AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry this took so long! I thought I'd have more time once exams were over but we've got our new timetable already and I've been busy getting stuff ready for my new subjects. I'm not going to promise that I'll get these up faster, cause every time I do that something happens that delays me!

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please review!

This chapter is dedicated to LoverDreamerFighter, Ahntyanya's-Hope, npalomo and Commisar Admiral Kordoshky.

DISCLAIMER: Final Fantasy X, its characters, locations and plotlines are owned by Square Enix. I do not claim to own any of these. However, I do own my original character Sakura, also known as Suki. If you wish to use her in any form of media then please ask my permission first.

Chapter 24 - Formality

I woke up pretty early the next morning. After making my bed up I quickly darted down the hall towards the reception, my main worry being if Tidus was alright. He had seemed pretty shaken up the night before when Yuna had mentioned Zanarkand.

He was already at the reception, talking to the young Al Bhed behind the desk. He smiled and walked over when he spotted me.

"Hey. You sleep alright?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I fell asleep outside, but Kimahri carried me in."

Tidus raised an eyebrow. "That was awful nice of him," he mused.

I shrugged. "More to the point, are you okay? You seemed a bit out of it last night."

Tidus' face fell slightly. "I'm fine. I guess…I guess I just wasn't ready to hear it. I mean, I know that you and Rikku told me that Zanarkand was in ruins, but hearing it from Auron…it made it feel so much more real."

He shook his head and looked down. "Sorry, I'm babbling. Just ignore me."

I nudged him gently. "Hey, you're not babbling. It's fine. Don't apologise."

He looked back up and smiled. "Thanks Suki."

I nodded and smiled back before we both headed towards the door. Just as we were about to leave a man walked it. He had shoulder length blonde hair and the same green eyes as all Al Bhed. He wore a yellow jacket, open to show his chest, with white cuffs and a white collar, blue and brown pants with a red belt, and brown boots. He had goggles similar to mine perched on his forehead and a red choker round his neck.

The man bumped into us as we both tried to pass through the door in opposite directions.

"Pardon me!" he apologised in Al Bhed.

I bowed politely. "Please, don't apologise. It was my fault; I wasn't looking where I was going."

The man raised an eyebrow, and impressed look on his face. Tidus on the other hand just looked confused, as was becoming common.

"Um…sorry?" he said, swapping looked between the man and me.

"Ah! Forgive me sir," he said to Tidus, smiling. "I meant to say 'pardon me' but it came out in Al Bhed."

His eyes widened. "Oh! You're an Al Bhed too?"

The man nodded. "I am Rin, owner of this establishment. Hela du saad oui."

Tidus frowned. "Huh?"

"It means 'Nice to meet you'," I translated.

"Ah! Well…hela du saad oui to you too!" he smiled.

I grinned, as did Rin before he walked over to the bookcase. "If you are interested, Al Bhed Primers can be found all over Spira. Finding them and learning our language might be fun!"

He pulled a book off the shelf and handed it to Tidus. "Here, let me give you one as commemoration of our meeting."

"Although you might want to be careful where you speak our language," I piped up.

Rin nodded in agreement as Tidus took the book.

"Thank you very much," Tidus smiled, before returning to the conversation. "I hear Al Bhed aren't liked much."

He seemed to realise what he said and grimaces. "Sorry."

Rin sighed and nodded. "It's a shame," he agreed in Al Bhed.

Before either of us could reply there was a sudden piercing scream outside.

"Someone help! The chocobos!" a woman yelled.

Auron ran in through the door. "That's our cue," he said to us. "Let's go."

We both nodded and Auron left again. Tidus ran after him. I was about to follow when Rin grabbed my arm.

"You are Cid's niece, are you not?" he said. "The cousin of Rikku and Brother?"

I nodded. "Have you spoken to them recently?" I asked.

"Yes. They asked me if you'd past through here. This was before you arrived so I said you hadn't."

I bit my lip. "Did they seem worried?"

"Of course they're worried. But they understand what you're doing. It's my understanding that Nimrook of the Psyches informed them that you were traveling with Lady Yuna as one of her Guardians."

Rin smiled. "They ask me to inform them if you passed this way. I hope you understand that I have a promise to fulfil."

I nodded. "Of course. I want them to know that I'm safe."

Before Rin could say anything else Tidus stuck his head through the door.

"Suki! Come on! We've gotta go!" he yelled.

I nodded. "Sorry! I'm coming!"

I turned back to Rin as Tidus left again. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. Please tell my family that I'm safe."

He smiled and nodded. "Of course I will."

I bowed respectfully before dashing out of the door.

