mortu up to his feet.

“Are you alright?” asked Yoshi in a concerned voice, but Mortu’s eyes widened, as he spotted a Foot Ninja coming up behind Yoshi, blade drawn.

“LOOK OUT!” warned Mortu and he pushed Yoshi out of the way, the blade slicing his arm. The arm of the exosuit was viciously removed from the attack and Mashimi knocked the ninja back, causing him to crack into a wall, as the two young men looked in awe at Mortu, as sparks shot out of his arm where the ninja had severed it.

“This of course inspired questions within my two pupils, questions that they were tempted to have answered no matter what,” said the Ancient One. “Mortu gave them a choice, either remain ignorant of what happened on that day or answer their questions by joining the Utroms as guardians.”

“Something that I can see you disapproved of,” prompted Harry and the Ancient One nodded before continuing his tale.

“No, I forbid it, I absolutely refuse to allow you to do this,” said the Ancient One sternly, as Mashimi and Yoshi.

“But, Sensei, this our chance to do some good…” stated Yoshi but the Ancient One cut him off.

“Perhaps, but this is not the path that you should take, it may lead you to a situation that even you, either of you, could fight yourself out of,” remarked the Ancient One. “I understand that you may feel that this is what you want, but truly, this is the worst thing for you, working as guardians.”

“Look, Sensei, we aren’t children anymore, I think we are capable of making our own decisions,” argued Mashimi but the Ancient One just looked at them calmly, without any expression on his face.

“Are you?” asked the Ancient One. “I believe it would be foolish to take the path that you would but do admit that there is little to nothing that I would be able to do to stop you. You should just know that joining the Guardians may lead you down a twisted path that will change your life forever Still, if you are well aware of the risks, then it is your choice.”

The two nodded, but truthfully they did not truthfully head the Ancient One’s advice to the fullest extent, believing that he was overacting about the entire situation.

“So despite by reservations, Yoshi and Mashimi joined the Guardians, to serve and protect the Utroms,” said the Ancient One. “Yoshi took to this new path more than Mashimi did, raising all the way to the highest available rank. Despite the fact that Yoshi seemed to have rose several levels past Mashimi, Mashimi was willing to be supportive towards him, at least outwardly. Naturally, this all changed due to Tang Shen.”

The Ancient One paused before continuing.

“Now while both young men had fallen in love with her, she only had eyes for one and that was Yoshi,” said the Ancient One seriously. “This was the thing that drove Mashimi over the edge to madness.”

Mashimi watched Tang Shen and Yoshi kissing in the rain from behind a tree, eyes narrowed. How dare Yoshi steal her away? They were supposed to be friends. He could deal with being below Yoshi in the guardian ranks but stealing the girl he loved was pushing it. Yoshi leaved, as Mashimi with drew a katana in anger. If he could not have her, than no one could. Tang Shen remained outside as Yoshi had left and Mashimi crept out of the bushes, weapon in hand. She turned around and gasped, before relaxing when she realized it was Mashimi.

“Ah, it’s only you Mashimi, you scared me for a minute,” said Tang Shen in a relieved voice but she screamed when she saw Mashimi advance on her with the sword.

The Ancient One sat inside in meditating, the grey rat by his side in a cage, when his eyes snapped open to the screams of Tang Shen. As fast as he could manage, The Ancient One rushed outside, pushing open the doors of his home and bolted towards the sounds of the screams. He stopped, eyes widened as he saw Tang Shen lying on the ground, her clothes slightly torn and blood dripping from a gash from her throat.

“No,” muttered the Ancient One in a horrified voice, as he kneeled down, eyes widened at the slain form of Tang Shen.

At the Utrom headquarters in Tokyo, the guardians were in the midst of a training exercise, with Yoshi leading them, but at that second, a series of Foot Ninjas crashed through the window. The Utroms looked around, fearful, at the new arrivals, as they threw smoke bombs at the ground, before they rushed forward and engaged the guardians in battle. The smoke cleared and the Shredder emerged, casually knocking a guardian to the ground who attempted to attack him. Several of the other guardians attempted to get the Shredder, but the Foot fought them off. Another figure walked behind the Shredder, a smug expression etched on his face, as he wore a Foot uniform, minus the mask.

“Mashimi you betrayed us!” yelled Mortu in a surprised voice, as Yoshi looked up, horrified that Mashimi had betrayed the Utroms and to an extend him.

“/Mashimi, why?” asked Yoshi./

“As if you need to know, after what you’ve done to me,” said Mashimi in a disgusted tone of voice. “All of our lives, you’ve always been one step ahead of me and now I have you.”

