Sorry if I've been a while – School, ya know? Thanks for the reviews – this is doing really well, seeing as it's my first fanfic! So – on with the story!

Chapter 4 – Leisure and Lecturing

Aboard the shoopuf, everybody was relaxed and enjoying the ride. Lulu sat back in her seat, watching the river go by. It was so pretty and peaceful, watching the pyreflies flit about – unless you started thinking how many of those disembodied souls were going to turn into fiends, and whether any that would become fiends would then reduce YOU to pyreflies.

Kimahri was painfully reminiscing over Yuna's last shoopuf ride – she'd fallen off. The shoopuf scooped her up with its long nose. Yuna had clapped delightedly and jumped right back into the water. "Kimahri worried!" Groaned the big blue beast laconically.

Sir Auron was lost in thought towards the back, his face obscured by his heavy cowl. Low-riding glasses cast a shadow over what remained exposed of his face. Yuna was watching Wakka and Tidus with a small smile that threatened to become a laugh. The two were conversing animatedly about the wondrous city below.

"A sunken city!" Tidus exclaimed, the enchanting scenery forgotten. Wakka smiled smugly and began to lecture Tidus on the sunken ruin's origins. "A machina city – a thousand years old! They built the city on top of bridges across the river."

Lulu continued the story, to Wakka's great annoyance. Hey – this is MY moment, Lu!

"But the weight of the city caused the bridges to collapse, and it all sank to the bottom." Tidus was now listening to Lulu attentively. Shrugging it off, Wakka took the opportunity to declare his love for Yevon.

"Right! It's a good lesson." He confirmed, nodding.

"A lesson?" Probed Tidus. "Yeah. Why build a city over a river, ya?"

"Uh . . . well it would be convenient, with all that water there." Tidus reasoned, leaning back against the edge of the shoopuf carriage.

Wakka shook his head sadly. "Nope, that's not why," Tidus raised an eyebrow questioningly. "They just wanted to prove they could defy the laws of nature!" He elaborated.

Stifling a moan, Tidus instead offered, "I'm not so sure about that."

Wakka attempted to dissuade Tidus' doubts by proclaiming knowledgeably, "Yevon has taught us: when humans have power, they seek to use it. If they don't stop them, they go too far, ya?" He then stretched, bringing his hands up to the back of his head, and elbowing Lulu in the head in the process. "Eh, sorry about that, Lu!" Lulu raised her eyebrows but said nothing, rubbing her neck instead.

Tidus, however, stubbornly pursued the subject. "But don't you use machina too? Like the stadium and stuff!"

"Yevon, it decides which machina we may use, and which we may not." Lulu clarified.

"So what kind of machina 'may we not use?'" Tidus asked insolently, shifting in his seat. Scowling darkly, Wakka replied.

"Remember operation Mi'ihen?" That kind." Crossing his arms, he muttered something about lousy Al Bhad and their lousy machina deathtraps. Whoa! Tidus thought. He actually had an answer to that!

"Or," Added Lulu in a detached manner, "War will rage again.

"War?" Tidus queried.

"More than a thousand years ago, mankind waged war using machina to kill." Explained Yuna.

"They kept building more and more powerful machina." Wakka added.

For Tidus' sake, Lulu went into a litlle more detail: "They made weapons so powerful, it was thought they could destroy the entire world."

"The people feared that Spira would be destroyed." Yuna augmented.

Wakka's voice rose angrily. "But the war did not stop!" Tidus, enthralled, bade them continue the story.

"Sin came," Yuna intoned sadly, "and it destroyed the cities and their machina."

"The war ended . . . and our reward was Sin." Concluded Lulu.

"So, Sin's our punishment for letting things get out of hand, eh?" Wakka admonished with an easy smile. Tidus, however, was not placated.

"Man, that's rough . . . !" He commented, indignant and sympathetic.

"Yeah, it is. " Admitted Wakka.

As an afterthought, Tidus added, "But it's not like the machina are bad!", thinking of the multitude of machina he had used daily back in Zanarkand.

"Only as bad as their users." Lulu intoned gravely.

"It's because of people like the Al Bhed screwing everything up!" Wakka expressed, his hands clenched into tight fists beside him. The cabin began to tremor.

The Hypello guiding the Shoopuf cried out aloud. "Whatsh could thatsh be?"

Thanks for reading! 'Til next time!