Everyone was waiting for me. Lulu was leaning against a pillar next to the door. She stood up straight when I walked out.

"To the chocobo corral," she said, and we all nodded.

We were about to leave when suddenly a huge group of chocobos ran past us. Suddenly a huge roar came from behind us. We turned and saw a huge fiend towering over the inn.

"…Cred," I muttered.

The fiend had two huge arms with pincer-like things for hands. Most of his body was a silvery-blue colour except for its metallic-brown pincers, its claw-like feet of the same colour and two large purple-red bulges on the back of its head. Its bottom jaw was split in two, as if it was two separate mouths, but its top jaw was just one large jaw. Its mouth was filled with large yellow teeth and each bottom jaw had a purple tongue.

It held a squirming chocobo in its right pincer. The fiend jumped over the inn and as it did the chocobo squealed even louder. It managed to slip out of the fiend's grasp and ran away in the same direction as its companions.

The seven of us surrounded the fiend on all sides. Tidus, Auron and I started by attacking it's pincers with our swords. Lulu backed us up with some fire magic. The fiend lashed out with its pincers and sliced Tidus. He staggered back before Yuna cast a healing spell on him. He flashed her a smile of thanks as Lulu cast another fire spell, sending the fiend onto its back.

"Now!" she said. "Hit it hard and we can push it back!"

Auron and Kimahri both nodded before they both ran forward and slashed at the fiend, causing it to roll backwards towards the cliff. I smirked. I saw what Lulu's plan was; to push the fiend over the cliff.

Wakka hurled his ball at the fiend once it was back on its feet, and I threw a grenade which pushed it back a little further. Lulu seemed to have figured out that it was weak to fire magic as she cast another spell which sent the fiend onto its back again, its limbs flailing. Auron and Kimahri once again smacked it and sent it flying to the cliff edge. It rolled back onto its feet before running at us, sending us backwards and managing to drag itself further away from the cliff edge. Lulu gritted her teeth and blasted it with another two fire spells. The fiend staggered back to the cliff edge before casting a blizzard spell which hit Wakka. Yuna also healed him.

Kimahri and Auron rammed it again, sending it onto its back before Tidus and I both ran at it together and, with one final push, shoved it over the edge. A huge splash and a cloud of pyreflies later and it was over.

I flashed a grin at Lulu. "Not bad."

She smirked. "Not bad yourself."

Suddenly the chocobos were back, running about in front of the inn, with the threat of being eaten having disappeared. I smiled, as did Yuna, Tidus and Wakka.

"That was very impressive."

We all turned to see Rin standing next to us, smiling. Yuna smiled back and bowed politely.

"Thank you sir," she said.

Rin looked round at the birds running about.

"Have you an interest in renting some chocobos?" he asked. "As a token of our gratitude, the first time is free of charge. Please ask the attendant if you wish to rent." He gestured to the young woman standing next to him.

My eyes lit up, as did Yuna's. I had wanted to ride a chocobo since I was a kid. Yuna, Rikku and I used to talk about riding them when we were little; how we would sneak onto a chocobo farm and ride the chocobos around all night long.

We both turned to face Lulu, pleading looks on our faces. She sighed before looking over at Auron, who shrugged. We took that to mean we were allowed to ride them and squealed before running over to the attendant who was already saddling up two chocobos for us. She gave both of us a boost and soon we were running around the space in front of the inn riding the huge yellow birds.

Yuna was smiling and laughing. I hadn't seen her so carefree in a while. It was nice to see, and it made me smile too. Despite her being older than me, I worried about my cousin a lot. She had a huge burden on her shoulders. But as Wakka had said, that was the job of us guardians: to relieve her of some of that burden.

Suddenly a third chocobo charged at us both. We pulled our birds back before seeing that Tidus was riding it. Soon a mad game of tag ensued.

I slowed down my chocobo after a while and just sat watching Yuna and Tidus. Yuna always seemed at her happiest around Tidus. I was so grateful to him at how much he'd helped Yuna, even if he didn't realise it. Besides that, I saw the way they acted around each other. It was obvious to anyone who watched them together for more than ten seconds: they were falling for each other.

I thought it was really sweet, but I somehow doubted that the others, particularly Lulu, would see it that way. I sighed to myself, before shaking my head. No matter what anyone else said, I was going to support them. Part of me wondered if I would ever feel the same way about someone that Tidus and Yuna felt for each other… Oh well! There's always Hope.