“Everyone to the escape pods, evacuation protocol nine this is not a drill!” yelled Mortu as the exosuits rushed forward, moving towards the escape pods, as the guardians managed to back off the Foot, before they followed. Yoshi stared at Mashimi, who motioned for him to come forward. “Hamato Yoshi we are leaving.”

“Stop them, do not allow them to escape!” thundered the Shredder, as Yoshi joined the rest in the escape pods, that shot up out of the TCRI building and as a result, he turned slowly to Mashimi, who backed off a few steps in fear at the look that the Shredder was giving him. “Mashimi, you did not inform me of this method of escape, I was under the assumption that there was no way out.”

“Master please, I was unaware that it had existed,” begged Mashimi fearfully. “I won’t make the same mistake again, I swear on my life.”

“Yes on your life,” repeated the Shredder chillingly, staring coldly at Mashimi.

Yoshi arrived back home and was greeted by the horrifying sight of the slain form of Tang Shen, who had been covered up by the Ancient One.

“I am sorry, my son,” said the Ancient One in a somber voice. “I did not arrive to save her in time…”

“It is not your fault, Mashimi was the one who did this, he lead the Shredder to an attack on the Utrom Headquarters,” said Yoshi in a somber voice. “And now there is something I must do now, to set things right, to teach Mashimi a lesson.”

“Mashimi’s potential for darkness was evident, but I did not trust my instincts,” said the Ancient One darkly, as he held up the cage containing the rat, more for something else to look at while he talked. “Still, Yoshi, do not allow yourself to be corrupted by this need for revenge. Revenge is like a splinter, if not properly healed, it will infect every part of you. Just remember this when you do what you feel is necessary.”

Yoshi nodded, before he walked off, the Ancient One watching him leave, fully knowing that this entire matter was out of his hands.

“Yoshi tracked down Foot Headquarters and despite knowing that he would be outnumbered severely, somehow, he managed to fight his way up, the only thing on his mind was revenge on Mashimi for his betrayal,” narrated the Ancient One.

The doors of the Shredder’s throne room burst open and the Shredder looked down, seeing one of his Foot Ninjas flying inside. Another ninja was draped over the shoulder of Hamato Yoshi as he entered. The ninja was dropped to the ground, as Yoshi looked up at the Shredder, with an intense look in his eyes.

“I’ve come for Yukio Mashimi!” cried Yoshi, as he withdrew a katana, looking ready to battle but the Shredder remained unmoving from his throne, before he turned slightly.

“Mashimi, forward,” said the Shredder curtly and Mashimi stepped forward, with a scowl on his face, as he stared down Yoshi.

“I am here to challenge you to a duel, assassin,” said Yoshi in a forceful voice which Mashimi just laughed off, looking rather amused by Yoshi’s challenge.

“A duel, ha, this time you’ve ignorantly stepped into the dragon’s den, Yoshi,” replied Mashimi. “There is no reason for me to fight you alone, to get to me, you have to fight the entire Foot clan.”

“That is where you are mistaken, Mashimi,” said the Shredder coldly. “For your failure at the Utrom base, you will stand alone, with no help from my Foot Ninja.”

Mashimi’s mouth opened wide, in shock, he had assumed that he would not have to face Yoshi alone, but now the Shredder forced his hand.

“Kill Hamato Yoshi and I will forgive your misinformation, kill Yoshi and you will be allowed to live,” commented the Shredder darkly and as a result, Mashimi withdrew his weapon, before he locked eyes with Yoshi, the two warriors circling each other, both wanting to prove something, but for drastically different reasons.

“So here it comes Yoshi, it started with the two of us and tonight, it will end with just the two of us,” commented Mashimi as he rushed forward but Yoshi blocked his sword swipe, backing Mashimi off. Mashimi attempted to stab Yoshi but Yoshi avoided it, before he snuck behind Mashimi, but with great reflexes, Mashimi blocked an attack from Yoshi.

“That’s where you are wrong, Mashimi, it will only end with one of us,” commented Yoshi as he attempted to disarm Mashimi, but Mashimi blocked the shot and a swing had knock Yoshi’s sword from his hand. Yoshi staggered backwards and Mashimi grabbed Yoshi, before throwing him down to the ground. Mashimi launched himself up and extended the sword downwards, but Yoshi rolled out of the way, causing Mashimi to stab the ground. Yoshi quickly reclaimed his sword and both warriors stood face to face.