Before long Lulu told us it was time to leave (or to be more exact, she said it was time to "stop fooling around") and we were once again walking down the Highroad. I tried to keep my grumbling that we could have made this trip much faster if we had been riding the chocobos to a minimum, with limited success. Eventually we reached a huge archway which was being blocked by the cart that Luzzu and Gatta had been directing the day before. Tidus, Wakka and I peeked round the side of the cart to see the two of them saluting another Crusader.

"Gatta and Luzzu reporting, sir!" Gatta announced.

"This is the last of them," Luzzu said, referring to whatever was in the cart behind them.

The other Crusader nodded. "Good to have you with us. Go on through."

A deep grumbling came from the back of the cart suddenly, and Wakka, Tidus and I backed away slowly. Gatta spotted us and waved.

"Show me how to play Blitz sometime!" he called to Tidus and Wakka.

Luzzu was also smiling. "Wait around," he said. "We'll have Sin beaten in no time."

I raised an eyebrow. What exactly were they planning on doing?

As they lead the cart away, the other Crusader spotted us and walked over.

"Any donation towards Operation Mi'ihen would be greatly appreciated," he said, looking eager.

Everyone bar me and Tidus looked wary, but Tidus pulled about 100 Gil out of his pocket and handed it to the man. He smiled.

"Thank you for your generosity," he said.

We continued walking, following where the cart had gone. I walked next to Wakka.

"Any idea what Operation Mi'ihen is?" I asked.

Wakka shook his head. "Beats me! I've never heard of it."

Just as we were about to pass under the arch, another Crusader stopped us.

"I'm sorry, I can't let you pass," he said.

He spotted Yuna and his eyes widened. "Hey, you're a summoner and her guardians, right? Sorry for the inconvenience."

Yuna smiled. "Please, don't apologise. We understand."

"Hey," Tidus piped up. "What's this operation about anyway?"

Tha man frowned. "What, they didn't tell you? We're bringing in Sin Spawn from all over Spira here. Sin Spawn inevitably draws Sin, right? We're going to lure it into a trap."

Everyone (other than Auron and Kimahri, who never reacted to anything anyway) looked shocked. That seemed like a kind of smart but very stupid idea. Smart because it had good logic behind it; bad because they were probably all going to get themselves killed.

I turned to Lulu. "So, what do we do now?"

She looked thoughtful. "Well, if there's no way of getting through this way then we'll just have to circle back and find another route."

Everyone nodded and we all turned to walk back the way we came.

As we passed under the arch again I saw a small group of people walking towards us. I squinted. I could swear I recognised the man in the front…

I froze in place when I realised who it was. I managed to get control of my limbs and walked ten paces back, standing behind Tidus and Wakka.

It was Maester Seymour.

By this point everyone else had figured out who was walking towards them and had also stopped. Seymour's group also came to a stop in front of us. Yuna stared for a few moments in awe before getting a hold of herself and bowing. Seymour politely bowed back.

"So, we meet again Lady Yuna," he said.

Yuna stood up slowly. "Y…yes…"

Seymour frowned, looking genuinely concerned. "You look troubled. Is there anything I can do?"

Yuna gasped at his offer. "W…well…" she started, before turning round to look down the path the cart had taken. I hid a smirk. Looks like we wouldn't have to circle back and find another path after all.

Seymour followed Yuna's gaze. "I see," he nodded, before walking up to one of the Crusaders.

"Maester Seymour," the Crusader saluted. "Let me show you to the command centre."

"Hold," he said. "I have a request."

The Crusader nodded curtly. "Yes, your grace."

"I need to have Summoner Yuna and her guardians let through to the command centre," he explained.

The Crusader looked round at us and frowned. "But…but Maester Seymour…Maester Seymour sir…" the young man stammered.

"Do not worry. I will take full responsibility," Seymour reassured him.

"…Very well. They may pass," the young man agreed, saluting Seymour once again.

Seymour nodded to him before turning to face us again. "It is done," he announced.

Yuna gasped again, before smiling and bowing. "Thank you, your grace."

Seymour nodded to her before turning and following another Crusader down the path, followed by the other two people who had walked down with him. Even though he now had his back to us, Yuna bowed once again. She didn't straighten back up until Lulu gently laid a hand on her back and said, "Yuna, it's time to go."

She stood up and nodded. "Oh, right."

Yuna, Lulu, Auron and Kimahri all followed Seymour. Tidus, Wakka and I lagged behind.

"Who does he think he is?" Tidus grumbled, glaring after Seymour. I hid a grin, glad that I wasn't the only one who wasn't fond of the new Maester.

Wakka chuckled and clapped Tidus on the shoulder. "He's a Maester. Better get used to it, yah?"

Tidus huffed again before the three of us followed the rest of the group.