In the blink of the eye, both Hamato Yoshi and Yukio Mashimi jumped into the air, weapons drawn. Both men slashed at each other, and were knocked backwards. Yoshi landed to his knees, slightly wounded but he managed to cut deeper, as a nasty gash appeared on Mashimi’s chest.

“Yoshi, forgive me,” breathed Mashimi as blood dripped to the ground, before Mashimi collapsed, with a wounded Yoshi pulled himself to his feet, barely able to stand.

“Capture the guardian, he will be able to take us to the Utroms,” ordered the Shredder as the Foot advanced on Yoshi, weapons drawn, but Yoshi’s eyes flickered up towards the windows behind the Shredder’s throne. Quickly. Yoshi sprang up, aiming his foot right towards the Shredder’s face as he threw himself towards the windows. Instinctively, the Shredder ducked and Yoshi crashed himself through the windows. He managed to steady his fall as he splashed into the water below, the Shredder looking down with distaste as Yoshi had slipped through their fingers and their ticket to tracking down the Utroms was eliminated.

“Yoshi managed to escape the Shredder on that night, but his life was never the same,” concluded the Ancient One in a dismal voice.

Yoshi walked forward, shoulders slumped, towards the Ancient One. The cage containing the small grey rat was in Yoshi’s hand, as he looked down at the Ancient One.

“/I have to go,” said Yoshi quietly./

“I know,” replied the Ancient One. “Despite the dreams of a foolish old man, your path must take you in a different direction than I intended to take you, Yoshi. Good luck my son.”

Days later, Yoshi arrived in New York City, walking to the recently constructed TCRI building, the caged rat with him. Yoshi bent down, holding up the cage to address the rat.

“Well little one, I will name you Splinter and together we will remind each other of Tang Shen, about her beauty, about her kindles, about her love,” said Yoshi as he address the pre-mutated version of Master Splinter, as Mr. Mortu walked outside, to escort Yoshi into the building and to his new life.

“And I believe you know all too well what happened from there Harry,” commented the Ancient One and Harry nodded. “Still, as saddening as that story is, it does bring about an interesting point of how fate works. If those events had not transpired, you would not be sitting before me hearing this tale.”

“Because the Utroms would not have had a reason to flee to New York, neither would Yoshi, so there would be no mutagen and there’s a chance that no one would have found me when Dursley had abandoned me,” summarized Harry.

“Perhaps, it does raise some interesting questions, one’s that I’d suggest you think about more thoroughly after a good night’s sleep,” said the Ancient One. “As there is much more that can be learned.”

Back in New York, Ginny leaned outside the window absent mindedly, on Christmas night, wishing that Harry had been there, but understanding what he felt he needed to do. When Harry came home, no matter what place he took in life. She felt frustrated, had been there to help Harry so many times, but now Ginny felt as helpless as Harry did, even though he did not acknowledge. It all tied back to Voldemort, he ruined Harry’s life, no matter how much Harry refused to acknowledge the existence.

A knock on the door brought Ginny out of her thoughts.

“Come in,” said Ginny in a hoarse voice and she watched Lily enter the ring.

“Are you okay Ginny?” asked Lily in a concerned voice.

“I’m fine,” said Ginny shortly.

“It’s amazing how much you sound like Harry when you say that,” replied Lily.

“It’s Christmas, he should be here with us, not in some desolate part of Japan!” yelled Ginny, losing her temper. “What has happened to Harry?”

“I wish I knew, I have a feeling he’s been off a bit longer than the Voldemort thing, even longer than Daphne and Theodore’s deaths,” said Lily and Ginny looked at Lily curiously. “From the inter-dimensional trip, Harry was sent to another world by the combination form of the Daimyo’s son and Drako, along with his brothers, scattered through dimensions. Every time one of them mentions it, Harry steers clear of the subject.”

“Harry’s never mentioned it to me,” said Ginny in a hushed voice. “Where could have been sent that has caused him to be avoid mentioning it?”

Lily shrugged, she was concerned about Harry.

“We don’t know when he’ll be back or what state of mind he will be when he returns,” said Lily. “I just hope everything’s back to normal.”

“I do to,” remarked Ginny quietly, before muttering. “Harry, I love you, no matter what you decide to do, and I’ll be with you.”

Ginny stared at the window, her entire family with the exception of Ron had been trapped in Britain by Voldemort and Harry had went on a journey to get some answers, making this the most dismal Christmas of her life. She awaited Harry’s return but knew that he would come back with a renewed sense of determination to fight Voldemort. That part she dreaded, but perhaps it would be for the best and Ginny resolved that Harry needed her support more than her worries.