Just as we were about to pass under the arch I thought I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Dona and Barthello standing at the end of the path, about 25 metres behind me. I stopped and scowled at them, Dona in particular. She noticed and smirked before turning and walking back the other way, Barthello following like a lost puppy. I glared after them.

As we approached a large clear next to the sheer drop of a cliff down to the sea, we heard Seymour giving a speech.

"Brave Crusaders of Spira, protectors of all Spira, believe in the path you have chosen! Let faith be your strength! I, Seymour Guado, Maester of Yevon, will bear witness to your deeds today!"

"Sir!" all of the Crusader replied in unison, saluting their Maester.

I smirked. I may not like Seymour, but I had to admit that he was a dab hand at motivational speeches.

Wakka was frowning. "What's going on? Why's Maester Seymour backin' the Crusaders, eh? They're using Al Bhed machina! They're violating the teachings!"

I was confused. What was he talking about? I couldn't see any machina, Al Bhed or otherwise!

Tidus must have noticed my confused as he motioned for me to stand next to him. From his vantage point I could see past the large group of Crusaders who had gathered around Seymour. Wakka was right; there was a lot of machina there, all of it aiming at the sea. I frowned. The machina they had was nowhere near strong enough to take down Sin. It may wound it, but never kill it.

Yuna looked past all of us and was watching Seymour. "Even if it's against the teachings, they're willing to risk it for the greater good."

She turned back to Wakka. "Wakka, I think Maester Seymour sees that too."

Wakka made some sort of exasperated nose before turning to the only other real Yevonite in our group. "Lulu?" he begged.

Lulu was frowning. "I can only speculate," she shrugged.

Wakka grumbled under his breath.

"Ask him yourself," Auron suggested.

We all turned to see Seymour walking back towards us. He stopped and looked at Auron who deliberately avoided his gaze.

"Ah…Sir Auron. It is an honour. I would be most interested in hearing what you've been doing these past ten years."

I frowned, as did Tidus. There it was: that hint of venom which occasionally seemed to creep into his voice.

"I've got nothing to say about it," Auron replied before walking away.

Seymour frowned after him. "I…see…"

He looked back round at Yuna. "Sir Auron must be a great asset as a guardian," he said.

Yuna seemed star-struck again. She was silent for a moment before once again bowing quickly. "Your grace!"

It took all my willpower to not reach out and strangle her for sounding like such an idiot. Yes, I know she admired this man, especially since he too was a summoner, but she didn't have to act like this around him all the time!

Apparently this was something Seymour and I agreed on, as he said, "Please, there's no need for formalities."

She looked slightly shocked, but before she could argue (or say anything for that matter) Wakka stepped in.

"Um…excuse me, Maester Seymour? Why is…your Lordship…presently…present here…sir?"

I didn't care that a Maester of Yevon was standing right in front of me. I facepalmed. I spotted Tidus holding back a chuckle out of the corner of my eye.

Seymour smiled slightly. "Please, speak as you normally would."

Wakka took a deep breath and tried again. "Uh…isn't this operation against the teachings of Yevon? Aren't you gonna stop them?" he demanded.

Seymour nodded. "It's true, I should."

Wakka nodded in agreement.

"However," Seymour continued, "both the Crusaders and the Al Bhed truly wish peace for Spira. This Operation Mi'ihen was born from that wish they share. Although it may be sacrilege to Yevon their intentions are pure. And I, Seymour Guado the person, not the Maester of Yevon - as a denizen of Spira - I wish them well in their endeavour."

Okay, now I was confused. I was firm in the fact that I didn't like this guy. But…he did seem to be talking a lot of sense. What he said was true; we Al Bhed wanted Sin to be gone as much as the rest of Spira did. We just went about it differently. I appreciated that he could see that, but still…something still seemed off about him to me.

Wakka seemed shocked. "But…using machina…that's bad, isn't it?"

Seymour shrugged, a small smirk on his face. "Pretend you didn't see them," he suggested.

Everyone gasped, myself and Tidus included. Alright, never mind. I take it back. I didn't like him.

"I beg your pardon, but…that's not something a Maester should say!" Wakka blurted out.

"Then pretend I didn't say it," Seymour smirked.

"Y…You're kidding…" Wakka murmured. I felt for the guy. He had looked up to Seymour when he first became a Maester, and anyone could plainly see his faith in the new Maester wavering.

Seymour was now walking away from us. I could see Wakka's hands had clenched into fists. He was looking down at the ground, refusing to meet any of our gazes. I glared after Seymour, as did Tidus. If looks could kill, he'd have been dead.

But even after all that, Yuna still bowed as he left.